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A review by katemc7
The Way We Play by Tia Louise
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was intrigued and excited by a book about Rachel and Zane after reading book 1. There was clearly tension and chemistry between these two, and I was curious to see how everything would unravel. I was pleasantly surprised. I liked these characters a lot. They both had baggage and were still actively working through it. I was very impressed with Rachel. She was just SO strong. She was basically the parent for her special needs younger brother. Did she let that additional stress bring her down? No, no she did not. If anything, she wore it like an armor. She radiated sunshine and positivity. She could have been such a downer but she did what she could to make life the best it could be. Zane on the other hand just radiated GRUMP. Of course this was to mask the pain he was in. The pain for his career ending earlier than he thought. The pain for the accident that happened with his sister. He had the mindset that everything around him would break. Watching him unravel for Rachel was awesome. I did get a LITTLE frustrated with the back and forth- he would tease and be interested and then back off. I did understand his thought process though. These two had WONDERFUL chemistry. Their spicy scenes were spicy! Especially since Rachel's experience was beyond limited.
Rachel thinks she has finally found her place. She has a place to live. She has a good job. She has met a few friends. Her coworker is HOT. But then she has to unexpectedly get her younger brother because of an incident that happened at his school. Now she is making lemonade out of lemons. She is bringing Eddie (her brother) to work with him. She is trying to ignore the growing tension between her and Zane (the hot coworker). He is just so intriguing to her. He won't accept anyone's help but seems to be radiating that he needs something in his life. Rachel decides it is going to be her. She lives across the hall from him. There are only so many places he can go. But man is he hard to corner. Between leaving the room when she gets there or ignoring her offers for a massage what is she going to do? Keep trying that's what. Slowly but surely she whittles him down. He has started smirking more. He is hanging out with her brother and helping him. He has agreed to a massage which is when everything changes between them. It's clear he wants more and so does she. Little does he know she has no experience. But of course that doesn't deter him. Now they are explosive. They are experiencing time alone and it's amazing. She is falling hard for him. But his walls still seem to be up. Will she be able to help him through the darkness he can't seem to walk away from? Or will he give up before they have seen where this will go? Their relationship gets tested even further when Rachel's dad comes in town demanding to take his son back with him....
Zane is in a rhythm. He works. He goes home. He does the radio show with Logan. He sometimes goes to the family resident. What he doesn't do are women. Especially the ones that seem to radiate sunshine and positivity. He just knows that he will somehow break it. So he takes himself out before he can experience it. But something is different about Rachel. She doesn't give up easily. He finds himself thinking about her more than he should. He finds himself wanting things he shouldn't. He is also getting teased like crazy by his brothers who just need to mind their business. But the more he is around Rachel the more he can't ignore his feelings. He is just so drawn to her. So he finally says yes to a massage. Which he knows is a mistake but he doesn't care anymore. One thing leads to another and now he can't see a future without her in it. But this is when things go wrong for him. This is when things break. Will he be able to get out of his head long enough to realize it is worth it? Or will he walk away hurting them both? Because he has fallen and fallen hard and that might just be worth some pain.
I absolutely LOVED the brother text chain in this one. It is just so perfect haha. I liked that there wasn't a FULL third act breakup but more like a mini one. I liked how much these characters helped each other. They truly were their best self when together. I LOVED the teaser at the end for book 3. I feel like we heard about Olivia for point 2 seconds in book 1, but now we know that her and Garrett were hot and heavy in high school. Definitely seems like there are some unsaid things between them- can't wait to see how that all unfolds!!
Thank you to Grey's Promotions and Tia for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I definitely recommend this book and series if you are looking for the small town vibes with great text thread banter, strong FMCs with men that fall hard for them as well as a smidge of sports and GREAT spice!
Rachel thinks she has finally found her place. She has a place to live. She has a good job. She has met a few friends. Her coworker is HOT. But then she has to unexpectedly get her younger brother because of an incident that happened at his school. Now she is making lemonade out of lemons. She is bringing Eddie (her brother) to work with him. She is trying to ignore the growing tension between her and Zane (the hot coworker). He is just so intriguing to her. He won't accept anyone's help but seems to be radiating that he needs something in his life. Rachel decides it is going to be her. She lives across the hall from him. There are only so many places he can go. But man is he hard to corner. Between leaving the room when she gets there or ignoring her offers for a massage what is she going to do? Keep trying that's what. Slowly but surely she whittles him down. He has started smirking more. He is hanging out with her brother and helping him. He has agreed to a massage which is when everything changes between them. It's clear he wants more and so does she. Little does he know she has no experience. But of course that doesn't deter him. Now they are explosive. They are experiencing time alone and it's amazing. She is falling hard for him. But his walls still seem to be up. Will she be able to help him through the darkness he can't seem to walk away from? Or will he give up before they have seen where this will go? Their relationship gets tested even further when Rachel's dad comes in town demanding to take his son back with him....
Zane is in a rhythm. He works. He goes home. He does the radio show with Logan. He sometimes goes to the family resident. What he doesn't do are women. Especially the ones that seem to radiate sunshine and positivity. He just knows that he will somehow break it. So he takes himself out before he can experience it. But something is different about Rachel. She doesn't give up easily. He finds himself thinking about her more than he should. He finds himself wanting things he shouldn't. He is also getting teased like crazy by his brothers who just need to mind their business. But the more he is around Rachel the more he can't ignore his feelings. He is just so drawn to her. So he finally says yes to a massage. Which he knows is a mistake but he doesn't care anymore. One thing leads to another and now he can't see a future without her in it. But this is when things go wrong for him. This is when things break. Will he be able to get out of his head long enough to realize it is worth it? Or will he walk away hurting them both? Because he has fallen and fallen hard and that might just be worth some pain.
I absolutely LOVED the brother text chain in this one. It is just so perfect haha. I liked that there wasn't a FULL third act breakup but more like a mini one. I liked how much these characters helped each other. They truly were their best self when together. I LOVED the teaser at the end for book 3. I feel like we heard about Olivia for point 2 seconds in book 1, but now we know that her and Garrett were hot and heavy in high school. Definitely seems like there are some unsaid things between them- can't wait to see how that all unfolds!!
Thank you to Grey's Promotions and Tia for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I definitely recommend this book and series if you are looking for the small town vibes with great text thread banter, strong FMCs with men that fall hard for them as well as a smidge of sports and GREAT spice!