Customer Reviews

Game, Set, Match

5 star:		(4)
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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Izzy Conners has been raising the now teenage Nick, pretty much his whole life. Although not his birth mother, he has lived with her and she has cared and loved him as if he was her own. Sabrina, Nick's biological mother has issues of drug abuse and dropping off the face of the Earth at convenient times. Izzy is acting currently as a foster mother, never being able to convince the courts to proceed with adoption. Izzy often wonders if it is because she is black, and Nick is white - but the courts say mothers and children should always be tried to kept together.

Fifteen years ago, Izzy and the now tennis superstar Jason Cartwright were friends - and maybe even a little more. But they lost touch - until now. Izzy has been scheduled to photograph Jason for Sports Illustrated. Jason is currently on the sidelines with a knee injury, but that doesn't mean he is still not in the public eye. They reunite and there are definitely some sparks. But, Izzy is in a relationship with her manager Simon, although what Izzy feels the first five minutes she is with Jason is 100% more than what she has ever felt with Simon.

As they work together, their attraction flares. But life likes to throw curveballs, and this one comes in named Sabrina. Nick's birth mom, and former lover of Jason has come back home. No one wants her there, but she causes trouble nonetheless. Izzy wants to do everything right for Nick, and Jason wants to prove to her he is more than just a playboy gossip tennis star.

Game Set Match is a pretty straight forward story of two people reuniting and working around adult, real life problems to make their relationship work. Izzy's number one priority is Nick. Everything else goes on the back burner. So when Sabrina comes back to town, Izzy's fear that she will take him away overwhelms her. She struggles with balancing her feelings for the three men in her life - Jason, Simon and Nick. I like that her and Jason already have a past, and they ended on not the greatest note, so they have an immediate trust issue. They not only face internal conflict with Sabrina, since they both have a connection to her, but the external conflict with paparazzi puts even more pressure on their friendship and eventual relationship.

Izzy comes across a little too perfect for me. She is the perfect mother to Nick, and overall I wanted her more flawed. She treats everyone so nice and kind and never says or does the wrong thing. I wanted her to have something more - something that made her stand out in the book. Paired up with Jason, their relationship becomes quite steamy and Nana Malone does give us lots of romance in this book. It all flows smoothly and nothing is rushed.

Nick and Jason are definitely more interesting characters. It was fun watching Jason deal with winning Izzy back and trying to keep Sabrina out of his life. For a teenager, I think Nick is portrayed well. He came across with his immature moments, not always handling the stress of his life well.

Overall, this is a light and easy read, although a bit predictable. Between the villain Sabrina (who gets off way too easy at the end) and the complications she brings into the story, there were no big twists delivered to the reader. But it will hold your interest and and Izzy and Jason have nice chemistry together.

Rating: 3.5/5

Finally! A fresh voice in contemporary romance. Game, Set, Match by Nana Malone is a delightful, sexy story with well-written characters and an entertaining storyline. The heat between old flames, Jason and Izzy, is obvious from their first encounter. They volley witty dialogue and calculated innuendos at each other like a fast-paced tennis match, and you're never sure who's going to win. Both characters have scarred pasts that cause them to make mistakes in the present, but they're also both determined to learn from that damaging past and move on.

From the first page, Izzy's personality grabbed me. She's a workaholic mother who'll do whatever it takes to protect and guide her foster son, Nick, a boy she loves just like her own. In the process, she's forced to deal with Nick's birth mother, a drug addict who cares about no one but herself. Izzy also has to deal with the fact that the odds of a single, black woman being allowed to adopt a white boy are slim to none. But Izzy faces each problem with grit and determination, and under her don't-rock-the-boat demeanor, she wrestles with insecurities and self-doubt, just like the rest of us, often paying the price of putting everyone else ahead of herself. She's most at home behind her camera, where she sees others for who they really are and she can keep her own real self hidden.

The fallout from Jason's bad boy image reflects on many current issues in our culture. Ms. Malone does a wonderful job of showing him as both a public superstar and as a private person dealing with his dual images. His charm and talent were both obvious, but his inner turmoil was the most appealing aspect of his character.

The sexual tension between Jason and Izzy, along with the blackmail plot surrounding Nick, builds and builds to a delicious and satisfying conclusion. Game, Set, Match is a wonderful new addition to my romance library that I'll read again and again.

Nana Malone's Game, Set, Match is a great read. I really enjoyed the book and was immediately pulled into the lives of the characters. Even with a celebrity in the cast, they all come across as real people with real life drama and passions. I was laughing one minute and blushing the next with the seamless mix of humor and hot scenes. I hope to get more of Izzy and of course Jessica soon!

I do count my pennies and hesitated on spending the amount requested for this ebook, but decided it would be my splurge for the month. It was an enjoyable read and I thought Jason's character was allowed to evolve and grow naturally. Izzy, well, I was surprise she didn't have a breakdown trying to keep everybody happy and holding so much in. She didn't make it easy for Jason and I was please that her son had her back. The friends connection was not left hanging and was funny. As for Sabrina and the coach: never give up YOUR bedroom and way too much patience in handling the coach. I would recommend this story--it was fresh, no shaky plot, the sex scenes were good, and the ending was so sweet.

I'm so excited Amazon realeased this book early. I've been a huge fan of Nana Malone and her blog for a long time, and really couldn't wait to read her first book.

Izzy and Jason are a couple I'll remember for a long time. And talk about laughs! Izzy's assistant Jessica is a scene stealer. I hope she gets her own book one day.

And thought I should warn you: You'll want to wait until your significant other is around to read the love scenes. If you love steamy, this book definitely delivers.

This as well written, but it's just not my taste. The lead female was way too weak too long and lets too many of the characters walk all over her. She is the quintessential long suffering female who works hard and gives everything up in the name of her kid (who's really a so called "friend's" cold) yet continues to get punked. Yes it all works out in the end, but come on, it's just too "Carmenesk" for me.

"Game, Set, Match" by Nana Malone, has its interesting points, but it doesn't hit enough of them to win this tennis and book lover over.

Izzy is a successful photographer with a teenaged, foster son who is dealing with the chaos of her life when she gets a call from her agent. She has a shoot with SI and the subject is her college crush and international tennis star, Jason Cartwright.

Initially, I liked Izzy. I thought she was smart, loving and capable. But as the book went on she progressively worked my nerves. She let people walk all over her, yet she always managed to hold Jason's feet to the fire about things that a level-headed woman would let go. This normally capable, mature woman, would routinely turn into pre-teen whenever her romance with Jason hit a rough patch. Towards the end of the book, I really didn't like her very much.

Jason was an easier character to like. Tired of his playboy ways and at a turning point in his life, he was really to listen to his heart. While he wasn't perfect, I liked him. He had to grow as a character, but he exhibited more maturity than Izzy in a lot of ways.

The chemistry between the these characters was good. It took a little time for the two lovers to come together, but given their history that made sense. Still, I had trouble really connecting with this couple as the story wore on.

The book is also featured several supporting characters including Nick, Izzy's foster son, Sabrina, his biological mother, and Izzy's assistant and Simon, her agent. Each supporting character served a useful purpose and were not just additional filler.

I really wanted to love this book. But I ended up feeling very lukewarm about it. It wasn't the worst book that I have read and it really had some good points. But great books, like great tennis players hit all the important points in a match. They have an intangible that is hard to define. While "Game, Set, Match" had some of these elements, it didn`t have enough of them to suit me.