Title: Love Game by Emma Rae
Release Date: May, 16th, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stars

Elle, a talented chef with a passion for food, finally lands her dream job as a personal chef for tennis star Nicky Salco. Despite his off-limits status due to his engagement, Elle finds herself drawn to Nicky's charm and athleticism. As she navigates the pressures of cooking for Nicky while dodging his judgmental fiancée and dealing with her own relationship issues, sparks fly between them during late-night encounters. As they grapple with their growing feelings, Elle and Nicky must decide whether to risk their existing lives for the chance at something more meaningful.

In "Love Game" by Emma Rae, the concept and storyline intrigued me, but I found the final execution lacking. Despite the engaging tension and chemistry between the characters, I couldn't fully connect with them.

The cheating trope further detracted from my enjoyment as this is my least fave trope. Additionally, I felt that the protagonist, Emma, lacked self-confidence and respect, which made it difficult for me to fully root for her.

Overall, while the book was a quick and somewhat enjoyable read, I believe it could benefit from some additional refinement but would still recommend if you are after a quick romantic read.

Tropes:

Workplace Romance
Forbidden Love
Cheating Trope
Slow Burn Romance
Self-Discovery


Thank you to the publisher Hera,The Author Emma Rae & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.

✨Review✨

I started this book this morning… if that tells you anything..

I have not been able to put this one down. My emotions are all over the place from this read. I was enthralled. I wanted to scream and yell, I wanted to hug Elle, and I wanted to smack Mackenzie and Nicky. But then I wanted squeal because my favorites got their HEA.

This is a workplace romance, a forbidden love, sports romance. There is cheating, there is really just a lot going on, but I was sucked in. @emmarae.author this is gold!! Im so grateful to have read this ARC, and cannot wait for its release day!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

this book missed the mark a bit for me, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly why! I didn't particularly warm to the main characters and I felt like some elements of the book weren't entirely developed or in some cases, needed. I didn't dislike the story or overarching plot but I did struggle to keep reading and found I had to keep "making" myself read it until I finished l.

This would've been a 4+ star read for me if it weren't for the *spoiler alert* cheating. Regardless of how toxic his fiancé was, Nicky was still cheating and couldn't even entertain the idea of choosing Elle and disrupting his life. Their relationship developed innocently enough and could've continued in that way once they realized their feelings for each other, but that's not the case here. I think this had the makings of a great book, but the order of some events definitely could've been rearranged.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I enjoyed this book and thought it was a great twist on your typical sports romance. It was a really quick and light hearted romance.

I loved how much Elle grow in this book and the fact she cooked such fancy meals at 3am.

Nicky at first I thought was a bit arrogant but by then end, I had fallen in love with him and his love for Elle was another level.

Nicky and Elle are just so cute together and I love them but I do wish that there wasn't the cheating element, because Elle got cheated on in the first place, so knew how it felt.

This book gave the perfect amount of spice.

When I see a tennis trope I immediately think of Carrie Soto is back. I loved that book. To death. This was not that book.

The writing was decent and I loved how the story started. I don't care how terrible the MMC's fiancée was made out to be, cheating is never a trope that should be used. I also wish there was more character development so we could see who the characters actually were rather than just surface level. This could have been a great story.

REVIEW

📚: Love Game
✒️: Emma Rae

★★★★ (4/5)
🌶🌶 (2/5)

I couldnt put this book down.

The premise was so interesting and it caught my attention really easily.

I think the characters were really enjoyable and the story wasnt predictable, everything was a pleasent surprise along the way so i was never let down because i already guessed everything that would happen.

The spice was really good, it was descriptive and passionate, and really just like good smut should be written, besides it fit well with the timeline and was not used to fill in plot gaps.

The tropes complemented togather nicely and the developtment of the relationship felt very real in my opinion, which also made me connect with their situation deeper and whenever something happened to them i would feel for them. I really lived their dynamic and felt their chemistry.

I have never read a tennis romance since i dont really see the appeal towards the sport but this book definitely had me grasping every little detail i could, and i am very happy that the book had actuall sport talk, and that the tennis was also part of the main problematic, because in some books they only say some character is a sports player and that's it like it is a character trait and never once mention the sport again, so i really appreciated the actual view into a tennis player which also made their story more realistic since their routines probably resembles someone with their same job in real life.

I feel like the time jumps were too close togather and there could have been some filler chapters to avoid them, also there was a lot of describing actions past actions when there was a jump in time and in my opinion if there were some scenes were those actions were actually happening instead of just mentioning them it would give the feeling that the storyline is less "careless"

Overlooking the detail of the time marks i would absolutely recommend this book to everyone, because i dont know what it had in it but i just couldt put it down and read until my eyes bled.

I liked the idea of this! I really wanted to like a tennis romance. The chemistry was just not there between Elle and Nicky for me? And I hated how she acted with her bf.. and why did Nicky have to be engaged? Too messy for me and nothing was catching my attention to root for either character.

‘Love Game’ by Emma Rae is a sports romance with emotional depth, spanning a year in the careers and relationships of explosive tennis player Nicky Salco and chef Elle Caraway. As a big tennis fan, I was very excited for this book, and it was a fun read!

