Carrie Soto (mentioned previously here) was the top tennis player in the 80's and broke records. But now in the 90's, as Nicki Chan threatens to overtake her records, she decides to come back to competing at age 37, with her beloved dad Javier as coach again.
That's essentially the plot, right there. Carrie's learning to adjust to a different body with age and slower speed, but her dad's excellent at spotting people's weaknesses and telling her how to strategize her play. I don't play tennis and even I found all of that interesting. Also, since Carrie can't get any ladies to practice with her, her one-night-stand Bowe Huntley is recruited to practice with her since he's on the comeback trail too. Even though they kind of argue that one of them blew off the other one and they don't seem to be clear on who was first to do so, they slowly come back together as a romantic couple and it's very sweet. I can't say I've found most of this author's books to be very romance-y, but I do like it here a lot.
I'll say this for Carrie: she's openly arrogant in her speech when it comes to tennis--she's called "The Battle Axe" and a "bitch" in public and her agent has to drag her away at times before she really insults someone--but she's not a jerk otherwise. She seems like the sort who'd be nice to the waiter and while she doesn't have a whole lot of emotional intimates, they get her as she is and aren't overly bothered by her razzing. She's unapologetic as to who she is, isn't going to play meek and mild and "I hope I win" or "it's just luck" about it. Even though we all know women get shit for that, I like how she's just who she is and doesn't super care. I also liked her friendly rivalry with Nicki Chan, as both of them end up liking each other personally as well as respecting the hell out of each other.
I really enjoyed this. Four stars. I'll make some comments below the spoiler cut.
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I cried a little when her dad died. I don't do that much at all, but awwwww. What a sweet dad. What a loss for Carrie.
I also liked how she became Nicki's coach the next year after. Also very sweet (though I did crack up at "Nikki's girlfriend hates me" stuff).
Bowe wanting "you are perfect in your imperfection" and other sentiments translated into Spanish is also adorable.
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