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A review by althea
Match To Love by Johana Gavez
4.0
3.5/5 Stars
Match To Love is a really fun debut novel from Johana Gavez that I was really excited to read after loving her novella Leap To Love earlier this year, and I was not disappointed! I'm a sucker for sapphic sports romances so I jumped at the chance of reading an ARC and it was a lot of fun after reading some heavier fantasy and horror novels prior to picking it up! Dani and Ari's friends-to-lovers romance was so sweet from it's online relationship start to it's adorable ending and their dynamic was definitely the star of the show - consent was such a big part of this book, not only in regards to sex, but to all parts of their relationship and I was so happy to see that. There was also a part where Dani takes Ari on a surprise date but after Ari says she hates the not knowing of surprises and how much they stress her out, Dani gives her a run down of what they're going to do - and as someone who is both autistic and has clinical anxiety, that scene made me so, so happy to read! Of course, the sports aspect was also a lot of fun and I also really enjoyed all the side characters, from Ari's hilarious best friend Tom to Dani's coach and manager, Arantxa and Igor!
As someone who reads quite a lot of romance, though, I did feel like the plot was nothing that I haven't seen before - but that's not necessarily a bad thing, I'm just not a huge lover of the whole third act breakup thing - however, sometimes your classic romance is exactly what you need at a given moment, so I'm looking forward to returning to this story when I'm really in the mood for that - maybe after a fantasy novel binge! I do wish there had been a tad bit more depth to the main characters, maybe seeing them chat about what brought them together on Tumblr throughout the book would've been nice, or on the other hand turning this into a novella. Regardless, this was a really fun read and I'm looking forward to picking up Johana's future works!
Thanks to the author for sending me an eARC in return for an honest review!
Want more sapphic books? You can find me here: Book Blog | Twitter | Instagram
Match To Love is a really fun debut novel from Johana Gavez that I was really excited to read after loving her novella Leap To Love earlier this year, and I was not disappointed! I'm a sucker for sapphic sports romances so I jumped at the chance of reading an ARC and it was a lot of fun after reading some heavier fantasy and horror novels prior to picking it up! Dani and Ari's friends-to-lovers romance was so sweet from it's online relationship start to it's adorable ending and their dynamic was definitely the star of the show - consent was such a big part of this book, not only in regards to sex, but to all parts of their relationship and I was so happy to see that. There was also a part where Dani takes Ari on a surprise date but after Ari says she hates the not knowing of surprises and how much they stress her out, Dani gives her a run down of what they're going to do - and as someone who is both autistic and has clinical anxiety, that scene made me so, so happy to read! Of course, the sports aspect was also a lot of fun and I also really enjoyed all the side characters, from Ari's hilarious best friend Tom to Dani's coach and manager, Arantxa and Igor!
As someone who reads quite a lot of romance, though, I did feel like the plot was nothing that I haven't seen before - but that's not necessarily a bad thing, I'm just not a huge lover of the whole third act breakup thing - however, sometimes your classic romance is exactly what you need at a given moment, so I'm looking forward to returning to this story when I'm really in the mood for that - maybe after a fantasy novel binge! I do wish there had been a tad bit more depth to the main characters, maybe seeing them chat about what brought them together on Tumblr throughout the book would've been nice, or on the other hand turning this into a novella. Regardless, this was a really fun read and I'm looking forward to picking up Johana's future works!
Thanks to the author for sending me an eARC in return for an honest review!
Want more sapphic books? You can find me here: Book Blog | Twitter | Instagram