Meet Abbie Arden, a quirky young woman who at last realizes her life’s passion: the written word. Abbie, fledgling editorial assistant, is assigned to the American Open, a tennis tournament held each August, where, among other things, she must interview Max Tadeo, a gorgeous, Spanish, professional tennis player (poor Abbie has a fetish for accents), and, well… Max is a tad unusual himself. Abbie encounters a few problems on her mission to become “superjournalist”: she thinks tennis is for people who enjoy chasing green balls (boring!); she has sworn off all men (even sexy Spaniards); and last but not least, Abbie wants “real” stories, not tennis fluff! Within the pages of Love Match, a sense of belonging envelops Abbie out of the blue, new friendships develop and investigative reporting takes a life-threatening twist. Love Match follows along as the neurotic but lovable heroine ultimately has to choose to live for love or for fear.

Abbie, the fun loving, romantic at heart has sworn off guys indefinitely and has also completely had it with her current job situation. Not only has her current boss decided that her direction with her writing needs to take a jaunt into the sports arena, one she’s not at all interested in, but he’s also demanding she interview an almost untouchable tennis player. Through her travels away from family and friends and into a life of sweaty men who grunt constantly, Abbie finds her true love in more ways than one.

Love Match was a surprise for me. When I initially read the synopsis I was intrigued. I’m not at all a fan of tennis or many professional sports, but it was the quirkiness of Abbie’s character that drew me in from that initial reading. It doesn’t stop there. For some reason Abbie just cannot seem to stop herself, either she’s constantly running off at the mouth or she’s fondling random men she’s only just met. It’s absolutely hilarious! Abbie says and does the very things we think of doing on a daily basis that common sense stops us from completing, but for some reason she just can’t stop herself from doing them. Abbie’s endearing character is what makes the story.

As for any faults I found with the book, I’d have to be honest, I’m generally not a fan of a self-published book. There are normally huge errors and plot problems (if there’s a plot at all), but Love Match was pleasantly surprising. Yes, there were a few quirky errors, but you find those even in books published by big Houses. So, looking past those few little details, I absolutely had so much fun with this book.

Pleasantly surprising and absolutely endearing, Love Match and more specifically, Abbie’s character make this a fun romantic read. A bit of mystery and even the peril of the steamy heartthrob, Max, make this enjoyable to the last page. I would definitely recommend it for a quick romantic comedy with a bit of a twist. Amy Bates is definitely a new author to be on the lookout for.

Thanks to the author for sending me a copy to review.

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