This book frustrated me! I feel so conflicted about it, because on the one hand, the chemistry between Elle and Nicky was so so strong, and their passion for one another was undeniable, but on the other hand, I do really feel as though I was misled as to what this book would be about, and the amount of cheating that occurred in this book! It seemed as though everyone was cheating on someone at some point in the book, from Nicky to Mac to Tag - and I had a problem with almost all of it. I know that this as a trope isn't a dealbreaker for everyone, but I feel pretty strongly about it, and I know that many others do too, which is why I can't help but be disappointed that it was such a strong part of the storyling. I also didn't love Nicky or Elle massively as main characters - Nicky's ego and arrogance became rude at points, and Elle pining from home wasn't a strong look.

If you enjoy reading about main characters who have no backbone and tons of cheating but its okay because they're a shitty person, then you will really enjoy this book! I knew from the beginning it was going to be a tough read when the heroine knew her boyfriend was cheating on her but didn't break up with him. I feel like this is a classic scene in tons of books where the heroine walks in on her boyfriend with someone else yet they always break up with him. It started the book on a not so great note. The writing was okay, and I'm not too knowledgable on tennis so can't tell if everything was accurate or not, but it did add a fun flair to the book.

Okay, I really went into this book with an open mind but quickly realized it may not be my type of book. Theres a lot of cheating involved and that really made me struggle reading it. The writing was definitely great but the storyline went downhill for me quickly. I also agree with other reviewers that I it would have been great if this book was told through dual POV for more perspective throughout the book.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It was a enjoyable love story, but there was so much adultery. Everyone was cheating on everyone! It felt like the author was going with 'it will cancel each other out'. I'm not really into that. I want to believe that 'once a cheater, always a cheater' won't happen here. The tennis and the side characters were great. Also, I'm not sure I like the way the FMC tied access to love to success in tennis.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Emma Rae for this early release copy in exchange for my honest review.

Love game pulled me right away because of the fact that it is a sports romance and as you may have guessed by now, since I read Icebreaker I have been completely obsessed with sports romance.
But let's talk about Love Game: this novel has as its main characters Elle, a young cook and Nicholas Salco, a very attractive professional tennis player.
Elle Caraway, is a young girl who has recently broken up with a cheating boyfriend who never held her in the proper regard and who is given a really interesting proposition: to become the personal chef of a world tennis star with Niki. In spite of this unexpected and exciting job offer that would allow her to escape a difficult time in her life and reconnect from the beginning, she is very insecure and tends to close in on herself to avoid being hurt again.
Nicholas, our acclaimed and unattainable tennis player, initially disliked me precisely because he almost seems to want to take advantage of Elle's moment of weakness. Of course, the attraction between the two is undeniable and you can see it right from their first meeting, but while Elle's feelings slowly arise, Niki can't seem to keep his hands off her.

Thank you so much Emma Rae and Hera Publishing for the ARC copy! Can't wait to read something new from this author!

(Complete review on my website)

Thank you Hera for the ARC. Absolutely loved the cover. So cute. Well done. I was excited to read a tennis romance as tennis is my fave sport, but the cheating aspect was a bit too much for me. 5 stars for a dnf as I cannot comment on the overall quality of the book.

A delightful read with sweet characters and romance.
I had a great time with it and would highly recommend it!

This was the first Tennis sports romance I have read; it was an interesting glimpse into the world of solo sports as so many others are team sports. I enjoyed how the story of Nicky's career focused so much on how his mental strength impacted his game. Elle is a private chef and I wasn't keen on the cheating trope she was on both sides of throughout this book.

I don’t think tennis romance is my cup of tea. Not going to lie, almost DNF’d it but decided to carry on.

