Backhanded Compliments

by Katie Chandler

A steamy sapphic romance with a fantastical twist about two bitter tennis rivals who realize they are reluctant soulmates—perfect for fans of Expiration Dates and Here We Go Again.

Juliette Ricci dreams of only one being the best women’s tennis player in the world. She’s worked nonstop with her strict father/coach to prepare for her big chance in the Australian Open. Unfortunately, she’ll be playing Lucky Luca Kacic, an aloof player whose unorthodox style and reigning popularity deeply irritate Juliette.

For months they’ve traded sly insults in their press conferences leading up to their showdown on the court, and their first ever match is the most anticipated of the season. But Juliette refuses to let her nerves—or Luca’s annoyingly perfect abs—get the best of her.

Meanwhile, Luca seemingly has everything Juliette desires but there’s one thing missing from her love. When she shakes hands with Juliette after an agonizing match and sees her rival’s name appear on her wrist, it feels like a cruel joke. Juliette is a spoiled, arrogant brat who wants absolutely nothing to do with Luca or a soulmate.

But despite their personal and professional clashes, the two grow closer after late-night massages and one too many shots of limoncello. Their chemistry is tangible, but Luca’s anxiety tells her that Juliette is just messing with her head to throw her off her game, and Juliette can’t understand why Luca is so hot and cold. With the pressure of the world scrutinizing their every move, they will have to decide what’s more important—being together or being number one.

Genres: Romance, Lesbian, Queer, LGBT, Sports, Sports Romance, Contemporary

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2025

About the author

Katie Chandler is a romance author, who loves adding a speculative twist to her kissing books. She is passionate about writing joyful queer love stories that are full of tenderness, angst, and spice. You can usually find Katie writing with a full caffeine iced beverage, a Taylor Swift album blasting, and her yellow lab, Blue, who makes sure her feet are toasty and that she takes regular breaks to give him treats. When not writing, Katie spends her time watching tennis with her snuggly black lab, Bunny, chasing her thieving chocolate lab, Bear, who thinks her socks are his chew toys, and wondering where her glasses are (they’re nestled in her hair).

Reviews

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but a bit of a chore

This was a cute story, but it took a long time to get started and I almost abandoned it. I stuck it out and found a well researched sapphic tennis romance, however the writing was hard to connect with and needed polishing. I had a lot of trouble sorting out which character’s perspective I was in at any time as their voices were not distinct, probably because it was written in third person, they didn’t have personality differences enough to know who’s point of view I was in at any moment.
Also there was a lot of tennis, I know that’s a weird critique of a tennis romance, but many highly descriptive scenes of tennis matches took up a bulk of this story. It seemed well done but honestly, I don’t read sports romance for the play by play of the game itself.

Also there were many, many side characters who were all female tennis players and I stopped trying to keep track of who was who and just put them in my head as tennis sister or tennis friend. This book could be better if it was cleaned up and more focussed. Hopefully this author will improve her craft as she goes and write more momentum into her romance.








I’m into tennis romance lately. Got the arc!
Thanks Simon and Schuster Canada influencer program.

[julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ˖⁺‧✮

i was so exited for this book because the description sounded so interesting and refreshing.

the story follows two tennis rivals who realize they are reluctant soulmates during the tennis season. as soulmates they can heal each other faster and in general they have a lot of benefits together. so even though they hate each other, both girls need the others help most of the time.

the book started with an intense tension and chemistry between luca and juliette. they both played some games together and then ended up in the same team, house, room… i definitely enjoyed the banter and drama happening at the beginning, however, after the 50% plot became too repetitive and flat. there was no conflict between 40% and 80% which made me almost dnf the book.

i couldn’t connect much with either of main characters. both girls gave mean vibes and even after getting together, those vibes never went away. in my opinion, both main characters didn’t fit much together, their relationship felt kind of pushed and the “soulmates” trope was the only thing keeping them together.

phrase, word, sound or whatever “Erm” means appeared too much throughout the book. it comes up every second page and it was definitely annoying.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with an arc of “Backhanded Compliments”

[lexie · Rating 2 out of 5]

i am notttt a fan of this. why were there LITERAL soulmates? idk im not the biggest fan of soulmate au in contemporary romances and this felt like it was third cousins with ao3.

