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Lucky Loser
In the high stakes world of women’s tennis, love means nothing. Or at least that’s how Sinjin Smythe sees it. Then she begins to fall for her friend and former doubles partner Laure Fortescue. Having had her heart broken by one player, Sinjin isn’t willing to have it happen again. The talented but oft-injured Brit enters Wimbledon fighting her feelings—and struggling to resurrect her career.
Laure Fortescue has fame, fortune, and a ranking inside the top ten. She has everything she ever wanted. Everything except Sinjin Smythe. As a rule, Laure doesn’t date other players. A rule she would gladly break if it means winning Sinjin’s heart.
Both women reach Wimbledon desperate to claim tennis’s crown jewel—Sinjin because it would be her greatest victory, Laure because it could be her last.
Where does love fit in a game that only one can win?
Laure Fortescue has fame, fortune, and a ranking inside the top ten. She has everything she ever wanted. Everything except Sinjin Smythe. As a rule, Laure doesn’t date other players. A rule she would gladly break if it means winning Sinjin’s heart.
Both women reach Wimbledon desperate to claim tennis’s crown jewel—Sinjin because it would be her greatest victory, Laure because it could be her last.
Where does love fit in a game that only one can win?
7 pages, Audible Audio
Published November 7, 2016
13 people are currently reading
374 people want to read
About the author
Yolanda Wallace
18 books94 followersYolanda Wallace is not a professional writer, but she plays one in her spare time. She has written seven novels, and her short stories have appeared in multiple anthologies. She and her partner live in beautiful coastal Georgia, where they are parents to four children of the four-legged variety — a boxer and three cats.
Yolanda Wallace also writes under the pen name Mason Dixon.
Yolanda Wallace also writes under the pen name Mason Dixon.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 3, 2017
I loved this book so much. It's an especially good friends-lovers-romance that also takes into account the question of how a relationship can develop when personal goals are at stake.
Major credit to Jenna for helping me with the terminology so I didn't make an ass of myself writing the review. 4.5 stars rounded down from 5 because there's a lot that just doesn't make sense if you don't know tennis.
Full review here: http://www.thelesbianreview.com/lucky...
Major credit to Jenna for helping me with the terminology so I didn't make an ass of myself writing the review. 4.5 stars rounded down from 5 because there's a lot that just doesn't make sense if you don't know tennis.
Full review here: http://www.thelesbianreview.com/lucky...
February 24, 2023
3.5. A LOT of tennis.
March 1, 2023
This was solidly fun. 3.5 stars.
I am… not a sports girl, and I do not understand anything abt the rules of tennis, nor have I ever watched a match in my life, so… a lot of that was lost on me, but despite not being a sports girl, I DO like an underdog, trying to beat the odds sports story occasionally, and this was right up my alley in that respect. Both main characters were fleshed out, flawed, lovable, and their dynamic together was great. The conflict with Victoria was also just enough to feel the pressure, but not enough to put her into mustache twirling territory, a good balance. I’d def rec it to people who like sports stories, but I think those who don’t usually would enjoy it too, just know this is one where you spend a decent time on the matches, and go in ready for that. The writing felt exciting though, despite not knowing the rules, I was into it (in a way I absolutely was not when I recently DNF Carrie Soto is Back).
Lori Prince as narrator was why I picked this one up, as I’ve got no experience with this author, but I would def read more from her. The audiobook was lovely, though it should be noted, don’t expect accent authenticity here. Lori does an admirable job on some of the British accents, but I think the French ones are probably not very accurate at all lol. I enjoyed her performance anyway, but if that’s something you know is a pet peeve of yours, skip audiobook form and enjoy Lori Prince in other books instead.
I am… not a sports girl, and I do not understand anything abt the rules of tennis, nor have I ever watched a match in my life, so… a lot of that was lost on me, but despite not being a sports girl, I DO like an underdog, trying to beat the odds sports story occasionally, and this was right up my alley in that respect. Both main characters were fleshed out, flawed, lovable, and their dynamic together was great. The conflict with Victoria was also just enough to feel the pressure, but not enough to put her into mustache twirling territory, a good balance. I’d def rec it to people who like sports stories, but I think those who don’t usually would enjoy it too, just know this is one where you spend a decent time on the matches, and go in ready for that. The writing felt exciting though, despite not knowing the rules, I was into it (in a way I absolutely was not when I recently DNF Carrie Soto is Back).
