Pick Me is a really fun sports romance that had hooked me from the start.

Brooke, a romance ghostwriter struggling with writer's block after a breakup, gets dragged to pickleball by her roommate and finds herself caught between two very different men: Owen, her patient and supportive coach, and Kai, the mysterious player she's convinced is her creative muse. What follows is a messy (her words!) but becomes a journey of self-discovery, complete with plenty of pickleball action and romantic tension, then TENSION!

Schade makes the sport accessible to readers who may not know what pickleball actually involves. There is good balance as well and the athletic scenes never felt overwhelming or took away from the romance.

While I ultimately loved the story, Brooke's obsession and determination that Kai was her muse was starting to detract from the story. Watching her moon over someone she'd never even spoken to while dismissing the genuinely caring man right in front of her was frustrating. That said, I appreciated that both characters actually communicated when things got complicated, avoiding the dreaded third-act breakup that feels so forced in many romances. Owen was a big GREEN flag! He was supportive without being a pushover, and his reactions to Brooke's somewhat selfish behavior felt realistic rather than overly dramatic. By the end, their relationship felt earned and genuine, even if the path there was a bit bumpy. It's a fun, light read that delivers on both the sports and romance fronts.

I really enjoyed this book! I did not know anything about pickleball and to be honest even now it seems like ALOT! So much info but very interesting either way. The romance story was so cute! It wasn't your typical girl leaving crappy guy for nice guy. It was girl realizing which nice guy really was right for her. Every girl needs an Owen. He's perfect and adorable in every way. I loved seeing the inside to the writing process. A writer writing about a writer. Very clever. Overall interesting, cute, and spicy! Full of big feelings and family love.

I loved this book so much! I knew from the beginning that I was going to enjoy this book, which doesn't always happen for me. I loved reading about the natural relationship growth between Owen and Brooke, as well as their own personal growth. I ate up the fake dating moments, the built up tension, and the yearning! The way that Owen looked after Brooke and helped her through various things even if he had to sacrifice his own happiness was so heartwarming <3 Looking up nearby pickleball clubs now to find myself my own Owen...

4.5 stars!
Oh did I love this book! Pick Me by Victoria Schade is a romantic comedy set to be released this Fall. The novel follows Brooke Murphy, a romance writer producing cringey (my favorite) pieces under an alias, who finds herself in a bit of a creative slump and is struggling to rekindle her passion for writing. So upsetting was finding out girlie wrote a book but it didn’t do so hot, this caused her to put up a lot of writing/mental walls, limiting herself to mass producing pieces for a pushy publisher. Her way to fix this slump she’s found herself in? Find a muse. Enter in Kai…or Owen…or I guess you could say both. This is no love triangle but it’s a slow-burn feel good romance. Brooke ends up turning to pickleball where we meet these lovely men, namely Mr. Owen Miller (aka The Big Gripper/Gripper) secret investor, former tennis star, and all around good guy. He willingly becomes Brooke’s pickleball coach, showing her not just pickle tips but life tips. My only big frustration was that Brooke struggled to come to grasp with how perfect and right in front of her face Owen was. Like girlie we almost lost this charmer cause you weren’t thinking, all the signs were there! The best part of this darn book, Miss Martina Dogratilova, an absolute icon. She was so friggin’ cute and she just fit right into the book so well. So grateful for this opportunity to read this charming book, I hope others find it a great read as well.
Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager.
4.5 stars!!

O. M. G. THIS BOOK IS AMAZING! This book shows us Brooke’s story as she is learning how to find the muse for her cowboy romance. Brooke then starts playing pickleball as a part of her “yes” campaign with her roommate, which then leads her to meeting her muse at the pickleball courts, but it isn’t who she first thought it was.
I loved this book so much! This book made me feel like I was truly Brooke and was falling in love with someone, even if she didn’t realize she was at first. But don’t even get me started on Owen, I could tell from their first conversation that he was my winner. Their relationship is beautiful, and I appreciate how we get to see how scarred Owen is from his last relationship, and how that affects his choices with Brooke. My favorite part of this book was the ending, how Brooke gained her confidence, made pickleball friends, and finally put her own feelings ahead of her deadline. You guys are going to love this book when it comes out, I guarantee it!!

I think I fell in love with pickleball because of this book.

First off the whole premise of the book is based around a girl taking up pickleball and learning more about herself than anything else... but she also becomes killer at pickleball (we love a good growth moment).

Then comes the characters.... I have never loved characters as much as I love Brooke, an author with writers block looking for her new muse. Brooke has fun one liners and you get to witness her growth in her writing, her life, and of course pickleball.

Her best friend Meredith... perfection... we all want a friend like that.

and of course Owen... I won't give it away but from one of the first scenes,,, I was in love.