Elle was a relatable character in many ways, but unfortunately I found it difficult to connect with her from the point in the story where she and Nicky became romantically entangled despite his engagement… the cheating trope is really not a favourite of mine and I’m not a fan of the “oh but she’s so toxic anyway” defence… that being said, the romance and deep feelings at play felt raw and real and I couldn’t resist rooting for them as a couple because of their fabulous chemistry!

The book encapsulated the highs and lows of individual rather than team sport and the importance of the mental game as well as the physical, and Nicky was a distinctive character who definitely rang similar to a couple of players on the tour (including one with a similar name…?) I really appreciated how it shone the spotlight onto the difficulties of day to day life on the tennis tour rather than just focusing on the glamour of Grand Slams, though I loved the Wimbledon scenes of course.

All in all, I’m giving this 3.5 stars and rounding UP because I was swept up into the story and liked the ending a lot.

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Canelo via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first time I've read a sports romance and I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Tennis isn't something that I watched on the regular but it definitely makes me want to ! Additionally the midnight meetings and conversations made for a really interesting plot. I really enjoyed the forbidden love aspect between the main characters Elle and Nicky, despite the cheating trope which at times made me feel uneasy. Despite the cheating aspect, I felt that the storyline dealt with the reality of being the other women and the moral issues with cheating.

The chemistry between Elle and Nicky was undeniable form the offset and in my head I wasn't shouting' just get together already'!! I was just hooked on this book, hence finishing it in 24 hours. I also enjoyed the other characters interactions and would love to read about their stories too. The little snippets of spice was a perfect mix. There were times however where I felt the storyline was dragging and not a lot of progress was made during the middle of the book. However would have loved to read more of the post-match commentary.

Overall I did enjoy the book, despite not agreeing with the cheating trope. Its a perfect for sports romance fans and is a perfect book to get you out a slump. I'm happy to give this a 4/5 and would like to read more books by Emma Rae in the future.

Thanks to Emma Rae, Hera and NetGalley for letting me read an ARC copy, in exchange for an honest review.

“No one will ever hold the same power over me that you do, Elle Caraway. I am a slave to your existence.”
-
⭐️⭐️⭐️

•forbidden love
•employer/employee
•forced proximity
•cheating (🥲)

Elle has a passion for cooking, but is having trouble finding the right job for her. She finally stumbles on the perfect temp job- personal chef to a famous tennis star, nikky salco.

Okay, ig I’m entering my romance era bc this book definitely kept me immersed 🙌 I devoured it in less than 24 hours ✋ let’s pretend like the cheating trope didn’t exist for a moment bc other than that, I really enjoyed this book.

I found elle very relatable. She struggles with self-worth and removing herself from a toxic relationship. She finally gets the shove she needs and does what is best for her. We love a queen who learns to stick up for herself 🤌

Okay, nikkyyyyy! He’s so friggin sweet to Elle. Like okay I’m quaking in my boots rn ✋ nikky struggles with balancing his personal and work life which leads to poor performance on the court and poor choices in his personal life. I definitely disliked some of his actions and wish he acted a little more mature at times.

The tension is THERE my friends 😮‍💨 I loveeee a forbidden love/forced proximity romance and this was givingggg. I was over here blushing 😚

“I tried to stay away,” he breathes against my mouth. “But I can’t stop. I can’t. You’re in my veins.”

Okay, it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room… cheating 😭 guys I wanted so bad to rate this higher but I just can’t. Tell me why this girl goes from being cheated on to being the other woman. PLEASE ✋ There are so many parts where they try to justify it too. Like no babes, two wrongs don’t make a right 🥲

But, if you don’t mind the cheating trope, I definitely would give this book a try bc it’s got all the bones for a good book ❤️

⭐ 4.5

"'𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙... 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙣?'
𝙃𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙗𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚. 𝙄'𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙠. '𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪?'
𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙢𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜."

Elle's love language is food. But finding the right kind of work in her industry is difficult. After multiple different stints and temporary work, she lands her dream role: a personal chef to huge tennis star, Nicky Salco. It's just a bonus that he's handsome and athletic...but totally off limits.

This book gets into the action almost immediately! Elle is a chef who is out of work and not happy. Her boyfriend doesn't treat her well and, on top of that, he is cheating on her. Elle is interviewed by Sydney, Nicky's PA and hired for a three week, live in, personal chef role whilst Nicky is competing in Wimbledon Tennis Championship. Part of the role is that Elle must get up in the middle of the night to provide Nicky with and extra meal as he has an unusually high metabolism. Due to this, it out Elle and Nicky alone at night. Nicky. It is decided that Elle will move back to Miami to continue to be Nickys chef. Their relationship grows and things start to get tricky!

I loved this book so much! I found myself picking it up as much as I could. It was a fast paced read, with a, bit of spice. I liked the characters (Sydney was my favourite, we all need a cheerleader /organiser like her!) and enjoyed the plot.

I am most definitely not into tennis but I absolutely loved this book! It is my first sports romance and won't be my last!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read the ARC of this book.