Lori Prince as narrator was why I picked this one up, as I’ve got no experience with this author, but I would def read more from her. The audiobook was lovely, though it should be noted, don’t expect accent authenticity here. Lori does an admirable job on some of the British accents, but I think the French ones are probably not very accurate at all lol. I enjoyed her performance anyway, but if that’s something you know is a pet peeve of yours, skip audiobook form and enjoy Lori Prince in other books instead.
August 12, 2018
Ratings - 3.75
June 10, 2016
My second book that I have read by Yolanda Wallace. I was both somewhat nervous about trying another book by this author, and excited to do so. Both feelings developed for the same reason – the first book I had read by Wallace had been one that I had read recently and had felt to be a rather solid 5 star book. And so, we turn to ‘Lucky Loser’, or, this book here.
[Inserted after the fact: I lost this review rather early on, so, I’ll note up here – I loved this book. A lot.]
It’s somewhat unfortunate that I ended up somewhat ill right around the time I had read this and roughly 5 other books (well, that’s awkward – I was ill-ish from about Friday of last week until, say, this morning). Unfortunate in that I could read, but doing things like writing reviews was a tougher thing to tackle. Though I still did, mostly. But for three books. And the first of those is from before this ill time. So . . . this is boring. Let’s get to the book.
This book opened in such a way that I almost beat it with a stick and ran screaming away from it. Or, in other words, it opened with the lead character (well, there are two points of view, but Sinjin Smythe’s portion seemed vaguely larger) being unable to keep from being wrapped around another woman’s finger. A nasty bitchy woman who loved to undermine her and was doing Sinjin a very bad turn – both career wise and relationship wise. I really didn’t want to read a book wherein the two somehow overcame the obstacles to find that they were each other’s true loves. That would have been really annoying and sickening. But, before I set the book on fire and never looked at it again, I reconfirmed something I thought I had seen in the books description. The name of the two women in the opening part did not match the name of the women in the book description that were supposed to be the main characters. And so . . . I put the lighter fluid away and actually gave the book a chance. Since the book was supposed to be about Sinjin Smythe and Laure Fortescue, not Sinjin Smythe and . . . um, whatever and however you spell Victoriaovich’s name (Viktoriya Vasilyeva).
A funny thing happened along the way. Despite the lowish rating this book enjoys, both in terms of overall rating, and in terms of just the average rating of those who are on my list of friends, I found myself rather drawn into this book and story.
To a limited extent, I think I know why there are certain books I like while others kind of dislike (or not love), books I kind of dislike (or not love) while others like/love them, and while there is this third category wherein everyone, including me, love the book.
That was an awkward sentence.
I’ll put what I originally wrote behind spoiler tags, not because it spoils anything in this specific book here, but because I do not yet have the ability to convey my specific thought I desired to convey, and probably won’t find that ability any time soon. Yeah, I’d probably be better just eliminating the last two paragraphs. Instead I’ll just put it behind spoiler tags.
The long and short of all that I hid behind the spoiler tag above is that this specific book has less of an emphasis on relationships, and more on an elusive ‘something else’. I won’t attempt to define this ‘something else’, though I suspect it has something to do with ‘sports’. I did have a thought while reading this book – using a sports theme can add tension to a relationship, the good and bad kind of tension, and potentially side step some of the somewhat overused clichés used in ‘other’ books (though there was an awkward moment there between the two). While at the same time side stepping one of the hurdles that a different type of romance book uses to add tension – external threats like big evil men/the environment/etc. Side stepping ‘knowing’ what’s going to happen. Like, say, reading a James Bond book – there’s lots and lots of danger, but it’s a James Bond book – the reader ‘know’s that whatever tension and danger exists, Bond will still triumph (in actuality, he doesn’t always, but I’m trying to make a point here, so let’s pretend ‘not dying’ is good enough). As opposed to a sports book. You can have a great riveting; uplifting sports book . . . and not know the ending. Know that, of course, x is going to do y. Sure, Rocky eventually won, but not in the first movie. Basically is what I mean.
