I don’t think tennis romance is my cup of tea. Not going to lie, almost DNF’d it but decided to carry on.

Was it cute? Yes. I would’ve liked more of a development between Nicky and Elle as it seemed liked there wasn’t much of anything that would spark them having interest in one another other than the fact that Elle was fan-girling a tad. I didn’t feel a connection with the main characters nor did I feel that there was much of connection between them. The food did make me hungry throughout the book though 😂

Tropes:
- Sports romance 🎾
- Cheating
- Close Proximity
- Employee/Employer relationship
- Second Chance

When tennis superstar needs a new chef, Elle puts her name forward for the role. She has to adapt to his tight training schedule for Wimbledon and flighty behaviour, while also fighting her crush on him, as he is taken. Nicky Salco is a typical grumpy superstar, trying to make a comeback so he needs to be on top of his training regime and diet plan. Everything changes when Elle gets invited on tour with him as a live-in chef. They get closer, both fighting their feelings while also trying to keep their partners in mind.

I thought this was a really fun and topical story, as the tennis season is really starting now, with Roland Garros now and Wimbledon coming up soon. I have been loving the tennis romances, with Carrie Soto a couple years ago and more romances coming out this year. Elle and Nicky had really fun banter, some very 🌶️ scenes, and I thought it was really well written, with plenty of twists and turns that I didn't see coming!

Tropes:
🎾 Forced Proximity
🎾 Sports Romance
🎾 Workplace Romance
🎾 Secret Pining
🎾 Cheating

Find it in the shops now, as it's finally published! ❤️

I am officially obsessed with this book. I was expecting more of a rom com based on the cover, but what I got was so much better! It’s a passionate love story about falling in love with someone you shouldn’t, and the ramifications that can come from that. I know I’ll be reading this one again and again!

3.5
Elle is a private chef who gets a job cooking for a famous tennis player. Nicky the tennis player has a habit of eating meals in the middle of the night. During the night Elle and Nicky start talking they are both in relationship until that changes. The books is a close proximity sports romance with some funny bits. I really enjoyed this book.

Reading Date: 5/3/24-5/15/24
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I thought this book was good. It was the first ARC I had ever received and was super grateful to Emma, Hera Books, and NetGalley for getting it. I thought the cast of characters was enjoyable and the book had its funny, lighthearted moments. I had never read a sports romance involving tennis before so that was a new sport to kind of learn about. It was interesting to learn some of the different elements to pro tennis and how the tournament games work.

I thought that Elle and Nicky both had likeable moments when they were in scenes together, but they did have questionable motives for how they ended up together. I wanted them to know each other a little more and have some more depth to their relationship outside of late night chats in the kitchen. All of the side characters were enjoyable, and even had moments where I liked them more than the main characters.

While the book had its lighthearted, fun moments there were elements that I would have changed. The main relationship of the book was started through cheating and I just was not a fan. I hadn’t read a lot of books with the cheating trope before, but felt like there were moments in this book where Nicky and Elle were making their cheating seem okay just because they’re other relationships weren’t in good places. I just felt like it was really justifiable and thought that if their had been better communication between the adults in the first half of the book, as opposed to the cheating being stopped, 70% of the way though, I probably would have rated it higher. I also felt like the book could have stood to have one more round of edits as there were some small typos or repetitive phrases from characters.

Overall, the book was a decent sports romance and was a fairly quick read. I’m grateful that I had to opportunity to receive an ARC and glad I picked it up!

Thank you to Hera publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.
Elle becomes a personal chef to Nicky, a famous tennis player who has an affinity for eating late at night. Elle is tasked with making him latenight snacks.

Elle has questionable issues with knowing her self worth. She is in a relationship with a serial cheater whom doesnt give her anything in return, including orgasms.

When her late night chats with Nicky start to turn into more, she takes what she can get without demanding what she deserves. Nicky is in a long term relationship throughout the book and much of this book is a secret affair.

I condome cheating when it is necessary, but this was excessive. It felt like Nicky was really getting his cake and eating it too. It frustrated me to no end that Elle was okay being treates like bread crumbs by Nicky and his fiance.

I will say the two characters had great chemistry despite the lying and cheating. I really liked how aware Nicky became at the end and finally fought for what he wanted. Elle also learns to put herself first and becomes the trophy versus the consolation prize.

If you dont like cheating in books, this one is not for you. If you can handle it, its a sweet romance where both characters have moments of self discovery.

