All’s Fair In Pickleball and Love by Kate Spencer. I didn’t know anything about pickleball going into this romance but I may give it a try now. A fun lighthearted read about a woman who inherited her family’s aging racquet club and loves pickleball. She meets a club member’s tennis player grandson who maybe has a way to save the club. We get fake dating, grumpy x sunshine and sassy seniors. I felt invested and entertained from start to finish with this sweet story. Just like pickleball (apparently) this story didn’t take itself too serious but still packed in the spice. Perfect if you are looking for a laid-back summer read. Thank you NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the digital ARC, all opinions are my own.

First, a big thank you to Lauren at Book Huddle, Orbit, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Overall, I really enjoyed this contemporary romance. It had a grumpy but lovable MMC and a slowburn romance with the fake dating trope where he falls first. I was hooked from the start, but unfortunately, the book lost me in the final chapters. Just as things were getting good I felt like the story just ended. The entire book built around a big pickleball competition, yet we never got to see how it played out or witness any confrontation with Freddie or Wilson. I was left feeling disappointed and think the author missed an opportunity to provide closure, making all that buildup feel like it led to nothing.

That said, it was still a really enjoyable read. I just wish the ending hadn’t felt so rushed.

Oh Pickleball, how have you taken so many lives by storm? I too have fallen victim to the tantalizing game and am a sucker for books where it’s one of many focuses. Not only is this filled with hilarious moments but discusses rediscovering oneself after being a caregiver for so long, learning to accept help and believe in yourself.

Bex and Niko’s story is a delicious grumpy x sunshine and watching the characters unfold like flowers was a wonderful time plus who doesn’t just love fake dating… i mean come on!! The excuses are the best part.

Okay, all tropes aside this was truly a fun, entertaining story that made sense. It was a wild ride, I would definitely recommend to a friend, especially if I’m trying to convince them to give Pickleball a chance!

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and Kate Spencer for this advanced reader’s copy of All’s Fair in Love and Pickleball

This was such a cute story!! I really enjoyed the pickleball aspect and I loved the main characters, Niko and Bex. It had major rom com vibes and it was a super fun read! The fake dating and enemies to lovers tropes were a part of this story and I often enjoy those. This was my first book by this author and I’m definitely interested in checking out more of her work! Definitely recommend reading this one this summer, it releases next month!

I've never played pickleball and I think it's time to try! @katespencer did an amazing job developing the characters in All's Fair in Love and Pickleball Everyone from Nico- to Aunt Loretta- to Bex. While Bex grieves the loss of her mother and puts all of her energy into saving the family pickleball business. Will she learn to ask for help? Will "fake" love turn into real love? Will Nico rejoin the professional tennis circuit? Spencer creates a plot line that is light, entertaining and keeps the reader hooked to see what happens next. Another fun summer read, perfect for bookclub!

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this! 3.5 /5 stars
This was a cute story about Bex, a woman whose inherited a pickleball club from her mother and Niko, a tennis star trying to stage a comeback. It's nostalgic and cute and just plain fun from cover to cover. I played pickleball in highschool in 2003 and have a big soft spot for the game.
I will say, I love Spencer's writing. It's so well done on a line level and the emotions she can get out of her characters is really impressive. I also really enjoyed Niko. His dichotomy between brilliant tennis star and perceived emotional wreck was really interesting.
I really struggled a bit with the pacing of this, especially between Bex and Niko. While their individual arcs were really enjoyable, I didn't connect so much to their love story. I honestly would have been ok if this wasn't a romance and instead really drilled down into the game more.
This was fun but I don't think it'll stick with me the way her previous outings have.

This book follows Bex, who inherited a racquet club from her mother after her death. Bex is struggling in life as her life revolves solely around the club and its members. When one of the members ends up in the hospital due to an accident during pickleball at the club, Bex rushes over to the hospital immediately and bumps into the rudest guy she has ever met. Turns out that guy, Niko, is the nephew of her beloved club member. Niko, a former tennis pro, who has been out due to a "career-ending" injury, is training to return to tennis, and ends up staying with his aunt to help her recover. Niko doesn't have the best image in the media from the past as well, which causes Bex to dislike him even more. The problem? The only court close by is at his new nemesis Bex's club. Meanwhile the rival racquet club has been trying to buy Bex out, which she has been debating due to needing over $50,000 to do repairs to the club. When the rival club owner hosts a pickleball tournament with a $$$ huge prize, Niko and Bex come to a deal - fake date to repair Niko's tennis image and be pickleball partners if Bex gets the entirety of the cash prize. What could go wrong?

