Taylor Jenkins Reid serves up another winner!
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid is one of my most anticipated new releases of the year, and I was thrilled to get an ARC! Happy to say it does not disappoint!
The novel focuses on Carrie, a legendary professional tennis player who sees her records being broken by a new tennis star and comes out of retirement at 37 to try to reclaim them. The book is very character driven and gives us a look at what it takes physically and mentally for Carrie to make her come back.
While the plot is focused heavily on tennis, this is also a story about fathers and daughters. Carrie has a beautiful relationship with her father and coach, Javier. Javier is Carrie's biggest fan, tennis guru, and visionary coach, but most importantly, he is her devoted and loving father. Their dynamic is really at the heart of this book.
TJR is a compelling storyteller and made me care deeply about an intense character whose entire focus is on tennis and winning, even though I know very little about the sport. We see Carrie navigate a feat that takes incredible physical and mental endurance. Her character grows and matures as she perseveres despite sexism in the sport, fame and press coverage, changes in her life, injuries, and aging. So I could not stop turning the pages on Carrie's gripping comeback story and rooting for her.
The fantastic world-building in every TJR book is on display here, too, and there are some fun crossover mentions. Carrie Soto herself was first mentioned in Malibu Rising. Excellent world-building, vivid characters, and a magnetic romance round out this memorable book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine for the gifted ARC. I loved it!
Publication Date is August 30, 2022
My steep was iced Lemon Basil Iced Tea by The Cultured Cup. It's a refreshing Oolong and Black tea blend with candied lemon peel and basil. Based in Dallas, TX you can shop them online at www.theculturedcup.com
From the Blurb:
Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.
But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan.
At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked "the Battle-Axe" anyway. Even if her body doesn't move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.
In spite of it all, Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells her most vulnerable, emotional story yet.
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