For love (of the game)…

Synopsis

WICKET MAIDEN is a groundbreaking romantic comedy set in the world of women’s cricket.

It’s the start of a new season for professional women’s cricket team The Scorpions.

Acclaimed batter Ellie, 32, is returning to the game after a long injury, determined to regain her form and her place in the England squad. This is her last chance, and she won’t let anything stand in her way.

Cricket fan Adam, 34, an artist and photographer, has followed Ellie and the team through highs and lows. He’s drawn to her talent, athleticism and public persona – but is content to be a face in the crowd, cheering her on. He’d never date a famous person, anyway.

When events on and off the pitch bring Ellie and Adam together, friendship blossoms, and their careers initially soar. Yet, with romance in the air, Ellie loses focus, jeopardising her dream.

What’s more important to them both – love, or cricket?

A share of the book’s royalties will be donated to pertinent clubs and organisations who champion the development of grassroots, girls’ and women’s cricket.

The story echoes the film “Notting Hill” – the challenge of love between a ‘star’ and a ‘normal person’.

The book touches on the good and bad sides of fame, and shines a light on women’s cricket – the mental and physical challenges, pressure of relentless media attention, community outreach, fan engagement, and the finite nature of the career of professional athletes. Above this, it is, of course, a love story.

The book is a non-spicy romance, and also includes neurodiversity and epilepsy representation.

My review

Ellie is happy to return on the field after an injury, as a batter for The Scorpions, a cricket team. At the age of 32, it’s now or never to gain a spot in the England squad, but Ellie is determined to claim her spot.
Not only Ellie, but the whole team, can count on the support of many fans, one of them being Adam, an artist and a photographer. Whenever he can, he is in the stadium to cheer for The Scorpions, and especially Ellie.
Adam never expected that the day would come that he would be more than just a face in the crowd. Even when friendship blooms between him and Ellie, he knows that as Ellie is a public person, and a wonderful person, she is out of his league. But is he truly punching above his weight? Because for sure sparks fly between Ellie and Adam, while their own careers also are flying higher than ever!

I am always ready to read stories where there is one famous character, in whatever area, and one character that is just an average Joe. Well, average Joe… Adam is an upcoming artist and a known photographer. But compared to Ellie, he is just a small fish.

Now, I have to admit, I do not know *anything* about cricket… so whenever Ellie was playing, and there was something happening in the game, I just couldn’t follow… But that is on me, as cricket is not something I truly follow as a sport. Also, in Belgium that isn’t a famous sport at all…

Luckily, there was a lot of room for relation development, that made up for the moments that I was frowning as I just couldn’t understand what was going on 😊.

From the start, I admired Ellie. Not only is she great as a batter, but she is also determined to not let her just healed injury hold her back. She shows love for the game in everything she does. But not only that, she is just a great person. She treats her fans and supporters kindly, and even the smallest of the fans can always rely on her for a kind word or action.

But it is also clear that there is something haunting her. She is carrying a guilt around, a guilt that is not justified. But it is also that same guilt that wants her to make right choices, to make up for when she couldn’t. I know this sounds all very ominous, but in fact it is just heartbreaking and when the time is right, it will all make sense to you.

And there is also the fact that Ellie hasn’t been the luckiest in the love area… she has faced one severe heartbreak, one that is still difficult to not hold any grudges, and her latest relationship was not truly what to expect from a relationship. So it is wise for Ellie for now to focus on the job, on the game, and pursue her Big Dream.

But we all know that is not how love or life works, right? 🙂

Adam is the perfect boyfriend material, even if he isn’t flawless. Yet who needs perfection, if you can have Adam? Yes, of course he could be more self-confident and believe in his artist talents. But that made him only more real and more likeable in my eyes.

Also the way he truly admires and supports Ellie is testament to his character. He is also the kind of person to make sure that nobody, in this case Ellie, feels awkward. He is a fan of Ellie, and he follows her, which could be easily seen as something ‘stalkerish’, so it is nice of him, wanting to show that his interest is innocent and genuine.

It was lovely to see how the relationship between Ellie and Adam slowly is changing. They start as idol – fan, then they become acquaintances, to friends and then… During these shifts, how sweet was it to see that there is a genuine care between the pair, and that they have each other’s back. Their banter was also hilarious, as it’s clear they can have a great laugh not only with but also at each other. Ellie and Adam can just be themselves and that is truly something priceless. There is absolutely no judgement from neither side, just acceptance and understanding.

Even if the world of cricket is something I don’t understand completely, I understand friendship, and love. And this book is filled with the latter. Not only between Ellie and Adam alone, but all over the book. That made this book something i truly enjoyed reading. Because we see how being surrounded by the right kind of people, can bring out the best version of yourself, and make you grow not only in confidence, but also character wise.  And we see in this book, that anything can happen, even what you only dared to dream about!