All’s Fair in Love and Pickleball is a cute contemporary romance with a fun, light-hearted tone that makes it an easy and enjoyable read.

The story follows Bex, who has inherited a pickleball facility from her late mother. She’s managed to keep it going for a couple of years, but now the place is in desperate need of repairs and the finances are beginning to buckle. Enter Niko—her grumpy new nemesis-slash-love-interest, who also happens to be a famous tennis player. He’s in need of a PR glow-up, so the two strike a mutually beneficial deal that, unsurprisingly, starts to blur the lines between fake arrangement and real feelings.

Bex and Niko have strong chemistry, but I will say—the fake dating with real feelings happens quickly. There isn’t a lot of slow burn or tension-building. It’s not a dealbreaker, but I did find myself wishing for a bit more build-up to make the emotional payoff feel richer.

One element I really appreciated was Bex’s late-in-life ADHD diagnosis. Seeing things from her perspective—how she builds strategies and routines to manage it—adds a thoughtful layer to her character. It’s handled with honesty and warmth, and I found it refreshing to see this kind of representation in a contemporary romance.

Confession time: I knew almost nothing about pickleball going in. It’s just not something that’s on my radar. But honestly? It sounds kooky, fast-paced, and genuinely fun. I actually want to give it a go now—and any book that makes you curious about a new hobby gets bonus points in my book.

The writing is simple and breezy, making it a great pick for anyone in the mood for a no-fuss romance with a guaranteed happily-ever-after. That said, as this is an ARC, I did notice a few word choices that felt slightly off—just a handful of moments where the phrasing didn’t quite land, but nothing that affected my overall enjoyment.

If you’re after a cozy, feel-good romance that won’t fry your brain, this is exactly what you’d expect—and want—it to be.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

this is definitely the sport of the moment. im seeing it everywhere so i t was nice to see something take it as a part of the story. what Kate managed though as to not make it take over, which looking at social media around this sport, it had the potential to!
the cover drew me in immediately and that gorgeous vibe continued right into the book.
Bex has inherited the club from her mother. its everything to her and her whole life has centred around this club and its fellow members. but its not been doing so well. she has to fight for it but she doesnt know how. enter Niko. hes the up and coming hot tennis player on the scene. or he was until he became injured. and hes definitely not a pickelball fan. or he might be now because he sees what it might be able to do for him. but hes also down on himself and his career, he needs the tournament at Bexs club to work in his favour and give him some of his cred back.
he knows what he has to do so asks Bex to help him out. but wrong end of sticks are seen to have been taken and soon they find themselves needing to fake a relationship and fake a partnership. they both need something from this. they are both in the game but are they really on the same side? well the sparks certainly fly them them on in both on and off the court.
this was a super warming book. i loved how the two characters were forces in their own right. but had to learn to work together and that quickly turned into something a whole lot better to do with being together. a team. their wit was just the right side of fiery and the growing feelings were a joy to watch.
i also love the found family aspect to this book. it felt very wholesome and touched at emotions in perfect incrimants throughout. i especially liked how Kate describes Bex feelings towards the club,place and people all swirling round her feeling for her mum.

It would’ve been four stars but the third act break up felt so silly and unnecessary to me.

The fmc as much as she was funny and headstrong she was also rlly stubborn for no reason at all? She would be wilfully ignorant about things that were so fucking obvious it was too annoying.

The mmc had me cackling over his clap backs pls their banter was hilarious. Best thing about the book for sureeee.

Overall this was a fun book and helped me get out of my slump quickly!

ೃ⁀➷ Thank you NetGalley and Quercus for the ARC! ♥︎

This was sweet, sexy and very fun! I loved how pickleball was weaved in instead of being every other word and I adored all of the strong, genuine relationships Spencer creates. I would quite happily read lots of books in this universe! The book flowed really nicely and I appreciated how we got to see Niko develop and change as the people around him did. Kate Spencer really created a slimeball in Freddie and I ate it up!

this was such a cute and fun beach read! perfect for summertime. although u don’t know much about pickleball this book was such a cool sports romance
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4.5 stars

3.75 stars
After enjoying In A New York Minute by Kate Spencer, I was keen to see what her latest read would be like.
And this was a nice, easy story.
Even though I don't know all that much about pickleball, it was good to see a bit of different take on a sports romance.
I definitely enjoy Kate Spencer's writing style and this did keep my attention the whole way through.
It was more of a enemies to lust (instead of love) and I'm not sure the romance felt all that developed between the two.
It also ended quite abruptly, which I wasn't really a fan of either.
I would have loved an epilogue or another few chapters.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun read and I loved getting to read a different type of sports romance. Niko and Bex were such fun characters and I loved their banter and chemistry throughout and how it slowly shifted into love. I also really enjoyed all the side characters. I did feel like parts of the last few chapters were a bit rushed but overall, a really fun, enjoyable read with all the things I love about the romance genre.

