FINALLY.
I am hugely excited to support Jennifer Iacopelli and help her announce that today, yes TODAY, her New Adult (“NA”) book GAME. SET. MATCH. has been sent forth into the world!
I’ve waxed poetic about this book before, so I figured I’d let you in on an interesting little trend that has developed over the last few months amongst the book’s fans as we’ve been treated to sneak peeks of the story. Just like the competitiveness of the characters in GSM, a (mostly) friendly battle has been waging on Twitter as readers have been picking their favorite of the three main characters. Jennifer has written GSM from the rotating points of view of Penny Harrison, Indiana Gaffney and Jasmine Randazzo – very different women brought together by a burning passion for tennis and winning (you can get a hint of what they’re like from the book’s blurb below). Once you get pulled into their world, you may gravitate towards one, dislike another, and change your mind as each woman changes throughout the book.
I’m just going to come out and say it. I want to be BFFs with Indiana Gaffney. Penny is perfect, successful and got her shit together – totally not my kind of gal. Jas was close to winning me over because she’s angry and bitter and that makes her likably unlikeable, but I couldn’t get behind her spoilt-rotten nature. But Indy? She completely rocks.
It’s not because she’s more virtuous or humble or determined than the others. Rather, I can completely relate to everything Indy goes through (other than being devastatingly brilliant at tennis). Her reactions to her mom’s death are authentic and how they affect her tennis and the rest of her life makes complete sense to me, because I went through the same thing at nearly the same age.
I think you’ll cheer for Indy like I do, but who knows. Maybe you want to go out and CafePress your own #TeamJas or #TeamPenny tees instead but we’d be totally friends off. Just so you know.
Pick up GSM today online at Amazon (US) or B&N, and add it to your Goodreads shelf and get on the right team!
Game. Set. Match.’s Synopsis
Nestled along the coastline of North Carolina, the Outer Banks Tennis Academy is the best elite tennis training facility in the world. Head Coach, Dominic Kingston has assembled some of the finest talent in the sport. From the game’s biggest stars to athletes scraping and clawing to achieve their dreams, OBX is full of ego, drama and romance. Only the strong survive in this pressure cooker of competition, on and off the court.
Penny Harrison, the biggest rising star in tennis, is determined to win the French Open and beat her rival, the world’s number one player, Zina Lutrova. There’s just one problem, the only person who’s ever been able to shake her laser-like focus is her new training partner. Alex Russell, tennis’s resident bad boy, is at OBX recovering from a knee injury suffered after he crashed his motorcycle (with an Aussie supermodel on the back). He’s hoping to regain his former place at the top of men’s tennis and Penny’s heart, while he’s at it.
Tennis is all Jasmine Randazzo has ever known. Her parents have seven Grand Slam championships and she’s desperate to live up to their legacy. Her best friend is Teddy Harrison, Penny’s twin brother, and that’s all they’ve ever been, friends. Then one stupid, alcohol-laced kiss makes everything super awkward just as she as she starts prepping for the biggest junior tournament of the year, the Outer Banks Classic.
The Classic is what draws Indiana Gaffney out of the hole she crawled into after her mom’s death. Even though she’s new to OBX, a win at the Classic is definitely possible. She has a big serve and killer forehand, but the rest of her game isn’t quite up to scratch and it doesn’t help that Jasmine Randazzo and her little minions are stuck-up bitches or that Jack Harrison, Penny’s agent and oldest brother, is too hot for words, not to mention way too old for her.
Who will rise? Who will fall?
Told from rotating points of view, GAME. SET. MATCH. is a ‘new adult’ novel about three girls with one goal: to be the best tennis player in the world.