This one started off a bit slow, but gained steam at the end. Khalil had a breakdown a year ago and his life went into the garbage. He is still in therapy and still unsure how to get back on track. He has some amazingly successful barber shops and is looking to come into the modern age with an app. Enter Vanessa, the app goddess. She comes into the barber shop when her current salon is closed just for a trim. While there is a spark, Khalil is hesitant to ask her out because his confidence has taken a hit.
When he finds out she is an App developer, the next time he sees her he asks her for her help.
Vanessa and Khalil embark on a business relationship before they enter into a personal one, and I have to say I loved their journey together. They bonded over their thoughts on diversity and trying to do better, but they stayed out of genuine feelings towards one another. Khalil told Vanessa about his issues, but he didn't let her see the real deep depression he felt. Towards the end of the book, things got heavy, but they were so real and raw that I loved it. I loved the deep rooted feelings Vanessa felt for Khalil and the fact that she wasn't going to let him down. There are so many topics in this book that need to be discussed and I am so happy that the author wrote about them.
Thank you to Netgalley, Gia De Cadenet and Random House for an early copy.

I was quite ecstatic to read this one, as it’s been quite some time since I read a contemporary romance with the theme of interracial dating.
I enjoyed it but it was quite slow for me in the beginning. However, I really liked how the author has handled the topics like racism, self doubt and depression; especially men’s mental health. As, ‘cause of the toxic masculinity and patriarchy it’s been made quite difficult for them to even acknowledge its presence. Also, I liked how raw characters and their feelings have been portrayed. Overall, it’s a 3.5 star read for me.

This slow burn romance was a bit too slow for my liking, the characters didn't even kiss until 50% in. While I understand why it took them a long time to come together, it was drawn out and repetitive leading up to it.

What I did like about the story is the way it handled interracial dating. I've read several such romance novels but they all tend to gloss over the tough parts. Here, Vanessa is is honest from the start about why she doesn't think a white man could be a fitting partner for her. Both she and Khalil have to face the ugly truths about her concerns and work through them.

I also appreciate how the author handles mental health, particularly when it comes to men. Khalil's struggles are realistic. This is a story with heart and humor but also heaviness and depth.

I recommend this one for readers who enjoy a slow burn romance.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 Stars

Getting His Game Back is a very character driven story, There are relationships - romantic between the two Main Characters, but also familial and friendship. This was a very powerful and emotional debut for Gia De Cadenet!

Khalil Sarda went through a touch patch in the past that has impacted his life in more ways than he knows. I appreciate the inclusion of Men's Mental Health discussion and representation. Khalil is the co-owner of a set of barbershops, to his surprise Vanessa comes in, when her salon is closed, to get her hair done by a "white boy" he is stunned by her confidence, beauty, and strength.

Vanessa Noble the "app Goddess" as she known in the industry, doesn't have time for a relationship right now. Vanessa is a black woman who has reservations dating outside her race due to negative past experiences. Getting her perspective of what it's like for a Black Women in the dating world was poignant, especially in the current climate we live in today. Getting to see her interactions with some men objectifying her really made me appreciate her relationship with Khalil

Khalil and Vanessa relationship was very realistic. Life is not all sunshines and rainbows. We got to see what it means to be your independent self and be in a relationship. I enjoyed that we got both MC perspectives throughout the entire book - especially when things got harder and more intense. It was refreshing to see Khalil and Vanessa communicate and grow together. I adored their romance, their *Steamy* scenes, and their overall relationship.

Possible Triggers: Racism,Thoughts of Suicide, Depression, and Self-doubt.
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Overall, I went into reading Getting His Game Back for the romance, but left with a deeper more emotional relationship between two people that live realistic lives with the ups and downs that effect not only themselves but the people around them.

Expected Publication: January 25th, 2022

I was really looking forward to this book, but it just missed the mark for me. But let me first say, I may not be the demographic for this book, but here are my main concerns, The whole title and cover is based on basketball and there is barely any basketball in the book. The romance felt awkward and uncomfortable. It really bothered me how much Vanessa, a woman in STEM who is used to being looked at differently, is so quick to categorize Khalil as white, even after he tells her he's not and is from a biracial family. This book also focused a lot on dating and staying in your race. That irked me. I understand the concept that its easier and she gave great examples of why she wanted to stay to the same race, but it felt like she was hitting it over the head and beating a dead house. I also felt like we spent a lot of time as "friends" then all of a sudden they were in love. There was no in between. He was all in right from the start. I thought it was so weird when he was massaging her feet while they were out at a club.

