Pickleball has really picked up traction in the sports world in 2024, thus I was SO EXCITED to read a book that featured it.

Meg needs something to take her mind off her scumbag of an ex-husband. When her best friend invites her to play pickleball at the school's courts, she knows she'll hate it but does it anyway. But her hate soon turns into a tournament that she's enrolled in to save the schools' courts. The same courts that are set to be developed into wetlands thanks to Ethan, the charming ferry boat man. Will she choose to let him take over her courts or will she cast her lovesick heart aside and play the game of her life?

I enjoyed reading Long's debut however; I felt there was more pickleball and less romance. Throughout the first 20% of the book, I found myself internally cringing at the female main character's antics, which while some were relatable, others had me wanting to flip the pages fast enough due to second hand embarrassment. I just wasn't full on "sold" on the relationship and ended up speeding up the last half of the read to discover what actually happened to the city courts.

A sports romance, but make it pickleball? Adorable. I've never played myself but the characters, description and passion for the game made me want to pick up a paddle. There was a few really laugh out loud moments sprinkled throughout that kept me chuckling.

This book centers around Meg, who picks up pickleball after a shocking divorce. What follows is a high stakes tournament, rival pickleball clubs and a complicated love interest. The story also includes a really nice growth arc for our leading lady, which I enjoyed.

The relationship conflict is a little frustrating and without spoiling anything, both Meg and Ethan do the exact same thing which is my only complaint. But overall, I enjoyed the story!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I must admit I’ve never played pickleball, but it seems like an interesting sport and I was excited to read more about it in this one. This book had some good humor and I think a lot of potential. I think there was a little too much back and forth drama in the relationship build up for me. A rom-com always has the moment where it appears all is lost for the couple, but I couldn’t even tell when we reached that final hill since it had been so up and down all along and I wasn’t emotionally invested at that point (I missed my normal cry during a rom com). When Meg’s marriage falls apart her friend Annie takes her to play Pickleball. Meg is still a beginner, but she enjoys the game quite a bit. When her club loses their court and sees the chance to enter a tournament as a chance to raise the funds to get a new set of courts and she is excited at the chance to play as part of the beginners team. But nothing is simple, especially not the handsome man she has met. The couple was a decent one and I was rooting for them.

Set in the backdrop of the lush Pacific Northwest, Pickleballers follows a female main character who is at a crossroads in her life.

Recently divorced and feeling stagnant in her career, Meg Bloomberg (with the help of her best friends) turns to the game of Pickleball as a means to process her feelings. When she meets Ethan Fine, her plan gets derailed, and she’ll have to decide what’s next in her life, and whether or not Ethan will be a part of it.

Folks who enjoy a seemingly hapless heroine, the sport of Pickleball, and closed door romances might just hit the jackpot with this book. Since I fit into none of those categories, this wasn’t my personal favorite. There is a lot, and I mean A. LOT. of time spent on the sport of Pickleball, which I felt detracted from the other elements in the story. And this romance is completely closed door, which kind of felt a little like a bait-and-switch because it definitely wasn’t reading that way.

My favorite part was the setting, and author Ilana Long does an amazing job of painting the PNW with a beautiful brush.

This book will definitely find its audience who will wholly appreciate this heroine’s journey; it just wasn’t for me.

📣 a post-divorce heroine finds a new hobby + a new love thanks to pickleball

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 have you ever played pickleball? I think it sounds fun but I’ve never played before in my life.

There’s a lot to be said for finding a new hobby to love as an adult. Meg—a recent divorcee—had discovered pickleball since her jerk ex dumped her, & it’s through the sport that she keeps coming into contact with the attractive stranger she meets earlier in the book.

Meg & Ethan’s relationship blows hot & cold throughout Ilana Long’s Pickleballers, something that I wasn’t feeling 💯 about, particularly since the book itself could be more focused.

But throughout it all is a strong friendship between Meg & her bestie, & a sense of possibility—with pickleball, nature, & love.

Though this book feels a bit surface-level to me, you might enjoy the fact that it isn’t super angsty—even if our friends Meg & Ethan have some setbacks.

3 ⭐️. Out now.

Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.

[ID: Jess holds the book in front of pink flowers.]

🏓 Book Review 🏓

✔️ Insta Lust
✔️ One Night Stand
✔️ Enemies to Lovers

I had to check this one out because I played pickleball once and had a great time. This was also a unique setting/plot - divorcée picks up pickleball and joins tournament only to find that her hot one night stand is closing down her team's courts for ecological reasons.

There are parts of this book that are super earnest and grounded, particularly the romance storyline and the FMC's backstory and inner journey.

