Playing the Player by Lisa Brown Roberts Pages: 400
Published by Entangled: Crush on September 14, 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, contemporary
Source: eARC from Publisher
The Good Girl Vs. The PlayerRound one begins...
Trina Clemons needed the money. Why else would she - the most organized, prepared student in school - spend the summer as a nanny and partner with the biggest slacker ever? Now she's ready to tackle nannyhood with her big binder of research and schedules. Just don't ask her about the secret job of "fixing" the bad habits of a certain high school player...
Slade Edmunds prefers easy hook-ups, and Trina is definitely not his type. She's all structure and rules, while Slade wants to just have fun. Fortunately, Trina has no idea about the bet Slade made with his best friend that he can totally get her to unwind by the end of summer...
Then the weirdest thing happens. There's chemistry. A lot of it. But nothing gets between a boy and a girl like a big, fat secret...
Playing the Player is a young adult contemporary romance that totally made me smile. I think it is safe to say that I am a huge fan of new adult contemporary romances, but young adult contemporaries are tougher for me to fall in love with. I feel like they have realistic and age appropriate for them to be well done, and for some reason I think that is harder in the young adult arena. I think Lisa Brown Roberts did a fantastic job keeping these high schoolers true to themselves and true to actual high school students in Playing the Player. That does not mean that they were perfect. Not by a long shot, but they were just like so many high schoolers that I knew growing up.
Playing the Player takes an age old concept- the good girl reforming the player, and breathes new life into it. It is not that Lisa Brown Roberts did something totally different with the cliche, but she executed the story so so well. And I have said time and time again, cliches are not a bad thing. They are proven concepts for a reason. They work- if they are well done. And this one was so well done. I absolutely loved the slow burn romance between Trina and Slade. No insta love here.
Trina is type A and organized to a fault. It actually hinders her in her every day life. (some of her little quirks did irk me momentarily. Like her hang up on people “ditching” her. I’m sorry, she was not ditched at any point in the story. but it was minor.) Slade mellows her out. And Trina helps Slade in all the best ways too. Slade gets to be vulnerable and himself around Trina. Not all at first, but it creeps up on him. Day after day working together and they each get a little bit closer, a little more crush worthy to the other. It was just so darn cute. I can’t even take it. (I am smiling just thinking about this book, as I write my review.)
If you like young adult contemporary romances, Playing the Player is one you will not want to miss. I can’t wait to read more books by Lisa Brown Roberts because she tells a story so well. This book brought me back to my summers as a camp counselor. It is totally easy to see Trina and Slade fall for each other because I watched it happen every summer. It is inevitable. But are they just for right now, or something more. Who is truely playing the player? Read the book to find out.
Check out why @BookBriefs Loved Playing the Player by @LBrownRoberts so much & why you should buy it on release day! @EntangledTeen Click To Tweet
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
kindlemom1
Oh this sounds like so much fun and so my kind of read! Adding this to my TBR pile for sure!
Shane Morgan (@itchingforbooks)
Great review. Glad you liked it 🙂
Thanks for participating!
Brandi Breathes Books
Ah yes, the good girl reforming player, I’ve liked some of these themes
Meredith Miller
Sounds like a great read. We always find the players as a challenge to reform when we’re young. As we get older, maybe not so much!
Jessica Cox
I love these sort of stories where a girl can completely change and reform the guy.Ahh the power of a woman.
Victoria
Great review! Thanks for sharing and introducing me to an author… I’m looking forward to reading this 🙂
Nicole
Yes, we are so on the same about this book! I loved it so much and I really love how Lisa can just take these regural, clichéd plots and turn them into something enjoyable. Great review!