Shesh, I keep adding these ‘extra’ little side things. I should have just done one of my reviews where I have ‘character’, ‘romance’, ‘plot’, etc. sections. Instead of me bouncing around like crazy.
The book opens with Sinjin Smythe watching as her girlfriend of the time (and that might not be the correct word to use – the girlfriend one) wins the US Open. Doesn’t help matters that Sinjin had been her opponent in the champion match, but those things happen. An important thing, though, is what happens afterwards – Sinjin and Viktoriya ending up in bed together that night. After Viktoriya basically saying that doubles tennis doesn’t matter (or words to that effect) – which is important because Sinjin is in the champion match for that one as well . . . tomorrow. But Viktoriya wants to celebrate her own singles championship right then and there – or at least that night. No matter that this will make Sinjin tired. And stuff. Because . . .even more than ‘doubles doesn’t matter’ is that Sinjin’s feelings don’t matter, what matters is what makes Viktoriya happy. Yeah, see, this is why I wanted to set this book on fire. Gah, I thought, No way I wanted to read something like this here. Luckily I had noticed something – the book moves from here to three years in the future. And is not about the bitchy Viktoriya and the easily lead (at least by Viktoriya) Sinjin.
Three years later Sinjin is attempting to recover from a mid-season knee treatment procedure. And is attempting to qualify for Wimbledon. I should probably note, now, that Sinjin is British (mother is from Nigeria, I believe, and I don’t know where father is from). This is important. Because Wimbledon, if you the reader of this review don’t know, is in England. And they haven’t had an English winner in a ton of years (I forget now how many is mentioned in the book, 34?). Of course they don’t really expect Sinjin to be the one to do it – at least not any more. She’s fallen so far down the standings she isn’t really on them any more (ranked in triple digits). And has to go through qualifying matches to get into the tournament. To which she loses. See, this is like Rocky! Okay, so this book was about 22 pages in length and is about how Sinjin failed to . . what’s this? Oh, someone pulled out, and so Sinjin is that ‘Lucky Loser’ that’s on the front of the book. A lucky loser because she lost her last qualifying match but was had done well enough that when someone pulled out; she was at the top of the list of those waiting for someone to pull out.
Also involved at this tournament is Viktoriya, but she’s both important and not important. Or, in other words, she isn’t the other point of view of the book. No, Sinjin has her point of view, as does Laure Fortescue, of France. Laure had had her own little burden to carry – in the similar manner had the weight of Wimbledon on her back (English – 34 years), Laure had the French title weighing her down. But she begins the Wimbledon portion of the book without that specific weight. She’s interested in winning Wimbledon, though, again.
The book proceeds following both women as the move through the tournament – both on and off the court. Helping each other get ready, and helping giving tips about competitors. (A point is made that the women’s side is more helpful and stuff, with exceptions (like Viktoriya) than the men’s side of tennis).
Well, I really messed up this review so I’ll just flee with a few closing thoughts. I, unexpectedly, loved the book and seriously considered some way to convey that fact more than just having it on a 5.5 shelf. I’m still seriously considering putting this even higher than that, even though there is nothing higher among my shelves, as of yet. Ah, this switch over to only being able to convey my rating in full stars (or artificial half stars). Long ago were the days when I could rate something 4.433 and be able to tell it apart from a book I rated 4.421. Basically, I mean, this book would have used to have been a solid 5 star book. But because I have to include everything I’d have rated 4.65 up to 5.0 in the past as 5 stars, I have to add stuff to show that a specific book is ‘more than’/’better than’ etc. *Shrugs* Just feels weird to have a book that I want to rate 4.65 stars up at the 5 star level; even worse if I put it down at the 4 star level (ah, where art thou, ½ stars?). 4.65 star books resting uneasily next to 5.00 star books on the 5.0 star shelf. Mmphs.