Was it cute? Yes. I would’ve liked more of a development between Nicky and Elle as it seemed liked there wasn’t much of anything that would spark them having interest in one another other than the fact that Elle was fan-girling a tad. I didn’t feel a connection with the main characters nor did I feel that there was much of connection between them. The food did make me hungry throughout the book though 😂

Tropes:
- Sports romance 🎾
- Cheating
- Close Proximity
- Employee/Employer relationship
- Second Chance

When tennis superstar needs a new chef, Elle puts her name forward for the role. She has to adapt to his tight training schedule for Wimbledon and flighty behaviour, while also fighting her crush on him, as he is taken. Nicky Salco is a typical grumpy superstar, trying to make a comeback so he needs to be on top of his training regime and diet plan. Everything changes when Elle gets invited on tour with him as a live-in chef. They get closer, both fighting their feelings while also trying to keep their partners in mind.

I thought this was a really fun and topical story, as the tennis season is really starting now, with Roland Garros now and Wimbledon coming up soon. I have been loving the tennis romances, with Carrie Soto a couple years ago and more romances coming out this year. Elle and Nicky had really fun banter, some very 🌶️ scenes, and I thought it was really well written, with plenty of twists and turns that I didn't see coming!

Tropes:
🎾 Forced Proximity
🎾 Sports Romance
🎾 Workplace Romance
🎾 Secret Pining
🎾 Cheating

Find it in the shops now, as it's finally published! ❤️

I am officially obsessed with this book. I was expecting more of a rom com based on the cover, but what I got was so much better! It’s a passionate love story about falling in love with someone you shouldn’t, and the ramifications that can come from that. I know I’ll be reading this one again and again!

3.5
Elle is a private chef who gets a job cooking for a famous tennis player. Nicky the tennis player has a habit of eating meals in the middle of the night. During the night Elle and Nicky start talking they are both in relationship until that changes. The books is a close proximity sports romance with some funny bits. I really enjoyed this book.

Reading Date: 5/3/24-5/15/24
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I thought this book was good. It was the first ARC I had ever received and was super grateful to Emma, Hera Books, and NetGalley for getting it. I thought the cast of characters was enjoyable and the book had its funny, lighthearted moments. I had never read a sports romance involving tennis before so that was a new sport to kind of learn about. It was interesting to learn some of the different elements to pro tennis and how the tournament games work.

I thought that Elle and Nicky both had likeable moments when they were in scenes together, but they did have questionable motives for how they ended up together. I wanted them to know each other a little more and have some more depth to their relationship outside of late night chats in the kitchen. All of the side characters were enjoyable, and even had moments where I liked them more than the main characters.

While the book had its lighthearted, fun moments there were elements that I would have changed. The main relationship of the book was started through cheating and I just was not a fan. I hadn’t read a lot of books with the cheating trope before, but felt like there were moments in this book where Nicky and Elle were making their cheating seem okay just because they’re other relationships weren’t in good places. I just felt like it was really justifiable and thought that if their had been better communication between the adults in the first half of the book, as opposed to the cheating being stopped, 70% of the way though, I probably would have rated it higher. I also felt like the book could have stood to have one more round of edits as there were some small typos or repetitive phrases from characters.

Overall, the book was a decent sports romance and was a fairly quick read. I’m grateful that I had to opportunity to receive an ARC and glad I picked it up!

Thank you to Hera publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.
Elle becomes a personal chef to Nicky, a famous tennis player who has an affinity for eating late at night. Elle is tasked with making him latenight snacks.

Elle has questionable issues with knowing her self worth. She is in a relationship with a serial cheater whom doesnt give her anything in return, including orgasms.

When her late night chats with Nicky start to turn into more, she takes what she can get without demanding what she deserves. Nicky is in a long term relationship throughout the book and much of this book is a secret affair.

I condome cheating when it is necessary, but this was excessive. It felt like Nicky was really getting his cake and eating it too. It frustrated me to no end that Elle was okay being treates like bread crumbs by Nicky and his fiance.

I will say the two characters had great chemistry despite the lying and cheating. I really liked how aware Nicky became at the end and finally fought for what he wanted. Elle also learns to put herself first and becomes the trophy versus the consolation prize.

