𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

🎧𝐃𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
Mary Jane Wells & Patrick Zeller🎙️

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨

🎾𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬-𝐭𝐨-𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬
🎾𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐲
🎾𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐬 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐂𝐒
🎾𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

✨Thoughts✨
𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 tennis player Scottie Sinclair's world was turned upside down when she uncovered her father's deceitful tactics in her quest for a grand slam title.

𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞’𝐬 trust was shattered, and so was her reputation. Scottie pretty much went off the rails. When her trainer suggested a plan to get back at her father, she goes for it. However, her new partner, Nico Kotas - sidelined by injury - is the very man who decimated her father on the court; he wants nothing to do with her. After a bumpy start, they began to work towards a comeback, finding common ground and maybe even a chance at redemption together.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 slow-building tension between Scottie and Nico was intense. This story reminded me a little bit of "Carrie Soto Is Back." While Carrie's father was a true legend and a formidable parent, Scottie’s father was all ego and control. Both stories are similar but definitely not the same. There’s more romance here and the main characters get a chance to heal old wounds which I absolutely loved!

𝐌𝐲 favorite part about this audiobook was the dual narration by Mary Jane Wells and Patrick Zeller, which truly brings their characters to life in this entertaining story of second chances on the court.

Thank you to Meg Jones, Harper Audio, and Netgalley for this ALC. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟒⭐️
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝟑/𝟓🔥

***NetGalley Review*** Enemies to lovers, age gap (but not creepy), protective MMC, and tennis??? All my favorite things!! I loved this book. I am obsessed with Scottie. She was so fun and chic. I love a strong, badass FMC and boy did she deliver. Clean Point was cute, spicy and really deep. I loved all the different dynamics. Especially once Nico learned about Scottie’s story. Definitely would recommend!

This is my first tennis romance book, as well as my first book from this author, and I enjoyed myself, overall. I was expecting more of a classic rom-com/second chance vibe from this book, but there were a lot more layers involved. There was a lot of talk about revenge, abuse, enemies-to-lovers/friends, sexism, and more. I loved the redemption story for both of the main characters and was glad that they both were able to get their happy ending after everything that they had gone through.

Although I will say that the enemies to lovers was a bit bland; the two main characters just didn't get along from the start, but I wouldn't call them enemies and don't really understand where it came from. However, the chemistry was great and I loved the build-up after the two were forced to work together.

Thank you to Meg Jones, Harper Audio Adult, and NetGalley for the AudioARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Overall rating 4.5/5

A spicy tennis romance book - YES PLEASE.

This was a nice surprise for me because I finally got the sports references within a romance novel. I really enjoyed the storyline, the amount of sport played, and the mixture of off the court activities.

In terms of narration, I loved both narrators however sometimes the male voice became so quiet that it was difficult to hear the words. I don't know if that was a production thing, or if that was intentional.

The reason that I did not give this a full five stars is the lack of resolution of the conflict with the father. With how important it was to the plot, it was kind of a quick comment about it.

I picked Clean Point by Meg Jones and I was hoping for a lighthearted rom-com, but this turned out to be a much more serious read than I expected. The story delves into heavy topics, from abuse to doping scandals in sports, which gave it depth but wasn’t what I was in the mood for. While the writing was compelling, I felt like a stronger understanding of tennis would have helped me connect more with the story. If you’re looking for a serious romantic drama, this might be for you—but it wasn’t quite what I anticipated.

The book itself is ok, but I would have preferred the book over the audio. I found the male narrator very difficult to listen to. His volume fluctuates within each sentence. He starts out at normal volume and then seems to end in a whisper. Even with my headphone volume on high, I had difficulty understanding him. This was a multi cast narration and I didn’t find any trouble with the female narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for the audio version ARC.

