Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! Thank you to NetGalley for facilitating the delivery of the e-ARC.

I want to make note that I did not finish the book and it was DNF’d at 35%. I signed up for this e-ARC because I loved the sound of the premise and love sapphic romances, though I couldn't connect with the characters.

Read this if you like:
- Sapphic contemporary romance
- Tennis rivals
- Fated mates
- Third person writing

What I Liked:
I was intrigued with the characters being tennis rivals!

What I Didn’t Love:
I felt the chemistry between characters wasn't my favorite and couldn't connect with the writing. The fated mate concept in contemporary romance wasn't my favorite, however I felt it wasn't explained at any point as to why the soul marks were there and how they appeared (though this could have been explained later, so wouldn't fault the book for me not finishing it).

Thank you again for the opportunity to provide feedback!

This book wasn't for me. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. Even though it was a fated mates romance, it still didn't feel like they were meant to be together for any deeper reason other than being fated.

Thanks again for continuing to have me participate in the seasonal influencer program and for sharing Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler. In the end, this title wasn't one of my favourites, but I still enjoyed my time with these characters.

The Soulmate AU wasn’t for me, and the tension between these enemies-to-lovers outside of the bedroom felt a little forced, I still enjoyed spending time with these characters and getting a glimpse into the world of competitive tennis. I would be interested in more stories from the perspective of the side characters - give me Vladimir's backstory!

Here's a link to my reviews:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DMTp0ARSgh0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7722912117

With Thanks,
Jenn P.

I was very excited when I received the eARC for this book. The premise sounded interesting and new, and I had never really read any sapphic sport romance. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. I couldn’t connect with either of the characters, and both girls gave mean girl vibes throughout the story, even after they got together.

The plot was also a bit choppy for me. Things constantly happened and then never happened.

Overall, this just wasn’t my cup of tea, but I could see why it would be for some people!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me with an eARC in exchange of my honest opinion!

Backhanded Compliments (E-ARC Review) - 4 ⭐

OUT NOW!! - thank you to Simon and Schuster & Katie Chandler for the E-ARC of this book! ❤️😊

"Perhaps it’s only fitting that now they dance together, after so long dancing around each other. They’ve found a groove and a harmony that weaves effortlessly."

Juliette and Luca are THE tennis rivals, and watching their story into lovers unfold was truly amazing. The banter and build up was done so well, the spice was sprinkled in deliciously and I found myself flying through this book eager to see what would unfold in their story next.
The realisticness of their battles with anxiety and coming to terms with being together in their sports world was a well done portion of the story that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The soulmark element was quite possibly my favourite part of the story, it was so unique and definitely helped Katie Chandler's story stand out to me and it definitely added to that tension that you normally find in the Rivals to Lovers dynamic making it all the more enjoyable.

🎾 Backhanded Compliments 🎾

This is a brand new release just in time for pride month is a sapphic romance between two famous tennis players fighting for the number one spot.

• Rivals to lovers
• All the banter
• Manipulating coaches/parents
• Found family
• Societal Pressures

I had high hopes for this. I played tennis in high school and am a big fan of sports romance, so I thought this would be an instant 5 stars for me. It was not. When they aren't playing a tennis match they are playing practice matches. When they aren't playing practice matches, they are training. When they aren't training they are talking about training, practice, and matches. Essentially this is 75% tennis play and talk, 15% romance, and 10 travel and set-up between the many locations they play tennis. It was just waaay too much tennis even for this former tennis player.

3.5 stars rounded up

🎾 arc review 🎾

2.5/5⭐️

Thank you to Simon & Schuster CA & NetGalley for the arc!

The premise of Backhanded Compliments sounded so good! A sapphic sports romance involving 2 rival tennis pros who realize they’re each other’s soul mate? Okay sign me up!

The plot unfortunately didn’t hold up for me - there was a lot happening with (in my opinion) irrelevant side characters, and not much happening between the two FMCs, so it was tough getting invested in their relationship.

I also couldn’t really connect with Juliette. She started out as such a brat that I didn’t really want Luca to be with her.

I’m grateful to have been given the arc, however I don’t think I’ll be reading this author again.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this ARC!

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I have to admit that I’m not a tennis fan so a lot of the plot just went over my head. I do usually love magic realism that shows up in books but it felt as though the whole “soulmate” thing didn’t need to be included or amped up way more. What’s wrong with a classic enemies to lovers trope?
While this may not have been the book for me, I always want to support sapphic romance!

Included:
•FF romance
•magic realism with predetermined soulmates
•lots of tennis
•anxiety rep
•Italian MC
•Croatian MC
•🔥

DNF at 30%. I really wanted to like this, but unfortunately it just wasn't for me. I didn't realize there was some magical realism elements in this with "soulmarks" and it just wasn't my vibe *sigh*. the initial rivalry and competitive spirit of both Juliette and Luca really had me at first but like I said, this book just wasn't for me.