If you dont like cheating in books, this one is not for you. If you can handle it, its a sweet romance where both characters have moments of self discovery.

Just a warning, if you don't like cheating don't read this book. I however, was having the time of my life, I love cheaters. This man was such an idiot and should have broken up with his fiancee way sooner but it made the book hotter. Elle was so good for him and inspired him to be the best version of himself. The ultimatum she gave him at the end might be my favorite part of the book.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I read this is 2 days.. I love an easy, sports romance!

I'm going to pretend the book had no cheating tropes in it for a moment and say that, that aside I enjoyed the book!

Elle was a lovely FMC, I completely understood why she struggled with loving herself and the struggle to get out of a toxic relationship. Although I didn't agree with certain things, Elle showed up for herself and put her self first which I loved!
Nicky was a lovely MMC, Despite the obvious I really liked him he did what was best for himself and put him and Elle first. Turns out that's what he needed in order to get everything he wanted. I would have like a bit of duel POV from Nicky but that's being picky!

I loved the little tense moments, the friendship between Sydney and Elle snd her sister Josie, they were such good characters! I also enjoyed that it was a little less spice and more tennis, reading about the sport was fun as i know nothing about tennis at all and felt I was actually at Wimbledon. I wanted to scream at the book at the end because I'm not a fan of third act break ups and communication struggles, I'm all about the happy ending. If it was not for the cheating, this would have been a 4.5/5 but no one likes to read about cheating when you don't agree with it. If you don't mind this trope then give this book a go! I like that this author has done this as I've not read many books like this, so fair play! Overall a nice read, I love do a happy ending! Swipe for mood board and synopsis ->

Read if you like;
🎾 Sports Romance
🧑‍🍳 Chef
❤️ Secret Romance
🎾 Wimbledon
🧑‍🍳 Work Place Romance
⚠️Cheating Trope / Jealously / Toxic Relationship

Thank you @emmarae.author and @netgalley for the ARC! This is out today, Go add it to your TBR!

🎾🧑‍🍳

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I don't typically read tennis romances, so I was excited to give this a shot. I really did not vibe with the FMC at all. You're going to tell me that you met a celebrity who is your boss right after you leave your cheating boyfriend and you fall in love a week after. That it was love at first sight so you are a homewrecker for him and his fiancée, which is exactly what just happened to you? This takes "the way to a mans heart is through his stomach" to another level. Elle knew what she was doing is wrong, they both did. But they still convinced themselves that they were in the right and continued. No one tried to fight it. And then when he says he'll tell everyone and that he loves you, you dip?
There are other things that frustrated me to no end, but I'm glad Josie and Oliver had some sense. Good side characters always save it for me. I was more interested in Sydney and Tag than I was Elle and Nicky (why is his name NickY??)
Overall, I wasn't the biggest fan of this book. The tennis aspect was fun and the chef arc was cute, but the cheating (on ALL accounts) and homewrecking was a little much to me...

3,5 ⭐️
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!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

Elle's boyfriend is cheating on her and she's known for a while. But as she's in between jobs and he's paying the rent; she doesn't want to find herself homeless. 

But when she gets a job as a personal live-in chef to Nicky Selco things will turn around. But falling in love with your boss is never a good idea. Especially when they are engaged to someone else. 

This narrative is not your everyday roses and romance. These characters were believable with the narrative touching on real-life scenarios; that left me with so many mixed emotions for every character. But I had to keep thinking 'What would I do in Elle's situation?'

This novel follows the main character of Elle, told from her point of view, and how she has to find strength in what she wants in her relationships.

But there is also healing for Nicky, standing up for what he wants and separating his personal life from his professional one. 

I have never read a romance novel that left me so tense, with my heart pumping in the last three chapters. 

Definitely an author I will be looking to pick up again.

This was a cute story. I felt sad when Elle and Nicky were apart and they were hurting. I could feel the pain they were feeling. I enjoyed the spiciness and the chemistry. Thank you for allowing me to read this ARC!