Let the Games Begin

May 13, 2024
A flirtatious collision between an Olympic athlete and a summer intern ignites Mazarura’s fun and wholesome debut. Overachieving recent college grad Olivia Nkomo lands an internship with the Olympic Organizing Commission at the summer games in Athens, which she hopes she’ll be able to turn into a full-time dream job by the end of the season. Meanwhile, dreamboat British track star Zeke Moyo is determined to metal, but he’s thrown off his practice regimen by his recent, very public breakup with a fellow Olympian, which keeps making headlines. When Olivia and Zeke literally bump into each on the first day of training, an undeniable chemistry forms between them. But in the pressure cooker of the games, with both of their dreams on the line, can they make a relationship work? Olivia and Zeke’s romance is ridiculously cute and their mutual crushing lightens up the stress of whether they’ll achieve their professional goals. Mazarura is a writer to watch. Agent: Allison Hunter and Natalie Edwards, Trellis Literary Management.

Starred review from June 1, 2024
Romance blossoms at the 2024 Summer Olympics. The Olympics are back where they originated, and two British citizens are journeying to Athens for the Games. Go-getter twenty-three-year-old Olivia Nkomo has been working diligently toward her childhood dream of a job at the Olympics, and she's thrilled to finally land an internship--even if it's unpaid. Happy-go-lucky heartthrob Ezekiel Moyo, 24, already has a silver medal, but this year the sprinter is going for the gold. Olivia and Zeke, both children of Zimbabwean immigrants, meet when they literally run into each other in the Olympic Village, forever changing the trajectory of their lives. Flirty banter and sizzling chemistry lead to genuine connection, but this summer can't last forever. As they each grapple with big questions about the lives they want to lead and people they want to be, they begin to realize just how much they've grown to mean to each other. This layered story expertly captures the excitement of the Games while Olivia and Zeke's developing relationship (with closed-door romance) serves as a prompt for personal reflection. Their loving families play huge roles in their lives; Olivia questions how much her aspirations are fueled by trying to fulfill her parents' dreams while Zeke starts to process the grief he's been avoiding for years about losing his father. The weightier topics are delicately handled and balanced out by lighthearted and humorous scenes, often featuring the couple's charming, bighearted friends. This delightful romance is a ray of sunshine. A debut deserving of a gold medal.

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June 1, 2024

DEBUT Recent uni graduate and second-generation immigrant Olivia Nkomo has dreamed of the Olympics since childhood, so being hired for an internship with Great Britain's delegation to the summer games feels like the reward for all of her hard work. An unexpected reversal of fortune threatens her life's carefully plotted trajectory, however, and Zeke Moyo, one of Britain's star sprinters, bears the brunt of her frustration. When they meet again under more auspicious circumstances, their mutual attraction fills their interactions with a far more pleasant type of tension. Olivia finds unexpected answers about her future, even as Zeke's prospects grow increasingly opaque. In the midst of his third Olympic games, he has to navigate his career, his growing closeness with Olivia, and the presence of his ex-girlfriend, also a superstar Olympian. Olivia and Zeke's shared British Zimbabwean heritage bridges some of the distance that exists between their positions in the Olympic and social hierarchies, and Mazarura deftly navigates the realities that shape her characters' lives, maintaining humor even when discussing serious topics. VERDICT A perfect Olympic-year read. This debut rom-com sparkles and is sure to delight contemporary-romance fans, particularly those who love reading about athletes, celebrities, and tenacious underdog heroines.--Nicole Williams

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