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A review by dinoqueenreads
Rules of Play by CJ Pines
4.5
please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
POV: dual 3rd person POV
spice: several open-door spicy scenes
TWs: stalking, PTSD, reference to parental dementia, manipulative parent, abusive parent, child abandonment, child abuse (recounted), homophobia (internal and external), corrupt cops, bullying, cheating (not MCs), mentions of gun violence, parent in jail, slight OM drama
standalone: book 2 in Chances Harbor series (should be read in order to understand Alex’s backstory/PTSD, but can be read as a standalone without too much issue)
final thoughts: IAN. That’s all you need to know about this book, I promise.
Alex speaking Spanish throughout this story when he can’t find his words was the cutest thing I’ve ever read.
So many good tropes in this book! This was such a great slowburn, forced proximity, college sports romance. I loved the pacing of this story starting off with slowburn, going high heat, then moving back to a slowburn while they got to know each other outside of their quarantine. The bonus scenes of text exchanges (and the text exchanges throughout) were such a good comedic relief to some heavy topics that both Ian and Alex discuss throughout this story. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of this series
read this book if you love
🧑🤝🧑 great side characters
😬 angst
💓 slowburn
💳 virgin (kind of)
🤓 “teach me”
🏫 college setting
🔀 opposites attract
🍪cinnamon roll MMC
🏝️ forced proximity (quarantined in a hotel room/one bed)
👨👩👧👦 found family
🤜 dislike-to-love
🌈 LGBT+ representation
🥰 nicknames
🛏️ “it’s just a fling”
🙏 praise
🛌 roommates
🏡 small town
⚽ sports romance (soccer)
🌍 world building
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
POV: dual 3rd person POV
spice: several open-door spicy scenes
TWs: stalking, PTSD, reference to parental dementia, manipulative parent, abusive parent, child abandonment, child abuse (recounted), homophobia (internal and external), corrupt cops, bullying, cheating (not MCs), mentions of gun violence, parent in jail, slight OM drama
standalone: book 2 in Chances Harbor series (should be read in order to understand Alex’s backstory/PTSD, but can be read as a standalone without too much issue)
final thoughts: IAN. That’s all you need to know about this book, I promise.
Alex speaking Spanish throughout this story when he can’t find his words was the cutest thing I’ve ever read.
So many good tropes in this book! This was such a great slowburn, forced proximity, college sports romance. I loved the pacing of this story starting off with slowburn, going high heat, then moving back to a slowburn while they got to know each other outside of their quarantine. The bonus scenes of text exchanges (and the text exchanges throughout) were such a good comedic relief to some heavy topics that both Ian and Alex discuss throughout this story. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of this series
read this book if you love
🧑🤝🧑 great side characters
😬 angst
💓 slowburn
💳 virgin (kind of)
🤓 “teach me”
🏫 college setting
🔀 opposites attract
🍪cinnamon roll MMC
🏝️ forced proximity (quarantined in a hotel room/one bed)
👨👩👧👦 found family
🤜 dislike-to-love
🌈 LGBT+ representation
🥰 nicknames
🛏️ “it’s just a fling”
🙏 praise
🛌 roommates
🏡 small town
⚽ sports romance (soccer)
🌍 world building