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One ~ Love
Trystan Lightfoot allowed herself to love once in her life; the experience broke her heart and strengthened her resolve never to fall in love again. At forty, however, she still longs for the comfort of a woman’s arms. She finds temporary solace in meaningless, albeit adventuresome encounters, burying her pain and her emotions deep inside where no one can reach. No one, that is, until she meets C.J. Winslow.
C.J. Winslow is the model-pretty-but-aging professional tennis star the Women’s Tennis Federation is counting on to dispel the image that all great female tennis players are lesbians. And her lesbianism isn’t the only secret she’s hiding. A traumatic event from her childhood is taking its toll both on and off the court.
Together Trystan and C.J. must find a way beyond their pasts to discover lasting love.
C.J. Winslow is the model-pretty-but-aging professional tennis star the Women’s Tennis Federation is counting on to dispel the image that all great female tennis players are lesbians. And her lesbianism isn’t the only secret she’s hiding. A traumatic event from her childhood is taking its toll both on and off the court.
Together Trystan and C.J. must find a way beyond their pasts to discover lasting love.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 30, 2006
16 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Ames
30 books290 followersLynn Ames is the best-selling author of sixteen books. She also is the writer/director/producer of the history-making documentary, “Extra Innings.” This historically important documentary chronicles, for the first time ever in her own words, the real-life story of Hall-of-Famer Dot Wilkinson and the heyday of women’s softball.
Lynn’s fiction has garnered her a multitude of awards and honors, including six Goldie awards, the coveted Ann Bannon Popular Fiction Award (for All That Lies Within), the Alice B. Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the Arizona Book Award for Best Gay/Lesbian book. Lynn is a two-time Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) finalist, a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award finalist, a Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards Honorable Mention winner, and winner of several Rainbow Reader Awards.
Ms. Ames is the founder of Phoenix Rising Press. She is also a former press secretary to the New York state senate minority leader and spokesperson for the nation’s third-largest prison system. For more than half a decade, she was an award-winning broadcast journalist. She has been editor of a critically acclaimed national magazine and a nationally recognized speaker and public relations professional with a particular expertise in image, crisis communications planning, and crisis management.
For additional information please visit her website at www.lynnames.com, or e-mail her at lynnamesauthor@gmail.com. You can also friend Lynn on Facebook and follow her on, YouTube, and Instagram.
Lynn’s fiction has garnered her a multitude of awards and honors, including six Goldie awards, the coveted Ann Bannon Popular Fiction Award (for All That Lies Within), the Alice B. Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and the Arizona Book Award for Best Gay/Lesbian book. Lynn is a two-time Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) finalist, a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award finalist, a Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards Honorable Mention winner, and winner of several Rainbow Reader Awards.
Ms. Ames is the founder of Phoenix Rising Press. She is also a former press secretary to the New York state senate minority leader and spokesperson for the nation’s third-largest prison system. For more than half a decade, she was an award-winning broadcast journalist. She has been editor of a critically acclaimed national magazine and a nationally recognized speaker and public relations professional with a particular expertise in image, crisis communications planning, and crisis management.
For additional information please visit her website at www.lynnames.com, or e-mail her at lynnamesauthor@gmail.com. You can also friend Lynn on Facebook and follow her on, YouTube, and Instagram.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 2, 2016
Enjoyable read thanks in part to the author's knowledge of tennis and the competitive world of professional sports. I liked both Trystan and CJ and the issues they needed to face and overcome to find true love. The secondary characters are solid and add much to this well written novel.
This book was first published in 2006. Ten years later, public reaction has changed dramatically towards lesbians and gays in professional sports. The battle for acceptance continues. It is important to remember the past to appreciate the present and hope for more understanding in the future.
This book was first published in 2006. Ten years later, public reaction has changed dramatically towards lesbians and gays in professional sports. The battle for acceptance continues. It is important to remember the past to appreciate the present and hope for more understanding in the future.
June 18, 2016
3 1/2 Stars. I have found myself really enjoying Lynn Ames books, and this was another to add to the list. I just thought I'd mention, the book I actually read was The Flip Side of Desire, which was re-released as One-Love. You can tell this is one of Ames, earlier books, a little less polished that she is now, nothing bad, but I can't speak on if any changes were made to One-Love.
