Wanted to love this one, but if you're not totally sold on the cheating trope, it's a hard one to get into. Loved the set up of the two individual characters, but struggled to make it through the trope itself, though that's definitely down to personal preference.

The characters are well drawn, and the writing is engaging. Otherwise a fast read!

Emma Rae skillfully blends humor, romance, and emotional depth in "Love Game," creating a narrative that is both entertaining and heartfelt.

I was more invested in the plot and how everything would play out than the actual relationship (I'm normally the other way round)

The relationship between the two main characters is kept a secret up until the third act conflict due to the male main character being engaged to someone else, as previously mentioned I was definitely more invested in the plot and seeing how things would play out (with coming out with their relationship, him breaking up his engagement) and I did enjoy it

I didn't fully buy into the relationship between the main characters, it felt a lot more lust and physical attraction than love and really knowing each other to me

- sports romance (tennis)
- tennis player x private chef
- sneaking around
- forced proximity
- cheating

Thank you to NetGalley and Hera books for the ARC - all opinions are my own

This book was not what i was expecting and little misleading. Although the chemistry between Nicky and Elle was undeniable and emanated off of the page I could not get over the betrayal and cheating that was sprinkled throughout the book. It felt like someone was constantly cheating which is not my cup of tea. Although I did like Nicky and Elle's chemistry I didn't love either of them as main characters.

I'm sorry I couldn't get behind this book even though I did read the whole thing because I did enjoy parts of the author's writing. But I think the cheating trope just isn't for me, and the story could have had legs without it in my opinion!

This was cute, but I am so tired of toxic alpha male characters. I felt like Nikki only got his head out of his ass once he'd well and truly treated Elle like shit. It was frustrating to read. I can't say that I enjoyed that there were what felt like multiple cheating tropes. This was a miss for me.

(Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an early read in return for an honest review!)

2.5 stars / 5

I loved the characters of this book from the get go, they were written so well and Elle was so loveable and you got to bond with her so well from the start. I loved the cooking theme throughout as it was different to other romance tropes I’ve ever read. However, I really disliked the whole cheating plot between Elle and Nicky, especially as Elle herself is cheated on, and it is a big event for a few of the chapters, and it really has an impact on Elle. This really just made me dislike the characters quite a bit, as I couldn’t really come back from that.

Spotted my latest buddy read with @rarelyreadingclassics in the wild today! And in the 3 for £6 deal at @theworksstores no less!

We absolutely flew through this read and the chat was going off on What’s App! I just loved the sports element and as much as I love hockey romance, this was a refreshing change! I don’t know about tennis but I was definitely rooting for Nicky to win!

A tennis pro, a personal chef whose life isn’t going as she’d planned and a few bumps along the road made for a very good read. Fast paced, funny, laugh out loud moments and just generally a REALLY good time! Thank you @emmarae.author for giving me and Harriett our buddy reading mojo back!

*thanks to @netgalley for letting me read this and sharing an honest review.

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!

Elle is in a rut. She has a cheating boyfriend, no job, and no way out. Luckily, a pro tennis player at Wimbledon needs a personal chef. He has some odd requests, but nothing that desperate Elle isn't more than willing to oblige. However, the more time they spend together, the more they start to need each other.

I thought this was crazy cute. This is really more like a 3.25⭐. I really do love the characters (especially Syd from my home-state of Georgia). I love everything about the story except for the cheating aspect. I get it. But cheating is just soooooo icky. If they had done it without the cheating, it would have easily been a 4⭐ book.

Love love love this book, once I started reading I couldn't put it down. I read it in a day I was totally hooked. What a beautiful love story.

I devoured this book in 1 day.
The chemistry between Nicky and Elle is off the charts, next level stuff.
Elle is a chef who needs a way out of her awful day to day life with her boyfriend who's cheating on her, Jamie.
When there's a new hot shot tennis star in town with a ridiculously high metabolism needing a live in chef, Elle thinks all her problems have been solved. No longer is she stuck with Jamie, relying on him paying the bills.
However, when Nicky enters Elle's life its fair to say she gets more than she bargained for.
I can't wait to read more by Emma Rae, she's certainly an author I'll be on the lookout for!

Love Game is a light and entertaining read that mixes sports romance with a dash of culinary delight. Elle, whose love language is food, finally lands her dream job as a personal chef to tennis superstar Nicky Salco. Nicky is not only a talented athlete but also incredibly handsome, which adds an extra layer of complication to Elle's already tricky life.
The story shines when it delves into the dynamics of Elle's job and her interactions with Nicky. Their late-night conversations and shared moments in the kitchen are sweet and engaging, building a simmering chemistry that keeps you turning the pages. However, the constant presence of Nicky’s judgemental fiancée and Elle’s unfaithful boyfriend adds a bit too much drama, making the plot feel a bit crowded at times.
The author does a great job of portraying the high-pressure world of professional sports and the challenges of maintaining a personal life within it. The tension between following your heart and staying true to commitments is a relatable theme that resonates throughout the book.
While the romance is sizzling and the forced proximity trope is well-executed, some character development feels lacking, and certain plot points could have been explored more deeply. Nevertheless, Love Game is a fun, easy read perfect for fans of sports romance looking for a light-hearted escape. It’s not a grand slam, but it definitely scores some points for its charming leads and the culinary twist.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a cute tennis romance. Nicky Salco is a tennis superstar who sleeps, breathes, and eats tennis. Because of his athleticism, Elle is hired as Nicky’s personal chef, since he needs to eat throughout the day and even at two in the morning. Nicky is engaged to his high school girlfriend, Mackenzie, but upon meeting Elle, he starts gaining feelings for her. I enjoyed the tennis romance aspect of the book and thought it was enjoyable.