This was a funny and quick read. I went into this one blind and I enjoyed it. The relationship between the two main characters did feel a bit rushed and like the readers have pointed out, I can’t see it lasting. Pickleball was a new sport for me and I can’t says I’m interested to learn more.

Haven't heard of this author before but absolutely loved this book. Lighthearted, quick read. I normally like a bit more spice but the few scenes included were enough. As a Brit I hadn't heard of pickleball but it sounds fun!

Tropes - enemies (ish) to lovers, slow burn, fake dating, sports romance.

Trigger warnings - death of a parent to cancer.

I didn’t enjoy this book much😞—everything felt so forced🔫, and the story just wasn’t engaging. The best way I can describe reading this is like eating porridge🥣 (which I don’t like, but I’ll eat it if I have to). It was just… there.

The whole “we don’t like each other” thing? Yeah, that lasted about five seconds before they were sneaking glances👀 and getting all flustered.🤡 HUH. And somehow, they made something as simple as taking a piece of gum tense😖. Like, seriously? Come on, guys, I thought you didn’t like each other!

It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t for me.

Thanks Netgalley and the author for the ARC 🧸💝 ✨

This was such a fun read! Bex & Niko had great chemistry. It was so fun with the pickleball aspect. I highly enjoyed it! I love how after even a sports injury you can still find fun & passion in things if you look hard enough and maybe even love along the way too

Bex heredó el Sunset Springs Racquet Club de su madre, pero el lugar necesita muchas remodelaciones y está al borde del colapso. Desesperada por salvar el club y mantener viva la memoria de su madre, Bex se enfrenta a una fuerte competencia: un torneo de pickleball para novatos con un premio de 30,000 dólares. Niko, un tenista profesional que aceptó ser instructor temporal en el club por su tía, Loreta, le ofrece ser su pareja en el torneo y dividir el premio. Mientras entrenan, Bex y Niko comienzan a conocerse mejor, surgiendo una atracción mutua, pero él tiene su vida de tenista que lo llevará a viajar por el mundo, mientras ella se quedará a salvar el club. Entre el torneo, el dinero necesario para salvar el club y una relación que parece ser solo un juego, Bex y Niko tendrán que decidir qué hacer con sus corazones.



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Me daba cosa el final porque alguno tenía que renunciar a lo que amaba, pero la solución me gustó.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Romance is a little fast-paced, so nothing really special. I also think the MC’s would’ve probably broken up about a week after the epilogue. Plus, the characters, writing, and plot were just very flat. 2.25

This was cute and funny and I loved the found family of the members of the pickleball club. This would be a perfect beach read!

I got so engrossed with this sweet, fun and charming book that I completely lost track of time. I've been hearing a lot about pickleball so it was a nice bit of insight into the world of pickleball.

Bex and Niko were fabulous together. I liked the way grumpy Niko was just such a softie, even from the beginning, always looking after Bex who was so worn from having to do everything herself. Normally I'm not a fan of insta-lust, but the chemistry was so well written, believable and fitting with the characters. Both Bex and Niko were contending with living up to their parents, though in Bex's case it was mostly about saving her parent's legacy, while Niko was dealing with a demanding father.

I am perplexed, however, as to Bex's naivety to tell Niko's rival the truth. It seemed out of character. I also would've liked Niko's relationship with his dad a bit more, also, his decision at the end seemed out of character given he was in therapy and saying that he was chasing his dream for himself, so why did he change his mind? The book also felt like it ended up a bit too abruptly - the build up to the tournament was resolved pretty quickly, but the future of the club still felt a bit shaky. It really needed an epilogue set at least a year or so in the future.

Loved it. Would read again.

Thanks to Quercus and NetGalley for the ARC.