juliette is evil dude! for the first 40% her behavior especially towards luca is insane and then all of a sudden she wants to fuck. i’m sorry are you a man? they try to play it off as her trauma but it’s absolutely baseless. and THEN proceeds to be cruel even after they get together??? not for me.

the writing was also…something else. everything felt stilted and i understand this is a debut but sheesh. the dialogue, organization, plot progression, etc was not something to write home about. there was so much nonsensical internal dialogue as well that offered nothing to the plot and that is where i HAD IT 😭 i wanted to like this so bad and i feel horrible for the rant review but i can’t in good conscious say i enjoyed this so HELP ME GOD

[jules ⋆｡·☁︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐ rounded up!

sports romance? check! tennis matches described in an engaging and fun way? check! two FMCs that felt fleshed out and stood strongly on their own as well as together? check! and the one that made me pick this book, miss soulmate au core? check!!

so it's not a surprise that i really, really liked backhanded compliments, at all, because what i described above is basically the recipe for success for a book for me. I'll be honest, soulmate tattoo is my favorite trope ever and one that is criminally underrated in the world outside of fanfiction, so finding it in a traditionally published story was refreshing. at first i was begging for some more world building around the brands, but progressing through the story i realized that they weren't a huge part of the plot, just a piece of the world that kick-started it and flavored it in a new way.

i very much enjoyed the writing and the characters, first and foremost jules and luca, that i loved as very flawed individuals who managed to communicate in such a healthy way, and i was pleasantly surprised at how well luca's anxiety was represented. everyone else was also super enjoyable to read, and i am BEGGING for a remi and (redacted) novella! also a whole cast, with a couple exceptions, of female and queer characters, which is just the best to read about.

i would have loved to give this five stars, but the ending dragged a little bit for me, especially in the last 30 pages or so. overall, a fun, adorable, steamy queer romance with a fun twist that even made me do a little lip wobble by the end! ALSO ITALIAN REP!!! 🤌🏻🇮🇹🤌🏻🇮🇹🤌🏻

thank you to netgalley and atria books for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry, but publishing this terribly written sapphic romance during Pride Month has to be borderline homophobic.

Backhanded Compliments is a steamy sapphic romance between two bitter tennis rivals who realize they're marked soulmates. Except, the "soulmate mark" 2013 tumblr plotline in this was beyond corny. Here's the example, "Luca traces her fingers along the familiar curve of each letter of her soulmark, slightly raised like a scar. The twisting loops that slide into each other, the sharp slash connecting the double letters; they weave together to tell her who was made to love her. It appeared when she was a toddler, when her soulmate was born, the name drawn in barely visible silver. Now, it tells everyone she hasn't touched her soulmate yet. Not that she ever lets anyone see the mark. Soulmarks are secretive, intimate; no one likes speculation about their mark."

"Luca is as careful as she can be, covering it with a wristband when she plays." A wristband seems like a poor choice for a professional tennis player during matches, but I digress.

"Still, nearly universal secrecy is what makes the headlines so splashy when a celebrity does accidentally reveal their mark." What a riveting day for the unemployed.

Overall, the immaturity and problems between the main characters made me think I was reading a Wattpad story. Their repetitive arguments over the same concern irritated me to no end that I was no longer rooting for their success.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster, Katie Chandler, and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

[nikki | ཐི༏ཋྀ​​݁ ₊ ݁ . · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75★

sapphic challengers with some ashley poston-esque magical realism!

this was a fun twist on the soulmate concept, making them real possibilities for the lucky few born with the name of their marking their wrist. for luca, it's everything she's dreamed of. for juliette, it would only get in the way of her tennis dreams.

luca and juliette face off as tennis rivals who also happen to be soulmates. juliette deals w the pressure of being 3rd in a whole family of tennis aficionados while luca deals w her legendary plays as merely "luck".

if you really like tennis or the sports aspect of sports romance, this definitely gets into the thick of it. sometimes it was confusing for me as someone who doesn't really know tennis well, but generally, i enjoyed it.

The romance was really cute, I did find Juliette a little bit bratty in the beginning (probably deliberate) but there's definitely growth with their relationship.

