Blog Tour: Game. Set. Match. by Jennifer Iacopelli - Review & Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Game. Set. Match. blog tour!!  Jennifer is so excited to celebrate her debut novel, and I couldn't be happier to share in the excitement and help spread the word!!

Title: Game. Set. Match.
Author: Jennifer Iacopelli
Series: Outerbanks Tennis Academy #1
Published: May 1, 2013
Publisher: Coliloquy, LLC
Source: Received from author via blog tour
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Nestled along the North Carolina coast, the Outer Banks Tennis Academy is the world's most elite training facility. In this pressure-cooker environment, futures are forged in blood and sweat, and dreams are shattered in an instant.

Penny Harrison, a rising female star, is determined to win the French Open and beat her archrival, Zina Lutrova. But when her coach imports British bad boy Alex Russell as her new training partner, will Penny be able to keep her laser-like focus?

Tennis is all Jasmine Randazzo has ever known. The daughter of two Grand Slam champions, she's hell-bent on extending her family’s legacy and writing her own happily-ever-after...until her chosen Prince Charming gives her the just-friends speech right before the biggest junior tournament of the year, the Outer Banks Classic.

With a powerful serve and killer forehand, newcomer Indiana Gaffney is turning heads. She’s thrilled by all of the attention, especially from Jack Harrison, Penny’s agent and hot older brother, except he keeps backing off every time things start heating up.

With so much at stake, dreams—and hearts—are bound to break. Welcome to OBX: Where LOVE is a four-letter word, on and off the court.

Game. Set. Match. was quite different from most NA Contemporaries I've read recently.  And I mean that in a very good way.  Though it was slightly predictable and similar in some ways, it was very different in others.  I think it's the first book I've read centered around sports in quite some time, and probably the first ever involving tennis.  Since I am not a huge sports fanatic and I don't watch tennis regularly I was worried I wasn't going to enjoy the story... but boy was I wrong!  Jennifer's writing style was superb!  I loved all the little tennis facts and lingo thrown in there... it really helped me feel at home with the story.

This story is centered around three tennis players who all attend OBX (The Outerbanks Tennis Academy):  Penny, who is the up and coming tennis star, one of the best in the world;  Jasmine, the daughter of two pro tennis stars;  and Indiana (Indy), an amazing player that just recently joined The Outerbanks Tennis Academy in hopes of building a tennis career.

These three girls couldn't be more different.  I was quickly drawn to Penny.  Though she's a huge star, one of the best players in the world, she was completely down to earth and always ready to lend a head whenever possible.  She welcomed Indy, the new girl, with open arms and helped show her the ropes.  Indy was a cute character that I did find myself becoming fond of, though she very often said and did things that came off very rude and immature.  I think she had some growing up to do, which makes total sense since she was only 17.  Then we have Jasmine... who's basically a "mean girl" bully, preying on the insecurities of others.  She has a lot of pressure coming from super star parents, plus the added pressure she puts on herself.  I was happy to see her blossoming and coming into her own as the story progressed.

So yeah... I'm totally Team Penny!  ;)

Game. Set. Match. was seriously so much fun to read.  Jennifer's writing style was one I quickly fell in love with.  I'm definitely excited to see where this story will head next.  I loved the added romances throughout the story as well... those guys sound HAWT!!  Just as a quick look, we have Penny's twin brother, Teddy, Penny's training partner, Alex, and Penny's older brother, Jack.  Yes, thanks to Penny, we have ourselves a great group of eye candy!!

I would definitely recommend this story to New Adult Contemp fans, as well as sports fan.  Jennifer definitely knows her sports, so the knowledge of that included in this story was quite refreshing.  Can't wait to see what book two holds in store for us!

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Jennifer Iacopelli was born in New York and has no plans to leave...ever. Growing up, she read everything she could get her hands on, but her favorite authors were Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery and Frances Hodgson Burnett all of whom wrote about kick-ass girls before it was cool for girls to be kick-ass. She got a Bachelor's degree in Adolescence Education and English Literature quickly followed up by a Master's in Library Science, which lets her frolic all day with her books and computers, leaving plenty of time in the evenings to write and yell at the Yankees, Giants and her favorite tennis players through the TV.

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