Let the Games Begin was my first sports romance book! To me it felt like contemporary YA romance, & not in a bad way! What I mean by that is that though the characters are adults, 23, Olivia is on a journey through her career path to her ideal job, & Zeke is at the zenith of his athletic career & experiencing the anxieties that come with not knowing for how much longer he’ll be able to keep winning races, These two plot lines therefore felt like that middle ground between ending high school & beginning adulthood. Olivia & Zeke are also dealing with coming to terms with the concessions & compromises they’ve made to get where they are as well as discovering exactly who they are when it comes to love & friendship—all themes of contemporary YA romance, & reasons why I love that genre & greatly enjoyed this book! 

Meanwhile, this book takes place during The 2024 Summer Olympics & features beautiful athletes in top form! Yet, my impression is that a sports romance is meant to have the sport featuring into the story of the romance, while Let the Games Begin felt more like sports was the setting rather than a plot point. This wasn’t a bad thing, just a way this book broke all of my expectations (& also, I could be wrong, because it was my first sports romance book!).

I loved that the meet-cute in this book was immediately angsty & gave enemies-to-lovers vibes! The banter was absolutely on fire between Zeke & Olivia. On a deeper level, I so appreciated the gray areas that Olivia & Zeke had to navigate as Zimbabwean citizens of the UK—the complex nuances of their desires to stand up for what’s right versus surviving & ultimately succeeding in their dreams. Watching Zeke & Olivia find the middle ground that worked for them, & also serving a bit of comeuppance to those who deserved it, felt so visceral! Zeke’s storyline also features mental health awareness, acceptance, resources, & healing, & I loved that that was included during a time in our history that mental health is becoming a recognized aspect of athleticism.

This was a Macmillan Audio pick & was narrated by Shaniqua Okwok, who I’d previously seen in It’s a Sin, & I absolutely loved her voice!