What's not to like about a main character with a love of board games? As someone that grew up before the age of ipads and tablets, board games were a mainstay of my youth and I felt more than a little nostalgic reading this book. Yes, this is a bit of a taboo/forbidden romance because of the age gap between Nathan and Holly, but both characters were so charming, considerate and open that it was refreshing. There was a good balance between conflict and fun, steaminess and sweetness, that's really important in a good romance story.

I'm totally looking forward to more books in this series. The gamers are quite a group! I love it when an author takes the time to develop the supporting characters so much that you're interested in them, too.

Against the rules is a sweet and modern tale of finding yourself again after heartbreak and ruin. Holly has been single for almost two years after her ex not only cheated on her, but also stole money from their business and their clients leaving her unable to pursue her career, and also reluctant to ever trust again. The only man she can see herself opening her heart for is off-limits as Nathan is her best friend Gwen's Dad. But when they are away in Mexico for Gwen's wedding, they both get drunk and Holly realises her feelings are reciprocated. They try to fight their growing feelings but inevitably, fail. When Gwen finds out in the worst possible way, it puts a huge strain on them and Holly loses her friend. But with time, the friendship is salvaged, Holly and Nathan realise they can't be without one another, and the future is bright with a further little surprise for the reader. Interspersed with gaming references this a modern love story that is an easy and sweet read.

Against the Rules is the second book in the Gamer Girls series by Laura Heffernan and is currently scheduled for release on October 15 2019. I did not read the first book in the series, and while it is about a circle of friends I was able to fully enjoy the book without having read the first.

Holly has taken herself out of the dating game since breaking up with her cheating, thieving ex. She barely notices Marc, who comes into the game store every week, hoping to get her attention. Her friends insist it’s time to take on a new role, to leave Quiet Holly behind and embrace her inner flirt. And on paper, Marc’s great: cute, funny, and a hardcore gamer just like Holly is. Then there’s Nathan. He’s everything twenty-eight-year-old Holly wants, except he’s also her friend’s father. Absolutely off-limits. But as she and Nathan playtest a new legacy game together, they’re growing closer. The game is complex and intriguing, and there’s no way to know how choices will pan out. What seems like a good idea could lead to disaster or sweet victory. But in gaming, as in love, sometimes you have to roll the dice and take your chance.

Against the Rules worked really well on some levels, and fell flat for me in others. I really liked Holly, she has had some serious challenges in life lately and is doing her best to keep moving forward in life. She is a little oblivious sometimes, but in ways many of us are. I liked her intelligence and spirit, and found her insecurities to be realistic and relatable. Nathan seemed like a smart, good guy with issues of his own. I felt like I did not get to know him all that well, since we only saw him through Holly's eyes- I would really have liked to have seen the world through his eyes once and awhile o see his take on Holly. Yes, he was open with her about his feeling once things started happening- but a better look at the attraction and his worries would have brought the whole story together more for me. I liked them together, and understood the worries and hesitancy about becoming involved, and the complications it would create. I did like the glimpses of the horrors on online dating and the real lives of gamers. I found these bits of the story to be well done and realistic, as anyone that has been involved in either can attest.

Against the Rules is a good contemporary romance that had some fabulous moments, but did not wow me. I am glad I picked it up, but am not sure I will be going back to read the first in the series.

Sometimes Rules Gotta Be Broken. In this continuation of the Gamer Girls trilogy, Heffernan brings an interesting board game concept to the story even as the game itself takes a bit more of a backseat as a driver of the overall story. Instead, the game of love takes a much more central focus in this story, and this particular game is truly excellent. Very much recommended, and I can’t wait to read Book 3!

Thanks to Lyrical Shine for the ARC!

I really liked Gwen and Cody's story from the first book, so I decided to continue this series, even though I had no idea what "Against the Rules" was about. This time, we get to know more about Holly and Nathan. Both stories are connected. So yes, you need to read book 1 first. Don't skip directly to this one.

Nathan is Gwen's father. He's 43.
Holly's one of Gwen's best friends. She's 28.
And she has a major crush on him.
Aaaand the feeling is mutual.