Just a warning, if you don't like cheating don't read this book. I however, was having the time of my life, I love cheaters. This man was such an idiot and should have broken up with his fiancee way sooner but it made the book hotter. Elle was so good for him and inspired him to be the best version of himself. The ultimatum she gave him at the end might be my favorite part of the book.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I read this is 2 days.. I love an easy, sports romance!

I'm going to pretend the book had no cheating tropes in it for a moment and say that, that aside I enjoyed the book!

Elle was a lovely FMC, I completely understood why she struggled with loving herself and the struggle to get out of a toxic relationship. Although I didn't agree with certain things, Elle showed up for herself and put her self first which I loved!
Nicky was a lovely MMC, Despite the obvious I really liked him he did what was best for himself and put him and Elle first. Turns out that's what he needed in order to get everything he wanted. I would have like a bit of duel POV from Nicky but that's being picky!

I loved the little tense moments, the friendship between Sydney and Elle snd her sister Josie, they were such good characters! I also enjoyed that it was a little less spice and more tennis, reading about the sport was fun as i know nothing about tennis at all and felt I was actually at Wimbledon. I wanted to scream at the book at the end because I'm not a fan of third act break ups and communication struggles, I'm all about the happy ending. If it was not for the cheating, this would have been a 4.5/5 but no one likes to read about cheating when you don't agree with it. If you don't mind this trope then give this book a go! I like that this author has done this as I've not read many books like this, so fair play! Overall a nice read, I love do a happy ending! Swipe for mood board and synopsis ->

Read if you like;
🎾 Sports Romance
🧑‍🍳 Chef
❤️ Secret Romance
🎾 Wimbledon
🧑‍🍳 Work Place Romance
⚠️Cheating Trope / Jealously / Toxic Relationship

Thank you @emmarae.author and @netgalley for the ARC! This is out today, Go add it to your TBR!

🎾🧑‍🍳

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I don't typically read tennis romances, so I was excited to give this a shot. I really did not vibe with the FMC at all. You're going to tell me that you met a celebrity who is your boss right after you leave your cheating boyfriend and you fall in love a week after. That it was love at first sight so you are a homewrecker for him and his fiancée, which is exactly what just happened to you? This takes "the way to a mans heart is through his stomach" to another level. Elle knew what she was doing is wrong, they both did. But they still convinced themselves that they were in the right and continued. No one tried to fight it. And then when he says he'll tell everyone and that he loves you, you dip?
There are other things that frustrated me to no end, but I'm glad Josie and Oliver had some sense. Good side characters always save it for me. I was more interested in Sydney and Tag than I was Elle and Nicky (why is his name NickY??)
Overall, I wasn't the biggest fan of this book. The tennis aspect was fun and the chef arc was cute, but the cheating (on ALL accounts) and homewrecking was a little much to me...

3,5 ⭐️
Love Game was my first tennis romance and it didn’t disappoint. The story sometimes felt rushed and I didn’t like all the cheating. I really enjoyed reading this book. I’m excited to read more books tennis romance books!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

Elle's boyfriend is cheating on her and she's known for a while. But as she's in between jobs and he's paying the rent; she doesn't want to find herself homeless. 

But when she gets a job as a personal live-in chef to Nicky Selco things will turn around. But falling in love with your boss is never a good idea. Especially when they are engaged to someone else. 

This narrative is not your everyday roses and romance. These characters were believable with the narrative touching on real-life scenarios; that left me with so many mixed emotions for every character. But I had to keep thinking 'What would I do in Elle's situation?'

This novel follows the main character of Elle, told from her point of view, and how she has to find strength in what she wants in her relationships.

But there is also healing for Nicky, standing up for what he wants and separating his personal life from his professional one. 

I have never read a romance novel that left me so tense, with my heart pumping in the last three chapters. 

Definitely an author I will be looking to pick up again.

This was a cute story. I felt sad when Elle and Nicky were apart and they were hurting. I could feel the pain they were feeling. I enjoyed the spiciness and the chemistry. Thank you for allowing me to read this ARC!

About: This story follows Elle who has been jobless and living with her boyfriend who she knows has been cheating on her. When she gets an opportunity to be a live in private chef for famous Tennis star Nicky Salco- she take it- even if she has to accommodate Nicky's late night food schedule. Elle faces a tough choice between her professional commitment as Nicky's private Chef and the growing connection during her and Nicky's late night chats. While the attraction is undeniable between the two, pursuing the relationship would jeopardize not only their careers but their personal lives and not to mention that Nicky also is engaged.

What I did like about the book: I was impressed by the growth of both characters near the end of the book. That was what me as a reader wanted to see. I loved that Elle supported Nicky and knew he was more than what the media said about him. I loved Nicky's drive and I loved the fact that it was not an instant- he wins and he gets the girl and that he had his ups and downs throughout his tournaments.

