ARC Review: "ONE ON ONE" by Jamie Harrow

Hello readers! How are you?

Any sports romance's fan here? If the answer is "yes", let me present you an amazing novel you should immediately add to your collection! Are you ready to enter in the high competitive basketball world?🔥

 

Title: One on One
Author: Jamie Harrow
Publishing Date: September 24, 2024
Publisher:  Quercus Publishing
Pages: 402 (paperback)
Price: $14.95 (*price seen on Amazon.it)

Plot:They call it March Madness for a reason: Anything can happen on the way to a national championship.
Eight years after graduation, Annie Radford is not happy to be back at her alma mater in her old job with the Ardwyn Tigers’ basketball team. Worse, her coworker from back in college, Ben Callahan, is still on the Tigers staff, and he’s annoyingly wholesome, hot, and clinging to a grudge against Annie for abandoning him and the team their senior year.
But as Ardwyn becomes the season’s Cinderella Story, things start heating up between Annie and Ben, too. And while neither of them can deny this could be something special, Annie’s afraid to tell Ben the truth about why she left basketball—the thing she loves most—in the first place. She’ll have to learn to trust him if they have a shot at being together.
In addition to being funny, romantic, and sexy, One on One examines the pressure put on college athletes, challenges the sexism in the world of sports, and exposes the dangers in whole communities idolizing the big men on campus.
For readers of The Hating Game and The Ex Talk, a workplace, enemies-to-lovers debut for anyone yearning for a courtside romance, perfect for anyone who can’t get enough sports rom-coms.

Review:

Rate: 4.5 stars!⭐

I deeply thank Quercus Fiction for sending me a free copy of this book, and also to Jamie Harrow for creating an amazing story I didn't want to end.

I've never read a sport romance about basketball before and I'm not a fan of this sport, but I was totally hooked anyway, probably hyped by Annie's love for this sport and her amazing videos. I obviously couldn't see them concretely, but believe me when I say that I could easily imagine them and get involved in the Ardwyn Tigers' team as the real viewers. It was so vivid in my head it was like I could listen to the music playing on the background, or imagine pictures or videos continue on the screen encouraging the players and foster the love and attention of the fans. It was like I was again in Madison Square Garden, waiting for the match to start!

Anyway, the first thing I have to warn you is that in this novel the game itself isn't the focus, because neither of the main characters is a basketball player, but it was interesting to see different jobs related to it, that could affect its results (videos, interviews, analytics, etc.). At the same time I loved the fact that basketball was the way Annie and her dad interacted and bonded, and how his presence in the team and in Annie's thoughts was vivid during the entire story even if he passed away years ago. It was a very delicate and respectful way to represent grief, together with the message that it's ok if a person we loved wasn't perfect and made mistakes toward us. We can remember not only the good things, but bad ones too, because this doesn't mean we love or miss someone less.

And then there's Ben. What I think I appreciate the most is the fact that for multiple aspects Ben isn't a stereotyped MC. He's kind and an adorable cinnamon roll, that's for sure, but at the same time he didn't worship her or did whatever she wants without prior thinking about what he thinks about it. Moreover, he wasn't afraid to express his feelings and his thoughts, and even when, at the beginning, he was disappointed by Annie abrupt leaving them years ago and wasn't happy to see her again, he showed it with politeness (nope, no drama reaction or snarky comments). Plus, he was always ready to express his ideas and believes in a simple but steady way, because he wasn't afraid to do it - and he could be, due to his family background, another interesting aspect I would have wanted to explore even more.
Anyway, I liked also how he and Annie bonded again, without rush. I think their is the perfect example of an healthy relationship I would personally love to have and live too. And the chemistry? The tension...? Jaime Harrow has absolutely raised the expectation bar, and that's a real problem.
Last but not least: the work/school harassment theme. I appreciated (and hated, for Annie to have experienced it) how this was handled, in a sort of indirect way where you gradually unveil what happened in the past. And even if it wasn't an "on page event", I could feel Annie's emotions clear as water and I empathized with her immediately. When this happens it only means one thing: the writing was really good.

So, can we ask Jamie to write another novel with this character? Because I'm sure you're gonna love it.
Maybe with Ben's sister as MC...?