I’m a sports fanatic and love playing golf so I enjoyed the backstory. I just wish that there was more of a connection earlier on in the book between the MC’s

The Game was a quick read. I enjoyed hearing about the golf aspect. Slow burn book with lots of lack of communication and personal baggage issues.

Time to Tee Off!
Ryan was one of the best women golfers in the country when she left the tour because her mother was sick. She now runs the same golf club her mother did, filling her shoes as well as coaching. She has given up any idea of returning to the tour, as guilt keeps her in place. Katherine has the ability to be one of the best but personal demons keep getting in the way. She despises Ryan but needs her help to get her game back on track. Both women are trapped by the past and falling in love is not going to solve anything…or will it?

Ms Gayle writes gentle, low angst, sweet romances and this is just another great example of that. I liked how the story unfolded, opening up into a wonderful tale full of drama and emotions. I loved the characters, both Katherine and Ryan battling grief that is a constant with them. Together they find a way through the pain to find a way to follow their dreams. Its not always smooth sailing and things are hard at times. I liked how they have their problems together and apart but can find a way to work through them. The secondary characters are lovely too. They are supportive and add an extra layer making this a more realistic romance novel. This book is a good read that’s perfect for curling up on the couch with a glass of wine (or any other favourite drink) and losing yourself in. I enjoyed it very much and can’t wait for Ms Gayle’s next book!

Ryan Gibbs was a successful golfer on the LPGA tour but left it when she found out her mom was dying. Since then, she has taken her mom’s place as golf pro at the local course in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Katherine Reese also had a promising start to her LPGA career, but lately, her performance has slipped, and now her golf career is in jeopardy. Maggie Hart was swing coach for both women and convinces Ryan to work with Katherine for a month to get her game back on track. If the two can figure out how to work together, Katherine might just come away from New Mexico with more than an improved swing.

The premise for this book had potential that it did not quite reach in the execution. The writing, the details of the story arc, the chemistry between the characters – they weren’t bad per say, but they were just OK. I could relate to Katherine’s enjoyment of golf coming from spending time with family.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book.

Wasn't my favorite, but it is well written and I did enjoy the golf aspect. Would have liked a better romance between the characters.

I wanted to love this book so much. I absolutely love lesbian romances, especially if they have something to do with sports. While I enjoyed this book, it was a little too slow for me and things just didn't seem all that realistic. I suppose

If you know a little about me (and my love of golf), it probably won't come as a surprise to you that I really enjoyed the golf aspects to this novel. I'd yet to read one that follows the LGPA tour and although it's mentioned only briefly within this novel, I really liked this storyline. I also really liked when Ryan and Katherine spent time together on the course as it showed in detail which club, ball, angle they'd use. I could completely geek out on the sport if I was able to. 🏌🏽‍♀️

Unfortunately, I wasn't a great fan of the romance between Ryan and Katherine. To be honest, I found it quite strange - particularly with the scenario of Katherine's sister and Katherine's weird viewpoint initially. This was never truly resolved for me as well, and it really impacted the way I viewed Katherine as a character.

I will also admit that I found the dialogue quite stilted throughout, and their lack of communication was frustrating. All in all, I still enjoyed this read, particularly due to the golf storyline.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

Good book. Liked all the references and details about golf on the women's circuit and how it differs from the men's circuit. The relationship between the main characters of Ryan and Katharine was filled with quite a bit of angst, drama, and misunderstandings. There's quite a bit of back and forth especially from Katherine, whom I felt was maybe a bit immature in her thinking and quick to jump to conclusions. Ryan seemed the more mature of the two, but she did have the tendency to let people get away with to much at times, because of guilt. All and all this was a good story about golf and romance. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and family, and I look forward to what comes next from this author.

*Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

I really wanted to love this book. Golf is a sport that I love and I think the author did an ok job with the golf aspect, but I had a really hard time enjoying any other part of the story, The book follows Ryan Gibbs and Katherine Reese. Ryan is an ex-LPGA pro golfer who left the circuit because of her sick mother. Instead of returning to the LPGA, she works as a coach at her home course in Los Alamos. Katherine Reese is pro golfer who has fizzled out since her first impressive season. Katherine is struggling with a poor swing and some ghosts in her past. Ryan and Katherine are brought together to help Katherine make a comeback.