February 25 2016
[Inserted after the fact: I lost this review rather early on, so, I’ll note up here – I loved this book. A lot.]
It’s somewhat unfortunate that I ended up somewhat ill right around the time I had read this and roughly 5 other books (well, that’s awkward – I was ill-ish from about Friday of last week until, say, this morning). Unfortunate in that I could read, but doing things like writing reviews was a tougher thing to tackle. Though I still did, mostly. But for three books. And the first of those is from before this ill time. So . . . this is boring. Let’s get to the book.
This book opened in such a way that I almost beat it with a stick and ran screaming away from it. Or, in other words, it opened with the lead character (well, there are two points of view, but Sinjin Smythe’s portion seemed vaguely larger) being unable to keep from being wrapped around another woman’s finger. A nasty bitchy woman who loved to undermine her and was doing Sinjin a very bad turn – both career wise and relationship wise. I really didn’t want to read a book wherein the two somehow overcame the obstacles to find that they were each other’s true loves. That would have been really annoying and sickening. But, before I set the book on fire and never looked at it again, I reconfirmed something I thought I had seen in the books description. The name of the two women in the opening part did not match the name of the women in the book description that were supposed to be the main characters. And so . . . I put the lighter fluid away and actually gave the book a chance. Since the book was supposed to be about Sinjin Smythe and Laure Fortescue, not Sinjin Smythe and . . . um, whatever and however you spell Victoriaovich’s name (Viktoriya Vasilyeva).
A funny thing happened along the way. Despite the lowish rating this book enjoys, both in terms of overall rating, and in terms of just the average rating of those who are on my list of friends, I found myself rather drawn into this book and story.
To a limited extent, I think I know why there are certain books I like while others kind of dislike (or not love), books I kind of dislike (or not love) while others like/love them, and while there is this third category wherein everyone, including me, love the book.
That was an awkward sentence.
I’ll put what I originally wrote behind spoiler tags, not because it spoils anything in this specific book here, but because I do not yet have the ability to convey my specific thought I desired to convey, and probably won’t find that ability any time soon. Yeah, I’d probably be better just eliminating the last two paragraphs. Instead I’ll just put it behind spoiler tags.
The long and short of all that I hid behind the spoiler tag above is that this specific book has less of an emphasis on relationships, and more on an elusive ‘something else’. I won’t attempt to define this ‘something else’, though I suspect it has something to do with ‘sports’. I did have a thought while reading this book – using a sports theme can add tension to a relationship, the good and bad kind of tension, and potentially side step some of the somewhat overused clichés used in ‘other’ books (though there was an awkward moment there between the two). While at the same time side stepping one of the hurdles that a different type of romance book uses to add tension – external threats like big evil men/the environment/etc. Side stepping ‘knowing’ what’s going to happen. Like, say, reading a James Bond book – there’s lots and lots of danger, but it’s a James Bond book – the reader ‘know’s that whatever tension and danger exists, Bond will still triumph (in actuality, he doesn’t always, but I’m trying to make a point here, so let’s pretend ‘not dying’ is good enough). As opposed to a sports book. You can have a great riveting; uplifting sports book . . . and not know the ending. Know that, of course, x is going to do y. Sure, Rocky eventually won, but not in the first movie. Basically is what I mean.
Shesh, I keep adding these ‘extra’ little side things. I should have just done one of my reviews where I have ‘character’, ‘romance’, ‘plot’, etc. sections. Instead of me bouncing around like crazy.