While a fun backdrop, the pickleball parts were less compelling - these parts also felt much more over the top and the tonal shift didn't work as well for me.

My fave relationship in this book was the FMC and her bestie - these scenes were fun and funny and I love how larger than life Annie was but that she still felt very much real.

The romance was sweet. I loved a cinnamon roll, so this is the type of MMC I typically like. I wish he had a little more to him, though.

Steam 🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕

Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and @netgalley for an advanced audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review.
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Meg is fresh from a divorce and she needs to put her energy into something positive. When her and her best friend pick up pickleball she discovers a passion for the game but also so much more, especially when it comes to Ethan. Yes, there are some complications for these too but just definitely rooted for them to be together!

Overall, "Pickleballers" was a really cute book! When newly divorced Meg, a pickleball newbie, finds out her league's courts may be destroyed with a new environmental project being done in the area, she offers to become the liason with the construction group doing the project. only to find out that the environmental consultant on the project, Ethan, is the guy she met on the boat back from Bainbridge Island (and subsequently made out with). To top it off, when her league decides to enter an upcoming pickleball tournament in the hopes of winning the grand prize to build new courts, her ex-husband shows up with his new girlfriend, hoping to take the same spot on the league's tournament roster as Meg and her pickleball partner, Rooster. Meg, and her best friend Annie, decide to head to Bainbridge Island, the birthplace of pickleball, for a getaway, and to prepare for the tournament. Meg happens to find Ethan on the island, only to find out he too is a pickleballer, and as the sparks between them grow, Meg finds out information that may suggest that Ethan is trying to sabotage her team to favor his own in the tournament.

The romance storyline between Meg and Ethan was great, and was fun and enjoyable, as was the cast of side characters. The banter between the characters was playful and witty, and had me snickering throughout. However, having never played pickleball, and really not knowing anything about it, I felt like I kind of slogged through the parts that had detailed descriptions of the game. (3.5 starts rounded up to 4)

Thanks to NetGalley, and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I unfortunately ended up DNFing the book; after a few chapters, the storyline just didn't grab me and bring me into the book.
I think the writing itself was great, and honestly, it's just a "me' thing. I will try to revisit the book in the future and maybe next time, I'll be more into it!

Congrats to the author on publishing.

Thanks to Berkley for an eARC; All opinions are my own.

I unfortunately was not a fan of this one. While I was really intrigued by the idea of a pickleball romance plot line at first the actual pickleball just became a bit too much for me as it took up so much go the plot. It drowned out the romance which I already didn’t find particularly believable. The fmc and mmc just didn’t have much chemistry to me and it felt very forced.

These two were adorable. I loved their romance and partnership. The last match of the book was EVERYTHING!

Sports romance
Forced proximity

DNF @ 36%. I really gave "Pickleballers" the old college try. I heard a couple of people that I know and trust say that they liked this book and thought it was very funny and well balanced. Unfortunately, I do not agree about either point. I didn't think it was all that clever or funny at all, but just because it is not to my taste doesn't mean it won't be for other people. I felt like a lot of the dialogue between the main characters, Meg and Ethan was very cringy and forced. It did feel like it was trying to be a little too relevant, picking up on the pickleball craze before anyone else got there, but it came off as a little try hard. I will say, I do appreciate that this book does include a lot of pickleball, the sport, but wait until you get too excited. I have read one too many books that are billed as "hockey romances," only for them to not include any of the sport. I do think it is a bit of a detriment, though, as pickleball takes center stage and is the star over the romance aspect of the story. There needed to be more of a balance. I didn't really connect with either character. Meg and her pickleball group seem very selfish to me. Ethan feels pretty one dimensional. There were a couple of cute moments, but those individual points were not enough to keep me engaged or interested in wanting to finish this story. Again, just because it's not to my taste doesn't mean that it's not for everybody. I have a feeling many readers will like this book quite a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ilana Long and Berkley Publishing Group for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Meg’s recent divorce has left her reeling, so her best friend comes up with the perfect way to distract her which is learning the game of pickleball. She has begun to enjoy the game only to have her new pastime being threatened as the court needs upgrades and other uses for the lands are being considered by Ethan, an environmental engineer.

She now finds herself competing in an event that will not only help her save the courts but will allow her to make peace with past and get ready to embrace a new life and love that she didn’t see coming.

This is a story filled with fun and friendships as Meg learns not only about who she is but what she wants as well as she opens her heart to all the possibilities her new beginning and Ethan bring.

