Player's Game by Desirae Clark is a delightful young adult romance, that I really enjoyed. Samantha Valentine along with her mother and twin sisters moved to Manhattan from Scottsdale six years ago, leaving her best friend Parker Brady behind. When Samantha's mom gets a promotion, they move back to Scottsdale, and the stress of seeing Parker again. I love this genre, there is something so innocent about young love. I love the quirky people and situations in this book, and watching the characters grow over. I found this book to be a quick read, and recommend it to all readers who enjoy a sweet coming of age romance.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book was good, but not great. I felt that it had all the potential to be a great read, but I wanted more from the book. Which is not a bad thing, but I just needed more to really love it. Right away we get to heart of the story with Samantha having to move back to her home town after living in Manhattan for six years. She starts hanging out with her ex-friend Parker again and sparks fly. I really enjoyed the dynamics between Samantha and Parker. They had such great chemistry and I liked how they had to find a way back to each other after the pain they caused each other.

The downside of this book is it felt a little unrealistic with Samantha's mom leaving her alone in her house for months at a time for her job. There was also the fact that her friends from her school in Manhattan just happen to show up at her new school for an exchange program. It seemed a little far-fetched when you consider the fact that they were across the country from each other. However, I did really enjoy the supporting characters. I liked the close knit group of friends. If you are looking for a quick romantic read this is it, but it might leave you feeling like you are missing something at the end.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review from BLVNP Incorporated via NetGalley.

quick, easy, light read.
Parker and samatha were once best friend. They had feelings they hadn’t dealt with and get to deal with them now that she’s back at Scottsdale. I liked Samantha’s character, she’s young, a prankster and stands up for what she believes is right.
Parker is a prankster like Samantha. He became a player once he lost his best friend. But now that she’s back they may be mad at each other but they never really act like it.
A really cute story. Something I can get my best friend to read. It’s a cute, clean story. I would recommend it to teens and those who like something light and clean.

I didn’t really like this book. It was very unrealistic. A teenage girl gets to live alone for months with no supervision? The mother leaves her younger kids with a stranger for months? And that’s not even the tip of the iceberg... I think this has the potential to be a really good story, it just needs some plot work to get rid of the unrealistic parts.
I did like the authors pace. And I did like the way it flowed, just need some more realistic to it. Also... Parker is my favorite character.

Short, easy read that unfortunately I didn't connect to. I'm all about books with lush and/or vivid details that really puts me in the scene, Player's Game is more dialogue driven I felt and didn't personally didn't give me anything to invest in. The story was okay for the most part, but I guess I was just looking for more as this wasn't for me.

Easy going storyline, ideal for the teen / ya adult market.

Samantha moved away from Scottdale 6 years ago and left all her friends, and her school. She moved to Manhattan and went to Sparks school where she never wanted to go. But six years later Sam is happy has lots of friends and loves being at Sparks.

Now Sam has to move back has her mum has been given an promotion and they need to pack up and move back to Scottsdale which she definitely doesn't want to do.

Will she make new friends, will her old friends except her back at school??

Well written is going feel good factor story.

Where the heck is Sam’s mom? Who leaves a high school student alone for that long and how in the world did the cabin trip get cleared with their parents and the school? CRAZY UNREALISTIC!

I wanted to like this story. I read half of it. Unfortunately, I just couldn't connect to the characters, so I did not finish it. I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley,for an honest review. These thoughts and opinions are strictly my own.

2.5 stars

Player's Game was cute. I love the YA genre and so I was really excited to dive in. It had some eye brow lifting and smirk inducing pranks with a side of Bonnie and Clyde fun.

This is a Netgalley book.
Samantha used to live in Scottsdale with her mom and twin sisters, when she was about 8. This is where her best friend in the world is, Parker. Her mom had to move to Manhattan for her job. Sam made friends at her Manhattan private school, a boyfriend, a life there. She had a lot of responsibilities since her dad was nowhere to be seen and the twin's dad was in prison, Sam's mom work long nights and sometimes had to go away for her job, so Samantha had to do it all. Samantha was about 17 when her mom gets a promotion and tells them all that they have to move back to Scottsdale. Move back to where Parker is, away from all her friends, her boyfriend, her life, she understands the why, but that doesn't mean she's happy about it.
Parker sees she's back, is asked to drive her to school, how does he feel about this? The best friend who left him with no goodbye is back.
This book has typical teen angst. It shows things are not always as they seem. It's well written. There was some funny scenes. Samantha is a defensive character who keeps a shield around her to make sure she doesn't get hurt, but she doesn't she does it. It was a beautiful moment when that shield came down. Parker was a user, a womanizer because he didn't feel a girl would stay around. It was nice seeing him change through out the book. I enjoyed the book. I especially liked that the author told us what happened to Samantha and Parker in the future.
This was a beautiful story of 2 near adults bringing there crazy together.