The book opens with Sinjin Smythe watching as her girlfriend of the time (and that might not be the correct word to use – the girlfriend one) wins the US Open. Doesn’t help matters that Sinjin had been her opponent in the champion match, but those things happen. An important thing, though, is what happens afterwards – Sinjin and Viktoriya ending up in bed together that night. After Viktoriya basically saying that doubles tennis doesn’t matter (or words to that effect) – which is important because Sinjin is in the champion match for that one as well . . . tomorrow. But Viktoriya wants to celebrate her own singles championship right then and there – or at least that night. No matter that this will make Sinjin tired. And stuff. Because . . .even more than ‘doubles doesn’t matter’ is that Sinjin’s feelings don’t matter, what matters is what makes Viktoriya happy. Yeah, see, this is why I wanted to set this book on fire. Gah, I thought, No way I wanted to read something like this here. Luckily I had noticed something – the book moves from here to three years in the future. And is not about the bitchy Viktoriya and the easily lead (at least by Viktoriya) Sinjin.
Three years later Sinjin is attempting to recover from a mid-season knee treatment procedure. And is attempting to qualify for Wimbledon. I should probably note, now, that Sinjin is British (mother is from Nigeria, I believe, and I don’t know where father is from). This is important. Because Wimbledon, if you the reader of this review don’t know, is in England. And they haven’t had an English winner in a ton of years (I forget now how many is mentioned in the book, 34?). Of course they don’t really expect Sinjin to be the one to do it – at least not any more. She’s fallen so far down the standings she isn’t really on them any more (ranked in triple digits). And has to go through qualifying matches to get into the tournament. To which she loses. See, this is like Rocky! Okay, so this book was about 22 pages in length and is about how Sinjin failed to . . what’s this? Oh, someone pulled out, and so Sinjin is that ‘Lucky Loser’ that’s on the front of the book. A lucky loser because she lost her last qualifying match but was had done well enough that when someone pulled out; she was at the top of the list of those waiting for someone to pull out.
Also involved at this tournament is Viktoriya, but she’s both important and not important. Or, in other words, she isn’t the other point of view of the book. No, Sinjin has her point of view, as does Laure Fortescue, of France. Laure had had her own little burden to carry – in the similar manner had the weight of Wimbledon on her back (English – 34 years), Laure had the French title weighing her down. But she begins the Wimbledon portion of the book without that specific weight. She’s interested in winning Wimbledon, though, again.
The book proceeds following both women as the move through the tournament – both on and off the court. Helping each other get ready, and helping giving tips about competitors. (A point is made that the women’s side is more helpful and stuff, with exceptions (like Viktoriya) than the men’s side of tennis).
Well, I really messed up this review so I’ll just flee with a few closing thoughts. I, unexpectedly, loved the book and seriously considered some way to convey that fact more than just having it on a 5.5 shelf. I’m still seriously considering putting this even higher than that, even though there is nothing higher among my shelves, as of yet. Ah, this switch over to only being able to convey my rating in full stars (or artificial half stars). Long ago were the days when I could rate something 4.433 and be able to tell it apart from a book I rated 4.421. Basically, I mean, this book would have used to have been a solid 5 star book. But because I have to include everything I’d have rated 4.65 up to 5.0 in the past as 5 stars, I have to add stuff to show that a specific book is ‘more than’/’better than’ etc. *Shrugs* Just feels weird to have a book that I want to rate 4.65 stars up at the 5 star level; even worse if I put it down at the 4 star level (ah, where art thou, ½ stars?). 4.65 star books resting uneasily next to 5.00 star books on the 5.0 star shelf. Mmphs.
February 25 2016
May 17, 2022
4 stars. This was so good. I love sports romances where we get to actually see the characters actively doing their sport. There is a lot of tennis practice and matches in this and I loved it. This is a friends to lovers which I’m not usually crazy about but the chemistry between Laure and Sinjin was smoking hot and I was rooting for them to get together. It develops kind of slowly which was nice and they don’t even have sex until the second to last chapter and I wasn’t even mad about it okay, I kind of was but whatever.
I liked the writing and the character development. Sinjin goes through women like nothing and she doesn’t do relationships so to see her fall for Laure and only want to be with her was great. I loved Laure’s character and how self assured she was. She knew what she wanted and I felt she really balanced Sinjin’s flighty personality out well. They were great together.
This was a really fun read. I have a couple of other books by Wallace on my kindle and I am excited to get to them.