Overall, I found myself putting this down and not wanting to pick it back up. I am not one to DNF but I was considering it many times. Something just didn't feel right for me. But I do have to say, one thing the author did really well was write Khalil's depression super accurately. I suffer from depression and it felt creepily accurate to what goes on in my head. I struggle hardcore with having relationships during depressive episodes and that aspect of the book was very well portrayed and dealt with in a great way.

Getting His Game Back by Gia de Cadenet is a debut romance book that dealt with some pretty serious topics. I commend the author for her detail and thoughtfulness she put into the characters' story. She dealt with interracial relationships, mental health and a bit of sexism and roles that are based on race and gender. It was a lot to put into a book and a journey for a new relationship, but it is something we should see more and more of.

I feel like I'm a broken record, but I picked this book up because of the cover. I love basketball and saw that hoop, so I was already won over. But that hoop was a tad misleading. It's not a major focus of the story, but it does have a lot to do with Khalil and his journey.
This is a story of Khalil, a white man that is a successful business owner with his friend. They own a few barber shops, are close with their family and a part of their community. Vanessa is a successful black businesswoman in her own right. She is the Apps Goddess (as she is known as in the tech world) and close to her family, but she has been burned by men in her life. When she walks into Khalil's shop for a fade cut before leaving for a work trip, she's entranced by the man who has done her hair. But she has made a list for future men and being white is something that is a big mark against Khalil.

Yes, this story really focuses on interracial relationships and the repetitiveness of it became a bit redundant at times, but there was so much more. I enjoyed getting to know each character and seeing them build a friendship first. The awkwardness and the flirting and the supporting characters really added to the story and development of the relationship. I liked hearing about Khalil's background, schooling and even how his friend noticed a change in him every year during a certain time. It played into the ending part which was really hard to read. But the way Vanessa handled it and the way they came together on the other side of it was handled in such a careful and understanding manner.

Getting His Game Back was appropriately titled and felt like it fit after Khalil realized a few things, Vanessa opened her heart to possibilities and these two showed us who they were and how they worked better together than apart. I appreciated this story and the journey of these characters and would love to see more books focus on more serious subject matter while still giving us the heart.

When she sat in his chair, there were definite sparks between Khalil and Vanessa. Would they be able to overlook the wounds of past relationships to forge a future together?

Fair waring, this was not a light rom-com. Though there was plenty of humor and warm fuzzy moments, it was also a book about problems encountered in interracial relationships, as well as, loving someone with mental health issues. I thought de Cadenet did a wonderful job exploring both those topics and wholly appreciated the care and attention she gave to them. And though Getting His Game Back tackled weightier topics, the romance was always front and center, which I appreciated.

Heavier than I expected, I still really enjoyed this story. Vanessa was an incredibly driven woman who carved a space for herself in a male dominated tech world. Khalil was a successful business owner who gave so much of himself to his family, friends, and community. There was a lot to love about this couple, and after learning about certain aspects of their past relationships, I wanted this union to succeed.

There were lots of fun, sweet, and sexy moments, but where this story stood out, for me, was in handling Khalil’s mental health issues. His previous relationship failed when Khalil’s girlfriend caught him overcome with sadness. This made him feel weak and forced him to hide his emotions which was not healthy. With Vanessa, he saw what a real partner should be – supportive, patient, and loving. I was quite moved by this deeper part of their relationship.

Overall: A little heavier than I thought it would be, but I appreciated the author’s exploration of the issues that can arise in interracial relationships, as well as, the experience of loving and supporting someone struggling with mental health issues. Both Vanessa and Kahlil were wonderful, and I was happy to see them get their HEA.

This was such a fascinating, contemporary story. It directly addresses mental health and interracial dating, two topics that I would like to see covered more in books.

Vanessa is a black woman who has had very bad experiences dating white men who treated her as a stereotype and committed multiple microaggressions while they were together. So she has made the decision not to date any more white men. Khalil, French and Algerian, is perceived as white. He is in therapy recovering from a mental health breakdown months before that he hasn't shared with his friends and family.

This is a deeply emotional and character-driven story. I so greatly appreciated how honestly depression was handled. It's a tough read but such an important one. It's also a steamy romance with an amazing woman in STEM as the main character.