3.25⭐
Genre ~ sports romance
Setting ~ England
Publication date ~ book ~ August 6, 2024, audio ~ December 31, 2024
Publisher ~ Avon & Harper Audio
Est Page Count ~ 410 (p+ 48 chapters +e)
Audio length ~ 11 hours 34 minutes
Narrators ~ Mary Jane Wells, Patrick Zeller
POV ~ dual 1st
Featuring ~ UK English writing, tennis, forced proximity, age gap, slow burn, secret relationship, enemies to lovers, some steamage

Author content warning:
explicit content throughout with open door scenes, abusive father/coach, mentions of intentional and secret drugging/medical misuse, mentions of disordered eating due to training, alcohol consumption, sexual harassment, verbal abuse/slut shaming

Scottie (25) & Nico (33) are both trying to come back in the tennis world. She due to being named a cheat 2 years ago, and he due to a knee injury. They don’t hit it off right from the bat, but can these two work together to bring home a title they both dream of?

If enemies to lovers is your thing then you'll probably like this one since the tension and chemistry was great. Not really sure why they are enemies, but whatever. About the age gap, he's only 33 so her calling him old quite often got quite old for me with its repetitiveness. There are a good mix of side likable and unlikable characters. The father is awful, which we knew would be the case based on the author content warning.

Overall, I can't say I was fully invested and could hardly wait to put my earbuds in, but it was a solid first experience with this author so I would try her again.

Narration notes:
They both did a pretty good job of doing opposite sex voices and in a different accent. I think duet narration really would have brought the narration home though. He did a lot of whispering, so I had to up the volume for his chapters.

Clean Point by Meg Jones was the tennis romance I didn't know I needed! Ugh, it was so good! It is one the absolute best "enemies" to friends to lovers I've read, on or off the court.

Scottie Sinclair is a cheat--but she didn't know it. Her dad had been secretly dosing her after an injury was taking too long to heal, and when she found out, she obviously confessed. And during her two year ban, she went WILD. She did all the things she'd always wanted to do but couldn't. She never planned on coming back to the sport, but her old coach convinced her to give doubles a try--and he paired her with Nico Kotas, an older player trying to make a comeback after a knee injury. Oh, and he's her dad's old archnemesis. Which makes playing again worth it--if only for the revenge.

I don't know much about tennis, but it didn't matter. My rudimentary knowledge from Mario Tennis was enough to get me by, and while tennis is important, Scottie and Nico's connection is the real heart of the story. The narrators, Mary Jane Wells and Patrick Zeller, were FABULOUS. This was possibly the first contemporary romance I've listened to narrated by Mary Jane Wells (she's usually historical romance!), but she did a great job, even if I did occasionally find myself picturing Scottie in Georgian gowns instead of tennis skirts.

Thank you to Harper Audio for the advance listening copy. I thoroughly enjoyed it!!!

Brilliant from start to finish! I was immediately drawn into this world and didn’t want to leave.

There is nothing more exhilarating than being a spectator when watching sports and getting caught up in a comeback or underdog story, but we only see the tip of the iceberg, the result of how far these these push their bodies to be part of an elite group. It was fascinating, but also a sobering reminder of how much these athletes sacrifice and the demands that are made of them as public figures. I raged with Scottie every time some sexist reporter felt entitled to her time and that broaching her boundaries was acceptable. Ugh!!

As a fan of forced proximity, the set up of Scottie and Nico pairing up in mixed doubles was *chef’s kiss* and the tension between the two… delectable.

The ending was incredibly satisfying for many reasons and the epilogue had me giggling in absolute delight!

I couldn’t wait to start this and was even more excited when I saw that my favorite narrator, THE Mary Jane Wells would be performing for Scottie. MJW never misses and her performance was, like always, spectacular, and the dual narrator was so much fun.

Spicy enemies to lovers with the sports theme - loved the change focusing on tennis which you don't see a lot. Scottie has found an end in her career due to performance drugs that she claims were given to her without her knowledge. Nico had his career ended over an injury. Scottie is his old rival's daughter . Themes of revenge, betrayal, cheating, etc. I enjoyed this, but it was just okay . Glad I read it and would recommend to the right crowd, but something was missing for me.

A cute, quick to read tennis romance with dislike to lovers trope. I flew through the audio book for this and enjoyed the narration.

I found it really similar to Carrie Soto, and I would have loved to see a bit more backstory for the boy. The attraction between them was intriguing, but I felt like the boy's background could have added some depth. I also wished for a little more exploration of the relationship between the father and daughter. Overall, it was still good, but those extra details would have made it even better!