But Gwen would never accept the fact that her father is dating one of her friends, so what should they do?

I was afraid that the book might be kinda creepy, because I'm not into that kind of romance. But then I realized that the age gap wasn't that big. They're both adults, they know what they're doing. It's not as if the girl was a teenager or anything like that. The thing is, he was too young when he became a father. And after a long time living alone, he finally decided to open his heart again for a woman.

It was a nice, short, fun read. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book, but it was still good. I'll read the next one soon.

Thanks so much to the author, Kate Rock Book Tours, NetGalley, and Kensington Books for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and participation in this blog tour. All opinions are entirely my own.

Once again I am writing a review on a second book in a series without having read the first book. Come on, Jennifer, get it together. Right? Right. But, like with my last tour book, the description comes along and it just sounds too fun to pass up, even if I did miss the first part of the story! And once again, I was not disappointed.
Holly is an incredibly fun character, and I really enjoyed getting to spend this time with her. She is nerdy and game-minded, yes, but she is also really smart, and strong-willed, feisty, and she has a fierce love for the people around her. When we first meet her she is in the last few months of reclaiming her life from issues caused by and related to her ex, who is in trouble with the law due to his part in their new business was revealed to be less than upstanding. She’s been having a hard time while trying to get back on her feet, working at her local game shop and having weekly game nights with her friends, and is inspired to start putting herself out there more in the world of dating.

While none of the first few dates go very far, some not even making it through the salad course, I had a really good time getting to read about the dates, especially the really cringe-worthy ones whom she had met online. It felt a little bit like gossiping and sharing bad dating stories with your girlfriends, and let me just say that I was all about it. And while we are on the topic, I loved her whole group of friends at the game nights. They are such a tight knit group, and all getting to share in a mutual love of the game and the competition. Also the game that they are playing throughout the whole story sounds really cool. I am not always a huge gamer myself (I had older brothers, so I can play sometimes, but I grew up mostly watching the games instead), but I wanted to try and join in the game too. Take out? Check. Good friends? Check. Awesome sounding board game? Check. All I’m saying is that I’m upset I don’t get to have game nights anymore.

And yes, we couldn’t talk about this book without talking about the love story. Throughout the story Holly has two main love interests that she focuses on – Marc, who stops by the game shop during her shifts, and sweetly plans dream dates to try and woo our lead; and Nathan, who she has had a crush on for years and gives her enough butterflies to fill her stomach twice over every time they brush hands. He seems perfect (hey, they even already live together) except that he is the father of one of her best friends. Yikes. Her whole internal debate between the two men revolves around how her friend, Gwen, would react if she chose Nathan, worrying she’s breaking some girl-code and that her friend may never forgive her. While I’ve never been in this particular situation I think we’ve all had moments where we worried we might hurt or even lose a friend depending on a choice that we made, and so I found that part of the story really easy to follow and found that I could fairly easily relate to the character. And plus, there’s something about a forbidden romance that just makes it that much more fun to read, right?

Overall this book was really enjoyable, and I wanted to jump right into the middle of this friend group. None of the characters were perfect, which I always think makes for a better and more enjoyable reading experience. And while, yes, the central gaming theme may not be for everybody, I found it different and new and thoroughly entertaining. I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series, Make Your Move, which publishes in December and follows another member of this same group.

This book is publishing tomorrow, October 15, 2019!

I’ll start by saying that I did like this book more than the first one in this series. But whereas the last one made me kind of furious, this one was just... boring. Which is a shame because I like the main character Holly and I LOVE Nathan.

I don’t think you HAVE to read book 1 first, but this book doesn’t entirely go into the details of why Holly is under probation and her ex is potentially going to jail for a pyramid scheme that Holly was unaware of. And that set in motion Holly losing not only her fiancé whom she’d been with since she was 15 but also her life savings, her home, and her job. Now she lives with Nathan in his spare bedroom where he charges her cheap rent for Boston while she gets back on her feet. She also helped when he was recovering from a broken leg. By the time this books starts, she’s been living there for a year+ and they are very close friends.