I liked the writing and the character development. Sinjin goes through women like nothing and she doesn’t do relationships so to see her fall for Laure and only want to be with her was great. I loved Laure’s character and how self assured she was. She knew what she wanted and I felt she really balanced Sinjin’s flighty personality out well. They were great together.
This was a really fun read. I have a couple of other books by Wallace on my kindle and I am excited to get to them.
July 22, 2025
Yea, really enjoyed this - after a couple of really poor books great to get back into winning ways. New author to me and I'll certainly be buying more of hers. Loved it.
March 1, 2018
Sinjin and Laure did something for me I never imagined possible: they made me care about a sport!
Okay, that's over-stating, but not by much. In the same way reading The Princess and the Prix by Nell Stark surprised me by drawing me in deep with a sport, I found myself really on the edge of my seat as these fictional tennis matches occurred. That's no small feat, by the way: building tension when describing action is a real balance, and Yolanda Wallace has that talent down.
So, sporting aside, this romance has a set-up I've not really seen done often and never as well as it is in Lucky Loser: It's a friends-to-lovers (with a dash of former-teammates-to-lovers) where the spark between the two characters is known, discussed, and something they've agreed to explore pretty much from the start. It's the reality they're currently competing in Wimbledon that stops them from moving forward. There's way, way too much on their plates (or 'The Plate,' ha!) already. So this isn't a case of a miscommunication stalling a romance. It's that they've both got major careers in Tennis, they've both got a lot at stake in this match, and neither of them wants to jeopardize this by starting a new relationship in the middle of the highest stress time of their lives.
And it's all the more brilliant because of this totally rational reason for them to put on the breaks. It's fantastic.
Next, the characters. I loved Laure and Sinjin, and it was lovely to read two athlete characters with that level of development: I'd want to hang out with these ladies. They're fun, they're witty, and while they're driven to do their best in the sport, they're not single-minded to the point of being one-note, something I've found with athlete characters in the past. Art, wine-making, parks, family... they've got more to them than tennis, and their relationship—despite them wanting to wait until the tournament is over—progresses with these unfolding moments of learning about each other. It's lovely.
Last? The performer. I listened to this on audio, and I have to say she freaking nailed it. The character voices (including accents) didn't once jar, I always knew who was speaking, and as I mentioned above, Wallace's ability to write tension just sang in Lori Prince's performance.
Highly, highly recommended.
Okay, that's over-stating, but not by much. In the same way reading The Princess and the Prix by Nell Stark surprised me by drawing me in deep with a sport, I found myself really on the edge of my seat as these fictional tennis matches occurred. That's no small feat, by the way: building tension when describing action is a real balance, and Yolanda Wallace has that talent down.
So, sporting aside, this romance has a set-up I've not really seen done often and never as well as it is in Lucky Loser: It's a friends-to-lovers (with a dash of former-teammates-to-lovers) where the spark between the two characters is known, discussed, and something they've agreed to explore pretty much from the start. It's the reality they're currently competing in Wimbledon that stops them from moving forward. There's way, way too much on their plates (or 'The Plate,' ha!) already. So this isn't a case of a miscommunication stalling a romance. It's that they've both got major careers in Tennis, they've both got a lot at stake in this match, and neither of them wants to jeopardize this by starting a new relationship in the middle of the highest stress time of their lives.
And it's all the more brilliant because of this totally rational reason for them to put on the breaks. It's fantastic.
Next, the characters. I loved Laure and Sinjin, and it was lovely to read two athlete characters with that level of development: I'd want to hang out with these ladies. They're fun, they're witty, and while they're driven to do their best in the sport, they're not single-minded to the point of being one-note, something I've found with athlete characters in the past. Art, wine-making, parks, family... they've got more to them than tennis, and their relationship—despite them wanting to wait until the tournament is over—progresses with these unfolding moments of learning about each other. It's lovely.
Last? The performer. I listened to this on audio, and I have to say she freaking nailed it. The character voices (including accents) didn't once jar, I always knew who was speaking, and as I mentioned above, Wallace's ability to write tension just sang in Lori Prince's performance.
