With careers and hearts on the line, which will win?
The Long Shot is an age gap romance set in the world of women’s golf.
Morgan Spencer is ranked near the very top of women’s golf. However, she still hasn’t won a major tournament, which would raise her ranking, and people are starting to wonder why. Adrienne Wyatt is making a TV documentary about the major tournaments in women’s golf, with the focus on Morgan. The young golfer isn’t happy about this invasion of her privacy but Adrienne needs this project to take her mind off her own troubles.
These two women, strong, driven people, are both easily perceived as aloof, one even nicknamed “Ice” by the press. They have to work together, and despite budding feelings, have to stay focused and professional, i.e. keep their distance. There’s plots and intrigue, professional jealousy, mutual pining, unresolved sexual tension, problematic family relationships, and of course, lots of golf playing!
By now I know to expect a great story with brilliant characters if the book is by a certain A.L. Brooks, but this still exceeds expectations! This one is obviously easier to read if you know at least a bit about golf, otherwise you might need a glossary for the most often used terms (hint: Wikipedia has a good one).
Both the main characters feel like real, complete people, with their quirks and flaws, and the same goes for their ‘sidekicks’—mainly Jenny the assistant, and Harry the caddy—and the rest of the supporting cast. A few characters you’ll love to hate, a few you’ll like. One, Morgan’s father, the big-name golf star of yesteryear, made me grit my teeth and think very bad thoughts. I’m still clenching my jaw when I think of that one. On the other hand, the relationship between Morgan’s mother and Adrienne was a nice contrast.
The relationship between Adrienne and Morgan isn’t quite slow enough to be classified slow burn, but it’s slow enough that some of the more impatient readers may get just a bit antsy. Just saying! I thoroughly enjoyed how the whole thing started and evolved, from Jenny’s celebrity crush to Adrienne’s and Morgan’s mutual admiration and attraction onward. Also, Adrienne’s little hang-ups about her age and what that entails were just adorable.
The Long Shot being an A.L. Brooks novel, the bits that are hot are really scorching! For example, just the build-up to one scene had me nearly hyperventilating even before anything had happened—no spoilers though! Yeah, it’s that good.
A word of warning, by the way: if you tend to get emotionally invested in a good plot and characters, and tend to forget where you are when immersed in an enjoyable book, don’t read The Long Shot in a public place – like on a bus or in a café.
Highly recommend and definitely going on my re-read pile.