My main issue with this book is that almost all aspects of the story seem forced. The chemistry between the MCs isn't quite there and the events that force them together are a little contrived. There were some additional moments in the book that didn't seem necessary or contribute much to the flow of the book. I think the bones of the story are really interesting and as I said above, the descriptions on the golf course were great.

If you're a golf fan, then you might enjoy this story. If you're mainly looking for a solid romance, I don't think this is the book for you.

I love the game of golf. I play some and watch more. Therefore, the hole description and selection of clubs was very interesting to me. In regard to the story, I enjoyed some of it. I wanted more information about the characters. This read left me hanging. Ryan Gibbs, talented golf pro with some issues she has to deal with. What she finally realizes is that sometimes it is better to not deal with issues alone. Katherine Reese, aspiring golf pro with a talent for writing. She is also dealing with issues. Reading some of the reviews, I can understand why some say the issues are manufactured. This may be true but I can see how what Katherine and Ryan are dealing with can be a problem that needs to be handled. One aspect I did appreciate was their ability to communicate. That was refreshing. As were the supportive parents and friends (even Maggie the swing coach).

I read this quickly, it was well written with a engaging plotline and well developed characters that provided a good amount of romance and spice. However, I found parts of this book predictable and the pacing was a bit slow and i would have preferred it a bit pacier, but that is just personal preference.

There are several reasons I asked to read The Game by Jan Gayle. First, the cover really attracted my attention. Never underestimate the power of a good cover. I enjoy sport romances, especially when the sport is one I like, and I do like golf. I even tried to play the game (emphasis on the word tried) for fun in my young adult days. This is also the first book I’ve read by this author, and I wanted to read something new.

This review is going to be a mixed bag. The premise of the story is a good one. The idea of a retired golf pro (Ryan Gibbs) meeting a current LPGA golfer (Katherine Reese) and being asked to help her get ready for a major tournament is a great way to put the two mains together. Add in past angst in both their lives and an enemies-to-lovers trope, and you have the makings of a really good romance. Place the main setting in beautiful Los Alamos, an area the author does an excellent job describing, and that should help even more. It didn’t.

The novel starts out very slow, and that slow pace lasts through most of the tale. There was nothing to really grab my attention at the beginning. The first couple of chapters seemed more like an info dump.
I did like Ryan. Her character is well-developed, and I connected with her pretty quickly. I had trouble with Katherine. She seemed very shallow at first, but I eventually saw the person the author had created. It was hard to see the chemistry between the two until late in the book, well past the halfway point of the novel. They also jumped into bed way too soon for me. They were still in the “I hate you” phase of the story and having sex. Remember, I couldn’t see any connection at this point in the tale. I know, this is my own subjective observation. Others may like this.

The last half of the book did improve. I finally saw the chemistry between Ryan and Katherine. The story also picked up a bit, and I did enjoy the ending. I can’t recommend this particular novel, but I will be looking for more from this author.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

As a reader that likes sports romances I had high expectations for this one...alas not all those expectations were met. The golf part of the book was enjoyable, the little family one of our mains, Ryan, has made in Los Alamos are sweet and the premise of a professional golfer who dropped out of the tour at her high point and a struggling pro golfer who needs to win a tournament but her heart is not really into golf is a solid one. Katherine also has a grudge against Ryan so this could be a nice enemy to lovers romance with lots of chemistry.
Unfortunately the chemistry is lacking, the second half of the book it's get better as they connect more and more, but the continuous miscommunications (or rather, no communication) got a little on my nerves.

***Thank you Netgalley and Bold Stroke Books for giving me the chance to read and review this ARC***

If you're a golfer, you'll enjoy some of the scenes in this book. A nice book that turned out to be a pleasant read. However, I thought the connection wasn't strong enough between the main characters. Regardless, I recommend. 3 stars'


Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books.

