Review: Refreshing New Contemporary Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 6, 2013
Game. Set. Match. is not just another New Adult Contemporary Romance, and I found that to be very refreshing.  The novel centers on the lives of three girls, Penny Harrison, Jasmine Randazzo, and Indiana (Indy) Gaffney.  These three girls are all tennis players, Penny is the up and coming star who is currently one of the best players the world.  Indy is only 17, but is an outstanding player.  After her mother's death a year ago, she finally returns to tennis and The Outer Banks Tennis Academy.  Jasmine is the daughter of two famous tennis players, who also founded The Outer Banks Academy.  The story is told from all three girl's point of view, and focuses not only on their individual lives, but also on the game itself, their training, and the matches that they play in, which was a lot of fun, and then, of course, their love interests, which was probably the best of all.  I have always loved tennis, but you definitely don't have to be a tennis fan to enjoy this book.In my opinion, just as important to the story as the girls are, are the guys that are the objects of their affections.  Teddy Harrison is Penny's twin brother and is quite the player on the court and off.  Teddy is friendly with quite a few girls at the Academy.  He is also a tennis player, but plays at a college level.  Jasmine and Teddy are best friends, though Jasmine wants it to be much more than that.  Jack Harrison is Penny's older brother and also her manager.  He is 23 years old and quite the hottie himself.  He is also a former college tennis player.  Then you have Alex Russell, a total hottie who is quite famous himself.  He comes to the academy at the request of Dom, the girl's coach, to help Penny train for the French Open.  He is in the process of recovering from a knee injury.  Alex and Penny have a history together, and try as she may to ignore him, Penny can't deny her feelings for the hottie any more than he can deny his feeling for her.  The chemistry between the two is sizzling, but in a world where paparazzi are a constant factor, a relationship between Alex and Penny proves to a challenge.  Indy has a thing for Jack, and their chemistry is tangible, but age is an issue here, she's 17 and he's 23.Of all three of the girls, I would have to say Indy is my favorite.  I just liked her a lot.  I also liked Penny.  Even though she is famous, she remains down to earth and real.  Jasmine is my least favorite of all.  I didn't care for her to much.  She is a little snobby and mean, though towards the end of the book, things began to change and she grew on me.  I found the story itself to be fun and entertaining, and the sports element brings in another level of excitement that I enjoyed.  I also liked the fact that since the story is told from all three girl's point of view, you are able to get inside each of their heads and know them each a little better.  I enjoyed the friendship that began to form between the girls, and I enjoyed even more their romantic relationships.  The guys were great.  I loved all three of them and can't wait to get to know each of them better as the series continues.  I also thought the novel ended at good point, and was very satisfied with the ending.  It is not a cliffhanger, yet leaves you excited to find out where Jennifer Iacopelli will take the novel from here.  There are a few sexual scenes, but they are not overly explicit and this book, in my opinion would be fine for the older YA age group also.  Overall, I enjoyed this novel.  If you are a contemporary romance fan and/or are looking for something fresh and a little different, then I would recommend  checking Game. Set. Match. out.