Overall, it was an enjoyable sports romance with a little ✨ bonus points for the lemoncello and pastry-filled italian med moment

an honest arc review ♡

[tia ❀ · Rating 2 out of 5]

physically painful to rate a sapphic, fated mates, sports romance so low 🥲🥲🥲 that sounds like the culmination of a PERFECT book to me. but it was written so poorly that I was literally distracted the entire time SOBBBB

[emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this! The author was new to me but I will absolutely be looking out for whatever titles she writes in the future because this was so great. The narrators were both ones that I already loved, and they were each fantastic here. They had a decent amount of accent work to do and (to me) it all sounded really great (the way they both said Luca’s name in Juliette’s Italian accent in particular was… very dreamy). They performed their hearts out and made this so much more enjoyable. I ended up buying a physical copy around the 80% mark because I knew it was one I would want to come back to again for sure.

Both MCs were fantastically flawed and easy to root for, even Juliette in the beginning—you understand where she is coming from. I loved a lot of the secondary characters (especially Juliette’s sisters and Remy) and loved that they felt fleshed out too. There was a great balance of the romance, and character work individually for both of them and the secondary characters. The tension between the MCs was palpable and it was a really great example of a rivals to lovers dynamic that makes sense. I am not a sports person usually, and don’t know much about the rules of tennis, but I really enjoyed what was in the book here! And I think if you already love that, this will hit even more for you. It was a great use of the soul mark trope (which is hilarious that it’s made its way out of fandom spaces and into the mainstream). I really liked the way Katie Chandler did the minimal worldbuilding for it but centered it in a way that makes sense to readers who might be unfamiliar.

All in all, this was a blast and I’m sad it’s over.

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to get my hands on this book because rivals to lovers is one of my favorite tropes! After an intense tennis match, rivals Luca and Juliette discover that they are soulmates and then things get interesting. The protagonists started off with heavy tension, but unfortunately, after so much negative attitude and behavior towards each other, I struggled to root for them. I understood that they were rivals, so they wouldn’t treat each other well, but too much hostility affected my take on them as a couple. If the author eases up on the hostility, I think it could help. At times the sports jargon was a lot, and I felt like the book dragged. I enjoy sports, so at first I didn’t mind it, but more of a balance between sports and romance could help the book. It wasn’t my all-time favorite, but the book has potential. 


I’d like to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kie]

DNFed at 50%. I’m so disappointed, I’ve been so excited for this book to be released after hearing about it four months ago.

I didn’t feel the connection between Luca and Juliette at all. Both of the characters weren’t too interesting to me and I was pretty disappointed from the get-go.

I also thought that the soulmate trope could’ve been left out. (Yes, it’s a huge part of the plot but it was *so* unnecessary.) This book could’ve been a cute easy rivals to lovers book, had that trope been left out.

I was so excited for a sapphic book surrounding tennis but unfortunately, this book just fell flat.

[Lucy Bexley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me under a spell, I legitimately could not put it down

[Autumn Aria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not really sure why many didn't like it much. I admit it was rather cringe to use the soulmark fanfic trope and basically the whole plot was revolved around it. It also does read a little like fanfic. I don't mind soulmate au if it's fantasy or paranormal but this was tagged as contemporary so it's rather misleading.

If they were very mean to each other it's because they were rivals. And it only lasted for about 30% of the story and they were being nice and friendly up until 60% and after that it got a little too hot and steamy for my liking.

Personally I liked both the MCs. They were funny and endearing even when they were mean to each other as well as during their bonding. And even if the reconciliation was a bit oversimplified it was nonetheless sweet.

I loved the occasional play by play description of the games they played and I suppose it can be frustrating if one doesn't like or play tennis.

In conclusion I quite enjoyed the overall story and pacing of it. It kept me entertained. That's the only important reason.

So it seems I'm in the minority in giving this a high rating but I think it was a good effort by the author and I applaud it.