I want to thank NetGalley and BLVNP Incorporated for providing me with this copy in exchange for an honest review

Well, somehow it was the reading that I needed, it was light and I enjoyed the simple writing style , it has made me feel relaxed.

3/5 Stars

The book follows Sam, she lives with her 2 sisters and her mother in Manhattan and her life there is almost perfect, she has a group of friends that she loves and a great boyfriend, but one day her mother gets a better job proposal and they have to move to their old town Scottsdale, this bothers Sam a lot because she will not only have to give up her life and all who she cares about , but she will have to face her ex-best friend Parker again who for some reason has decided to cut off all contact with her since she left.

I wouldn't say that this is a super deep book or anything, and although it touches familiar, romance and friendship themes, it does everything in a rather superficial way. You know, there are many things that happen in a very predictable and convenient way. It worked for me since I needed this kind of reading and in fact, I found myself with a very simple and entertaining writing style, I would recommend it a lot for those who, like me, English is not your first language, because it's perfect to practice and has no difficulty, personally I have enjoyed that aspect


As for the plot I didn't find anything special about it, it's entertaining but quite cliche. Even so I recommend it for a quick and light reading where maybe you even have fun at times. Personally I would have completely removed the love topic and I would have left her with the family and friendship theme, I think the author has talent and if she would have focused more on those issues I would have enjoyed it even more.

Samantha Valentine is tired up uprooting her life and moving around. Her mother recently took a new job and now they're moving back to the town where she grew up. Samantha hasn't seen her best friend, Parker, in years. After the way he left things, she doesn't care if she sees or talks to him again. Or does she?

The only girl Parker ever loved has come home. He is still angry at her for leaving him behind, but he wants to be her friend again if she'll let him. Now that they're older, Parker had expected the attraction between them to fade but instead it has only gotten stronger. Parker wants Samantha to be his. Is it possible she might feel the same way about him?

I reviewed author Desirae Clark's PLAYER'S GAME via NetGalley for an honest review. PLAYER'S GAME is about two best friends who fall in and out of friendship. They come together at an older, more mature time in their life and begin to develop real feelings of love for one another. PLAYER'S GAME is a sweet young adult romance novel. I wanted to give it a higher rating, but there were just some unbelievable circumstances in this book. I have to give it a 2.5 out of 5 stars! It definitely had potential to be better; the plot was good, just needed more filler and detail. I think author Desirae Clark is still getting a feel for writing and look for her writing skills to improve with time.

I really wanted to like this book. I enjoy a light read every now and then. I went into this with eyes wide open but the number of inconsistencies and unrealistic situations made it next to impossible.

First of all, Samantha lives with her mom and 2 stepsisters in Manhattan going to a private school. It seems like she has some good friends. Then her mom announces that they have to move due to her work situation. The place they have to move to is Scottsdale, AZ. Ummm...really? OK, hard to believe but I went with it.

Samantha and her family used to live in Scottsdale before so she should have friends there. They move into their old house...ok, seems odd but again I went with it. For some reason, she and Parker, her best friend from when she lived there previously don't get along. The reason why we find out later and it's not really that crushing.

Here's where the inconsistencies start. One of the kids calls her Sammy at one point. Then later in the book, Parker calls her Sammy and she mentions that he is the only one she lets get away with that. At one point, it seemed like we were always learning everyone's class schedule. They are in high school and it really shouldn't change enough for that to be a big topic of discussion every day. You usually know your friends' schedules so it just seemed odd.

Later in the book, she seems to suddenly realize that three months have passed. To be honest, I was shocked, too. There seems to be a lot of description of conversations and no conversations. There is always this talk of Samantha being this legendary "bad girl" but no one remembers her. I found that odd as well.

Her mom at one point goes away on a business trip. Who knows how long she'll be gone, her sisters are shipped off to the neighbors and Samantha gets the house all to herself. Really? Not sure I know many moms who would go away indefinitely leaving their teenager to fend for themselves. I would also love to find the neighbors who will just watch your kids no matter how long you'll be gone.

I never got a clear picture of Samantha or of Parker. I couldn't imagine them in my head. Despite all the descriptions of conversations, there weren't a lot of descriptions of the characters. I would hope that if the author decides to make this a series that she really pays attention to character development. Also, I realize this is written for younger audiences but kids aren't stupid. It just seemed so unrealistic as far as many of the situations went.

I was not expecting to fall in love with this! I couldn't put it down. This was the cutest thing I've read in a long time.

