Pickleballers was an okay read for me. I really liked the setting, the cast of characters and all the pickleball stuff. I just didn’t love the romance of it. I just wasn’t super into Meg and Ethan as a couple, they were both fine characters no issue with either of them, I just wasn’t invested in them together. Still a good enough book though and I’d read another book from the author.

I loved this book !! It was such an enjoyable and fun read! I had a blast! The romance in this one was really great and the MMC was so swoony! I felt like the FMC was so stinking relatable! This book had all the makings of a perfect and successful romcom! Give it a try!
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
spice: closed door 🌶️
CW: mild language and innuendo!

Pickleballers
⭐️⭐️

“You have that in you. I’ve never met someone who can imagine something like that. Something creative that touches people.”

Thanks so much to @berkleyromance for the free book! #BerkleyPartner #Berkley

Let’s start with the disclaimer that I give on most sports books. I know NOTHING about pickleball. In fact, if you see me post a review about a book that includes sports, please just assume I know nothing about the sport.
I still read sports romances because if the sport doesn’t overpower the romance then I typically still enjoy them. Unfortunately, this was heavy on the pickleball and very very light on the romance.
Let’s also remember, just because I don’t love this, doesn’t mean that you won’t.
I really do believe that this story started strong. However, as I continued the book just had a lot going on, and my little brain could not keep up. There were so many characters and so many subplots. I was struggling to focus.
The initial meet-cute was so good and I was excited to keep reading, but it ended up falling very flat for me.
In my Goodreads review, I said this was the Hallmark-ification of Pickleball. I stand by this statement. This had MAJOR Hallmark vibes. Between the dynamics of the friendships to the energy of the town, but most importantly their passion for pickleball, the hallmark movie energy was strong.
I think my biggest critique was the humor. I love a good joke and I love funny books, but these jokes felt too juvenile for my taste. It’s hard to explain but it just didn’t mesh. There was a lot of “pants and balls humor” I’ll let you decide what I mean by that…
The part of this story that I appreciate the most is how much you can see the author’s passion for the sport. You can really see how much she adores it!
Overall, this book wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me. This book is probably better suited for people who enjoy pickleball. This is out next week on November 12th!

Read If You Like:
🏓pickleball!!!
🏓dating after divorce
🏓mild rivalry
🏓hallmark movies
🏓eccentric characters

Meg is recently divorced from her dink of an ex husband, and is convinced to try to a new hobby- Pickleball - with her best friend Annie. The community embraces her, and she appreciates that most people are just out there to have fun. When a random stranger from the ferry turns out to be a not so random (and extremely attractive) environmental consultant named Ethan, with plans to shut down their court, Meg is conflicted by her growing feelings toward him. Preparing for her first tournament, Meg takes a trip to Bainbridge Island (birthplace of pickleball!) for a reset, and discovers a lot of things about herself, about Ethan, and some odd happenings with friends and competitors back home. Ultimately, Meg finds that she deserves a second chance and love, and that sometimes it's ok to put yourself first.

💭 This is not your typical sports romance! The pickleball trend is definitely hot right now, and this is such a cute and uplifting story about a sport that sets out to be inclusive. This felt like a love story to pickleball, the Pacific Northwest, and to being true to yourself. The banter is cute, the pickleball puns were hilarious, and the friendships and fellow pickleballers were definitely highlights! There were also some funny little twists that kept you guessing. Another highlight was learning some of the history of the PNW and of Pickleball! Who knew?! Definitely check this one out!

Pickleball is not what drew me to this book. In fact the game makes me sour because I don’t find it interesting.
I thought Meg was looking too soon as sort of a rebound from her ex.
Ethan and Meg both jumped to conclusions too early.
I liked the setting of Bainbridge Island.
The best part was the face off with Vance although I thought Meg was too nice to him and should have beaned him with the paddle.
.

If you really enjoy playing pickleball, then you will enjoy reading this cute romance story. It's okay if you haven't played pickleball before. Thankfully, Pickleballers gives readers a bit of guidance about pickleball in general. 
Besides the endless games of pickleball, the romance plot was entertaining to read. It's lighthearted and refreshing to read. The banter between the love interests is endless and makes you giddy every time. I also enjoy the chemistry between the love interests. It's not forced; it's organic, which I love to read in romance books.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but I had a really hard time connecting to the story or to the main character, Meg.

I’m happy I had the opportunity to read this book. It was an enjoyable and uplifting story. I admired the strength of the main female character, Meg, and her passion for art resonated with me. She used Pickleball not only as a distraction but also to make new friends. Having experienced the challenges of moving on after a divorce, I found this story inspirational for many reasons. I thought her love interest was intriguing, and I enjoyed the chemistry between the two of them. The side characters were hilarious, and I laughed a lot! I would recommend reading this book.

Pickleballers by Ilana Long serves up the ultimate ace - a delightful new romantic comedy that will surely have you eager to hit the court as you follow Meg's exciting journey in the sport. Prepare for unexpected twists on and off the court that will change the game - and her life - forever.

Thanks to Berkley for the advanced copy of Pickleballers by Ilana Long. This was a fun book - I wasn't going to pick it up at first, but friends were saying it was cute and fun, so why not. Plus, pickleball was a huge thing in my Northern NJ high school 20+ years ago, so when it became a thing recently I had to laugh. 

This was a cute romance with great banter and a lot of pickleball and pickleball puns. It was a quick read as I read it in one afternoon. 
Pickleballers comes out November 12th.

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for the advance copy of this!

Like the rest of the nation, I too got swept up in the hoopla of pickleball in recent years. And guess what, it is actually fun! Granted I would play with my husband and sometimes we wouldn't keep score and I'm sure we would do things incorrectly. It was a great work out especially because of it being 1:1, lots of running around on the court. So it was only a matter of time before a contemporary romance came out with pickleball as the center of the story.

