Customer Reviews

Homecourt Advantage

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It's nice publicity to write a basketball book by the former wife of Patrick Ewing. Would there be dirt? Would there be revelations? No, just a story of relationships from a female perspective as it relates to star athletes that are always in sexual demand. I give the writers credit for overlaying the story over a compelling basketball season, but it was sometimes confusing with so many chapters focusing on the many subplots. Maybe too much was too little.

I enjoyed the book and the ending does draw you in to the happy ending for at least one of the player's wives. But these writers will need to continue to sharpen their story lines to create a novel that generates emotional involvement throughout the novel.

Not for sports enthusiasts but for romance novel readers.

The life of a celebrity always seems so glamorous. In this realistic look at professional basketball players, we realize all that glitters isn't gold.

The New York Flyers are on their way to the championships. They need everybody's support in this effort including, players, coaches, agents and even wives and girlfriends. Casey Rodgers, the veteran and star player's wife, has been put in charge with keeping the women in line. With a diva, a troubled nurse, a jealous fiancé, a scheming ex-girlfriend and problems of her own, this is not an easy task. To top it off, the New York Flyers must win the championship or suffer the consequences. All of these things combined make for one helluva story.

I was very impressed with this first time effort for Ewing and McCrary. The story was very well-written and realistic. Some of the supporting stories could have been eliminated in order to focus on the major ones, but they were all well done. I found myself a little annoyed with Casey at times but she redeemed herself in the end.

Ewing and McCrary have taken the phrase "write what you know" and made it work for them.

Reviewed by Nicole
APOOO BookClub

As an NBA fan of course I want to know what goes on "behind the scenes." And who would know more about the steamy, groupie-driven adventures of the NBA world than two ladies who are (were?) married to former players? Ergo I began HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE with much anticipation; my anticipation quickly turned to trepidation. This book is just plain bad, folks, and here's why:

Way too many subplots. Let's see. We've got Casey, who's unhappy with hubby Brent, because he cheated on her three years ago; we've got pop superstar Remy, who doesn't know what's wrong with Collin, who seems distant; we've got Trina, who discovers hubby Rick has a gambling problem; we've got Steve, who can't keep former lust-driven girlfriend Kelly from stalking him; we've got Lorraine, who doesn't want hubby Paul to know about her violent past; we've got Dawn, who can't get rookie sensation Michael to make a commitment; we've got the New York Flyers, who must win a championship or the franchise will be shipped off to Albany and purchased by a bigoted tycoon; and we've got the worst subplot about one of the above characters being gay--only the authors "cleverly" won't tell us who he is. . .until the end.

Good grief. With such a hodge-podge of backstories, further complicated by awkward, contrived, trite writing, this book is more of a mess than the feedlot on the other side of town. And the ending is predictable. . .yet still a howler. Infidelity and superstardom may very well impact relationships in the NBA; it's a shame HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE is so weak it fails to deliver such a message.
--D. Mikels, Author, Walk-On

On the jacket it saysit took the authors something like six weeks to complete this book, and I believe it. It had a mystery that was a cinch to figure out, threw ridiculously broad hints about something fishy that was going on and had lots of "he thoughts" and "she thoughts." I'm not surprised it was a quick sell, but where was the editor? I do think it would make an entertaining film in the hands of a qualified screenwriter, for the story itself was interesting.

This is definitely "lite" reading. I would recommend waiting till this book comes out in paperback. Homecourt Advantage is the sort of book I would pick up at the airport and read during a long flight. The characters are not well developed. To tell the truth, I could not distinguish one ball player from the other. I needed a scorecard to keep track who was who!!! The women characters are distinguishable by if they wore designer outfits or not. The smart characters wear Gucci, the weak, wimpy character does not wear designer clothes, the shrew wears chanel. The women reminded me of the shallow characters in the novel Good Hair. However, if you have time on your hands and want to read some semi-good fluff, then this is a good book to read

