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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
lighthearted
fast-paced
A sexy, fun, and thoughtful book. I LOVED it, and I'm loving this series so far!
ARC received from: Netgalley
Rating: 3*
Trope: Sports + Fake Relationship romance
Chemistry: Low Boil
One-Sentence Summary: Fake dating in the world of rugby
Review: I loved the first book in the series but unfortunately this wasn't for me.
The book starts off with Dex and Harper fake-dating to show up Harper's stepbrother but the evil stepbrother soon takes a back seat to the story and doesn't make an appearance in the second half.
The thing which really annoyed me though was when Harper seemed to break up with Dex when she realises he does not want the same things she does ...... and then moments later starts sleeping with him again and is angry when his phobia of commitment becomes a barrier once again.
Finally, the fact that Dex miraculously realises he's in love (with the help of Tanner) with Harper and a few minutes later they are engaged was just too quick and cheesy for me.
Still looking forward to future books in the series though.
Harper has heard all her life how her curves make her less of a woman and that no man is going to want her. Her stepmother and stepbrother make sure she knows that she’ll never be wanted unless she loses weight, changes her job, so on and so forth. So when Dexter, one of the rugby players of Sydney Smoke asks her out in front of her stepbrother, she’s sure it’s a dare. Dex is all about the tits and ass. He doesn’t want a stick figure, he wants something he can grab ahold of and when he sees the goddess on the sidelines pacing, his attention is automatically caught. Then when he hears the dirt bag reporter putting her down, he can’t help but step in.
What starts out as a way to put it to her stepfamily starts to turn into something more when Harper and Dex just can’t keep their hands to themselves. The chemistry between these two is fan yourselves hot. And as a geek, I loved the gamer in both of them and the Star Wars movie nights. It made my little geek heart proud. But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for them as they made the transition from friends to lovers. Dex screws shit up as he gets his head all up in his rear. And Harper has some self-esteem issues. But it wasn’t over-the-top drama, pretty low angst. And there were some definite laugh out loud moments.
It was a great combination of humor, drama and heat that kept me entertained from beginning to end. I can’t wait to see what Amy Andrews has in store next. I’m still on the edge of my seat waiting for Linc’s story, I can’t wait to see who knocks him on his arse.
ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews, visit
What starts out as a way to put it to her stepfamily starts to turn into something more when Harper and Dex just can’t keep their hands to themselves. The chemistry between these two is fan yourselves hot. And as a geek, I loved the gamer in both of them and the Star Wars movie nights. It made my little geek heart proud. But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for them as they made the transition from friends to lovers. Dex screws shit up as he gets his head all up in his rear. And Harper has some self-esteem issues. But it wasn’t over-the-top drama, pretty low angst. And there were some definite laugh out loud moments.
It was a great combination of humor, drama and heat that kept me entertained from beginning to end. I can’t wait to see what Amy Andrews has in store next. I’m still on the edge of my seat waiting for Linc’s story, I can’t wait to see who knocks him on his arse.
ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews, visit
We as a society should be disappointed in ourselves. So much attention is given to the superficial that important issues fall by the wayside. A person can have good looks, a fit body and money but an ugly disposition. Cruelty is not a good look for anyone. Playing It Cool tackles the sensitive issues of self worth and body image with accuracy and painful honesty. Harper has endured tragic losses in her young life but nothing hurts more than the constantly bullying her stepfamily heaps on her. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree and her stepbrother Chuck is rotten to the core. Like mother, like son. Dex scored major hero points with the way he treated Harper. Ms. Andrews may not have set out to put the world on blast, but she gave an important voice to a serious problem.
I really enjoyed this story. Actually I'm surprised a little at how much I enjoyed it :) I liked the idea of a normal sized heroine, which was why this story ended up in my TBR pile, but the interactions between Dex and Harper kept me glued to the pages. They are just so darned cute together and I was hooked on how well they fit together as friends and lovers.
Harper does have a little bit of a hangup when it comes to her size, but it doesn't take long for Dex's obvious attraction to her to get her over that. And it really isn't a huge part of the conflict in the story. It does come back up at a critical moment, as you'd expect, but it isn't over used in the story. Instead she's a funny, caring, a little geeky and a lot of fun. She thinks she's going into her relationship with Dex with her eyes open and her heart closed, but you can guess how well that goes. They have a lot in common and they quickly form a friendship that just works for both of them - it's hard to stay detached when they click so well.
Plus, Dex is awfully hard to resist. He's sexy, strong, fun and good for her ego. He's not shy about how attractive he finds her. Not just her body but her mind and spirit as well and you love him just for how much he likes her. But of course he's got a few troubles of his own. He grew up in the poorest part of town and has pretty much dedicated all his energy in never going back there again. For him, rugby is the answer. I'm not sure why he thinks that he's not successful enough already to never go back or that he's got nothing going for him after his career is over. But those scars from his childhood are pretty deep and cause him a few moments of trouble with Harper.