[Kalena ୨୧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

⋆.˚✮ 3 stars ✮˚.⋆

⤿ Thank you to Atria Books for the physical arc and finished copy in exchange for an honest review!

when this was pitched to me as reminiscent of challengers and carrie soto is back, but with lesbian romance i immediately jumped on the opportunity to read this book. i read carrie soto last year and was immediately the biggest fan, and watched challengers on a plane ride and thought it was such a fun movie! while the main characters Juliette and Luca were both high-rank tennis players, and were moving throughout their tournaments during this book, i wish there was MORE of that! the scenes with tennis felt choppy at times and i wish there had been even more about their training, tournaments, and other players (more like carrie soto) but i understand this was a romance and so obviously there's going to be a large focus on the main characters. i think it would just have elevated the story even more.

the plot overall was a bit choppy, moving in and out of lots happening and almost nothing happening. i think the author could have made it flow a bit better and it wouldve made me feel more connected with the overall plot. as this is a romance, slight spoiler, of course there is a third act break-up which was so frustrating. i get frustrated usually anyways with the classic third act break-up, but this one was extra infuriating. there was just so much miscommunication between the characters the entire story, and it was frustrating to read about and constantly seeing it happening, especially over little things.

while i wanted to badly so root for this couple, as apparently they were soulmates, i just don't think they were a good match for most of the story. Juliette was very rude and acted like a brat in the beginning, she was mean to Luca for no real reason. Luca gave her so much patience that she did not deserve and it was weird to see this dynamic continue for the whole book. I did not see their connection romantically, beyond the predetermined "soulmate" title for them. I felt this was really an excuse to keep them together rather than promote actual romantic chemistry.

this book was not bad for a debut novel and i definitely think this author has some good potential to write some cute romances! there were just things for me personally that didn't fully click, but i look forward to seeing what she might write next.

↬ trigger warnings: death of a parent mentioned, controlling parenting/coaching, sports injury, miscommunication issues

[ash (smokedshelves) · Rating 2 out of 5]

thank you to atria books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

this was just fine. i really had high hopes for this one since i feel like tennis has been having it’s moment as of late (i’m looking at you challengers). but unfortunately i truly just struggled to make my way through the book, constantly feeling like i was dragging my feet through the story.

i think the toughest thing was wrapping my head around the fact that there is literal “magic” in the book for something only marketed as a contemporary romance. and maybe that’s on me for not really paying attention to the fantastical twist comment in the synopsis. but besides that one remark, i fully thought the soulmates piece was just a vague descriptor about their romance. you know, metaphorically. and not that there is literal soulmate markings that people have! so that definitely threw me for a loop a bit, and was the basis for not only the premise of the book but, to me, a lot of what the romance was using as a foundation. it felt like at first a lot of their attraction (romantic and sexual) was solely due to their soulmate connection. and the majority of their relationship issues/arguments stemmed from that factor.

i don’t know… for a key reason for why they were drawn together (and somewhat forced to interact), it really just felt lacking to me. and unfortunately, that feeling carried throughout for me.

i do feel like there was a set up for livia to have her own book next since (mainly) her romance story wasn’t really finalized (nor claudia either while i think about it). i do hope that was intentional and that this becomes a set of interconnected series for the ricci sisters, maybe? and maybe we can get more insight into the soulmark “magic system”. but that’s just me being hopeful that all of the loose ends were intentional. guess we’ll see!

[Book Riot Community]

Book Riot's Best New Romance Books Out in June:

In a sea of pickleball, we have tennis! And I’m sorry, is that…soulmate AU???? Juliette and Luca are rival tennis players who snipe at each other in press conferences but have never actually played together. But when they shake hands after an intense match, names show up on wrists, and the pair has to deal with the new development. This sounds like a blast, even though I am still distracted by an Italian woman named Luca (though some Google results say it’s gender-neutral). —Jessica Pryde

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sporty sapphics with a soulmate twist 🎾

This was such a sweet, tender romance with a great balance between emotional connection and sexual tension. I am NOT a sports romance person - I only read this one because I actually played tennis. But I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the high stakes, the angst of the characters being in direct competition in an individual sport, and the way their relationship develops on and off the court. The spec fic elements were a super light touch, and I might have actually enjoyed more of a deep dive into how soulmatism works in this world, but I also think the simplicity served the story well by offering just a tiny, tantalizing bit of magic while keeping the focus more grounded on the characters’ emotional arcs.

The pacing did need a squeeze and a bit of fat cut from the middle - this book is just a little too long and too meandering, but I never minded all that much, with the gorgeous settings and simmering tension. Not to mention the truly joyful payoff in the end.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!!

