running rings around love

Zeke Moyo is a sprinter heading for the Olympics again. He is representing Great Britain again, and he is hoping all of his training will win him a gold medal. His anxiety is up a little, especially since his ex-girlfriend will be there too, gymnast Valentina Ross-Rodriguez. But he’s ready to experience the games again, and the legendary parties.

Olivia Nkomo has been looking forward to her summer internship. She has been a fan of the Olympics since she was a little girl, and now that she’s graduated from university, she managed to get one of two prestigious internships working with some of the international dignitaries. However, when she gets to the Olympic village, she finds out that those two unpaid internships were changed to one paid internship, and it went to the other intern they’d chosen, her nemesis from school, a man who grew up in a very wealthy family and had been given every advantage already.

Olivia is strong and driven, so she doesn’t take no for an answer and makes them offer her a volunteer position, sort of a floater, to help out wherever they need. She has to take several trainings—first aid, driving a golf cart, the usual—but she gets to spend her time helping get the athletes where they need to go and making up gift bags for the honored guests and cleaning up or delivering towels or whatever anyone needs.

On her first day, wearing the new suit her parents bought for her internship, Olivia runs into Zeke. Literally. And then Olivia has green smoothie all over her beautiful new clothes. She calls him out on his rudeness for not looking where he was going (not that she was looking either). But it’s not until later that night, at the party where she was singing karaoke in front of a bunch of the Australians, that she gets her revenge.

As Olivia and Zeke keep bumping into each other in the Village, the chemistry between them gets stronger. The meet cute turns into flirting and then genuine attraction. But he’s busy with training and races. She is busy helping out. Zeke’s ex-girlfriend is there and is intimidating. His best friend is there too, and he’s crushing on Olivia as well. And then there is Zeke’s panic attacks, which could potentially affect his performance on the track.

Meanwhile, Olivia is turning into summer Olivia, where she is more open to experience and less focused on being the best and making the most of her potential. Since her internship turned into just a volunteer gig, she can let her hair down and have fun. But she is worried about what will come after. She had planned on turning her internship into a full-time job. Now she has to send out job applications whenever she can. Or she should. She has a future to plan.

But as Olivia learns to lighten up and Zeke learns to let others in on what he’s feeling, they find themselves returning to each other over and over, like there is something genuine there. But is it for the long-term, or is it just an Olympics fling?

Let the Games Begin is a smart, funny rom com set at a fictional Olympics in Athens, and it’s filled with insider gossip and stories about being in the Village. The characters of Olivia and Zeke are strong and multi-dimensional, and the writing is witty and the chemistry between them sparks.

I listened to the audio of Let the Games Begin, narrated beautifully by Shaniqua Okwok. I really enjoyed this book. I especially liked the character of Olivia, who has intelligence and spunk. Since the Olympics just started, I thought this would be an especially fun read to get the games started, and I was not disappointed. If you’re wanting something to read while you’re waiting for your favorite competitions to come on, then this is a fun read. And if the Olympics are over by the time you read this, you can pick up Let the Games Begin to remind you of how it feels while the Olympics are on.

An early copy of Let the Games Begin audio book was provided by Macmillan Audio through NetGalley, with many thanks.