Thank you to Dell and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

TW: depression, suicidal ideation

4.5 stars rounded up

It was fantastic at first, but it unfortunately fizzled out for me. I believe a lot of it has to do with where something strange was taking place. I expected this to be a sweet romance novel, and although it is, I think the whole black woman falling in love with a white man was a little overdone. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but it seemed like she was repeating herself to the point that it dragged on. There's nothing wrong with falling in love with whomever you choose, but she was more concerned with never falling in love with a white man. Which is good, but as I already stated, I believe the frequent reference of it weighed down the tale. However, once we got over all of that, it was truly adorable, but it lacked something. It was a lovely touch to have them discuss interracial couples.

As I previously stated, the strangeness is primarily due to the location of certain events.
The foot massaging was strange to say the least. I don't think it would have been strange if it had happened anywhere else, but it did, and it was strange. I think it's strange to do that in a bar.

However, it was lovely to see a man crying and her soothing him and reassuring him that crying does not make him weak or unmanly. Mental health representation is crucial, and it's great to have it in this place. That was one of the things I enjoyed seeing in this novel.

I absolutely LOVED this book! I love anything dual perspective, first off but the fact that there was a main character dealing with mental illness made me connect even deeper to the story. As someone who deals with mental illness themselves, it was nice to see another in a romance story with a supportive partner. This is the second book I've read like this and it makes me really happy. I laughed a lot and I loved the development of the relationship along with the build up of steam...I just think the world of this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Getting His Game Back is Gia De Cadenet's debut novel, and what a great story it was.

I love when romance novels have depth to them. This book covers a lot of topics, such as: mental health, sexism in a workplace, depression, interracial dating, anxiety, and real-life struggles. Don't get me wrong, I love me some fluff, and this book had a lot of swoon-worthy moments, but it was also deep.

I loved Khalil. Ugh, what a babe. The connection between Khalil and Vanessa was lovely. I loved their respect for one another and their chemistry. It got a little steamy as times too, which I'm here for!

Overall, this was a great read. If you love romance that tackles real-life struggles, I recommend this one.

2 stars

First of all, I want to correct a misconception that I had going into the book based upon the title, the cover, and the description: THIS IS NOT A SPORTS ROMANCE. There is one game of charity basketball that takes up only one chapter. Basketball is not at all a part of the plot.

Now that that’s out of the way, my review:

This was not the romance for me. At first I thought I would love it, because it has several ingredients that I adore in my contemporary romances: characters with successful or ambitious careers, cross-cultural communication, friends to lovers, mental health conversations. But the actual book didn’t do it for me.

Firstly, the chemistry between the two characters was just a little weird to me. I think perhaps the author and I just don’t share the same kinks or fantasies, because moments that are narratively coded as erotic fall flat to me. (If you’ve ever fantasized about a guy massaging your sweaty feet with olive oil on a nightclub couch of dubious cleanliness, this is probably the book for you). Khalil is a chivalrous gentleman, which sometimes came across as a little overbearing; for example, I wasn’t impressed by Khalil informing Vanessa that her clothing and footwear choices must be her “torturing herself” for others (and not, you know, something that makes her confident and happy) and he, an enlightened gentleman, would find her far sexier in the sweatpants and t-shirts she’s never before even wistfully hinted at wanting to wear. Sure bud. Also, most of what Vanessa and Khalil do together as a couple is have sex; we don’t really see them (after they start dating) spending time together doing anything else.

I was also looking forward to a good interracial romance where the characters honestly and thoughtfully deconstruct what, both personally and societally, makes that dynamic complicated, and I think for the most part the book did it well, with one small exception (and take this with a grain of salt; I am a (very) white woman). Vanessa is very cautious about Khalil being ‘white,’ but his identity is far more complicated than that; he’s mixed French- and Algerian-American. His North African roots make the US-centric white/black question far more fraught. He’s mixed, white-passing, with an Arabic name and naturally tan skin in post-911 America. It’s kind of wild to me how Vanessa just sees him as white.

Mainly what I didn’t like about the novel was the chemistry between the characters, including the mismatch between the author’s and my kinks. So let’s lay out some of the things the book does really well:
-Vanessa and Khalil’s friend groups meet and mingle. I rarely see this done realistically in romances, and think it’s a much-needed and well-done touch.
-Khalil and Vanessa both have deep, strong family connections that are interwoven into the narrative without distracting from the actual plot or relationship between the two of them.
-Vanessa is in a high-powered job she loves but the book still shows us the non-glamorous parts of that.
-There’s a sense of neighborhood and community that the two characters live and interact in.
-Mental health struggles, particularly in men, are destigmatized.