[Kathryn Crowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Thank you Atria books for an ARC of this book!

What i really like is that even though this is a contemporary they are soulmates. I love a good soulmates AU!

The problem I had with this is that Juliette is such a brat for most of the book. I love Luca shes a sweet angel and deserves the world but Juliette irked me. I do love her family aspect of all her POVS it was amazing to see it all.

[Sara ➽ Ink Is My Sword · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
"But Luca's soft and plush mouth on hers, sun-chapped and tasting of pomegranate lip balm, the feel of her calloused palms against her ribs, the silk of her hair crushed in Juliette's fingers... that had calmed the raging thoughts in her mind."

My queer heart is so happy to see more and more queer stories published. I had a great time diving into this sports romance with a magical realism twist that felt refreshing. I was so happy to read a story where queerness was never something "weird," but rather it was a normal part of society. The romance was based on so much chemistry and tension. There is something that I love about the small line between "I like them so much/ I hate that I like them so much," and it was expertly tip-toed in this book. And don't even get me started on the sexual chemistry and spice in this book!! 10/10. Loved it. But, besides having amazing hot scenes, this book also shows so well the idea of "being seen by someone you love." The amount of detail present in the details each character will notice about the other and how it made them crush harder was a relatable experience to read about that, not many books put attention into. Another highlight of this book was the mental health representation. We get a deep dive into anxiety disorder and the mental pressure a competitive sport can have. I was captivated by the exploration of the concept soulmates, and I was so glad we got the two points of view, Juliette not wanting to fall in love with someone just because they are their soulmate. And Luca craving the acceptance and love of someone destined for them.

Unfortunately, I did struggle a bit with how much tennis content was in the story. I love diving into the sport, but when around 40 percent of the actual scenes of the book were described play-by-play, it slowed down the story. This perhaps will work with a tennis aficionado, however, it missed the mark with me. Another aspect that made this book a 3.5 instead of a 4 was the resolution of the conflicts in the third act, both romantic and familiar. I thought they resolved too easily and needed more grovelling.

Highlight character: Luca.

Recommend this to fans of rivals to romance trope looking for a fresh queer tennis romance with sizzling chemistry and hotness alongside characters with depth.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

[inês · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Atria Books, Katie Chandler and Netgalley for providing me an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a rivals-to-lovers romance focusing on two tennis players, who are destined for one another (yes, by fate). I though the descriptions surrounding tennis were spot on, and every time the author detailed how games were going, I felt like I was in the audience, which was entertaining. The nerves surrounding matches, the media tricks, all of that was extremely fun to read.

One of our main characters, Juliette, comes from a family of tennis superstars and hers is a familiar arc of "you have to let me go my own way." If you're confused, let me fill you in. Whenever you have watched the (usually teenage) movie with that character who is trying hard to please their parents (think, The Ice Princess), what do they end up doing? That's right, they end up telling their parents to stick it because the pressure they're putting on them is too much. In this case, since dad is also the coach, Juliette had to figure out if she liked tennis for herself and what to do about her father. I think her arc is familiar but was well developed and I rooted for Juliette throughout.

Our other main character, Luca, is somewhat of a loner. She deals with anxiety constantly, and just wants to achieve her goals bad enough to play on an injured ankle. Her arc was less satisfying because to be completely honest, I didn't really see much of a change there. Apart from accepting and trusting the romantic love of Juliette--and that was unsatisfying for me.

The romantic pacing was fine. I don't think there was as much yearning as the author was banking on, and that could be because we know from chapter 1 or 2 that these two are meant to be together. In this world, you get your soulmate's name engraved on your wrist and everything you do with them is magical. I think if this had be staggered out, then maybe the romance would felt earned but it made it less exciting overall for me.

Overall, it was a fast-paced, fun read and would be perfect for lovers of tennis and sapphic romance who so happen to also enjoy the fated mates trope that is often present in romantasy/fantasy novels.

[lauraღ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juliette can no longer deny that she wants more. Maybe that is the key that needs to be slid into the lock of her loneliness. She’d had a taste of Luca, and now her body needs more.