You can see from a mile away that Dex's single mindedness when it comes to his sport is going to cause him some trouble. Luckily, though, it isn't over-played and thanks to some help from his friends he quickly figures things out. He's adorable in his cluelessness and his eventual aha moment ... and, just like with the rest of his life, once he's on a course of action he goes full tilt. Nothing is stopping him from winning his woman back and is fantastic to see.
(I didn't read the first book in this series, but it didn't really seem to matter much. I might have gone into it with a better feel for the guys. Meeting them new here worked though and I had no problem keeping up. But I'm going to definitely keep my eye out to see what comes next because I have a feeling a certain bad boy may have just met his match with Harper's friend and his downfall could be quite entertaining.)
Complimentary copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
Harper does have a little bit of a hangup when it comes to her size, but it doesn't take long for Dex's obvious attraction to her to get her over that. And it really isn't a huge part of the conflict in the story. It does come back up at a critical moment, as you'd expect, but it isn't over used in the story. Instead she's a funny, caring, a little geeky and a lot of fun. She thinks she's going into her relationship with Dex with her eyes open and her heart closed, but you can guess how well that goes. They have a lot in common and they quickly form a friendship that just works for both of them - it's hard to stay detached when they click so well.
Plus, Dex is awfully hard to resist. He's sexy, strong, fun and good for her ego. He's not shy about how attractive he finds her. Not just her body but her mind and spirit as well and you love him just for how much he likes her. But of course he's got a few troubles of his own. He grew up in the poorest part of town and has pretty much dedicated all his energy in never going back there again. For him, rugby is the answer. I'm not sure why he thinks that he's not successful enough already to never go back or that he's got nothing going for him after his career is over. But those scars from his childhood are pretty deep and cause him a few moments of trouble with Harper.
You can see from a mile away that Dex's single mindedness when it comes to his sport is going to cause him some trouble. Luckily, though, it isn't over-played and thanks to some help from his friends he quickly figures things out. He's adorable in his cluelessness and his eventual aha moment ... and, just like with the rest of his life, once he's on a course of action he goes full tilt. Nothing is stopping him from winning his woman back and is fantastic to see.
(I didn't read the first book in this series, but it didn't really seem to matter much. I might have gone into it with a better feel for the guys. Meeting them new here worked though and I had no problem keeping up. But I'm going to definitely keep my eye out to see what comes next because I have a feeling a certain bad boy may have just met his match with Harper's friend and his downfall could be quite entertaining.)
Complimentary copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
Harper Nugent had always hoped that she and her stepbrother Chuck would be the best of friends. But when said stepbrother is a narcissistic, self-serving jerk, buddyhood is out of the question. When Chuck insults Harper within hearing of rugby god Dexter Blake, himself a fan of girls with plenty of bass to go with their treble, Dex comes riding to the rescue with a plan to show all the haters just where they can go.
PLAYING IT COOL by author Amy Andrews is just the sort of book that I love, full of charm, fun, and yep, plenty of sexy time. I mean, hello, Australian rugby player? Yes, please! And I absolutely adore Harper, she of the bootylicious backside. She is a poster child for a positive self-image, blessed as she is with a figure that, while not necessarily beautiful by society's standards, is more than perfect for the hot sports star.
"In front of the four hundred people here tonight...and the hundreds and thousands of people who will see this on their television and the millions more who will see it the second someone here uploads the video they're taking right now to Facebook...I want you to know how sexy you are."
There is plenty of the usual back and forth, the 'does he really like me, can I take him seriously, what will our friends say' from Harper, and the 'how does she not know how hot she is, her brother is a wanker, let's give them something to talk about' from Dex, but it all comes together beautifully to bring these two exactly where they're supposed to be, which is living life on their terms, and to heck with anyone else. The best friend, the teammates, the horrid stepfamily, all work together to make PLAYING IT COOL one of the most enjoyable romantic comedies I've had the pleasure of reading lately. If you're looking for a book guaranteed to make you smile, all while keeping you fanning yourself, I highly recommend this read, and happily give it 4.5 'big girls and their hot hunky men are awesome' stars. I will definitely be reading more by this author, and look forward to the next book in this series.
***ARC generously provided for an honest review.***
I don’t remember much about this book, but it was enjoyable enough. It didn’t leave me w a bad taste in my mouth so it must have been okay!
dnf @ 61%
use of slur; mmc referred to fmc as g*psy
use of slur; mmc referred to fmc as g*psy
3.5 stars
Fun, flirty, sweet and sexy sports romance with an Aussie twist that has a great mix of heart, humor and heat.
Playing It Cool is my first read by Amy Andrews (so it can totally be read as a stand-alone) but I’ll definitely be checking out the first in the Sydney Smoke Rugby series and her other books too.
Fun, flirty, sweet and sexy sports romance with an Aussie twist that has a great mix of heart, humor and heat.
Playing It Cool is my first read by Amy Andrews (so it can totally be read as a stand-alone) but I’ll definitely be checking out the first in the Sydney Smoke Rugby series and her other books too.