The “joke” from the previous book is that Holly called Nathan Daddy McHotCakes to freak out Gwen, her best friend, since Nathan is so young (I think he’s 42 in this?), although Holly really does have a crush on him. But it didn’t feel like taboo dating best friend’s dad story because, 1) Holly is almost 30 so there’s no weird falling for virginal teenager thing you often find (really, REALLY not my thing); 2) Nathan is only 15 years older than her (same age gap as one of my sisters & her husband); 3) she and Gwen met as adults; and 4) Nathan and Holly are friends in their own right. Nathan plays legacy games with them (tbh I would’ve liked to have seen more of his life apart from their friend group but it’s told from Holly’s POV), and as mentioned, Holly also lives with him.

I guess I was just expecting this to be more... interesting. I love board games and I appreciate that this series is about women who love games. Having said that, there is WAY too much detail about the actual game in this. Pages and pages and pages describing exactly what they’re doing while playing to the point that I gave up trying to figure out what was going on because my eyes glazed over. If this had been once or twice, fine, especially describing the setup and first time playing, but it was every time they got together. I felt like more time was spent on this game than the actual romance itself.

Also, it was kind of anticlimactic because they hook up 1/3 of the way into the book so the rest of it is Holly trying to decide whether to break it off with another guy she’s casually dating and when they’ll tell Gwen.

Speaking of Gwen, who was the main reason I didn’t like the first book, she is AWFUL to Holly when she finds out about Holly and her dad. And like, I get it? It’s weird. But the thing is, I have no sympathy for her because I just cannot stand her, even though I usually go to bat for any female characters. She also acts completely immature in keeping with her previous behavior from the first book so hey, at least she’s consistent.

Another thing I hated was the inevitable fight/breakup at the end which was handled so poorly because apparently Holly learned from Gwen that it’s impossible to sit down and have an adult conversation instead of LITERALLY running away from a conflict. It was obnoxious in the first book and even more so in this one. If this is how this author writes conflicts, I don’t think her books are for me.

This was a quick book to read, and the cover is gorgeous, I liked the idea of girl gamers. I was happy that there wasn't too much drama, because that stresses me out.

I haven't read She's Got Game, which is the first book in the series, but I am going to have to go out and see if I can find that one.

Thank you to the Publisher for allowing me to read an ARC through Netgalley

Board games! Does anyone still play them? Clearly they do because Holly, after her ex fiancé blew her life up, is working in a game store and beta testing a new one. She's also testing the boundaries of her relationship with Nathan, father of her friend Gwen. This would have benefited from an early on explanation of how Gwen, who is older than 28 year old Holly, can have a 43 year old father. I have to admit that I sympathized with Gwen on this one. I liked her in the first book but she comes off not so nice here, perhaps to create more room for Holly. I also, regrettably, got confused by the game. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Fans of board games and those who like a quick romantic read might enjoy this more than I did.

This is book #2 in the Gamer Girls series and Holly McDonald's story. In book #1, Holly found out her fiance, Lucas, was cheating on her. He was also running a pyramid scheme and now he has been arrested. Holly agreed to fully cooperating with the Feds in exchange for immunity since she had no idea any of this was going on. With having her assets frozen and not being allowed to work in her field of IT for 18 months while she is on probation, Holly is working at Game On!, the local gaming store and living with Gwen's dad, Nathan. It's fun working at Game On, but Holly is having a harder time living with Nathan because she has always had a huge crush on him. So what if he is 15 years older than her....she is still very attracted to him....problem is is that he is her best friend's dad!

Nathan Williams has been single for a long time. Being a single dad, Nathan always put his daughter, Gwen first. Now that Gwen is grown she keeps pressuring her dad to date. Too bad Nathan is attracted to Gwen's friend, Holly, but he could never act on that because it's so taboo and what would his daughter think.

While everyone is in Mexico for Gwen's wedding, a drunken Holly and a drunken Nathan hookup. They both realize that they are attracted to the other and figure "What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico!". Too bad that is never the case!

When Nathan and Holly spend more time together test playing their friend Shannon's legacy game, parts of the game spill over into real life. It will take a huge leap of faith for these two to decide if they want to go after their happy ending and risk losing Gwen or just decide to keep things platonic. A fun twist to the story throws everyone into a tailspin but in the end, Holly and Nathan get their perfect happy ending.

I just loved this story. It was such fun and such a forbidden type of romance but the author handled it wonderfully. I also loved the way the playing of the game was woven into their lives. It sounded like such a fun game to play, too! I really enjoyed both of the characters. It was easy to see how Nathan and Holly were drawn to each other....they had so many things in common. Overall I am really loving this series and can't wait to read Shannon's story!

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I got to 25%, but couldn’t continue. I wasn’t connecting with the characters. I didn’t find the plot interesting.

I was excited to get this story in my hands and wasn´t disappointed at all. I´ve loved Holly from the first book and again she showed her beautiful personality. She would struggle and almost throw her chance for happiness for her best friend. But at least in the end she was able to make the right decision for herself, not for everyone else. I was hoping just for this outcome since I read the first book in the series. I would say this story can´t meet everyone´s satisfaction but for me it was greatly written book with wonderful characters.

2 stars
This book sounded really interesting to me, since I’ve never read anything involving board games. I will say that I wish that the gaming part was better explained. When the characters played the game, I was sometimes very confused. I will say that the relationship between Holly and her ex wasn’t needed, and I don’t think added any importance to the story.
I honestly think that I would be more intrigued by the book if it was just about Nathan and Holly being in a relationship together. I can also say I didn’t really believe their relationship. I didn’t feel the chemistry. I think if Nathan had a point of view, I might think differently.

This was super cute!! I was really unsure because I’m not a gamer but it was played out really well. The characters are well-developed and interesting. I actually want to go back and read more of the series. I really liked the plot and how the game was used as a timeline of sorts. I just overall really enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, I thought this book was stilted and chilly in style. Lots of internal explanation that's inauthentic and boring...

A light-hearted 'forbidden' romance. Having a crush on your best friends dad isn't the best idea, but you can't control who you are attracted to or what the heart wants. The Hero/Heroine's characters aren't overly developed, but you know enough about them to form a solid opinion. He is a good guy, single dad who hasn't gone out in the dating world for years. The Heroine is a year(ish) into the single life after spending the past 15ish years with her high school sweetheart, only to be blindsided in more than one way. Their love of gaming brought them together even more than the fact that he was her best friends dad. There is a lot of game talk throughout the book. (The series is titled Gamer Girls afterall.) It gets into a lot of detail that doesn't really have to do with the romance, that may 'bore' some readers if that isn't your thing, but can be easily overlooked or skimmed if you so desire, without taking away from the main plot of the story. For the most part it's a clean read. There are a couple of scenes that have sexual content, but it is nothing to blush about. (Mostly letting the readers know what is going to happen without all the graphic details.) There is some angst, as the Heroine struggles with what her heart wants, and what is the right thing to do. It reads easily and the story moves quickly. It is written strictly from her POV.

*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

"Gamer girl" Holly has been unlucky in love. She's been single for a year after she discovered that her ex cheated on her AND used their company to commit fraud. But, at the urging of her best friends Gwen and Shannon, Holly is ready to put herself back out there The only question is, with who? The obvious choice is Nathan, her attractive, compassionate roommate, who she's been crushing on for years. The problem? He's Gwen's father...albeit a young, attractive dad. Holly could never pursue Nathan without risking her friendship with Gwen. Enter Marc, a cute, kind customer at the game store where Holly works. Even though there aren't tons of sparks there, he's at least a reprieve from her slimy ex and the slew of creepy guys she talked to on dating apps. Marc could be what Holly is looking for, but Holly isn't so sure he's any match for Nathan. This book follows Holly as she returns to the dating scene, while she and her friends play-test the new legacy game created by Shannon.

This book was a super creative take on a romance. The love triangle between Holly, Nathan, and Marc was definitely a more traditional trope, but it didn't feel cliched. It was made more interesting by the addition of the original legacy gameplay and the quotes from the instruction manual at the beginning of each chapter. I'm not a huge gamer or anything, but I liked the game because it added in some more suspenseful elements. I really can't think of another book I read where the author created an entire story-within-a-story with that level of creativity and originality.

