What to expect:
After 12 years on the pro. tennis tour and four years with her sort-of boyfriend, Lucy Bennett has had enough. She wants real life… and real love.
Her life, her decision. Right? Well, no one else seems to think so. With opinions on all sides, Lucy’s head is spinning. And she’s stumbling right into the arms of long-term crush and fellow player Sam. Shame her boyfriend – his arch-rival – would sooner smash a racquet over their heads than agree to a simple change of partners.
As the Wimbledon Championships play out, Lucy fights for her life on and off the courts. The question is: what will she be left with after Wimbledon?
The author kindly gave me a copy to review, I had a feeling I might like it being something of a tennis nut myself. In an ideal world I would take those 2 weeks off every year and sit in front of my telly with an endless supply of Pimms… It’s by the author of The Dr Pepper Prophecies, just as readable but in a different way.
The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Lucy’s not your average frothy heroine, she certainly doesn’t obsess about the size of her bum and is extremely fit- as you might expect of someone with one grand slam title under her belt. Unfortunately she knows that a win at this stage of her career is against the odds- especially as she’s not even sure she wants this life any more. Lucy knows what she wants, and that’s the normal world away from the travelling circus of the tennis tour. Of course this being a frothy read Lucy isn’t quite so clear cut with her love life, and she faces many complications over the two weeks of Wimbledon.
Kooks for your Kindle?– Lucy’s American boyfriend Joe is the men’s number one ranked player- but doesn’t rank so highly on her own list any more. He’s spectacularly obnoxious and became Lucy’s boyfriend by accident after they slept together a few years previously and forgot to stop. The couple become the talk of the tournament as Lucy becomes friends with Joe’s biggest rival Sam, once Sam defects from the New Zealand team and becomes the Great British Hope (in a world without Andy!). In this age of paparazzi and the internet there are no such things as private lives for those even a little bit famous.
Lucy’s parents are having their own dramas, thanks mostly to her mother finally facing up to her resentment of giving up her own career once she became pregnant with Lucy years earlier. They run a tennis academy together but probably could have used the occasional break from the sport. Rounding up the crowd are Lucy’s extended family, most of whom work for the academy, and her former-player girlfriends.
Painting a Picture for your Paperback?– For someone like myself who’s into tennis, chick lit and celebrity gossip this one really was a great eye opener and brings the reader right to Wimbledon.
Nookie for your Nook?– Lucy has none of your usual hang ups about bodies or sex, as you might expect from someone in the sporting world.
Evaluation of your eBook?– I was a little impatient for Joe to be given the boot, for he had no redeeming features, unfortunately it would have been rather heartless timing for Lucy to have done it at the start of such a big fortnight. The story was well paced, keeping the drama going over the two week period, with tennis, men, family and friend dramas all sending Lucy’s stress levels over the edge. There are a few parts where there’s quite a bit of game detail, but it’s not too much and if you’re not really interested in that it doesn’t take away from the story- in the end the tennis results paled in significance with the rest of the mad goings on. Recommended for a gossipy, sporty, chaotic, quick, romantic read.
Frothy Ranking: 4/5 cocktails.
Can be obtained from:
UK: Amazon for only 99p.
US: Amazon for only 99c. Not found on Kobobooks.