Pickleballers is a cute romcom about a woman in Seattle who jumps into a pickleball league after her divorce only to get caught up in all of the drama of her fellow pickleballers. It was frothy with so many quirky characters. The play by play of the matches got to be a little bit much for me to read so I did some skimming of those parts but I enjoyed the drama, the little romance and the dynamics of the players in the league.

I wanted to love this, but it didn't work for me. I thought the concept was super cute and I was looking forward to a new sport to add to my sport romance collection. DNF'd at 36%.

Meg Bloomberg did not see it coming when her husband Vance left her, writing a note on the back of a Home Depot receipt and moving out. They’d only been married a a couple of years, but Meg had no idea that he’d been that unhappy. To help support him while he was in dental school, she’d set aside her painting in order to make custom cat collars.

Her best friend Annie couldn’t leave Meg to wallow in her unhappiness. She grabbed her friend and dragged her to the nearest pickleball court, to introduce Meg to her latest obsession. And as the months slipped by, Meg found that she really did start to fall in love with the game. It was one of the few bright spots in her life, after her last cat collar delivery went disastrously wrong and then she embarrassed herself in front of the hot guy on the ferry from Bainbridge Island back to Seattle.

But when their neighborhood pickleball courts are under attack, Meg wants to help the community however she can. The courts they used were part of a local school, and the pickleballers were hoping to add some lights, maybe a roof, and definitely some bathrooms. Instead, environmentalists are recommending that the land be turned back into wetlands. Meg marches over to talk to the engineer who decided to take away their courts, and she runs into the ferry guy, the one she embarrassed herself over (and accidentally made out with while he was trapped in her car).

Meg can’t face him and decides they need a different way to get their courts back. So when a tournament is announced, with a cash prize for the winning team, she trains harder than ever to make them proud of her and Rooster, her fellow teammate in the beginner round. But then, out of nowhere, another beginning team shows up to vie for her spot in the tournament. That team? Her ex-husband Vance and his new girlfriend. Now Meg has to get through them in order to win her place in the tournament, but they’re really good. And they’ve been playing longer than Meg has.

And then Ferry Guy shuts down their courts completely.

Meg and Annie decide to take a vacation to Bainbridge Island, which is conveniently also obsessed with pickleball. It should be, as the birthplace of the sport. But since Ferry Guy lives there, real name Ethan Fine, Meg bumps into him. And she finds out that he may not be the monster she thought. He only closed their courts for a few days, while they were too wet to be safe, and then he opened them back up. But he is entering the tournament too, also as a beginner, because he only recently took up pickleball after years of tennis.

Meg finds herself opening up to new possibilities. First, she tried pickleball and fell in love with it. Then she found she could start to open herself up to a new relationship. And she even tries painting again. But will the return of Vance cause her to shut down again? Or can she find her way to a new life of peace, joy, love, and pickleball?

Pickleballers is a sweet rom com with some genuinely funny moments. There is a lot of sweetness in this journey to a new life, and there is a lot of pickleball. I haven’t tried the sport yet, but I have been curious, and it was nice to get so much information about the game in this charming novel. There is a lot going on in this book, so the plot meanders just a little, but I still loved this journey. From the seatbelt to all the Daves to the funny reveal about who Annie’s crush was really on, this book has a lot of clever moments, and I am already looking forward to seeing what author Ilana Long comes up with next.

Egalleys for Pickleballers were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Pre-pandemic, my local recreation department sponsored a lunchtime pickleball tournament for town employees. A long-time badminton fan, I’d tried pickleball in Arizona back in ten years previously, when I was on the consulting circuit and staying with a dear friend in her 55+ community, and really enjoyed the pace of the game. So, I paired with our custodian to form a team that made it to the finals, but didn’t win (spoiler: he carried the weight of our team and made me look good!). Fast forward a few years, and I was sitting in a department head meeting hearing a supervisor bemoan “the pickleballers” in town who were creating conflicts over taking over tennis courts, taking turns to play their matches, and advocating for designated marked courts—with lights—at a park in a quiet residential neighborhood.

In Pickleballers, divorcée Meg Bloomberg is still smarting from the termination of her brief marriage. She’s fortunate to get support from her bestie Annie, who drags her into a local Pickleball League, where Meg finds community and makes friends—and frenemies— on the courts. An artist making her living from bespoke crafting, Meg meets a cute guy on the ferry while returning to Seattle from Bainbridge Island (where pickleball started!) and has a cute, then hot, then funny moment with him. He’s the first one to make her feel a tingle in months. She’s surprised and disappointed when they next meet:it turns out Ethan Fine is the environmental consultant on a school renovation project, and the courts she and her friends play on at the school is under threat, as the project will include reclaiming of the wetlands where the courts are.