Highly, highly recommended.
March 11, 2017
Audible book. Great for tennis fans, if not a fan there is a lot about tennis matches and venues in the book. The narrator does a good job of using different accents for the different players, but that can be distracting or difficult if you don't like accents. I however, enjoyed the story and the narration.
April 16, 2012
Lucky Loser is the second book I've read by Ms. Wallace, the first being Rum Spring. I can tell by the attention to the minutia of tennis that Ms. Wallace definitely does her research! I learned a lot about the game, as I do not follow it at all. Even more powerful than the description of the games and all of the effort and intensity they have are the characters. Sinjin's been burned badly, not only by injuries which have kept her off the court, but by former lovers (who were also players). This has left her hesitant to ever date another player again or even to open her heart to love another time. She can deal with one-night stands and friends with benefits, until she starts looking at Laura as more than a doubles partner and friend. Can she resurrect her career and find love with Laura at the same time? Lucky Loser is a well-written and heartbreaking novel of tennis, romance, rebuilding, and tender happiness. I enjoyed the story and the characters felt so real - as if they could be friends I know. I am looking forward to reading more of Ms. Wallace's novels!
July 13, 2018
This is such a delightful read. The author's investment on supplying a picturesque narration of the tennis games was a delight to read. The build up was amazing and the icing for me was the positive reference on Nigeria. I practically fell in love... Surprisingly not for Sinjin 🤔 but for Laure😍. Laure's character endeared me and her last match to the Russian almost got me in tears.
December 2, 2012
Average book. Not terribly bad, but not too engaging either.
July 27, 2013
3+ significant research, great tension and pleasing plot.
March 29, 2017
3.5. Tennis players Laure and Sinjin compete against each other and fall in love. I liked the tennis details, because I played for a long time and watched a lot of the sport, but man, there was a LOT of tennis details. Maybe too much. And name dropping--I recognized half, so I'm assuming they were all real? The pacing was odd, with random time jumps, sometimes over what had been heralded as a bug plot thing. Once, there was a huge amount of pages and tension given to one game, and within two pages of the event ending, the game was rendered meaningless and the story just blithely continued on from there. Narratively, that was hugely annoying. But I liked the characters, and was amused by the Queen.
October 2, 2019
It was a book mainly about tennis, though the tennis bits were very well narrated. The descriptions of the matches were interesting enough to be gripping. Unfortunately, I can't give it a better rating as the book reflects a bias in the Western world towards Russia and the only Russian character was portrayed in a negative light. The author could've chosen any other country in the West but they didn't.
May 2, 2018
Set against a Wimbledon fortnight, a Nigerian/British woman who is as much a player off the court as on it finds herself falling for a long-time French female competitor, one who is as quite and monogamous as she is flamboyant and partying. The ratio of tennis action to romance is about 80/20, and what romance there is isn't all that compelling, hence the low rating from me.
February 7, 2016
Good Romance
I love tennis so I loved the details of the game in this book. The characters well developed. The story very well written and did I mention the attention to detail and tennis.
I love tennis so I loved the details of the game in this book. The characters well developed. The story very well written and did I mention the attention to detail and tennis.
September 22, 2017
A slow start but then really picked up and became easier and more pleasurable to read.
January 29, 2021
Great story
I love how Sinjin come to realize Laure is the one she falls for. When Laure was always there for her at her worst. I just love stories like these.
I love how Sinjin come to realize Laure is the one she falls for. When Laure was always there for her at her worst. I just love stories like these.
May 1, 2021
read it, enjoyed it, forgot about it
May 14, 2021
Another lovely lesbian loving love story from this author.
May 29, 2022
A book about tennis with a bit of romance thrown in it. And that bit of romance? I didn't like it :/
Oh, well, maybe if I was more into tennis, I would have enjoyed this book more ~sigh~
Oh, well, maybe if I was more into tennis, I would have enjoyed this book more ~sigh~
September 1, 2024
I still cite this book whenever I think about tennis.Tge romance was cool too and I loved Sinjin and Laure.
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