I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, this does not affect the content of my review or my opinion of the book in any way.
Gemma Lennon has spent nearly all of her 21 years focused on one thing: Winning an Grand Slam.
After a disastrous and very public scandal and subsequent loss at the Australian Open, Gemma is now laser-focused on winning the French Open. Nothing and no one will derail her shot at winning - until a heated encounter with brilliant and sexy Andre Reyes threatens to throw her off her game.
Breaking her own rules, Gemma begins a whirlwind romance with Andre who shows her that love and a life off the court might be the real prize. With him, she learns to trust and love...at precisely the worst time in her career. The pressure from her home country, fans and even the Prime Minister to be the first British woman to win in nearly four decades weighs heavily.
As Wimbledon begins, fabricated and sensationalised news about them spreads, fuelling the paparazzi, and hurting her performance. Now, she must reconsider everything, because in the high-stakes game of love, anyone can be the enemy within...even lovers and friends. In the Game of Love, winner takes all.
I am by no means a huge tennis buff, I watch Wimbledon every year, and I'm not just talking about the tournament. The film of the same name is a firm favourite of mine. In fact I watch it every year without fail.
As such a huge fan of the film, I kind of hoped the book
Game of Love would make me feel like Wimbledon did.
Can you tell it didn't?
It's not that I didn't like Game of Love, more that I didn't like Gemma. As she's one of the two narratives we follow that's a bit of a big deal.
I wanted so much to like Game of Love, I really did. But Gemma was just too annoying, self-absorbed and the amount of times she didn't spot the obvious was just too much. I said self-absorbed in that little list because all she thinks about is herself. What she wants from the relationship. Whether or not she wants to keep it private. There is no consulting with Andre about how he feels about it all, oh no, it's all about Queen Gemma.
Another thing I didn't like about Gemma, that she time and again didn't spot the glaringly obvious. I think anyone with a brain could figure out who was behind the constant paparazzi attention. Andre's phone hacking-thingy was really not needed.
So Andre has some weird-ass job that I still don't understand, although it lead to him doing some cool stuff with the police and high up government security departments. I would have much rather read more of Andre's life and work stuff than Gemma moaning about missing Andre. And being mad that he had to work. Gosh darnit, how very dare he.
The general story line in Game of Love was okay. It neither wowed nor insulted me. The main issue I had, if you couldn't already tell, was Gemma.
I'd love to know if anyone else had the same issue when reading Game of Love. Let me know in the comments!
'Game of Love' by Ara Grigorian
3 Stars
Labels: 2015, 3 Stars, Ara Grigorian, Book, Game of Love, Published 2015, Review, Wimbledon