3.5 stars

I had a great time diving into this sports romance with a magical realism twist that felt refreshing. I was so happy to read a story where queerness was never something "weird," but rather it was a normal part of society. The romance was based on so much chemistry and tension. There is something that I love about the small line between "I like them so much/ I hate that I like them so much," and it was expertly tip-toed in this book. And don't even get me started on the sexual chemistry and spice in this book!! 10/10. Loved it. But, besides having amazing hot scenes, this book also shows so well the idea of "being seen by someone you love." The amount of detail present in the details each character will notice about the other and how it made them crush harder was a relatable experience to read about that, not many books put attention into. Another highlight of this book was the mental health representation. We get a deep dive into anxiety disorder and the mental pressure a competitive sport can have. I was captivated by the exploration of the concept soulmates, and I was so glad we got the two points of view, Juliette not wanting to fall in love with someone just because they are their soulmate. And Luca craving the acceptance and love of someone destined for them.

Unfortunately, I did struggle a bit with how much tennis content was in the story. I love diving into the sport, but when around 40 percent of the actual scenes of the book were described play-by-play, it slowed down the story. This perhaps will work with a tennis aficionado, however, it missed the mark with me. Another aspect that made this book a 3.5 instead of a 4 was the resolution of the conflicts in the third act, both romantic and familiar. I thought they resolved too easily and needed more grovelling.

🎾 This one is about Juliette and Luca, rival women’s tennis players and polar opposites. Juliette has a big family, including two older sisters who are also pro tennis players, and her dad is her coach. Luca is on her own. When the two face off in the final of the Australian Open, both women are desperate to win their first Grand Slam title. But this story has a fantasy twist: some people’s soulmate’s name appears on their wrist before they meet. Is Juliette Ricci, spoiled hothead who wants nothing to do with her, Luca’s Juliette? Say it ain’t so! But after a little forced proximity, their chemistry turns out to be off the charts! Can they put their heated rivalry aside and channel the heat elsewhere? Or will they crash and burn? 👟

🎾 I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this one from Simon and Schuster Canada, and I am so thankful to have been introduced to this new author! This one got right into the action with an intense tennis match that was back and forth the whole way. It built the tension between our two FMCs, who had never met prior but traded barbs in press conferences, and their obvious contention warred with their attraction. It all ramped it up to 1000 right off the bat. I really devoured this book, easily reading it in one sitting, which is not normal for me as I’m a pretty slow reader. Pick this one up if you’re looking for the exciting tennis meets drama backdrop of Carrie Soto is Back, mixed with a sapphic romance. 👟

Okay, I honestly did not think the blurb meant soulmates-soulmates. As in the fantasy-esque magical soulmates. I have a bad habit of not fully reading the blurbs before I start a book so I truly thought this was your typical no magic real world sapphic romance. Spoiler alert (or not, if you actually read the blurb), it wasn’t. I really loved the idea of the soulmarks, it was a huge throwback to my Wattpad era!

The amount of on-page tennis matches felt like a lot. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was interesting and fun and I do recognize that this is a sports romance, but as someone who knows nothing about tennis, it just ended up feeling long and confusing. They easily could’ve been shorter, rounding up the main points and maybe shading a little more detail on the especially pertinent points. It just ended up feeling a tad redundant.

I wouldn't have minded a bit more of a balance between the tennis and the romance. Like I said, I would have preferred shorter tennis scenes and there are some other things I would have loved to see more of. For one, the time they spent in Italy seemed super fast. I would've loved if that had been expanded on and then relationships between all the characters could've been built up even more.

I liked Juliette and Luca and thought they were cute together. I loved the healing/caring for each other scenes, they were beyond sweet and had me smiling. Juliette came off as very childish at the start which was a tad annoying, but her character development was good and, by the end, she learned the importance of caring for more than just tennis. I thought it was cute how they started out by calling each other/referring to each other by their last names, but as they got closer they moved to first names/nicknames.

There were a lot of things that I felt remained unfinished. Not sure if there’ll be a second book following different characters, but I hope there is because I have questions I’d like answered!

The magical realism/fantastical element of this didn't work for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel in exchange for my review.

I was so disappointed with this one. The premise sounded really fun (hello! sapphic enemies to lovers sports romcom!) but the execution for me was a real let down. The writing was bad and the whole 'soulmates' stuff was super annoying and detracted from the story. None of the characters felt very developed therefore I didn't root for any of them. I almost DNFed this so many times, but ended up basically skim reading it to get through to the end. The only saving grace in this was the brief Shrek reference (shreference if you will) - which says all you need to know. I wish this had landed for me but unfortunately it was a complete miss.

[arc review]
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Backhanded Compliments releases June 10, 2025

Chandler introduces a unique speculative element in her sapphic romance novel between tennis rivals, but unfortunately doesn’t quite succeed in its execution.

In this world, a small percentage of individuals have a soulmark — the first name of their soulmate etched into the skin of their wrist like a scar. When you come into physical contact with your soulmate for the first time, your soulmark becomes more pronounced.

