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Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Play Along by Liz Tomforde

10 reviews

adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous challenging emotional funny medium-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book had all the emotion, tension, and swoon-worthy moments I’ve come to expect from this series. I loved Kennedy’s growth and character development. Isaiah was the perfect match for her, helping her heal without ever trying to fix her. 

I absolutely adore this series and I’m not ready for it to end :(

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

1st    read: April 2025: 4.00 ⭐
2nd read: May 2025:  4.25 ⭐

Reread the first 4 books before reading the new published book 5

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3🌶️

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Taken me quite a while to finish this one because I’m at that stage of motherhood now where my little one is teething and needs a lot of comfort! 
Anyway, onto the review. Liz Tomforde does it again with another 5 star read. This book follows Isaiah and Kennedy’s journey as they end up drunkenly getting married on the anniversary of Isaiah and Kai’s Mom’s death. However, when they wake up Kennedy realises what they have done and tries to get their marriage annulled. 
It’s around this time, that they decide to “play along” with their marriage to their team and the managers in order for one of them to not get fired (Kennedy), and they claim that they had both had a thing for each other for years and now was the right time for them to get married. But secretly, their agreement was that they would remain together for the season and then as soon as the season is over, Kennedy can take another job in San Francisco and they will get a divorce. Overtime though, due to the more time that they spend together, Kennedy finds herself falling in love with her already husband. 
Kennedy eventually goes for the interview in San Francisco and upon returning, there is a storm going on outside, much to Isaiah’s dismay as it just reminds him of when his Mom died. Isaiah was frantically calling her and everyone of his loved ones to make sure they were all okay and not out driving in the storm. But the only person he could not get in contact with was Kennedy. He decides he’s going to go to her apartment to see if she’s okay, but she then steps out of the elevator soaking wet from running to his apartment in the rain. 
True love, right? 
This is when Kai finally announces his retirement from Baseball which only causes Isaiah more heartbreak as he now has to continue this sport without his big brother by his side. During this time, the rest of the team and even their wives realise just how in love with each other Kennedy and Isaiah are. Kennedy receives a phone call which is from the team in San Francisco offering her the job, which she sadly turns down as she realises her home is there in Chicago with all of the people that she loves. However, she tells Isaiah that she didn’t get the job. It’s Dean that reveals to Isaiah that actual truth about the job. Isaiah tells Kennedy that she is to go and follow her dreams, and to not let him hold her back thus issuing her some divorce papers while telling her to have the weekend to think on it. 
She then returns to the clubhouse on the Monday and finds Isaiah, giving him back the envelope but he can’t bring himself to open the envelope. Kennedy eventually has a meeting with Reese and Mr Remington about her position at work and tells them that she won’t be returning, as she is going to find a job at a university or college until another team within the city gets a vacancy. This is when they tell her that actually, they’d like to become the Head of Health and Wellness as they’ve fired Dr Fredrick for mistreating Kennedy… thanks to all of the team complaining to them about his treatment towards her. Kennedy is reluctant to take this job at first, saying that Will should take it. But little did she know, that they had already had a meeting with Will and he told them that Kennedy should take the position. It was agreed that because she was there first, she should have the job. At the end, Kennedy makes Isaiah open the envelope and read what she had wrote on the dotted line for signatures. 
This is when he realises that he’d actually got the woman of his dreams and that she wasn’t leaving him after all, they would remain together forever. 
We then get an epilogue of 2 years later where Isaiah is reminiscing of their marriage 2 years ago, while they are now getting ready to get married in the exact same spot, on the anniversary of his Mom’s death, on Max’s birthday and the anniversary of when they first got married! 
I really loved the character development in this book, it was lovely to see how people can mature overtime and realise their feelings for another person. Tomforde really has me feeling for Kennedy at points in the book, such as describing how her ex would tell her things that made her feel rubbish about herself etc. This isn’t something I’ve dealt with personally, but I know people that have and it just makes me feel so bad for them. 
Anyway, this is well worth the 5⭐️ that I have rated it and I would 100% read it again if given the chance to!🩷

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

The forth book in the series, forth book I am falling for.
I didn’t think someone could surpass Ryan in my heart. But it did. Isaiah did.
Kennedy is an insecure cold woman. Being perfect is what she only knows.
Isaiah is the cocky charming and also utterly smitten baseball player. 
I loved how their story grows, beginning with a reckless marriage in Vegas after 3 years of pursuing her…

Tropes:
Marriage of convenience 
Hopeless romantic MMC
Fate
FMC with Intimacy issues  
The unoccupied women’s bathroom
And at some point: Only one bed

The audiobook is a dual narration (with some little duet parts) by the amazing Samantha Brentmoore and Jacod Morgan.

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medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

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emotional hopeful relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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