While I am not a big Tennis fan in real life, I enjoy it as a LesFic subject. I thought this had the right amount of Tennis to get into the excitement of the sport, but not enough to bore you.
I enjoyed the romance and felt the obvious chemistry between the two characters. The only negative is I found the characters jumped to the "I love yous" a bit quick. And while I liked both characters, I did find C.J. to be a tad immature at times. Though she did seem to grow as the book progressed.
This book does deal with PTSD from a rape. The rape happened before the book took place, so you don't actually read it, but there is some flashbacks as the character tries to deal with the aftermath. I found some of the techniques she tried to use to deal with the PTSD , quite different and interesting.
I look forward to reading more of Ames' books in the future.
While I am not a big Tennis fan in real life, I enjoy it as a LesFic subject. I thought this had the right amount of Tennis to get into the excitement of the sport, but not enough to bore you.
I enjoyed the romance and felt the obvious chemistry between the two characters. The only negative is I found the characters jumped to the "I love yous" a bit quick. And while I liked both characters, I did find C.J. to be a tad immature at times. Though she did seem to grow as the book progressed.
This book does deal with PTSD from a rape. The rape happened before the book took place, so you don't actually read it, but there is some flashbacks as the character tries to deal with the aftermath. I found some of the techniques she tried to use to deal with the PTSD , quite different and interesting.
I look forward to reading more of Ames' books in the future.
February 3, 2020
Trystan is very difficult to like at first. She’s a total player, entirely closed off with an angry edge to her. I almost stopped reading near the beginning because I disliked her so much, and I’m glad I didn’t. Yes, she’s angry and afraid to even consider romantic love, but she’s not actually as cold as I thought and has lovely close relationships with her mother, her best friend Becca, and eventually C.J..
C.J. is so focused on her career that she doesn’t have relationships of any kind except with her coach, and she doesn’t even seem to know that she’s a lesbian. Everything about her connection with Trystan is a new experience for her, and each woman has to learn and grow to make space for the other in her life. I also liked that C.J.’s emotional growth happened alongside learning a new approach to playing tennis. She has a lot of upheaval to navigate in her life, especially given how homophobic her environment is, and she does it gracefully, coming out the other side as a better person.
Full review: http://www.thelesbianreview.com/one-l...
C.J. is so focused on her career that she doesn’t have relationships of any kind except with her coach, and she doesn’t even seem to know that she’s a lesbian. Everything about her connection with Trystan is a new experience for her, and each woman has to learn and grow to make space for the other in her life. I also liked that C.J.’s emotional growth happened alongside learning a new approach to playing tennis. She has a lot of upheaval to navigate in her life, especially given how homophobic her environment is, and she does it gracefully, coming out the other side as a better person.
Full review: http://www.thelesbianreview.com/one-l...
January 21, 2015
Trigger Warning for anyone thinking of reading this book. It contains descriptions of sexual assault and rape as a major part of a characters past and there is a moderate level of detail given.
Lynn Ames is a very good writer and this story was no exception. I liked the idea, the characters and the set up. The side characters were fun and I wanted to see everything work out. Many aspects of this book were really well done and I did/do enjoy reading it.
However there are parts where the characters don't seem to be acting like themselves, as though their sudden issues are not quite right. Sometimes what's happening just doesn't quite gel properly with the character I have been seeing and told about, and how they are thinking or behaving. So while on the first read through it's fine when I re read it I just skipped over whole sections of the book because they just didn't seem necessary or I didn't care. Some of the conflict seemed to come right out of no where, and almost felt like it slowed the momentum, some parts could easily have been cut out.
Do I recommend this book, yes; the writing is good and some scenes and exchanges I really loved reading and did make me smile and feel happy for the characters. Just other parts made me go "eh, whatevs"
Lynn Ames is a very good writer and this story was no exception. I liked the idea, the characters and the set up. The side characters were fun and I wanted to see everything work out. Many aspects of this book were really well done and I did/do enjoy reading it.