I have to admit, romance (especially a spicy one) is not my normal genre. I'm a crime girl normally. Having said that, I adored Love Game! I thought it was so much fun. As I live in SW London, I know all too well how busy Wimbledon Village is during that time. Emma Rae has captured the essence of tennis fever brilliantly and the non-stop lifestyle of players. The story also made me hungry as Elle cooked lovely sounding meals! But it was the love story between Elle and Nicky that really interested me - not wanting to cheat but inexplicably drawn to each other. It's not easy to write scenes like that but Emma Rae has managed to do so. I look forward to her next book.

I really had to push through this book in order to finish it. It definitely had vibes that matched the romance movie Wimbledon. However I really did not like the cheating trope in this book, it didn't really matter to me whether they were both cheating or not but it really irks me because it's just creating more relationship problems than needed. I also really hated how the main character did a total 360 after being devastated when her boyfriend cheated on her and then becoming the "other woman" herself (I really struggled with that. I did however enjoy the main character being a personal chef because I feel like that's not a profession you see often in books. I also felt that the romance didn't develop very well and was mostly based on attraction rather than actually getting to know each other. Some of the phrases and nicknames used in the book also made me cringe quite a lot because it was like they were trying to hard to be current. Overall this book was a light romance but I couldn't get past the cheating aspect and the lack of character development or consistency.

I wanted to like this book, I really did. The plot is interesting, and there's angst and pining and forbidden love with some spice thrown in. If you like books with lots of drama you will probably enjoy this. BUT. I can't get behind a book with so much cheating. (Spoiler alert!) The FMC is actively being cheated on by her boyfriend at the time and knows what that feels like, AND THEN SHE KNOWINGLY AIDS IN HER LOVE INTEREST CHEATING ON HIS FIANCEE?! There's just something so un-romantic about a relationship starting that way and it kind of ruined them for me. Cheating aside, I also feel like the two main characters had great physical chemistry, but I didn't really understand how they both went from being attracted to each other to being in love with each other. It felt like something was missing. Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc!

I liked the writing style and romance in this book--but I couldn't get over the fact that she was just cheated on and then proceeds to have an affair with an engaged man. It really gave me the ick.

In a sea of contemporary romance books, this is a solid entry.

I was pleasantly surprised by the length of the book, specially when the main romance plot started to unravel because I was unsure how certain actions were going to be redeemed and the extra pages gave the story room to breathe and to earn its happy ending.

While I don't think I had read any book by this author until now, I will make sure to be on the lookout for more of her work.

The few Spanish sentences on the book were okay sans maybe 2 or 3 words that need revision -grammatically wise, but other than that, it was good.

My only complaint is that this book would have benefitted from a dual POV because important decisions needed to be explored way more, and we needed to see the actual consequences of the mistakes that were made. Specially from the male POV.

Very easy to read, familiar archetype characters and good pacing. The two main characters did need more depth to them, but very solid.

Overall thoughts:
4⭐️
2.5 🌶️
354 (kindle edition) 📖
Release Date - 16th May 2024

‘part of me feels powerless, as though I’m being pulled into Nicky Salco’s own personal vortex where nothing matters but him.’

Tropes: Forced proximity, Forbidden Romance, Second Chance Romance, Boss x Employee, Cheating, Found Family.

Elle finds herself working as personal chef for the infamous tennis pro Nicky Salco, but things get a little too salty *pun intended*

Firstly, I enjoyed the book! It’s nice to see a sports romance which isn’t the typical (I’m looking at you ice hockey👀😂)subject matter! I also quite like tennis, so that’s a plus for me!
This book does not skimp on the plot, with sprinkles (I can’t help the puns, I’m sorry) of spice.
There’s some great characters in this book, the secondary characters really do shine the brightest for me! Syd being my favourite of the lot!
I also loved the ending, it felt like coming full circle which I loved!

*You can enjoy this book even if you know nothing about tennis*

However, there are things with the book which for me did stop it gaining that fifth star! Personally I wish there was more focus on the tennis in the first half of the book, it would help the story a lot.

I also know a lot of people don’t enjoy one of the main tropes in the book, which I agree with it. It can make for uncomfortable reading. That said, it’s so integral to the plot the story wouldn’t work without it. I think this just makes the book not for everyone.

That said I was gripped by the second half of the book, couldn’t put it down!
So overall an enjoyable sports romance, loaded with tension, a good amount of spice (but it isn’t the main focus) & a plot that would make a great rom-com!

Thank you to Emma Rae, Hera & NetGalley for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t really care for the characters but that could in part be due to the cheating trope. The character development felt a bit lacking. Though I did love the FMCs sister. She felt like the voice of reason in the book.

Random Notes - There were some time jumps which felt a little bit jarring. Also, FMC refers to the MMC by his full name a lot.

Love Game was such a fun book! There aren’t that many tennis sports romance books so I was happy NetGalley approved this ARC for me to read. This was definitely a slow burn and at times maybe too slow but the story was fun and flowed well and main characters had chemistry- a lot of it! I would most definitely recommend this book as a kick off to the summer!