What I struggled with about the book: The main character Elle is truly at her lowest point in her life at the beginning of the book. I was not a fan of the fact that Elle felt she had to stay with her cheating boyfriend because he was paying rent since she has been out a job for some time. I also did not see the chemistry between Elle and Nicky- yes, they had a mutual attraction to one another but late night conversations alone did not signal (to me) this undeniable attraction to one another. The fact that Nicky was surrounded and always had eyes on him made it harder to see how their relationship progressed. Also even as their relationship progressed behind closed doors- it was really hard for me to root for the main characters knowing that Nicky was cheating on his fiancé (even though she is not portrayed as a good person and even if she was "also cheating" on Nicky)- I felt that the book tried to justify that it was okay for Elle and Nicky to be in this relationship.

It is so hard to rate this book- I would give it 3.5. Even though it seems that I more cons- the pros really did outweigh it.

Thank you @netgalley and @hera_books for the eARC of Love Game by @emmarae.author in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

I was really excited for this book being a huge tennis fan and a fan of a good sports romance, but this story just wasn't for me. The cheating trope is just not an enjoyable read for me and I just felt uncomfortable with the charcters justifications of their actions.

I enjoyed the writing style and got through the book quickly, the trope and story itself just wasn't for me.

Loved the theme of tennis in the book. I love sports romance as a genre and had hence wanted to pick this up.

It is a slow burn with close proximity. Overall a fun read on a summer break.

Thank you NetGalley and Hera for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.

I loved this book so much! I haven’t read much tennis romance, but I throughly enjoyed this story. The chemistry between Elle and Nicky was off the charts and it was so much fun getting the read all the ups and down of them falling in love with each other throughout the course of the story. Would highly recommend if you enjoy forbidden romance, sports romance, found family and forced proximity tropes.

Elle Carroway needs a job after the bistro she cooked for folded but getting a temporary job as a personal chef for tennis star Nicky Salco while he played at Wimbledon but cooking for Nicky leads to a full time job. Elle knew that Nicky was engaged to MacKenzie Scheffler because MacKenzie didn’t like Elle.

Nicky Salco had a reputation of a hothead on the tour and he needed Elle because he was always hungry in the middle of the night leading to trouble for both of them.

I had a hard time with Elle because I thought she was being a doormat on but I really hated Nicky for the longest time because he needed to break up with MacKenzie first before getting together with Elle.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoy sports romances and this was enjoyable in some aspects. However, there were some aspects that were a turn-off for me. The FMC stays with her boyfriend and has unsatisfying sex with him just because she needs to stay in his apartment since she lost her job. Ugh. And the MMC has a fiance, but he comes on to Elle, the heroine, when she’s working for him and staying in his house with him and his fiance. They acknowledge several times those barriers to a relationship, but they carry on anyway. To compensate, the author makes the fiance as obnoxious as possible. So, I guess it’s okay that the main characters are cheating on her. It made me dislike Nicky, the MMC. for how he was treating both Elle and his fiance.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

First off, thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

To be frank, I didn’t enjoy this at all. Why were there like 3 cheating tropes…It just felt so wrong…I was so stressed out for them and just questioning everything…I liked the idea of the story at the start but I got so thrown off by the cheating. Definitely did not sit right with me.

I was really hoping I would like this book but I just couldn’t…Disappointed.

Note: This review has temporarily been posted on Goodreads without a rating, as I am aware that certain publishers/authors do not want any ratings under 4 stars to be posted before the book is released.

2.5 stars rounded to 3 for the sake of this rating system.

I received this book from NetGalley to review and I have to admit, I was drawn in based solely on the cover. The premise is an American tennis player is in Wimbledon to compete and hires a British chef. He is a notorious hot head and she is down on her luck. It had potential!

Unfortunately the writing wasn't for me at all. The format for speech was wrong and the writing was disjointed. The FMC used the MMC's last name every time she referenced him and the dialogue was severely lacking. I also think the (British) author's knowledge of American speech was limited because there were some word choices that had me scratching my head.

The characters were a bit underdeveloped IMO. The MMC flip flopped between kind and rude while the FMC couldn't decide if she was shy or brazen. We learn more about them as the story goes on, but there's not much character development to follow.

The story itself was a good premise but not developed in a way that I found interesting. The time jump was jarring and overall the story moved along in spurts. It was like two steps forward, one step back, and I found it to be a struggle to finish this one. I don't think this author is for me although I can see the potential in her writing.