I thought this was a cute read! I had not read what the synopsis was prior to reading and I was reallly hoping it would be a cliche read where the two folks are on the same pickleball team. Turns out our FMC Meg meets hottie Ethan at a cafe and the sparks are immediate until they fizzle as he is the one incharge of demolishing her home pickleball courts! There's a lot that happens inbetween including a pickleball tournament that involves her ex husband and new girlfriend. A bright spot in this book is Meg's relationship with her best friend Annie and Rooster. I loved anytime the characters in a scene!

This was the author's debut novel and I would check out another book from her.

Check this book out if you are looking for a light fluffy read that centers around pickleball; this would be a good palate cleanser after an intense read!

I requested this book as a joke to myself for just getting into pickleball and "feeling my age," and I was surprised at how much fun it was. I love the pickleball puns used throughout the books and the enemies to lovers / rivalry that Meg and Ethan bring to the court.

This sports romance was sweet with many humorous moments. As the title suggests, this book was heavy with Pickleball! I’ve never played, so I felt maybe it was a little too heavy on the pickleball details at times.
It starts with the main character learning Pickleball to keep herself busy as she copes with divorce and her pickleball involvement leads to friendships and a community. The meet cute between the characters was memorable. Overall a good read. 3.5 stars

The title caught my attention immediately because I play pickleball. Finally a sports romance that features pickleball! The author sure did her research on the sport. The story even takes place where the sport originated. This was a fun romance with a lot of banter. There is a lot of pickleball incorporated. It may be too much if you aren't really into the game. Otherwise it was a fun, quick read!

I'll be the odd one out. I'm a fan of rom coms and trope-y romances but this was a miss for me, likely because I've never played pickleball. I grew weary of the puns. Meg and Ethan are fine characters but there was too much going on, too much almost slapstick comedy for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Over to others.

This story follows our main character, Meg who is not doing fine at all. She recently got divorced and is trying to put the pieces of her life back together. One of the ways she’s been doing that is playing pickleball with her best friend, Annie. While she’s not great at pickleball, she’s trying her best.

She’s trying to figure things out when she meets a guy while in Bainbridge, Washington which is the birthplace of pickleball. The two hook up before Meg goes back home and then things get even weirder. Her local pickleball courts are set to get shut down due to the animals living there and the guy behind it is Meg’s hookup named Ethan.

While Meg tries to stand her ground, she can’t help the sizzling attraction she feels towards Ethan. Things start to look up when a local pickleball tournament is announced and the entire group of pickleball players agrees to compete. As a beginner, Meg is paired with another beginner until the team pulls out their secret weapon aka Meg’s ex-husband.

From there, Meg is determined to not only snag the spot but stop Ethan and figure out what’s best for herself. If this book sounds like there’s a lot going on, there is. However, Ilana Long does a great job of not feeling like there’s a lot going on. The pacing of this book is incredibly good.

Even though the third-act conflict is downright bonkers, seeing the romance between Meg and Ethan was fun. These two seem like an unlikely pairing but the attraction is there from the start and it’s nice to see Meg get her HEA after dealing with so much. While the romance was good, it did feel like it took a backseat to everything else that was going on.

If you’re a fan of pickleball though, I think you’ll enjoy all the references and all the different scenes of the characters being pickleball. While I’ve never played, Ilana Long does have me intrigued to play. Overall, this book was fun and a solid debut.

If you love pickleball and hallmark movies, this book is probably for you. If you love good banter (that’s not inundated with pickle-themed puns) and characters with palatable chemistry, this book is not for you. Overall, the book felt silly (in a good way, if that’s your thing) and immature (not in a good way, in my opinion). I simultaneously felt like there was too much going on in terms of subplots and like I was rereading the same conflict-resolution cycle repeatedly for 300+ pages. I don’t think it helped matters that I have no experience with or strong feelings for pickleball. I do hope the romance-reading pickleballers love it!

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“Life’s like pickleball. You gotta release the bad patterns and habits that are dragging you down before you can make any progress.”
I’m not usually a sports romance reader, but with the current pickleball craze I couldn’t help but give this one a shot and being based in the gorgeous PNW is helpful as well because the descriptions of the scenery were absolutely stunning.
Meg is a beginner pickleball player-her best friend Annie is trying to take her mind off her recent divorce by teaching her to play- and soon she be ok just as obsessed as every one else. One day on a trip to the mainland she has sparks fly during an encounter on the ferry with a mystery man. She soon finds out that her mystery man is Ethan Fine, an environmental engineer who has plans to convert her local pickleball court into wetlands. But what Meg doesn’t know is that he is also a pickler himself, Meg’s attraction to him grows as her skills improve and when a big tournament comes up that offers a big payday that could help them get new courts, Meg and her fellow pickleballers work to win and bring the championship home. “In pickleball, love is everything.”

There’s loads of humor-including slapstick, multigenerational friendships and an abundance of pickleball puns. If you’re ready to have a good time, knock your ball into the “kitchen” and pick this up when it’s released in November.

Pickleballers was the first pickle-ball sports romance that I have ever seen! The premise of the story was very fun, the underdog pickle-ball player trying to get her life back on track and so she decides to join a new sport. The conflicts that get thrown her way kept the story very interesting and the reader is always kept on their toes.

This would be a really great read for some one that wants a novel that has a lot going on at all time. This character was always jumping from place to place and has very interesting experiences happening to her. Personally, this book was not for me, the writing and plot not something I enjoyed. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a very active story that has events occur constantly.

Thank you Berkley Publishing so much for this arc!