My favorite line: "I'm going to do my best," I replied. "Don't forget I'm trying to rewrite some old scripts"

I requested Pick Me by Victoria Schade from NetGalley on a whim and was pleasantly surprised! Brooke, a cowboy romance ghost writer, is fresh off a heartbreak and looking for a new muse to cure her writer's block. She accompanies her roomate to a Pickleball game on a whim and meets her muse, a tall dark haired stranger who thinks she's a pickleball whiz. Enter Owen, who offers to coach her into success to cure her writer's block. As her game improves she falls in love with the sport and maybe her coach too?
This book has killer tension and was absolutely adorable! It definitely reads like a friends to lovers romance with grumpy-sunshine, in that Brooke has to realize her person has always been right in front of her. I do feel like the pacing towards the middle of the book was off and had trouble resolving the ending with the 3rd act breakup moment. But all that said I was ROOTING for Owen and this was a fun romance read.

Pick Me is a breezy romance perfect for easy, feel-good reading. The story centers on Brooke, a romance novelist battling writer’s block, who agrees to a casual game of pickleball with a friend and ends up meeting someone she hopes might spark her creativity. To get closer to him, she starts taking lessons with a respected coach, Owen, but as she spends more time on the court she begins to question whether her inspiration lies in the man she imagined or the one devoting his time to her to help build back her confidence both on and off the court. While the pickleball details flew way over my head, the charm of the story and the warmth of the romance make this a fun escape.

I really wish we could give half-star ratings as this one falls somewhere between a 3.5 and a 4 for me!
Big thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

4 stars ⭐️ Such a cute read!! I loved Pickleball coach Owen! This book made me so giddy I was smiling the whole time!

Thank you for NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC. All opinions are my own 🫶🏼

3.5 stars. I wasn’t going to get this book because I play pickleball and I did not want to read a book that got it wrong. A lot of people think pickleball is lame and “oh tennis is a real sport and pickleball isn’t” blah blah blah blah. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much the pickleball dynamic in this book matches my own community in Oklahoma. You have your uppity pickleball club where everyone over 4.0 plays and newbies are terrified. You have your community centers and parks where older people and newbies play. There are some pickleball douche bags that take it way too seriously and coach you on the court and make you want to rip your hair out and then you have the most pleasant and caring people EVER who become family. So the pickleball stuff? Great. It was a happy little time for me. I was genuinely terrified that this 2.0 heroine was going to somehow magically become a 4.0 player within a month, which would have been a no go for me. It took me two years and hundreds and hundreds of hours of open play and lessons and drills to play at a 4.0 level and it would’ve made my head explode. So I was happy to see the heroine play at a 3.0 level after a solid month of hard work.

Also I was DYING when Brooke suggests that she just play open play with her pickleball crush and Owen had to let her know that was never gonna happen. Pickleball snobbery is real! 🤣 That 4.0 dude isn’t interested in slumming it with a beginner loooool. As someone who only got into pickleball so I could be good enough to play competitively with my husband, I get it. It’s not fun to just get my ass handed to me on the court and it’s not fun to play with someone who sucks. I have high hopes for Brooke to get to a 4.0 level someday and be able to play with her man. It really is the best.

Anyway enough blabbering about pickleball. The romance in this book is alright. Didn’t love it, but also didn’t hate it. Love triangle-esque was pretty grating to me towards the end. I mean OBVS she isn’t really into this Kai guy, why is she trying to convince herself she is? Why were we torturing ourselves with this? It was very obvious from the beginning that Owen was instalove into Brooke and Brooke is INTO OWEN. But also I enjoyed some happy kisses and hugs. And also pickleball made me confront daddy issues too???? Ughhhhhh whyyyy, so I did like Owen being a therapist on the court lol.

Overall, it was good and pickleball rules.

This was an ARC, review is my own.

Pick Me by Victoria Schade is an upcoming romance that is set to release on November 18th or 2025. The novel follows Brooke Murphy, a ghost writer, who dreams of one day having her own name on one of her books. Lately Brook has been struggling to write, so she started a say yes campaign. Now Brook says yes to anything offered to her. This leads to her trying out pickleball at this prestigious club. Since Brook finds sports unpleasant she's rather bad at pickleball. She finds the rules confusing and just does not get the sport. After accidentally sending her ball flying onto another court she meets Owen Miller. A pickleball coach. Owen offers to give Brook lessons for FREE!! And because of her say yes campaign she agrees. As the story goes on Brooke and Owen become good friends and that soon transfers into more than friends.
I personally did not enjoy it, for I felt that the romance was a little off and some things did not make sense from my perspective. However I do think the pickleball aspect was really well done. Seeing Brook progress over time and not being good at it right away was refreshing. I always love characters that are authors, so a lot of mixed feelings with this book. Overall Pick Me is a delightful and fun read, perfect if you're into pickleball.

