Book Rec

Match Maker by Alan Chin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars




In the four years since being forced off the professional tour for being gay, Daniel Bottega has taught tennis at a second-rate country club. He found a sanctuary to hide from an unkind world, while his lover, Jared Stoderling, fought a losing battle with alcohol addiction to cope with his disappointment of not playing on the pro circuit.

Now Daniel has another chance at the tour by coaching tennis prodigy Connor Lin to a Grand Slam championship win. He shares his chance with Jared by convincing him to return to the pro circuit as Connor's doubles partner.

Competing on the world tour is challenging enough, but Daniel and Jared also face major media attention, political fallout from the pro association, and a shocking amount of hate that threatens Connor's career in tennis, Jared's love for Daniel, and Daniel's very life.

Match Maker is the first novel I've read by Alan Chin so I had no idea what to expect. I knew it had a tennis theme but what I never expected was the sheer beauty of the prose. Alan Chin paints with words and I tasted, smelled, and experienced every high and low along with Daniel, Jared, and Connor. All the secondary characters are multi-layered as well. This novel is far more than a story about tennis. It has all the ingredients of The Front Runner on a more modern and larger scale. It was a true pleasure to lose myself in this novel for a few days. I am looking forward to his next book eagerly.