Thank you so much NetGalley, Meg Jones & Harper Audio for allowing me access to this ALC.
Clean Point is a contemporary romance which has been released on Aug 6th, 2024. Scottie Sinclair, disgraced tennis prodigy, gets a shot at redemption and revenge after being framed for doping by her own father. Nico Kotas, a former tennis champion, needs Scottie to help rebuild his image as he eyes a comeback. Together, they face scandals, old rivalries, and the ultimate challenge—trusting each other on and off the court!
I enjoyed A LOT the narration in this audiobook. British accent = so delightful! Very well done job done by Mary Jane Wells & Patrick Zeller!
As for the story, it was okay, not a fave but okay!

I absolutely ADORED this audio! Patrick Zeller has always been a favorite narrator of mine because of his tone and voice inflections. I really enjoy how he performs his characters; he always keeps me thoroughly entertained. This was my first audio from Mary Jane Wells, and it was fantastic! She performed this audio fabulously.

Nico and Scottie had such delicious hate and tension between them, and it was amazing to watch them fall head over heels for the other. I loved seeing them come together against a common enemy and form a united front. This book was fabulous!

3.5/4
It was cute. Nothing earth shattering. I’m not a tennis fan. But that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

I was absolutely not expecting to love a tennis romance this much but here we are! Considering it’s got all of the amazing tropes I love I shouldn’t be that surprised. Slow burn, forced proximity, second chances, small age gape (8 year) plus some good banter just to top it all off! If you want all the drama mixed in with your spicy sports romance, this one is definitely for you!

I knew very little coming into this book. Very little about what it was about, about the author, and about tennis in general.

The hook in the begining had me wanting to sit down an read the whole book in one go. To the point that I skipped a meeting at work to continue to listen to the audiobook I was that invested.

It was an interesting fresh take on a sports romance, one that I don't think I have read before, and I have read a lot of sports romance books. I felt like I understood where Scottie was coming from and I empathized with Nico in the same breath because he wanted to suport her and burn the whole thing down in the same breath.

The tennis was also accessable for someone who knows next to nothing about tennis. In our house tennis balls are dog toys, and I haven't even thought about the sport really since I was a sophmore in highschool and we had a rennis unit. When the game was being talked about I could follow what was going on, and didn't need even a fans knowledge of the game.

I appreciated that we got both point of views but it wasn't always just a hand off one after the other each chapter.

I struggled a little bit with the audio, I think the narrators were wonderful, but sometimes it was like the male narrator was whispering and other times he was yelling. I would have a hard time hearing some of the things he was saying with the radio in my car cranked all the way up. Occasionally the female narrator would have the same issue, but not nearly as often. With my headphones, both in ear and over ear I could hear everything just fine.

I want to thank NetGally and HarperAudio Adult for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperAudio Adult | HarperAudio for the free ALC. My opinions are being left voluntarily. I have had this on my radar for a bit.i love sports romance and find tennis to be a fresh sport to feature.this was spicier then expected but done so well. I am excited to annotate my physical copy.

Suggest giving it a try

I loved this book so much. I had a hard time going to bed last night because I didn't want to put it down. The characters were written so well. Scottie is a tennis player that appears a cheat. She's paired with Nico who has a bad knee. What could ever go wrong? 5 stars!

Many thanks to Net Galley and HarperAudio Adult for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A tennis romance you say!? Sign me up. Do I know anything about tennis? Nope, but I loved this anyway.

Nico is the definition of an overprotective hero, like swoon-worthy overprotectiveness. Scottie is unapologetically herself and I love her for it. They mesh together so well, whether it's on the court or in the bedroom 🤭

My heart ached for what had happened to Scottie in the past, and from someone she trusted so completely 💔 Nico was dealing with his knee injury and the way he wanted to persevere just for Scottie, again swoon. The revenge plot for her father and his old rival was the cherry on top.

The only downfall was the male narrator would often seem to be whispering, then suddenly speaking so loudly I'd have to turn him down. Other than that, the audio is fantastic.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the alc in exchange for an honest review.