Pick Me is cute, clever, and laugh-out-loud funny! I never knew what was coming next—in the best way! Brooke and Owen have a wonderful love story, and I had a great time getting to their HEA.

This book is a total rom-com gem—witty, sexy, and packed with chemistry both on and off the pickleball court.

We follow Brooke Murphy, a cowboy romance ghostwriter whose love life (and writing mojo) has flatlined after a breakup. Enter a hilariously misguided plan: join a mixed doubles pickleball game to impress a hot stranger and score some real-life inspiration for her next book.

The catch? Brooke is the least athletic person alive.

That’s where Owen Miller comes in. He’s grumpy, sarcastic, oddly dressed (flip-flops and a bucket hat, anyone?), and one of the city’s best players. He agrees to coach her—and what starts as a quirky favor turns into full-on romantic tension with every dink, lob, and eye roll.

✨ What I loved:
• Brooke is relatable, chaotic, and laugh-out-loud funny
• Owen is the ultimate unexpected book boyfriend—grumpy, low-key hot, and secretly soft
• The banter is elite, the chemistry sizzles, and the sports romance twist is fresh and fun
• If you love grumpy x sunshine, forced proximity, and a good old-fashioned slow burn, this delivers

Thank you Netgalley, Avon & Harper Voyager Publishing and author Victoria Schade for an ARC in exchange for my honest review !

This is my first Victoria Schade Book and it was a very cute read. I feel like I can go play some pickleball now haha! I don’t know nothing about pickleball so I don’t know if it’s all accurate but if it is, Author Victoria Schade did her research!

In this book you have Brooke who is an author in a writing slump and hits up a pickleball court with her friend where she forms this crush on a guy named Kai and he is instantly her new muse for her book. Brooke learns she isn’t very coordinated or good at pickleball and gets Owen; a pickleball coach to coach her and get the attention of Kai. But we all know where this leads. A good ol love triangle.
Who will end up being Brooke’s muse? Kai, the man she had ‘BooM’ insta-lust connection with ? Or Owen, the man she least expected. 😉 find out in November !

A very breezy, fun read with lots of laughs. I'm usually hesitant to read love triangles, but this one was handled in a way that felt digestible and relatively painless.

There's an unexpected wave of pickleball and Victora dives into full throttle. It's a nice blend but predictable at times with room for expansion and emotional growth. It's charming and pulls you into a sport that's still growing in public recognition.

Overall 3.5 stars! Thank you Avon for the digital arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon, and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Owen (MMC) is a pickleball coach who helps Brooke (FMC) to impress her crush while he starts to fall for her.. He's a "grump" but soft for her and offers her free lessons only for the sole purpose of spending time with her. I thought this was a cute and easy read. I felt like Owen was written perfectly by book boyfriend standards, but I wasn't a massive fan of Brooke. I feel like the "love triangle"/Kai storyline went on a little too long and would have liked Schade to focus more on Owen and Brooke. Lastly, I also would have loved Owen's POV as I feel like he was the stronger written character.

Read if you like:
- Grumpy x sunshine
- He falls first
- Single POV
- Sports romance

Pick up this book!! I've never played pickle ball but this book had me mentally taking notes to "push" not "swing" during a dink if I ever did find myself on a court. I was completely enthralled. I loved the evolution we see in Brooke from a lack of confidence in herself (in various areas of her life) to completely owning things. Bonus: Owen may officially be my favorite out of all of Victoria Schade's leading men. I loved him! Overall, this is a book I definitely recommend for those who love romance (and sports -- though you don't need to love sports to love this book)!

Pick Me was a delightful romance about gaining confidence in yourself. I related to Brooke a lot, she felt very stuck in life and wanting to do something but not really believing in herself and sticking to what’s safe. I also liked that while she was a bit oblivious (obviously Owen liked her) she wasn’t annoyingly oblivious. Owen was doing a really good job of giving some mixed signals but playing his cards very close to his chest. Owen felt like a fully realized person and every bit of information we got out of him made me want to know more. All the side characters were super fun, and felt like three dimensional characters. I fully expected Kai to turn into some kind of horrible person but it was refreshing for him to actually just be the wrong guy for her without being some monster. Brooke’s brother’s fiancée kinda came out of no where which was my only real critique. Overall I will highly recommend and can’t wait to read it again.

I was skeptical about this book at first but once I got into it I could not put it down.
I feel like parts of their relationship moved a little too fats once they got into it but I loved this book. I can’t wait to read more from this author.