The timing of this potential closure is terrible, because Picklesmash, a pickleball competition, has just been announced, and the league members need to practice! To encourage beginners, each league must feature a pair who’s never competed before; the $10,000 prize money could help build new courts in a non-protected location. Meg assumes she and Rooster, her retired partner, are the league choice of newbies—until her ex Vance (apt name for a villain) shows up with his new girlfriend to claim the spot.

While the tone is tongue-in-cheek and hyperbolic, playing up Meg’s flair for the dramatic, liberal use of alliteration, inserting the word “pickle” anywhere possible, and her funny exclamations, the content is serious. Long weaves in two histories of Bainbridge island: the lightness of pickleball is offset by the history of Japanese residents who were first in our country to be shipped off to interment camps in Idaho during WWII. The setting comes alive in the richly described flora and fauna, terrain and cuisine of the Pacific Northwest. Part of Meg’s healing is picking up a paintbrush again and making time for fine art; the reader can sense that the author deeply understands art from the way Meg paints and thinks about painting.

Female gaze abounds: Meg is lusty and Ethan is literally fine, and she does a lot of ogling. He hams it up when they play Truth or Dare during a pickleball scrimmage, trading facts for lost points. When he accepts her dare to do an interpretative pickleball dance, hilarity ensues. The multigenerational cast have distinctive personalities. Rooster dispenses both pickleball tips and ice advice; mean girl Jeannie is shocking but a breath of fresh air; kind inn-proprietor Mayumi, who hires Meg to paint her fence; eccentric Marilyn, who owns the original pickleball court; and ride-or-die Annie, who gets her own subplot as she pines for her playing partner.

The pickleball play is nicely balanced with the relationship, and titling sections of the novel with pickleball terms is clever. My own brief foray into pickleball was fun, but I don’t recall any rules, terms, or even why it’s called pickleball. A glossary might have been helpful in reading this sports novel about finding romance post-divorce, but having to pause and look things up didn’t diminish the joy Long conveys about this hugely popular sport, described as a fairy dust that coated everyone with happiness and good cheer.

I received a free advance readers review copy of #Pickleballers via #NetGalley courtesy of #Berkley. This review will post on HLBB on 11/18/2024.

Do you play pickleball? I have never played but admit I would like to try it once, at least. When offered a chance to read Pickleballers by Ilana Long, I thought it would be a fun introduction to the game as well as a fun romance to give me a smile.
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There was a lot of pickleball. A lot. Not surprising with a title like Pickleballers, but I did feel marinated in it. I did get a glimpse of the characters a bit off the courts, even there, comparisons to pickleball were rampant. I think if you are a fan of the sport, you will enjoy it a lot. I feel like I need to be out learning the game and playing right now.
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I enjoyed the setting of Seattle and Bainbridge Island so much. That is such a beautiful area that I have only visited briefly and would really enjoy seeing again.
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I loved the sense of community the pickleballers had. The author portrayed that well, as well as the friendships formed outside of the main group. The romances were okay, there was chemistry, but too many misunderstandings and miscommunications for me to ever feel like they were going to get it right.
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I think I let some petty things get in the way of my pure enjoyment of this book, but I definitely think there is a big audience out there that will love it. So check it out for yourself, especially if you like pickleball or want to know more about it.

This is a very sweet, enemies to lovers rom-com filled with punny pickleball jokes and facts, and a leading lady that you are really going to adore!

As an art therapist, I was immediately drawn to Meg. When you meet her she’s getting dumped and smelling these cat collars but has a huge passion for painting that she’s let fall to the wayside. She’s also kind of shy and tagging along on her journey of self-discovery after divorce was really fun. She gets into some pretty tricky situations that will sometimes make you blush and other times make you LOL. (I laughed out loud when she had a seatbelt malfunction.) The way she uses pickleball as an outlet was an entertaining storyline. You get to meet a sometimes fun, sometimes nurturing and supportive, and sometimes sassy cast of characters that really brings this story to life.

I also enjoyed the setting of this book so much. Seattle is always a place I love to visit and Bainbridge Island is now on my bucket list. Long really makes you feel like you are there, and I loved that so much.

The themes of hard things not defining us and taking charge of your own life really made this story for me. I found Pickleballers to be the perfectly lighthearted and thoughtful read I needed!

This works best as a novelty romance for those who are looking for something light, and probably specifically those who are already are fans of the sport. The cover is super adorable, and I think it will make a nice gift book this season, but it is pretty much exactly the book you expect it to be.