Forbidden love between a player and an official. A lot of tennis but it was interesting. If you are not a sports fan it may be a bit much. Really solid romance.

Audiobook version was enjoyable. Spanish accent for Gabriela was notable but nothing like caricature.

So I mostly enjoyed this book. Mostly. I liked the characters and I definitely enjoyed the tennis & officiating aspects. The thing that I struggled with was not feeling how they actually fell in love or developed a connection. I mean, they did spend time together and had excellent chemistry but I couldn't figure out when or how they shared enough emotion to fall in love.

Cheyenne Blue is still one of my new favorite go-to authors and I plan to continue to work my way through her back catalog.

I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the tennis matches, the warm family interactions (especially the sister/brother banter) and the interesting choice of an umpire as one of the main characters. The descriptions of the outback and the community of Wag's Pocket (sp?) really added a sense of atmosphere to the story and made me want to visit Australia all the more.

This was a pretty angsty listen and I admit to getting quite frustrated with some of the choices the characters make, which I am sure is what the author intended. Because isn't that life sometimes; us making bad choices and having to live with the results or doing the right thing and then having to live with not having done what we wanted? And, maybe worst of all, wondering if we should have done it all differently? Well, there is some of all that here and it was a little hard for me to take, but I know that's just me and not a reflection on the writing.

The narration of the audiobook by Claire Alain was quite good and I'll continue to look for books narrated by her. My favorite read thus far of Cheyenne Blue's is [b:The Number 94 Project|59771586|The Number 94 Project|Cheyenne Blue|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1638927974l/59771586._SY75_.jpg|93611297] and I am looking forward to listening to the audiobook version of that in the future.

Okay, I'm not going to spend a lot of time with this review because I read this a couple of weeks ago, and it was fine. Nothing really wow'd me and nothing really derailed the experience either. See? Fine. Just fine.

I will say that I am growing tired of the lack of relationship build up in sapphic romance novels. I understand the power of attraction and I'm not suggesting consenting adults wait any particular time period before they have sex, but what I like about romance is, well, the romance. I like the build up, the tension. I like having to scream at my characters to "kiss already!" and this book didn't have any of that. And given how forbidden the relationship between the main characters is in the context and rules of the tennis world in which they're both a part, I think it would have benefited from taking that part of their relationship much slower than they do. But this is definitely my preference and I'm rarely in any kind of majority opinion.

I just didn’t feel it. I didn’t feel the chemistry between Viva and Gabriela. It was a surprise for me when they got together so soon. There was no buildup. And than the relationship ended abruptly as well. I liked the part when they were not together but missing each other. I felt it then. And I had tears in my eyes cause I felt Viva wrist pain when she played and when she had to retire from the singles. So that part was good. And than after thinking and thinking, but saying that she couldn’t, she decided on the spot to stop playing doubles as well for her relationship. Great off course but also so abrupt, and for me unbelievable. So 3 stars for the second book by Cheyenne Blue. Gave the first one 2,5 stars so not sure if she is my kind of writer. Will try another one and decide than.

Great sports romance with star-crossed lovers and a happy ending. Very nicely written, great MCs with deep personalities, very good secondary characters. Also it’s lesbians playing tennis in Australia. What else could I ask for?