Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Audiobook: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Spice: Closed Door

by Ilana Long (Nov 12, 2024) Thank you, @prhaudio and @berkleyromance for the advanced audio and print copies! #prhaudioinfluencer #berkleypartner Below is my honest review!

Meg Bloomberg’s husband left her and let her know by scribbling a note on the back of a Home Depot receipt. Reeling from the divorce, her best friend Annie has convinced her to try pickleball. Their local Seattle league plays on courts near the elementary school until they learn of plans to tear up the courts in favor of returning the land to nature. Now they need to find money for a new location and deal with Ethan, an infuriating environmental planner. For the first problem, a big pickleball prize could get them the money.

The second problem is a little more awkward because Ethan is the hot stranger from the ferry she made out with. As the project and the competition heat up, so does the attraction between Ethan and Meg. As Meg falls for pickleball and Ethan, she’ll also rediscover her passions, discover a found family, and find closure with the past.

This was a completely adorable book! Although pickleball is the story’s through line, the stunning backdrop of the Pacific Northwest absolutely charmed me. From the big city to ferries and an island small town to hiking and a hidden cabin, the setting is so stunning, and Long does a fantastic job bringing it to life. This is a single POV book centered on Meg finding her voice and happiness, and I enjoyed how everything about her relationship with Ethan is outside her comfort zone. There are a couple of instances of miscommunication where if one of them had just said what they were thinking instead of assuming an answer, the result would have been different, but Long laid the groundwork for these in her character development, so you understood the reasoning and it didn’t feel out of left field when it happened. 

The audiobook is lots of fun and is narrated by the author! When this is done well, as it is here, I enjoy how much of the spirit of the characters is brought to life because they are being voiced by the person who created them!