This book is a 2.5 to 3-star at best. The book itself is incredibly predictable about who the other buyer is, and such ridiculous sabotage. I found the FMC to be grating on my nerves as she is the most stubborn person known to mankind (and that is saying something as I am stubborn, but I know when to ask for help). I love pickleball and tennis, so I thought it would be fun to have a romance book around these sports, but OMG TOO MUCH pickleball lingo - it was annoying at points in the book - people that enjoy these sports wanted more sports action scenes, not cheesy lingo. The other thing I couldn't stand was the stupid third-act breakup - I can't stand these normally, but this one was so pointless that it made a 3 to possibly 3.5 star book go down for me. I didn't have a physical copy of the book, but I wanted to chuck my Kindle across the room at the stupidity of this part. Definitely not enemies to lovers despite the claims lol they didn't like each other for five seconds at the beginning of the book then they both started just teasing each other while wanting to fuck each other.

The things I did like about the book: I loved all the older members of the pickleball club - they were so colorful and fun, and really brought great support to Bex. The dealing of grief and the passing of a parent - this was handled super well and you could tell this was coming from a personal place from the author. I did enjoy the romantic moment when Niko took Bex to the museum that was incredibly thoughtful and lovely. The thing I did enjoy about Bex was her resourcefulness - the way she came up with shirts to wear that ended up being fundraiser items, the way she used old materials to make colorful fun pickleball resources, and the way she cared about the club and it's members.

Traditional format 📕 (digital). Release date: June 3, 2025

As a fan of sports romances I was intrigued about this book about pickleball (even though as a tennis player I don’t consider this a real sport 😂😂😂).

This book was a fun read and had all the elements of a good rom com. Great characters, good chemistry and the right amount of spice. A perfect combination for a light summer read even if you don’t know what pickleball is. If you are familiar with pickleball, it hit on all the typical stereotypes you would expect: washed up tennis players and the boomer generation playing this hot new pastime.

It was an entertaining book for me and I give this one a solid 4/5!

Thank you to Net Galley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) | Forever for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Bex lives life like a retiree. She inherited a racquetball club from her parents. Her mother passed away two years prior, and Bex is still deep in her grief. She's surrounded by retirees, a member of their book clubs, on their pickleball teams, and that's the way she likes it.

Enter Niko: the hot shot professional tennis player and nephew of one of the club's members. He's working his way back into the professional tour, and using Bex's club to warm up. When he needs some good publicity, he wants to compete in a pickleball tournament, and despite their immediate hatred of each other, he asks Bex to be his partner....which then turns into a fake relationship...for the press!

This is a true enemies-to-lovers story, and of course, there are some steamy moments. Kate Spencer does an excellent job of balancing the fine line between fluff and heart. As with her other books, Kate writes about grief in a deep and personal way that is difficult for so many writers to capture. Emotions and feelings are deeply felt, and the prose is beautiful, even if it's just a conversation about recycled T-shirts.

While I have missed the pickleball fad, I found the background of the competition to be exciting and helped move the story forward in a satisfying way.

As I've said before, I'm a Kate Spencer fan and this book helps continue that fandom.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book. Thanks to Kate Spencer for being funny, deep, and the only romance writer that I have on my MUST BUY list.

I never thought I'd read a book about pickleball and actually love it?! It took me a few chapters to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked.

I'm not going to lie, I still don't understand pickleball but I still loved the book. I loved Nico & Bex together - their banter, the chemistry, the "fake" dating.

I also enjoyed the ADHD rep in the book, it always makes me feel more seen.

This was a delightful read that had me grinning along with a few moments that tugged at my heartstrings. The banter, chemistry and tension between Bex and Niko was delicious. This book had me rooting hard for Bex and Niko as a couple and for them to succeed with their goals; Niko with his tennis comeback and Bex with her racquet club. I loved seeing Niko take care of Bex and her learning to let him take care of her. Bex's friends were sweet and made me laugh. This was the first book I have read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I love a Kate Spencer book.

In "All's Fair in Love and Pickelball" we meet Bex.

She's in the throes of grief. She's trying to keep her mother's pickleball club open. She's constantly moving and it's helping her avoid confronting any emotion.

Spencer eloquently breaks down the rollercoaster of grief for people, from the happy memories to the breakdowns to the constant ache. As someone who recently lost her maternal figure, I connected to Bex in that way.

In the midst of that, she also meets a grumpy former tennis star, Niko. Amid their highly charged banter, they are forced into a fake dating scenario (one of my fave tropes). And we see the situation force each of them to confront some deeply hidden fears and emotions before finding a way forward.

It's a great book, I highly recommend it.

This was so cute!! I'm so obsessed with pickleball. It was fun to finally read a romance about it. The vibes were perfect but the romance fell flat for me.