Two golf professionals, Ryan and Katherine, fall in love. It's a struggle at first because Katherine mistakenly holds a grudge against Ryan. After this gets resolved the romance blossoms. The story moves along sort of slowly until about 70% then some exciting events happen. Then after that gets resolved the story moves rapidly to "happily ever after "
Thorough out the story the characters make life changing decisions such as careers and grief.
If you like golf you will enjoy many of the scenes and descriptions in this story.
I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The love for golf brought Ryan and Katherine together even though they have different views on it. Ryan and Katherine both are having a hard time dealing with the pain of the past, leading to some rushed-up judgments and keeping them from being truly happy. Sometimes it only takes the right person to help you see life from another perspective, but can you avoid the mistakes of the past?
A nice book with likable characters, it makes for pleasant reading. I only give it three stars because I feel it lacks the development of the relationship between the main characters, it feels rushed and I can't feel a strong chemistry between them. As a romance novel, I wished it went a little deeper

I love golf and thought the premise of the story would make for an entertaining sports romance read. The scenes involving golf are up to par but the romance between former tour pro Ryan and aspiring golfer Katherine landed in the rough too many times thanks to guilt, bitterness and lack of communication. Katherine and her reason to golf didn’t ring true when she clearly had other aspirations. I grew to like Katherine as much as I liked Ryan from the start but never felt the build up I was hoping for in their relationship. Too many missed chances and frustrating obstacles fabricated to keep them apart and kept me from buying into their story.

A copy of this book was received from the publisher via NetGalley for review.

I like sports books a lot in lesfic, and I haven't read that many about golf, which is a shame because I quite enjoy golf. I try to play when I can every other month or so. So the concept of a lesfic book about golf featuring an enemies to lovers plotline sounded like a lot of fun to me, and in many ways it was, but I personally found the romance rather lacking.

The Game by Jan Gayle follows Ryan Gibbs and Katherine Reese. Ryan used to be on the top of the LPGA tour before unexpectedly retiring in her prime to take care of her sick mother and then never went back. Katherine Reese is in her second season as a professional golfer, and while she had a strong rookie year, has definitely taken a sophomore slump that is threatening her place on the professional tour. But when their mutual coach brings them together thinking Ryan might be able to help Katherine's problems with her game, that might cause even more problems for the two of them.

This was an enjoyable book overall and I genuinely was into the golf scenes. A lot of people might find golf boring, and I understand that feeling. But perhaps a book like this that explores the intricacies of what it takes to be a decent golfer, the calculations and precision it takes might show some people the fun of the sport.

The characters on the other hand were a lot more hit and miss for me. I liked Ryan a lot more to start off than Katherine, which left their relationship on a wrong foot for me. I did eventually warm up to Katherine as a character as we learn more and more about her but I never really felt the relationship vibes from them, I didn't really feel chemistry.

The side characters are hit and miss for me too. I enjoyed Ryan's friends and makeshift family she has found in Los Alamos. That community was heartwarming, but for how much I loved those characters I really didn't like Maggie the trainer for both Ryan and Katherine.

Ultimately this book has pros and cons. I really enjoyed the depiction of golf and the sports scenes, and I liked some of the characters. But the relationship just didn't vibe with me either. 3.5/5

Ryan Gibbs was on top of the golf world when she left to care for her sick mother. Katherine Reese's golf career is in a tailspin and something drastic needs to happen to improve her game. Her swing coach brings her to New Mexico, where Ryan is coaching and the two begin working together. Can they overcome their own issues to find love?
This is my first Jan Gayle book and I can see potential in her writing. I enjoyed the golf scenes but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I just didn't feel the chemistry between Ryan and Katherine. When I read a book, I want to feel that the connection is so strong, the characters have no choice but to be together, it would cause a physical pain if they ignored the pull between them. They didn't have that undeniable chemistry and their lack of communication was a big problem. Communication in a relationship is crucial and Ryan and Katherine were sorely lacking in that area. I will read more of Jan Gayle's writing and hope I feel more connected than I did with this book. While I didn't connect with this book, it may be different for you.
An ARC was received from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley for an honest review.

Did not finish. When does the romance happen? I kept reading and reading and got lots of golf and karaoke and hanging out with co workers, but when we just kept not meeting the other protagonist I began to lose interest quickly. Ryan was a decent main character, and there might have been a decent story but it just never got started.