Sports romances are probably my favorite subgenre of all, so when the opportunity came up to read and review Match Point, the first release in Leigh Carman’s Sports of the Seasons series, of course I said yes. Now that I’ve read it, if I were forced to use only three words to describe the novel, they would be drama, drama, and drama. Okay, I exaggerate slightly, because words like hot certainly apply, but drama is definitely the driving force in this story.

Dexter Savage is one of the most popular players in professional beach volleyball, but his rival since college, Finn Callahan, is the one man who always stands between him and being the best in the game. Their rivalry has always been bitter; Finn is, and always has been, a rude and cocky jerk to Dex. Even then, Dex has always been adored by his fans, but what he doesn’t know is that Finn also wanted him. The only way Finn could deal with crushing on the hot, straight guy was to hate him. When separate accidents leave Dex and Finn without volleyball partners, joining up makes sense, but proximity brings their true feelings to the surface, things that could destroy not only their professional partnership but any chance at something personal as well.

Drama: In addition to the rivalry they started in college, both Finn and Dex have major issues in their pasts that shade their interactions with each other. The loss of Finn’s volleyball partner, the man who was also Finn’s fiancé, a fact that no one else knew, devastates him to the point where he not only leaves the pro tour but essentially shuts himself away. After Dex convinces him to come back, Finn is forced again to fight his attraction to Dex. While we learn near the beginning of the story that Dex’s driving motivation stems from a past of living on the street, the reason for this is revealed much later. Without going into spoiler territory, the events with Dex’s family also caused him to quash his sexual desires. As a result, when he begins to realize his attraction to Dex, he cannot deal with it. Add to that the fact that Finn’s family isn’t full of perfect acceptance either and there’s plenty of ways to cue up the angst.

More drama: As if their issues weren’t bad enough, both men suffer from a major case of stubbornness. So any time they interact about something, either professional or personal, they may start with the best of intentions, but all it takes is one wrong step and they both revert to fight-or-flight mode. Let’s just say they misstep a lot. No really, a LOT. I have to admit that there were several instances as the story progressed where I found myself rolling my eyes at just how over-the-top the drama level was during their interactions. Can you say drama queens? That’s a funny mental image considering how sexy the descriptions of these two are. On the plus side, though, all this dramatic stubborn manliness made for delicious sexual tension between the two. Will-they-or-won’t-they always works for me. As such, when they finally do get together, it’s not only intense and hot, but it’s emotional as well.

So yeah, I loved these two. However, the book wasn’t without flaws. The biggest of these is recurring problems with the point of view (POV). Throughout the novel, the feelings these two have regarding the other are usually about the same as those the other has—for example, they are often frustrated with each other at the same time—so unless a reference is made to something specific to one of the characters, it is easy to forget whose POV is being used during their interactions with one another. The author labels whose POV is being used at the start of the chapter and when it changes mid-chapter, but because their interactions often deal with things they have in common and their personalities are in many ways similar, I found myself wishing the author had made a better effort for clarity.

Another consequence of the frequency with which the author shifted between the two POVs is the fact that the storytelling sometimes felt jumpy. In fact, it often felt like I was reading a novella. But at least that was the only similarity to novellas I felt—none of that annoying skipping over parts of a romance that I love seeing in order to fit it in such a short length. This one hit all the important things, and it did so in a satisfying manner overall.

While I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a sports junkie, I do love watching nearly any sport. And I do know a lot about several sports, so I find myself being a little critical of how the sports aspect is portrayed in this subgenre of romance. My knowledge of volleyball, though, is limited to when I had to play it in gym class or at the rare family-reunion-type event, so I can’t really pass judgment on how well the author portrayed it in the book. If you’re a stickler for this sort of thing, it’s not much of an issue anyway, since there are only a handful of places where the story tells what’s happening in a game or practice, and these instances are very short. She uses the right terminology, so as far as I’m concerned, the author did fine here.

As a whole, I enjoyed Match Point. And I think you will too, especially if you like stubborn men who are afraid to confront their feelings so that they deal with it by being belligerent toward each other, even though in this case, the drama struck me as slightly over the top. But that isn’t enough to keep me from looking forward to and reading the remaining books when they are released.