📚ARC REVIEW

▪️Title- All’s Fair in Love and Pickleball
▪️Author- Kate Spencer
▪️Pub Date- June 3, 2025

This was adorable. Who doesn’t love a cute little sports romance? And to top it all off it also had fake dating?! This is truly a perfect summer read. The banter between Bex and Niko is so incredibly charming and the characters are immaculately written. I had the best time reading this book! Also, I think I might want to find out more about pickleball now? I can’t wait to own a copy of this book for real because I’ve already made space for it on my bookshelf.

This ARC was provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After what has felt like a long string of bad to mediocre books lately, this one was a breath of fresh air!

First, what I liked: It was definitely the first sports romance where I felt like the author actually KNEW the sport. And they nailed the rivalry between pickleballers and tennis players perfectly.

The romance between Bex and Niko was a little bit of a slow burn, but the development of their characters and the chemistry was undeniable. It made the pacing fit.

What I didn't like: I felt like the act 3 break up was forced and unnecessary. They definitely could have gone about that differently and gotten the same result. I also didn't like how she didn't ask more questions about Niko's rival and why they didn't like each other - and her blatant disregard for anything Niko said about him and then Bex went to him and told him everything. It didn't fit with her character at all.

With that said, however, I did like the ending and the sense of community that came with the romance ending.

TW: mentions of lost parents, sports injury
Spice: 2.5/5 (only 2 open door scenes)

**Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.**

Unfortunately, this was a huge miss. The writing feels robotic and oversimplified; there was no creativity in the way the plot was explained. Due to the odd pacing, there weren’t any stakes. This book had potential to be good, especially given that pickleball romance is niche, but it would need to go through major edits.

I wasn’t invested in the main characters getting together AT ALL. The plot moved at an alarming rate where they first hated each other, then lusted after each other, and after 5 weeks are in love. They would get into arguments, and then completely sweep it under the rug and go back to normal. Don’t even get me started on Freddie. Niko made numerous comments about how the guy is not to be trusted, but what does she do? She blabs their entire rouse to him and is shocked when he uses it against her. Also, Niko suffering from a CAREER ENDING TENNIS INJURY and then qualifying in a tournament at the end of the story? These are a few examples of how unrealistic this story is. And listen- I know fiction is just that, but for me to enjoy a story, I need there to be some believability.

I appreciate the opportunity to read an e-arc of this book and thank the publisher and NetGalley, but I would not recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley & Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the E-ARC! So cute! Loved the characters & the pickleball theme. The banter was so good. Will read more from this author.

“All’s Fair in Love and Pickleball” by Kate Spencer was a fun book experience. Fake dating ins one of my favorite troupes and this book delivered plenty of delightful tension between Bex and Niko. That being said, I wish it would have been more of a slow burn. Instead, if felt more insta-love but I know some people like that. Overall, it was a really cute and quick sports romance with plenty of humor.
Thank you to NetGallery and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

In an effort to save her beloved racquet club from closure, Bex teams up with tennis bad-boy, Niko, to win the pickleball tournament title.

This is my third book by Spencer, and once again, she crafted a romance that made me laugh, smile, and swoon while also wanting to see the characters overcome their personal obstacles and come out on top. The overall feel of this book was light, but one of the big driving forces for Bex was her need to preserve her mother's legacy. After losing her mother to cancer, Bex was working hard to keep the club afloat as she dealt with her grief. Her toxic trait was not accepting help which led to a lot of stress for her. It was gratifying to see her opening herself up to accepting assistance, as well as opening her heart to Niko.

Niko was waging a comeback. His rise in the world of tennis was a way for him to win his father's affection but then his own love of the sport developed. A knee injury took him out of the circuit, but he had been working hard to get back on the tour. When he came to Sunset Springs to help his aunt, he never expected Bex to plow her way into his world, pushing him to rethink his life plan.

I loved that Bex was a game changer for Niko. Yes, they were supposed to be fake dating, but it never, EVER seemed fake to me. They had chemistry galore and just clicked, on and off the court. There is nothing I love more than a grump with a heart of gold hero who melts for the scrappy, Rainbow Brite heroine.

Adding to the fun of this story was a wacky and wonderful group of seniors who formed a family for Bex. Ed, Loretta, Deb, and Maureen were such a fantastic support system for Bex. They had been part of the racquet club and her life for many years and were steadfast in their love for her and the club.

This was another fun and solid romance from Spencer. Filled with her signature humor, wit, and whip smart banter, it was a delight to root for Bex and Niko as they attempted to save the club and figure out their lives while falling in love.

I just could not get into this book. The FMC, Bex, has quirky manic pickleball dream girl energy, and the MMC just seemed like an asshole. And the traumatic backstory that Bex's mom died recently and she's trying to keep the pickleball club alive just isn't it for me.