You will probably love this book if you: adore interracial romance, like friends-to-lovers, love a “provider” male hero, like chivalry, like tall men/short women, like sassy older women as side characters, enjoy strong family dynamics, hate tech bros, love TEDx talks.

You will probably want to skip this book if you: Enjoy in-office scenes with women-in-STEM heroines (this book has Vanessa’s actual workday mostly offscreen), want a more serious treatment of depression, or like a slow-building relationship.

Thank you to Ballantine for the ARC to read and review. Read up to 25%

I feel out of my zone for reviewing and rating this book. As a romance it’s quite slow. The characters are both good people, Vanessa a woman working in STEM. Khalil is a biracial man who owns his own business and struggles with his mental health. They meet by chance when she comes in for a haircut at his barbershop. They tip toe around each other but there are reasons for this. It was just frustrating for me.

I learned about the struggles of interracial dating from the black perspective. And also about the struggles of men with mental health issues. I think these aspects of the novel are inspiring and beneficial.

I love a cute romance book, and while Getting His Game Back had potential, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and story.

Trigger warning: descriptions of anxiety and depression in a main character and sexism in the workplace. Getting His Game Back is a story about a man and woman who are different races and come from very different backgrounds falling in love despite the obstacles. But, it is also a story about a woman overcoming racism and sexism in the workplace and a competitive industry. And it is also the story of a man who is deeply struggling and afraid to reach out. This multilayered love story tackles difficult issues while also packing heat and laughter. Gia De Cadenet’s debut book is full of heart and I can’t wait to see what she writes next! Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Vanessa is a Black women working in tech, and Khalil is am Armenian-French barber/entrepreneur. The two meet when Vanessa comes in for a haircut, and they continue working together on an app for Fade. Vanessa has decided not to date white men anymore, but Khalil checks all the rest of her boxes.

I enjoyed this, but there were a couple of things that just didn’t work for me. Khalil suffers from depression, and I couldn’t get passed the fact he stopped taking his medicine and going to therapy. There was also a lot of focus on race, and as a white woman, I do recognize that I just don’t get it. With that being said, I felt like Vanessa was very focused on race. I also felt Khalil was written as he was black (he played basketball, worked in a barber shop, best friend was black, went to Moorehouse), and his race was changed just to make things complicated. Overall, I felt like this had potential, but it didn’t quite live up to it.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine for my ARC! Getting His Game Back is out on January 25.

This was really good. Love the discussion on interracial dating and the pressures of being a black woman from the perception of being strong to having to educate non black people on black issues. Also the romance was adorable. Sweet sweet Khalil and Vanessa, a true example of sticking by your partner in hard times as well as good. Great discussion on mental health and what it’s like to go through depression but also what it’s like to be the one supporting someone through depression. Excited to get see these characters again and get the stories of the others as well! Great debut!

DNF at 63%

I really wanted to love this one. I kept reading, expecting it to get better. But it didn't. I had the same problems the entire time, and it didn't look like they were getting better. It got to the point where I didn't even want to read anymore, which was when I decided to quit.

My main problem would have to be the characters. I didn't find them relatable, I didn't find them enjoyable to read about. They didn't feel real. I didn't feel the connection between them at all. And the way they talked drove me crazy. Just some of the expressions they would use. Actually had to put the book down a few times, it was that bad. Maybe this just wasn't for me, but it wasn't something I was enjoying.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for an e-galley of Getting His Game Back.

At this point, we all know I love a good rom-com. Add in a dash of mental health handled appropriately and some steamy scenes and I'm sold. I love when an author creates a character with "real life" problems and then proceeds to handle the matter with care and dignity. Gia De Cadenet knocked it out of the park with this book. They had me laughing and crying right along with the characters.

I ate this book in one afternoon. I loved the characters, especially our main two, Khalil and Vanessa. All the characters were real and warm, and their interactions gave a positive boost to the book. I appreciated the realness of brokenness, of depression and the spiral it is so easy to slip down, and I most appreciated how Vanessa didn't take it upon herself to 'fix' him. She was just there for him, which is admirable and noble, and she wanted to help him get what he needed, even if that meant taking a step back. No one (except the person suffering) ever demonized deteriorating mental health or needing/asking for help, and no one tried to change or fix one another. And the secondary and minor characters made a difference, and I appreciate those important minor people getting names and stories as well (how many fictional club doormen in books ever get a name?) The writing was absorbing, the saucy scenes were exciting, and I have hope for these characters in the future!
I really cannot wait for the next one, and I'm stoked that it relates to characters we already know and care for. Here's to another amazing book, I'll be keeping my eyes out!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!