A review by jenjenbookfan
Playing by the Rules by Monica Murphy

5.0

Playing by the Rules is the second book in the Players series by Monica Murphy, featuring a brother’s best friend/friends to lovers story. Blair was the strong and feisty younger sister of Knox from Playing Hard to Get who has had a crush on her brother’s friend Cam since she first met him. Now that she’s older, she’s determined to go after what she wants, but Cam uses Knox’s warnings as an excuse to keep his distance, despite his own interest. When the connection and the fire are too much to resist, can they build something real, or will Cam’s underlying insecurities doom them before they even have a chance?

This was the first book from this author, and I am now a fan! The characters felt authentic and relatable with real emotions driving them. It was refreshing to see the “alpha male” have some self esteem issues that he was struggling with, while the female was trying to get him to see himself through her eyes. It’s almost always the other way around. While I understood Cam’s emotional hangups related to how he grew up, I got frustrated with how long it was taking for him to admit to things and move forward in a real way with Blair. I found myself yelling encouragement at my iPad a couple times!