They Aren’t All LOSING AT LOVE–Review and Giveaway

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for Jennifer Iacopelli’s new release: LOSING AT LOVE. This is a sequel to the (smash!) hit GAME. SET. MATCH. I haven’t read the first bookin this series, but ’tis okay…

book2-publicity-frontAbout the book:

Grass courts, tennis whites and the fiercest competition in the world. Wimbledon. After two crazy weeks in Paris, the girls of the Outer Banks Tennis Academy are headed to London with just one thing on their minds: winning.

Indiana Gaffney is fresh off a surprise win at the French Open junior tournament. Sponsors are clamoring for her attention, but what she wants more than anything—aside from a wild card to Wimbledon—is to be with Jack Harrison, but international fame and a secret relationship rarely mix well.

When Penny Harrison dreamed of playing at Wimbledon she never imagined agonizing pain shooting through her ankle with every step. With just a month until the tournament and the whole world expecting her to win, she’s determined to play, with or without the support of her coach or the love of her life, Alex Russell.

For the first time ever, no one expects anything from Jasmine Randazzo. After a crushing first-round defeat in the French Open juniors, the tennis world has given up on her, but worse than that, so have her parents, her best friend Teddy and maybe even her coach. With everyone writing her off, can she find it within herself to go after her dreams?

My Review:
This is the second book in a series. It can be read as a standalone.

This is a fast-paced sports romance featuring three MC’s all of whom are rising women’s juniors-level tennis stars. Penny Harrison, Indiana “Indy” Gaffney and Jasmine Randazzo are all linked by years of training at the Outer Banks Tennis Academy. They share coaches and living space, but they don’t always share secrets.

For example, Indy–who is a month shy of 18–is secretly dating Penny’s (adult) older brother Jack. Penny and Indy are both pro, but Jasmine is still deciding her future. She wants to go pro, but her coach and parents want her to go to college. Jas feels as if no one truly believes in her, and often she feels unwanted in comparison to her more highly-regarded friends. Her best friend, Penny’s twin brother Teddy, is someone Jasmine wants to date, but he continually pushes her off. Well, at least until she becomes the object of another man’s interest.

Penny, for her part, is coming off an ankle injury at the French Open, and is determined to play singles at Wimbledon. Doing so, however is a real challenge, and not only because she has to eliminate a friend first-round. She has the constant support of Alex, her boyfriend, who is mopping up in the Men’s singles–back in action after a knee injury. It seems as if Penny and Alex have found the right balance between love and tennis, by the end.

After winning the French Open (junior division) Indy starts out strong, but recognizes her few connections in the tennis world are more fragile than even she expected. Plus, keeping her (inappropriate) relationship with Jack on the down-low is a challenge she is not able to meet. And people she should be able to trust only prove themselves more and more untrustworthy. I was glad to see Indy take the high road, more than once, and really carve out her niche in this high-stakes game, even if the tennis isn’t going so spectacularly by the fortnight’s end.

As for putting this book into the New Adult genre, I’m going to disagree. The MC’s are barely 18, if that old. It’s close to innocent, smexytimes-wise. There are some heavy make-outs but the scene always fades-to-black before the sex hits the page. In fact, only one of these relationships breaches the point of penetration, (again, off the page) and that’s just fine. There is plenty of drama between these girls, their opponents, their men, and their parents to fill the pages. It’s a gritty, realistic look into the politics of tennis and passion of a three elite athletes and their drive to the top. I’d say it’s squarely in the mature YA category and suitable for any reader 14+.

Interested? You can find Losing at Love on Amazon, BN, iTunes, Kobo and Goodreads.

book1-publicity-frontAnd the previous book in this series, Game. Set. Match. is also available on Amazon, BN, iTunes, Kobo and Goodreads.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win a $50 GC, Signed copies of Game. Set. Match. and Losing at Love or SWAG!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

Screen Shot 2014-08-07 at 3.09.39 PM copyAbout the Author:
Jennifer Iacopelli was born in New York and has no plans to leave…ever. Growing up, she read everything she could get her hands on, but her favorite authors were Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery and Frances Hodgson Burnett all of whom wrote about kick-ass girls before it was cool for girls to be kick-ass. She got a Bachelor’s degree in Adolescence Education and English Literature quickly followed up by a Master’s in Library Science, which lets her frolic all day with her books and computers, leaving plenty of time in the evenings to write and yell at the Yankees, Giants and her favorite tennis players through the TV.

Catch up with Jennifer online on her newsletter, twitter, Facebook, website, Goodreads, Instagram, and Amazon Author Page.