However there are parts where the characters don't seem to be acting like themselves, as though their sudden issues are not quite right. Sometimes what's happening just doesn't quite gel properly with the character I have been seeing and told about, and how they are thinking or behaving. So while on the first read through it's fine when I re read it I just skipped over whole sections of the book because they just didn't seem necessary or I didn't care. Some of the conflict seemed to come right out of no where, and almost felt like it slowed the momentum, some parts could easily have been cut out.
Do I recommend this book, yes; the writing is good and some scenes and exchanges I really loved reading and did make me smile and feel happy for the characters. Just other parts made me go "eh, whatevs"
December 19, 2018
Well I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff - tennis, emotional recovery and a set of loyal and magnificent friends whose combined talents would be welcome in any "superhero" story. Loved it.
August 27, 2023
I love both Trystan and C.J. Trystan has been running from love because of a broken heart when she was younger, and C.J. hasn't allowed herself to feel anything for anyone to concentrate on her tennis career. But when they meet, they're both fearful of the feelings they have for one another. This wonderful book is set in the highly competitive world of tennis, and is a beautiful love story. 5 stars!
March 28, 2014
Well written lesbian romance. Fairly standard story line but the journey was quite entertaining. Likable characters, interesting and seemingly well researched look into professional tennis. I'd recommend this to any lover of lesbian romances.
March 28, 2025
This is my first book by this author and I found it hard going at times.
The story line itself is quite good, typical of this genre but the timeline from first meeting to declaring undying love was ridiculously quick and had very little build up.
Trigger warning this book does also deal with r*pe in a moderate level of detail and is mentioned several times thereafter. It is integral to the story but some may find this distressing.
The biggest issue I had with it to the point that I nearly gave up reading it was the constant stream of dialogue with very little description or scene setting. At times it was also hard to know who was saying what without that additional layer of detail.
This did improve towards the end of the book, thankfully, as otherwise don’t I think I would have finished it.
Probably not one I’d read again and I would need convincing to consider this author’s other work.
The story line itself is quite good, typical of this genre but the timeline from first meeting to declaring undying love was ridiculously quick and had very little build up.
Trigger warning this book does also deal with r*pe in a moderate level of detail and is mentioned several times thereafter. It is integral to the story but some may find this distressing.
The biggest issue I had with it to the point that I nearly gave up reading it was the constant stream of dialogue with very little description or scene setting. At times it was also hard to know who was saying what without that additional layer of detail.
This did improve towards the end of the book, thankfully, as otherwise don’t I think I would have finished it.
Probably not one I’d read again and I would need convincing to consider this author’s other work.
May 6, 2024
What a delightful and stress filled love story!
Lynn Ames has produced a winner full of aces right to my heart. Haunting memories over come with just the right amount of psychological mind bending for proper effect! I loved the characters, each of them played off of the other beautifully. This is just such an OPEN top spin winner!
Lynn Ames has produced a winner full of aces right to my heart. Haunting memories over come with just the right amount of psychological mind bending for proper effect! I loved the characters, each of them played off of the other beautifully. This is just such an OPEN top spin winner!
July 11, 2021
Healing Hearts
Lynn Ames book focuses on healing the hearts of both MCs. One from tragic childhood trauma, the other from lost love. Both find happiness and healing in each other. The chemistry is strong. This is a great story, I look forward to more by this author.
Lynn Ames book focuses on healing the hearts of both MCs. One from tragic childhood trauma, the other from lost love. Both find happiness and healing in each other. The chemistry is strong. This is a great story, I look forward to more by this author.
June 15, 2017
Probably 3.5? Honestly it was really good, except just so implausible timeline wise. May be triggering for some readers as it deals with rape trauma.
December 17, 2017
I don't recommend reading this. Its that bad!
January 2, 2020
Ok story
October 23, 2015
Winning match...
Lynn Ames did a very good job. I fell in love with CJ at the beginning of this story. The characters were believable and so was the storyline. Will Definitely will let my friends know about this one.
Lynn Ames did a very good job. I fell in love with CJ at the beginning of this story. The characters were believable and so was the storyline. Will Definitely will let my friends know about this one.
November 19, 2011
I had been wanting to read this story for a while and it did not dissapoint. The characters C J and Trystan were loving wonderful women who deserved a chance on love.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews