3.5 stars. This book was a cute, quick YA read. It was really short but I still feel like there was some good character depth. Parker and Sam were childhood best friends/crushes who come back together after so many years living across the country from each other. They fall quickly back into old habits if friendship. There was a few vague details and maybe with a little bit of a longer book it all would have made more sense. I did enjoy that there was an epilogue which nicely wrapped up all the characters and then passed that there was a summary of the rest of the main characters lives. That was a unique aspect I really enjoyed. It helped to conclude the characters' lives not just the story.

This novel is more a novella. It is short, sweet and summery and a little predictable. But the sweet and honest moments far outweigh the annoying predictability.
The shortness makes it a perfect read for the Summer.

Two and a half stars.

Wow, I'm a real Debbie downer so far this year - bad reviews left, right and centre.

Samantha Valentine, her mother and twin sisters moved from their home in Scottsdale to Manhattan six years ago. Although she was devastated when they left, Samantha has built a new life in Manhattan she has friends, a cute boyfriend and enjoys the city. So when her mom gets a promotion back to Scottsdale she is not happy, especially because it would mean returning to face her ex-BFF Parker Brady, she never got to say goodbye and he never responded to her calls, texts and emails.

Despite her fears, Samantha makes a group of new friends in Scottsdale, including, surprisingly, Parker. Apparently Parker has turned into a player while she has been gone: he smokes, he sleeps with random girls and gets into trouble. Although Samantha thinks he is playing her, she accepts his lifts to school and hangs around with him.

This is kind of a book about absolutely nothing. Samantha's ex turns out to be a douche, but there's no reason given, a girl at school is mean to Samantha, and nothing happens, there's a school exchange visit, and nothing happens. In fact, the biggest thing that happens in this book from my POV is that Samantha's mother should be reported to child services. Samantha apparently takes responsibility for feeding her twin sisters and helping them with their homework while the mother seemingly does nothing, in fact Samantha is happy that her mother can take the time to write a shopping list for Samantha! Then, partway through this short novel, Samantha's mother has to go to Europe on business. It might be for a couple of days or three months!! But it's okay because she met a couple recently who are happy to look after the twins. WTF?

Samantha was a stroppy, unpleasant girl, she occasionally made a big gesture to stand up against bullying while acting like a bully most of the time herself. She was aggressive and her idea of 'pranks' were way worse than silly pranks. But then she got angry because someone told the school about the large number of detentions and pranks she had pulled at her last school? I have no idea why Parker liked her. I had the feeling that maybe Samantha's immaturity and the unbelievable behaviour of her mother might mean that Desirae Clark was a young author and (I checked) I was right, I think it shows in the writing, although maybe a younger reader would find it more enjoyable.

It seemed as though ideas and people were brought into the novel and then discarded without resolving any plot - in the epilogue Samantha talks about her friends and I honestly couldn't tell you who was who, apart from Veronica who seemed to have an even worse issue with unnecessary violence. Overall, it was a book where there was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing.

Disappointing.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Player’s Game is a book about Samantha, a girl whose life is turned around when she has to move back to her hometown from Manhattan. Years before, she had left her life there without a single word to her best friend. Now she’s back and fits in with a new group of friends, including Parker, her ex-best friend. The story follows her readjusting to her old life, and discovering things she never noticed before.

I thought that this book was okay. There wasn’t too much depth to the novel, nor were there many pages, which I do have to say made it a very quick and easy read.

Pros:
-There are parts of this book that you wouldn’t expect at first, but I enjoyed them.
-It was light, fluffy, and gave me all the feels a cheesy contemporary should.
-There were several broken stereotypes, which I found quite refreshing amidst all the cliches.
-It’s just plain cute.

Cons:
-I felt like the characters were underdeveloped and the plot line fell flat. Things were explained as well as they could have been. The writing overall could have been more descriptive, but a perk is that it was a quick read.
-There were a lot of cliches, which might be a problem for certain readers.

Again, I thought this book was okay. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a light, fluffy contemporary to read, because that’s just what it is! I enjoyed myself and I have to say, this book is too cute.