If there’s one sport taking the world by storm right now, it’s pickleball, and now, it’s taking over the romance world with Pickleballers.
As someone who loves sports romances, I never thought we’d see a pickleball romance and yet here we are. Given how popular it is, I can see why Berkley decided to publish this one as it’s an incredibly fun romance.
If I’m correct, this is also Ilana Long’s debut romance which is even more exciting. Plus this book has an incredibly cute cover so what’s not to like? Whether you’re a huge fan of pickleball or know next to nothing, you’re sure to get a kick out of this book.
I’d like to thank Berkley for sending me an ARC so I was able to read and review this one early.
Pickleballers is a uniquely adorable sports romance debut.
This story follows our main character, Meg who is not doing fine at all. She recently got divorced and is trying to put the pieces of her life back together. One of the ways she’s been doing that is playing pickleball with her best friend, Annie. While she’s not great at pickleball, she’s trying her best.
She’s trying to figure things out when she meets a guy while in Bainbridge, Washington which is the birthplace of pickleball. The two hook up before Meg goes back home and then things get even weirder. Her local pickleball courts are set to get shut down due to the animals living there and the guy behind it is Meg’s hookup named Ethan.
While Meg tries to stand her ground, she can’t help the sizzling attraction she feels towards Ethan. Things start to look up when a local pickleball tournament is announced and the entire group of pickleball players agrees to compete. As a beginner, Meg is paired with another beginner until the team pulls out their secret weapon aka Meg’s ex-husband.
From there, Meg is determined to not only snag the spot but stop Ethan and figure out what’s best for herself. If this book sounds like there’s a lot going on, there is. However, Ilana Long does a great job of not feeling like there’s a lot going on. The pacing of this book is incredibly good.
Even though the third-act conflict is downright bonkers, seeing the romance between Meg and Ethan was fun. These two seem like an unlikely pairing but the attraction is there from the start and it’s nice to see Meg get her HEA after dealing with so much. While the romance was good, it did feel like it took a backseat to everything else that was going on.
If you’re a fan of pickleball though, I think you’ll enjoy all the references and all the different scenes of the characters being pickleball. While I’ve never played, Ilana Long does have me intrigued to play. Overall, this book was fun and a solid debut.
Pickleballers by Ilana Long is out now where books are sold.