My goodness, did the writers of this sleep with a thesaurus under their pillows or what? The descriptions in this book, both provocative and ridiculous, were over the top. There was too much dropping of designer names and too much decription of hair texture, skin color, and other superficial things. Not to be mean, but I've seen a lot of the NBA wives and some, in fact a whole lot of those women are hardly Playboy or Cosmo material. There is nothing wrong with that but this book had everybody being just simply beautiful, and that ain't real life!!!! As for the men, well this is my take, nobody can kick you in the behind if you aren't bent over!!!! The men kicked and the women took it so they got what they deserved for being stupid. Of course money makes you do things for rich men that you probably, if you were smart wouldn't take off of a poor man. I also must say I had a hard time distinguishing one player from the other, I am still confused as to the gay player's status, but I suppose that is common in first novels, lack of character and plot development. This book kind of bothered me because I found myself trying to figure out who every character was, in terms of the Knicks, I have about six of them figured out. I have to admit though I found myself liking Kelly, as bad as she was, I still liked the way she didn't take any mess and was bound and determined to get what she had coming to her!!!! He owed her and she was taking no crap. As for Casey, my, my, my, Miss Rita, we certainly can paint ourselves in a positive light can't we. I will tell you this the sex descriptions of you and Patrick were a little much for me, I personally found out more than I wanted to know about Patrick Ewing, believe me. This book was good, if like sleezy soaps, but I am glad I got it from the library because I won't be re-reading it, but I must be honest I can't wait for a movie to come out. What can I say I'm a Jerry Springer fan, I love smut!!!!

Homecourt Advantage is an entertaining read, a sneak peek into a the world of NBA wives. The writing is clear, though unremarkable, and the characters are all pretty interesting. I like it that the women - almost all of them, anyway - seem to have real interests and ambitions, other then being the wife or girlfriend of an NBA player. None of them are portrayed as groupies. Instead, they all seem to really be in love with their men. The only annoying part of the book was all the name dropping - between the celebrity names, the designer brands, the fancy cars, and the opulent décor, it got to feel like the book was more about flaunting the players' money and possessions than about relationships. On the other hand, I guess people like that have money, so it was just part of setting the scene? I don't know, I can't help but to think reading on every page about what kind of shoes and lipstick a rich lady wears does not really tell me that much about her.


And the moral of the story? Basketball players must be allowed to concentrate at all costs. When winning the championship is in sight, their wives and girlfriends are to refrain from distracting them with any talk of pregnancy, already existing children (even illegitimate ones), familial responsibility, money (including gambling debts) or extramarital affairs. Perhaps because men are too stupid to concentrate on more than one thing at once? Now that part of the story I can relate to.

Homecourt Advantage gave info on what could happen in major league sports.
Read like it could be true.

I'm a former New Yorker who is a diehard NBA fan (New York Knicks). When I first heard about this book coming out I was wondering if I would like the book. I finally read it, and I enjoyed this book. When you think about being in this type of situation, you think everything is wonderful. The book showed that everything that glitters is not gold. You have a player who is confused about his sexuality, the woman who wants revenge for being dumped, a woman who is afraid to stand up to her gambling basketball player husband, a young player who keeps putting off a marriage to his girlfriend who feels very unappreciated, and a woman who is trying to come to terms with her husbands cheating, and the rebuilding of trust. The book is fiction, but you can't help but wonder how much of what you read has really happened. The gambling basketball player reminded of a player in the NBA who shall remain nameless. I enjoyed the peak into the lives of these characters. I was overjoyed when Trina finally got some backbone and stood up to her husband. I cried for Kelly when she left Mitchell. I was rooting for Casey, who on the outside seemed so strong, but she was really battling with some insecurities.

The book had a lot of characters, and some that did not get developed and did not seem poignant to the story. I saw where a reviewer felt Kelly was due something. Kelly was not due a cent!!! She showed herself to be a true gold digger and a manipulator!!! She lied about who the father was. She was the character you love to hate!!! The book is a page turner, you will find yourself reading into the wee hours of the night just to find out what happens, and the ending is sweet. Very enjoyable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was very informative. It gave a good look into the everyday lives of the sports superstars. The characters were authentic and the plot was realistic.