4.25 stars. I loved this. I loved it upon finishing, and going back to re-listen to certain parts and collect notes, I loved it even more. This made me nostalgic in the best way possible. There was a period of my life when I read a bunch of fic with the soul mark trope, and I was absolutely obsessed with it. I wish with all of my heart that this was the fanfiction trope that had caught on, rather than omegaverse. Oh well, we can't always get what we want. But I did get what I wanted out of this, which was an intense, slow burn, lightly fantastical, enemies to lovers sapphic sports romance. I ate it up.

This is a world where some people, although not all people, are born with the name of their soulmate burned onto their wrist. When soulmates meet and touch for the first time, they will be able to feel it, and their soul marks will change appearance. This is just the background to this world; it's a completely normal contemporary otherwise. Mileage may vary on how much you like that, but I honestly love it. We get little hints as to how history and culture are a little bit different in this world because of the existence of soulmates. I especially enjoyed all of the little historical tidbits we got. Homophobia seems not to be much of a thing in this world, as no one's sexuality is commented on or named in any way. That's not always my favourite way to approach sexuality in contemporary fiction (that is, not mentioning it at all), but I could understand how society might have developed in this way because of soul marks.

Our main characters are both famous tennis players: Juliette from Italy and Luca from Croatia. They're both highly competitive and in love with the sport. The book starts off right before their first match against each other, where Juliette gives an interview saying something snide about Luca's game, just a bit of trash talking, and this fans the flames of their rivalry (which people have been commenting on for months). They both have very different thoughts about soulmates and soul marks. Lucca really wants to find her soulmate, really wants to be loved by the person who has been destined for her, and has entertained the idea that the famous Juliette Ricci might be her Juliette. Juliette, on the other hand, grew up with parents who are happily married despite not being soulmates, and she kind of resents the idea of not having a choice in who she loves, of being predetermined for someone else. All of these differences mean that they don't see eye to eye at first, and their relationship at the start is a rocky one. I really liked it. Juliette is fiery and passionate and a bit bratty, both on and off the court. Luca is cooler and colder, with a lot more self restraint, but also with a lot of anxiety. It made for such a good clash.

Her name fits perfectly on Luca’s tongue, as perfectly as it fits on her wrist.

I will say, this is very much a sports romance, and if you're not interested in sports, this might drag a little for you. We do get into the minutia of the tennis matches, and it sometimes gets a little technical. For me, someone who doesn't know anything much about tennis, and found myself getting a little bit lost at some of the descriptions, this was still really enjoyable and entertaining. In a sports romance, in my opinion, the moments during the game should be some of the most intense and exploratory and revealing for the characters, and that was definitely the case in this book. We got to know so much about Luca and Juliette through just that first game together. And throughout the book, as they get to know each other in different settings and in different ways, their relationship evolves, and so does their game. I loved seeing the little differences in the matches, with the main characters and with others.

And even though it's so antagonistic for a good portion of the book, and even though they have a lot of hurdles to cross, there's something about this relationship that I found so delicate and precious and emotional. Luca, despite her outward appearance of total calm and assuredness, gets so soft and sweet around Juliette. Juliette's abrasiveness and bad temper were pretty off-putting at first, but she does evolve, and she does become something of a pillar of strength for Luca. Even though this is a story of fated love, in the end I really felt like they chose one another, and I'm glad they had a period of turbulence that was partially motivated by Juliet's reluctance to let fate decide her life. It was still so utterly romantic. There's a certain aspect of the soulmate bond that had me kicking my feet, every time it happened.

I did have a few nitpicks when it came to the plotting. There was a bit of a side plot with Luca's best friend that didn't get enough development, and I kinda think it could have been scrapped altogether. Same with the little side plot with Juliette's sister. And I did think it was a little bit unrealistic just how many tennis players happen to have soulmates who were also tennis players, but maybe fate decided it should work out like that, lol. We got to see a lot of Juliette's family life, and her troubles and conflict with her father, and I kind of wish we had gotten to see a bit more of Luca's personal life as well. Even if it was just introspection.