Thank you to Hera and NetGalley for the ARC of Love Game in exchange for an honest and independent review.

Elle is living a life that no longer looks like her own. She has lost her job, her boyfriend is cheating on her and she's well aware, she doesn't have the courage to stand up to him because he's paying her way and she literally has no place else to go. It's safe to say Elle is need of a major life change. That change comes in the form of a three week offer to be a live in personal chef to a hot shot (and hot headed) tennis heartthrob during Wimbledon.

Enter Nicky Salco: an ultra talented, moody, maladjusted, overly driven/serious, and insanely hungry superstar of the tennis world. Nicky lives a low key life and tries to stay out of the public eye as much as possible, making him all that more desirable. He trains hard, lives a disciplined life, and is determined to rise to the top of his game, yet again.

Elle is brought in to be Nicky's personal, around the clock chef. Interestingly enough, Nicky has a metabolism disorder in which his metabolism operates at a significantly higher level than normal, resulting in a 2 am wake up in need for a full second dinner night after night. That's where Elle comes in. Elle is brought on to cater to his every need at 2 am in order to keep their superstar sated and ready to play. Over several days, these 2 am sessions morph into something they both look forward to. There's only one big, blonde, bitchy problem: Nicky's fiancée, who is doing everything in her power to ensure Nicky and Elle stay in their own perspective corners of the house and grounds.

Over time, the attraction becomes undeniable and a bond deeper than their late night friendship begins to form. However, being that Elle is fresh out of a relationship where she was cheated on, she's not eager to do the same to another, no matter how terrible of a person the fiancée in question may be. Eventually, Nicky asks Elle to return to Miami with him in hopes that she will continue cooking for her. Being that Elle has nothing left for her in London, she eagerly accepts his offer.

As the weeks past, their connection grows deeper. Elle finds herself imagining the life she and Nicky could have if it were just the two of them and she quickly realizes she wants that more than anything, no matter how wrong their current situation feels.

In this steamy, slow build, close proximity romance, a couple of triggering topics come into play that I had to wrestle with in order to really get into this book. First and foremost, in no way do I find infidelity a light weight subject, nor do I condone it in any manner. For so many, this is a triggering issue that has literally destroyed the lives of those effected. It was really hard to get past that in the beginning in order to root for any form of a relationship between Elle an Nicky because Nicky was still engaged to be married as he grapples with his new found desire for Elle and the future he wants with her. However, he can't have his cake an eat it too, but that's exactly what he was doing for the first 3/4 of the book, which really triggered me at times and made me almost not like his character for that very reason. I also was upset with Elle because honestly, she knew better. She was that girl walking in on her cheating boyfriend. In what world do you justify turning around and doing that to another person? I will step off my soapbox now, but that was by far my biggest pain point with this book and I felt it needed to be addressed.

Now, all of that aside, once you really get to know the characters and you realize what a terrible relationship Nicky has with his fiancée and how much Elle challenges him to make the changes to be a better person and encourages his success, you cannot help but root for their eventual love story (I just wish it would have happened sans the infidelity-sorry, spoiler alert). All that being said, their love story was one that excited me and I could not stop reading. I actually read this one in one night because I just didn't want to put it down. The attraction between them is palpable and you are sucked in from the very beginning, never wanting to put it down (which I clearly did not). While I think this one definitely has some subjects that can be considered triggering, I did not let that alter my overall feeling toward the book and their story and all the feels it brought. It was engaging and I truly loved all the characters for what they brought to the plotline. A wonderful summer beach read for your next trip!

This book was a nice fast paced entertaining read. I thought that the conversations between the characters were funny and I loved all of the characters in this book. As someone who isn't into tennis I wasn't sure about this book but I really loved it.

After being repeatedly cheated on by her boyfriend, and unable to find work, Elle is thrilled to find herself with a dream job as personal chef to tempestuous tennis player, Nicky ‘Triple’ Salco, albeit with some terrible conditions including waking up in the middle of the night to cook him a full meal. Soon enough their late nights lead a full blown affair with Elle fighting her head and heart.

Heaven help a romance writer who tackles the extremely messy topic of cheating because I know many people will be off put by the plot. I appreciated that Emma Rae raises all the ethics involved in Elle and Nicky’s affair, but I found it too convenient that his fiancé Mackenzie was cartoonishly evil. I also am not a fan of the power differential given Nicky is also Elle’s boss. But for me, what made this book not quite work for me was the romance itself, it felt like lust. I had zero sympathy for Nicky being unable to leave Mackenzie. Elle also seemed to serve as a way for Nicky to have redemption instead of Nicky pulling his finger out to be a better man for himself.

I do applaud Emma Rae for a debut novel that pushes the boundaries by tackling a storyline that would ick a lot of people. This makes me really keen to read her next book.


Thanks to Hera and NetGalley for the ARC.

super fun premise but unfortunately the execution and book were not for me. felt very monotonous, repetitive and dull.

As a big Emily Henry type of book fan, this romance was a great read. It’s a quick grab and read by the pool kind of romance.

I throughly enjoyed my time reading this book. I thought the incorporation of tennis was done very well as it didn't overpower the story with terminology I didn't understand. I really liked the side characters and they helped show the different sides of the main characters.
I would have loved to see Nicky's POV and felt like the cheating trope was a bit hypocritical at times.
Overall I really liked the book and would recommend it!