There were things I didn't love about this book; however, I think many of those can be attributed to the fact that I didn't realize this was part of a series until I was halfway done reading the book. For instance, I thought there was very little exposition and introduction of the characters, but that wouldn't have been a problem if I had read the first book in the series before this one. I definitely want to go back and read the others now! I also would have liked a little more detail in terms of the setting. All I could really tell is that it took place in Boston; I would have loved more description so I could imagine the book's events more clearly.

It took me weeks to start this book because life happened. (sigh) I was so busy past few days but its never too late, right?

I actually finished this book for only 4-5hrs (in 2 days) This was a page-turner. This book got my attention really good. I was hooked! There's something in it that would make you feel so excited all through out the book.

I actually didn't know that this is a book 2. I think they are still can be read as stand-alone? Not really sure but I didn't have any problem understanding the story.

I love the friendship. It's realistic, they're all cool, and somehow adorable.

I could feel Holly. Her fears. Her confusion. Everything. I loved that even if she was afraid of things, she could still manage to face them. And that's important. Like really important.

I love the ending as well. I will not spoil anything here. I just loved that this book managed to have almost everything. Love, friends, fears and overcoming them, forgiveness, mistakes because we're people and we are allowed to have them but we also need to learn after, and of course, the games! It was awesome and cool.

Holly has hit rock bottom in her life. Her ex-fiance has stolen all of their client's money, as well has her own personal savings, and is possibly heading to jail. Holly thankfully had no knowledge of the scam he was running allowing her to gain immunity by testifying against Lucas. Holly is lucky enough to secure a job at a local game store (no, not video games...actual games) while she waits out her probation which bans her from working as a programmer. One of the perks of this new job is getting to play-test new games that are being created and Holly gets to enjoy this with her closest friends. Gwen and Holly have been best friends for the last 5 years, saving her after things blew up with Lucas by moving her into a spare room at her childhood home. Nathan, Gwen's dad is 43 years young and single after Gwen's mother left them when she was young but what Gwen doesn't realize is that this act of kindness is about to cause the flood gates to open on a secret Nathan & Holly have been trying hard to keep hidden. In my opinion, "Against the Rules" will appeal to a specific kind of reader but will miss the broader audience. The "gamer" theme of the book didn't really catch my interest but I can see how it would for those that are interested in this hobby. Laura Heffernan has another book in the "Gamer Girl" series but "Against the Rules" felt like it was a stand-alone book without having read the first. I really wanted to like this book but struggled at times with the surface-level relationships and the constant overthinking inner monologue of Holly. Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in The Gamer Girls series.

In the last book (it’s not necessary to read, but it does give you a little background to take you into this book.) Holly finds out her fiancé had been cheating on her, and he’s stolen money from her, so she dumps him....

But that has given her confidence a huge knock, so she retreats Into the shop she works in (a gaming shop)

After her friends (Gwen and Shannon) convince her to go out and have a little fun, she plucks up the courage to go out, but with whom?

Nathan is her best friend’s dad, so she shouldn’t be looking at him, but there is something about Nathan that appeals to Holly, and once they start playing this new game, she sees him a whole new light. (And to be honest, she’s always had a little crush on him)

Marc is Holly’s indecisive game customer (but is that to get Holly’s attention?) he comes in and they discuss the games. When he finally plucks up the courage to askHer out, it’s via text (but it’s the modern world and dares are now arranged that way, I suppose?)

And after a couple of disastrous online chats, Holly needs to get out into the real world and date (can’t do it all online)

So ...... who will Holly choose? And what about the cheating thieving ex? You know somewhere along the line he’s going to make an appearance. Will she be sweet talked into letting him back into her life?

I’ll have to be honest, I liked this one, but not as much as the first book (She’s Got Game) the characters bounced off of one another, where in this book, I don’t get that same feeling.

I did like the game thought at the beginning of the chapter, but not sure I needed to hear so much about the Game they were playing.

🦋