Listened to the audiobook as read by Jeremy Carlisle Parker (as Juliette) and Mia Hutchinson-Shaw (as Luca) and I was absolutely in love. They have some of my absolute favourite voices, and it was a treat to have them on the same audiobook. I can't really comment on the accent work, but to my ears they both sounded really good, both with Juliette's Italian accent and Luca's Croatian accent. There was a bit of a mix-up later on in the book, where the narration seemed to have gotten confused, and Parker read one of Luca's chapters. But that was fine; it obviously doesn't impede my enjoyment. This was a great debut, and I'm sad that the rating seems so comparatively low. I'm hopeful this book gets into the hands of people who will enjoy it.

Content warnings: past parental death, panic attacks, anxiety

“I love you, I love you, I love you,” Juliette says, over and over again, because it’s all her body is capable of knowing. Love is all she is. Love is all she can be.

[suonnahbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Backhanded compliments by Katie Chandler
ARC from Simon and Schuster Canada
release date: June 10th 2025
-I feel like i’m at the tennis matches I love it
-I’m not the biggest fan of third person cause it makes me less connected to the characters idk
-the tension between them is sharp damn but I love it
-the soulmate aspect is chefs kiss
-who knew having a sunburn could up being so sensual 👀
-omg the sexual tension has me holding my breath
-the spice was so hot i caught myself biting my lip and looking around lol
-page 298 🥹
-the way she describes when their close to each other truly has me mesmerized and on the edge of my seat with butterflies in my stomach I love them so much omg
-wow this book truly was amazing I truly felt like Ii was there every step of the way relationship building
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Teddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this- tennis with a speculative twist…sign me up! …except it was a little too much tennis, and too little magic. I had a hard time getting into the characters, and the pacing of their relationship. I liked the idea of them being from different countries, but apart from being told certain things, I didn’t feel the international influence. The big group of sisters was fun. Cool idea, but missed the mark for me in the end.

Short summary: all that matters to Juliette is winning at tennis. So it’s particularly infuriating when the woman she has to beat turns out to be her soulmate…

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

[mackenzie (hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

this has such potential but honestly what even happened here?? it felt like the story didn't have an identity and didn't know what it wanted to be, so it turned into a semi-cringey, entirely messy read.

[Tori - Novel Life · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Christi (christireadsalot) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ended up being just okay. Sapphic, tennis rivals to lovers, with a bit of a fantastical/magical realism element to soul mates (people actually have soul marks) in this world.

I loved the tennis matches and tourneys, but the characters weren’t that great. I wasn’t invested in either of them sadly and felt like the things they get hung up on were just not it. I saw others say they were giving mean girl energy and I could definitely see that. The book was just fine overall but I’m glad I did get to it since I was curious about this new release!

[Rachii Reads ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Backhanded Compliments tells the love story of two rival tennis players, Juliette and Luca, who also happen to be soulmates.

Where to even begin…

This was not my favorite and *quite honestly* I really struggled to get into it at all. So here are my list of complaints for consideration:

1) 3rd person POV for this was absolutely awful. Terrible. Should have never even been considered. The author did a good job writing it grammatically correct - I’ll give her that. But when you have 2 female main characters, the constant renaming of said character when switching who you’re talking about makes for the most irritating repetition of their names EVER. Did you know that each character’s name is written OVER 1,000 TIMES in this book? It was too much. This really needed to be written in first person or something. It made any actual attempt at reading physically painful at times.

2) Right out of the gate, I didn’t like the soulmates angle. It made no sense and felt so random. It also made their relationship feel forced - especially when Juliette wanted to chose who she loved…why not just give them a better reason to be together than the soulmate thing? Idk it just seemed weird.

3) I know that covers aren’t always accurate, but the vibes of the character art on the cover are completely opposite. I also felt like the way I perceived the characters vs how the author did were totally different. It made me feel like I was missing something. Like Luca was supposed to be this cold, borderline intimidating person but she was actually so shy and sweet. Idk.

4) Plot? Where? These two just ran circles around each other. Eh.

5) The tennis matches were a lot sometimes. Like pages and pages and pages. Just no.

Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? Eh. Mostly no. It was just meh in need of some serious help.

[Jessica Wears Books]

DNF at 28%

Unfortunately I could not get into this story. I couldn't understand why Juliette hated Luca as much as she did, it felt unfounded and unjustified and just a reason to have the enemies to lovers bit. And the soulmate mark was odd but I found it to be interesting in an otherwise non-fantastical world. But then some of the other soulmate magic I couldn't get behind. I am trying to be better about not forcing myself to finish a book I'm not loving so this one didn't make the cut.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.

