Book Review: Game Point by Meg Jones

Official Synopsis: In the aftermath of Dylan Bailey’s tenth Grand Slam loss, she decides to put her racket away for good. Until a tempting bet from fellow pro Oliver Anderson convinces her to give it one last shot.

If she sticks it out, and still loses the next tournament, she takes home his US Open Trophy, and is free to walk away from the sport forever. To sweeten the deal, Oliver proposes a twist—he’ll swap his racket for a whistle and coach Dylan in the months leading up to the Australian Open. 

After all, with the solid friendship they’ve built, surely working together could score a game point. 

They just need to keep their eyes on the ball and ignore their sizzling tension. 

As Oliver and Dylan navigate the unpredictable court, they rediscover their love for the sport, but the feelings they share could complicate things. With the world watching their every move, they must ensure their partnership stays on-court.

But as the lines between coach and player blur, especially in a sport where every detail is scrutinized, keeping their feelings in check may be their toughest match yet.

Here she is, reading another tennis romance within a few weeks of the last one. I will state I have no regrets because this was one of my favorites I've read in the genre for a while for a few reasons and I'm excited to share it with you all.

Dylan Bailey wants to win, badly, but after losing in the finals of many tournaments and Grand Slams she isn't sure if this is all worth it. She loves tennis, but the lack of trophies in on the bookshelf she has reserved for them is starting to get to her. When she ends up talking to Oliver Anderson at a dinner, they become fast friends.

Oliver is trying to figure out what he wants to do next, keep playing or maybe move into a coaching position, after going through a divorce and finding himself a little lost. Now he finds himself waiting, longing almost, for texts from Dylan when they are across the world from each other. He wants to spend time timing their movies to play at the same time and talking to her for hours. T he only problem is Oliver isn't sure he is ready to fall in love, and he's even less sure that Dylan is ready to 'quit' tennis.

After a disastrous match that causes Dylan to 'retire', Oliver is determined to show her she isn't done yet, that she has a chance, but hopping on a plane with her back to the homeland, Australia, and inviting himself to stay with her in a house that looks like its never been lived in. As they spend more time in a domestic situation, both of them begin to struggle with their developing feelings, especially since Oliver is determined to be her coach, and that wouldn't go over well if they were hooking up...right?

After spending one night just to 'get it out of their systems', Dylan and Oliver start to train, getting Dylan ready to take on the Australia Open and hopefully get a trophy of her own. But as they spend more time together, Oliver stays to worry if he's pushing her too hard and Dylan struggles with physical and mental blocks. After determining their feelings are hard to ignore, Dylan and Oliver try to keep 'boyfriend Oliver' and 'Coach Anderson' separate, but others are starting to notice and that has a chance to ruin everything.

This book has a lot of moments that really made it stand out in the 'tennis romance' world for me. For one, Oliver and Dylan start out as friends and have a lot of natural chemistry. I liked the idea of finding a friend when you are in a room of people you are going to be competing against. Though we do also get to see Dylan make friends with Scottie, the MFC from the first book in this interconnected 'series'. One of the other things I also liked was how well Oliver and Dylan understood each other, especially when it came to competing. Oliver saw the potential that Dylan had and was willing to risk a lot to show her that.

Like the first book, I did enjoy how tennis was talked about in this story, though calling a 'rally' a 'volley' a few times still gets to me, but maybe that's a British thing? Dylan has a lot of passion for what she is doing and how she describes playing is really great. This book also brings up a good point on mental health, and the road blocks we might not know we have within our own heads. There is also a plot line tied to 'are your friends really your friends' for Dylan, which I enjoyed, especially when she and Oliver's relationship is starting to become obvious. Finding out who your true friends are, the ones that will help you instead of making things harder.

Overall, I really liked this story and found myself cheering for both Oliver and Dylan throughout the story. This book doesn't have a third act breakup (woo) and the way they work together is really inspiring. Oliver is a caring partner to Dylan, and helps her work through a lot before working with her to help her reach her goal of winning a Grand Slam. I'm excited to see if there will be any other books in this 'series', maybe for Inez or Chloe Murphy? I also liked that we got to see Scottie and Nico and see how they are doing after the first book.

I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars!

Game Point is out now!

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