Clark done wonderfully building this story. I loved it. Teenagers that have been best friends all their life but wanting more. My heart was full. I was expecting something bad to happen throughout the book. Just waiting to break my heart. But it didn't. Yay for that!

Parker was my favorite character. I love his attitude. He was funny and loveable. I liked Samantha too. She didn't let anyone budge her. They both had to learn to trust each other again. To let that friendship kindle back to life. It defiantly came together in the perfect way. The rest of the characters were amazing. Well except for Erica and Trevor. Your typical high school bullies.

I wish the book was longer. I needed more from Parker and Samantha! Their story ended too quickly for me. Even though I was giddy reading the last few pages. Also it was odd that a teenager got to live without parental supervision for months at a time with her young sisters.

If you're looking for a quick read with young, adorable romance then I highly recommend this.

*The review will be posted on my blog Paper Royalty on January 22.
https://paperroyaltyblog.wordpress.com/

This was a fast paced and cute story!Samantha and Parker were best friends who tore apart and now they came back together .I love that they took their time to build up their friendship again and I liked both of them as characters!I wish this story was a little bit longer.I like the writing and I'll definitely check this author's other books!!!

This was an ok read. I didn't love it. I felt like I was missing some key backstory elements for this characters actions.....reader is told about a lot of pranks from the past but felt it was kind of dumped into the story. I did not finish this entire story.

Samantha just gets settled in finally and her parents inform her they are moving back to Scottsdale.

Parker made a giant mess with his life after his best friend Samantha left. He stops caring about anything but landing girls.

The two are less than thrilled about a reunion. Can they fix their friendship.

So I knew this was going to be like a lot of other YA romances I've read. But when an author knows how to weave a story I don't mind reading similar stories. I especially love romances that have a bit of comedy in them. It definitely breaks up the monotony of a romance book.

Samantha is a giant brat in the beginning of the book. I can understand being upset about having to move and start over, I've done it a few times myself, but to have your mom begging you to forgive her and her being a giant turd about it made me want to put the book down. But I powered on. This is a really cute lazy day book.

A cute quick YA. Player's Game is a book of friendship lost and found again. It is a wonderful story of young love with some teenage angst to go along with it. Samantha and Parker best friends for years until a move tore them apart. Then a move brought them back together again. I love that they took their time to build up their friendship again. These two are partners in crime and it's obvious that their may be more then just friendship between them. This was a really cute read. I'm interested in seeing where Alyssa's story will go.

This is a strange book. I'm not sure who it's for, as the writing structure is very simplistic and short for a younger audience but the swearing and references to sex would target an older audience. A lot of plot problems could be solved by setting this in college instead of high school. For one, the teens have way too much freedom. Samantha should never be given free reign to live alone in her house for 3 months, and have sleepovers with her male friend who likes to womanize. Parents don't do this. Also, her sisters exit the story early on, as they have a sleepover at a friend's that lasts for the 3 months their mom is gone and their parents are ok with basically raising two 14 year old girls for as long as the mom needs to leave? At the same time Samantha has to ask for permission for a pet, and do the research on pet ownership before she can get one like a child, but she can also run a household by herself?
This leads to the other main problem. There is so much wrong with the internal logic of the plot. Samantha has to take a flight from Manhattan to her new home as it is so far away, but the two different schools she attends are bitter rivals? How do they even know each other? The rivalry comes from a baseball game from the past, but how did they even meet to play baseball? If they're so close to be rivals, why did she have to move? If her mom was going to be gone for 3 months anyway, why did she have to move? Why does a private school from Manhattan come to stay at a public school in the middle of nowhere for two weeks? Wouldn't they want to go to another private school, or experience a different country or culture for an exchange program?
Why do Samantha's friends for the last 6 years not tell her they are coming to her new school, and why does she alienate them when they do? How does Parker have so many one night stands without drama in high school, especially one in the middle of nowhere with a limited population of girls (not even subtracting those who are gay, in a relationship, don't find him attractive, or not sexually active)? If they are 18, why is the ending talking about the summer being there, and no mention of college plans, especially since we know they attend college? Why does the school bully who hates their rival school and derides Samantha for even talking to her former classmates start dating Samantha's ex (who still attends the rival school)? How did the principal's daughter get Samantha's student record and why was there no punishment, considering the private, legal nature of the crime and the proof on everyone's phones that it leaked?
I did like the combative nature of the romance, and Parker. There is the potential for a deeper story with a setting change and some logic problems removed. As it is, it's a quick read that is pretty light in subject matter, but is constantly taking you out of the story to question internal logic.

So hilarious! I loved the comebacks and how the story went. I felt all types of emotions.