[Sylvie {Semi-Hiatus} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 Stars!

This book was the perfect blend of adorable romance and sizzling sports drama. One of the female characters had a bit of a prissy vibes at the start, but that only made her transformation all the more satisfying by the end.
If you’re a fan of sports romances with a sapphic twist—and especially if you’re hungry for more tennis-centric tales—this one hits the sweet spot and is totally worth diving into!

A steamy sapphic romance with a fantastical twist about two bitter tennis rivals who realize they are reluctant soulmates.

I'm so ready for this book.

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time)]

I love enemies to lovers romance, but this one was... bizarre.

The soulmate on the wrist thing... yeah, I wasn't expecting it. I must have just glanced over the blurb, because I was very WTF as I was reading it. Plus, the chemistry just wasn't there for me.

DNF at 28%

[☾ Sarah ☽ · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars rounded down, DNF @ 62%.

As a former tennis player, I was so excited when I first heard about this book! Needless to say, though, it seems my expectations were way too high, and this book ended up thoroughly disappointing me. Apologies if this review is a bit disjointed!

I initially kinda liked the book, and I thought the tennis play-by-play was kinda fun to read in the first few chapters. I thought Luca was a decent character for a bit as well. That’s pretty much all the positives I have about the book.

Let’s get to the negatives. The only things pushing Luca and Juliette together, two women who have zero chemistry and have mutually exclusive tennis goals, are their soulmate marks on their wrists, called “soulmarks”. It was the only supernatural element of the entire book and it barely had any real impact because some people could just ignore the soulmark and be with someone else (e.g. Juliette’s own parents who aren’t soulmates and are happily married). And it just throws in that the soulmarks have been around for all of human history, but it wasn’t really a big thing because people couldn’t easily find their soulmate without the use of social media, which just seemed like a weird detail to add. The soulmark thing just teeters on this line where it’s simultaneously too much (the characters talk about soulmates SO MUCH and it’s the only reason Luca and Juliette are pushed to get together) and too little (it was the only fantasy element and it was made to be so inconsequential that people could just choose not to pursue their soulmate and be happy with someone else).

And then there’s Juliette. She was SO annoying and bratty, she just gives the vibe of a spoiled rich girl who's never been told no and therefore doesn’t know how to handle it when she’s told no (prime example being Luca saying she doesn’t want her because Luca doesn’t want just a physical relationship and Juliette is so dismissive of her feelings). I'm just amazed anyone even enjoys her company. Maybe she gets better after the 62% mark, but I’m not sticking around to see it.

Even though I initially liked the tennis stuff, it eventually delved into being totally unrealistic, and I mean unrealistic in the truest sense of the word, like these things would not happen in real life. But I won’t bore you with all the details that irked me.

Also I feel like this book thought its readers were stupid or something because it was a very tell-don’t-show kind of book, as if anything slightly ambiguous would’ve just flown right over our heads. And it probably thought we all had short term memory loss too because it would repeat very obvious information, like “Leo, Octavia’s boyfriend, blah blah blah,” like WE KNOW, we read about them locking lips like 10 pages ago! Ugh. I think a big part of this problem is that it’s written in a dual-perspective, 3rd-person limited POV, which I’m sure could’ve been pulled off if it was written by a stronger author, but it wasn’t. It just felt so impersonal and detached because it wasn’t 1st-person, and it didn’t even use 3rd-person to its fullest extent to make up for it.

The best comparison I could make is that it reads like a fanfiction, but not the amazing AO3 fic you stayed up till 4am last night to finish reading, no, it’s like the very mediocre Wattpad fics that make you turn off the app and question your life choices up to that point.

Questioning my life choices was a very common theme throughout my reading of this book. Some of the romantic scenes near the beginning of the book were actually kinda nice, but then it just went right into cringe territory. Like a steamy scene would have a nice flow to it and then the characters or narration would just say something so stupid and ruin it all.

Overall, I did not enjoy this, and I really wish I did cause I was so siked to read this book! Big thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.