#BookReview: Game On by Barbara Oliverio

game onAbout the Book

Stunning, violet-eyed Maisie Valenti grew up in the rough-and- tumble world of sports with a football coach father and six athletic brothers. Her dream job has always been to be a national sports reporter and she is slowly working her way up the ladder to be in a major market. On her way, she shares the screen with popular sports celebrities who have dazzling smiles, but it’s Aleksander Markovich behind the camera who has always remained her solid friend – so much that he is firmly stuck in the friend zone. Maisie finally gets her big chance to move to the nation’s biggest market and gain the approval of a national sports heartthrob- if only she’ll make a professional compromise.
Should Maisie do whatever it takes to get her dream job? And what would it take for Aleksander to step in front of the camera and finally come into focus for her? Maisie’s determination to stay true to her values, as well as her ability to learn from her mistakes make this a heartwarming tale.
The story is peopled with characters of all ages that are carefully plotted and stay true to themselves. Comedy rules the day with wit and charm, and sweet romance is truly the name of the game.

My Review

Being a huge football and general sports fan myself, I knew Game On was a book I needed to read. We follow Maisie Valenti and her dreams of being a national news reporter. Maisie was a great character to follow, and her family life was such a blast to read about as well. We follow her as she finally gets her chance to make a splash in the sports world, and how that also opens up a romantic interest for her as well. There were plenty of great game scenes throughout the way, a nice romantic angle, and toward the end, I thought the professional compromise she was faced with was a great addition and added more depth to the story. I did notice there seemed to be an overuse of saying the character’s name while in dialogue, which kept pulling me out of the story, and the end seemed to wrap up just a little too over the top for my personal preference, but overall I thought it was a very good read. If you are a lover of sports like myself, I think this would be a great choice for your reading list, and even if you’re not, it was a sweet romantic comedy that I recommend.

4 stars