The fate of Juliette and Luca as soulmates is revealed <I>way</I> too early, which leaves no room for the plot or characters to progress naturally. When both the readers and the characters immediately know how things are supposed to pan out, any tension or chemistry that follows feels forced and unearned, and the page count quickly feels like it triples in length.

Juliette is beyond unlikeable as a character and has no redeeming qualities. She is often bitter, angry, and just a straight up brat. As a tennis player, I instantly got the ick when she pulled a tantrum on the court, smashed her racquet, and made a fuss about Luca using a medical timeout.

Speculative elements in contemporary romance can work well when done right, but Chandler’s worldbuilding was flimsy.
I found it odd that the narrative never really challenged the concept of soulmarks with Juliette and Luca’s relationship despite Juliette’s firm belief that a person has a choice over who they love, and the fact that it’s actually more common for someone <u>not</u> to have a soulmark, than it is to have one or even two.

The only plot device Chandler confidently utilized was the physical healing properties of a soulmate’s touch.
To create a more tangible and complex conflict, I think it would’ve been interesting if the romance between soulmates/rivals was structured in a way where only one of them had the soulmark, or if one of them had a variance of the other’s name that wasn’t publicized due to their profession (ex. Luciana for Luca), as a way to question the validity of soulmates and their overall compatibility.
I think this is important to be critical of as a reader because Juliette’s reasoning for not wanting to be with Luca actually had nothing to do with Chandler’s concept of soulmates at all… Panic attacks over being photographed together in public and blaming someone else for being a distraction while training are components that would’ve naturally arisen by dating <I>anyone</I> as a professional athlete.

Loved the banter, drama and tension/chemistry that Luca and Juliette had the first half of the book. Though the second half felt redundant and I DNF'd 80% through.

A spicy sapphic romance between two professional tennis rivals. It had all the makings of my favourite type of enemies to lovers story - unfortunately, I didn’t really feel a connection to either Juliette or Luca. It took me reading more than half of the book to start empathizing with them and to understand their mental health issues which caused them to be so closed off. Maybe if I was more into tennis the story would have kept my attention longer? It is one of the few sports I know next to nothing about. Also, the slowness of this slow burn romance really got to me by the halfway point in the book - I was screaming at them to just kiss already!

There is a magical realism soulmate subplot in this story which I think would have been interesting to explore in different ways. I like how Juliette’s parents aren’t soulmates but choose to love each other regardless, which almost makes their love stronger than fate. I wish there was more to Juliette and Luca developing feelings for each other outside of knowing they are soulmates. I would have liked to know more about their families, especially Luca’s side. It was a well written sports romance with plenty of spice, but it didn’t capture my attention enough at the start. I may recommend this to the queer tennis players in my life, but for my regular sports romance readers I have other books that stand out more than this one.

Okay so I didn’t hate this book. But I didn’t love it either. Outside of tennis lessons when i was 13, Challengers and Serena Williams I don’t have much knowledge about tennis. Be that as it may I was still able to follow along (for the most part). One of my favourite tropes is enemies to lovers so I thought I would enjoy this rivals to friends to lovers but I did not. The rivalry or like dislike between the two main characters felt too forced and honestly it’s mostly because of Juliette she was such an annoying character.

One can only have so much patience for her seemingly forced dislike of Luca who on the flip saved this story, there was so much depth and care put into Luca’s character and story and I wish we got that for Juliette as well. Next point is I would’ve liked more diversity to the story besides the names of some characters- it was a very white queer story which there’s nothing wrong with but as a reader who reads diversely I would’ve even appreciated more of the story going into Luca background as croatian.

I know this seems negative but I did actually like the book I just didn’t love it. The side characters also really helped this book and i would love to read about so many of their stories so this isn’t a write off I would definitely read more by Katie!

Going into this I didn’t realize it had a magical realism element of soulmates. But I was here for it! Such a fun and interesting concept. In the case of Luca and Juliette their situation is made all the more complicated as they’re tennis ‘rivals’

Katie Chandler creates real, flawed characters who don’t always say the right thing. It’s refreshing to see in a romance novel. And I absolutely loved the anxiety rep. It’s written in such a way that it’s integrated so well into the storyline and Luca’s character. It’s a prominent part of her life but it’s not who she is. That’s such an important distinction for me as I myself have dealt with anxiety for years.

I loved the push and pull. The will they or won’t they. I’m also not much of a tennis fan but boy did I feel like I was front row (is that a thing) at the matches that took place.

Overall, a really fun read. I enjoyed it and all of the side characters. From the Ricci sisters, to Remi, and Luca’s friend Ricky. Luca’s relationship with her coach is so heartwarming and sweet. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long while!

Backhanded Compliments is a quick, enjoyable read. This was one of my first sports romance books. The lifestyle and characters were well fleshed out. However, the sports descriptions failed to translate for those without knowledge or inspire me to learn. There was also many unfinished plot lines by the end.