Book Review: Thirty Love by Tom Vellner

Official Synopsis: American tennis star Leo Chambers is determined to win the US Open by thirty, the age when many players feel retirement looming. He’s just a year away from that dreaded birthday, but he can’t find his focus—considering he hasn’t told anyone he’s gay, he’s clashing with his strict coach (who also happens to be his dad), and he still can’t figure out how to beat his longtime nemesis on tour, Gabe Montoya, who, well, hits different. Gabe is playing better than ever, and Leo can’t seem to escape him—and maybe he doesn’t want to escape him.

Leo’s other obstacle is Sascha Volkov, a Russian legend who has such a powerful influence on the tennis world, he would destroy Leo’s career if he found out that he’s gay.

No distractions, Leo reminds himself. But when Gabe makes a shocking announcement, Leo is thrown off his game—in more ways than one. Ready? Play.

This year, 2026, is about to bless our shelves with MULTIPLE queer sports romance books, and two in particular that involve tennis. This is actually a dream come true for me and I am excited to be able to share an early review of Thirty Love with all of you!

Leo Chambers is a professional tennis player who is looking ahead at his 30th birthday with the goal of winning a Grand Slam Match before then, but with father (and coach's) health being at risk and his budding feelings for one of his opponents being a distraction. Leo has know he is gay for a while, but hasn't acted on the feelings outside of secret hookups in the countries he travels to for tennis. He wants the concentration to be on his game, and the way he plays tennis to honor his dad and coach, who had to retire from playing due to MS. But when his biggest rival comes out, the tennis world is thrown into a frenzy. Between those who are accepting in Gabe to other players who keep making homophobic remarks, Leo tries to figure out where he falls in all of this.

But when Gabe and Leo start to realize they aren't so different, and actually might play better together (in more ways than 1), they end up spending more time together, which ends in them sharing a kiss in secret. Leo doesn't know how to handle these new feelings for Gabe, determined to not be distracted he wonders if it's a one off thing, but he can't stop thinking about Gabe, hoping to talk to him or run into him during their matches. Now Gabe and Leo are hooking up in secret as Leo slowly comes out to his family and friends, hoping to share everything on his own terms, but the more they sneak around, the bigger risk they get caught and throw the professional tennis world into even more of a frenzy.

Something about the rivals to secret lovers trope always gets me sports romances specifically. I think its a really fun trope, especially when you have all these people spending a lot of time together. I really enjoyed Gabe from the beginning, you can tell he was comfortable in who he is and it was great to see how that influenced Leo. Leo is also dealing with feeling protective of his father, and wanting to keep him safe and healthy, which almost offers more of a distraction than everything else going on.

I had only one really big 'eh' moment with this book and its the whole 'being forced to come out because someone took a picture' which is just not a trope I love in queer or even cis fiction. I know sneaking around kind of needs it, but I wish more people were able to do it on their own, not have a picture be posted online by some scumbag. We also had a pretty homophobic player who made comments throughout the book, so just something to be aware of when reading.

Overall, you can tell the author has a deep love for tennis, the matches are written well and don't feel too overwhelming. We get to see the deep understanding of the scheduling and the training involved. I am excited to see more books that not only involve tennis but queer romance stories. Though this book has some spicy scenes, its overall pretty low-spice, or like...just above closed door. Also, for being a debut novel I thought it was well written with a passion for the topics it was covering. I am excited to see what else comes out from this author!

I rated this book 3.5 out of 5 stars!

Thirty Love comes out March 10, 2026!

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