Inkslinger

Happy Book Birthday to LOSING AT LOVE! with Giveaway

L@L RDL BannerHi there! Today I’m sharing in the festivities for Jenifer Iacopelli’s new release: LOSING AT LOVE. This is a sequel to the (smash!) hit GAME. SET. MATCH. and definitely set to be a winner.  (My lame tennis puns will now cease…)

book2-publicity-frontAbout the book:

Grass courts, tennis whites and the fiercest competition in the world. Wimbledon. After two crazy weeks in Paris, the girls of the Outer Banks Tennis Academy are headed to London with just one thing on their minds: winning.

Indiana Gaffney is fresh off a surprise win at the French Open junior tournament. Sponsors are clamoring for her attention, but what she wants more than anything—aside from a wild card to Wimbledon—is to be with Jack Harrison, but international fame and a secret relationship rarely mix well.

When Penny Harrison dreamed of playing at Wimbledon she never imagined agonizing pain shooting through her ankle with every step. With just a month until the tournament and the whole world expecting her to win, she’s determined to play, with or without the support of her coach or the love of her life, Alex Russell.

For the first time ever, no one expects anything from Jasmine Randazzo. After a crushing first-round defeat in the French Open juniors, the tennis world has given up on her, but worse than that, so have her parents, her best friend Teddy and maybe even her coach. With everyone writing her off, can she find it within herself to go after her dreams?

How about a little taste?

La Metropolian Hotel

Paris, France

Indiana Gaffney gasped, her eyes flying open and locking on the glistening object across the hotel room. It reflected the muted television behind her, the French Open final, the red of the court, blurry in the polished silver. A large, round plate, innocuous to the untrained eye, with the sizeable laser carved logo of Roland Garros at the center, was braced against the mirror hanging on the hotel room wall. The mirror reflected the match clearly, the broad steps and fierce rallies of two men battling it out for the French Open Men’s title. But those men were mere afterthoughts as her eye caught a set of shoulders stretching the material of his t-shirt thin, not a mere image from the television, but broad and warm and real. Strong hands slid down her back, fingers twining into the ends of her long blonde hair, tugging on it gently, drawing her gaze away from the mirror and back to the green eyes of the man in her bed.

He kissed her soundly, sending shivers down her spine and making her hips rock against his and her legs tighten around his waist. “It’s not gonna disappear if you take your eyes off it,” Jack Harrison muttered into the skin of her neck, nipping at it lightly with his teeth.

“Feels like it will,” she whispered back, tilting her head to give him better access. Most of her mind was focused on what he was doing with his hands and mouth, but that plate, the one that declared in no uncertain terms that she was the new French Open junior champion, would not be ignored. Not even for the guy who made her heart pound like no one else ever had before, the guy who, up until a few days ago, could barely look at her without his shoulders slumping with guilt. Their age gap hadn’t shrunk in the days full of soft kisses and nights far more intense — though perhaps not as intense as she’d like — but he wasn’t fighting their attraction anymore. She hadn’t chased him, not really, but he’d known she wanted him, almost from the moment they first met. Then he’d found out how old she was and he started treating her like a flashing red SEVENTEEN was stamped across her forehead, every year between them creating an accompanying foot of distance. In the end, the attraction had been too much, even for someone as painfully good as Jack Harrison.

“Hey, Champ, you in there?” Jack’s voice brought her back, his lips spelling out the words against her shoulder.

“Champ?” Indy hummed and smiled. “I like the sound of that.” In fact, she liked the sound of it so much she planned on winning again the next chance she got, on the grass courts at Wimbledon.

“I bet you do. Get used to it, baby,” Jack said, his whole face lighting up as he shifted his weight forward, tilting her back onto the bed. A shriek bubbled up through her throat and the giggles followed as he leaned over her, bracing himself on his elbows and then smothering her laughter with the press of his mouth. As his tongue slid against hers, she turned herself over to it, letting herself revel in the dreams of future victories and the celebrations that would follow.

Interested? You can find Losing at Love on Amazon, BN, iTunes, Kobo and Goodreads.

book1-publicity-frontAnd the previous book in this series, Game. Set. Match. is also available on Amazon, BN, iTunes, Kobo and Goodreads.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win a $50 GC, Signed copies of Game. Set. Match. and Losing at Love or SWAG!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

Screen Shot 2014-08-07 at 3.09.39 PM copyAbout the Author:
Jennifer Iacopelli was born in New York and has no plans to leave…ever. Growing up, she read everything she could get her hands on, but her favorite authors were Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery and Frances Hodgson Burnett all of whom wrote about kick-ass girls before it was cool for girls to be kick-ass. She got a Bachelor’s degree in Adolescence Education and English Literature quickly followed up by a Master’s in Library Science, which lets her frolic all day with her books and computers, leaving plenty of time in the evenings to write and yell at the Yankees, Giants and her favorite tennis players through the TV.

Catch up with Jennifer online on her newsletter, twitter, Facebook, website, Goodreads, Instagram, and Amazon Author Page.

Inkslinger