I liked this second installment of The Boyfriend Project trilogy. I love Farrah Rochon's writing style. She is great with dialogue that is natural and not forced. It was super fun to get to see the three friends together again.

I liked Jamar and how hard he was working to rehab his knee to get back to the NFL. I really enjoy that Farrah Rochon includes the male perspective and their own angst, turmoils, and struggles. It makes the book - and the couple - feel balanced. The fake dating trope really works for their unique situation too.

I'm confused on why it is so important that Taylor have a bachelor's degree in order to grow her business. She should already have multiple certifications: teaching yoga, fitness coaching, nutrition, etc. While I understand the "no degree = no work" road block is what helps her figure out her learning disabilities, it undermines her expertise. Taylor seems more qualified than someone who just watched YouTube and PE on army bases!

The cliffhanger from the first book was kind of glossed over so that was just a bit disappointing. I expected it to pick right up from there and have a bit more action. It is always nice to "meet" the main characters' families. Oooh boy, Jamar's parents. LOL.

It seems like London's class reunion will be where she finds her love interest. That always makes for some interesting side characters! I can't wait.

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and I am required to disclose that in my review in compliance with federal law.*

I loved this book! I think I liked this one BETTER than The Boyfriend Project. Taylor Powell's character was so loveable, and I was just rooting for her the entire book. I loved that she was a personal trainer and worked through sever hurdles including her love interest, Jamar Dixon. It was just steamy enough, and I thought they were the perfect match up! I would highly recommend this book to romance/romcom loving friends!

Farrah Rochon has proven once again why she will forever be an instant buy for me. Her ability to bring heart and soul into each of her stories is a winning formula from start to finish. I loved watching the evolution of Taylor and Jamar. I was thoroughly engaged from the first page to the last. Rochon is a master at weaving a story filled with emotion, humor, and enough heat to keep you turning pages. I loved this book!

Another stellar romance from Farrah Rochon! I absolutely loved The Boyfriend Project, so I could not wait for the second in the series to be released! Indeed, it exceeded my expectations. Since I related much more to the MC in the first book (three cheers for a woman in STEM!) and found the hero to be totally my type #bookboyfriendgoals it made me nervous to read a book where I wouldn't have those connections to the main characters. But even though I couldn't see myself in Taylor or dating Jamar, I loved them as a couple, loved their story, and understood their struggles.

And who doesn't love a good fake dating romance? It's one of my favorite tropes, when done well, and done well it was in this story. Taylor starts secretly working as Jamar's personal trainer to get him in shape for a return to the NFL. But to throw others off the scent, they pretend to be dating. Of course, fake dating is hard when real feelings are involved...

I loved the book and I am even MORE excited for London's story. I will be counting down the days until the third book's release.

Thanks to Forever for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

This book is amazing. The Boyfriend Project was one of my top books last year, so I was really excited for this one and it did not disappoint.

Taylor and Jamar are great characters. Taylor was a fun side character in the first book, so it's great to get to see more of her. She's independent, almost to her own detriment, strong, and passionate, while Jamar is driven, focused, and carrying some heavy baggage. The way they learn to work with each other and figure out how to bring out the best in each other is really fantastic.

The football part of this story line is done so well too. You don't have to be a big fan of the sport to follow along, and at no point is Taylor ever made to feel dumb for not knowing much about it, but yet if you are a football fan at no point will you roll your eyes or feel like it's being dumbed down. That's hard to do but Farrah nails it.

I did not read The Boyfriend Project, so this was the first by Farrah Rochon that I have read and didn’t feel I missed anything, so it can definitely be read as a stand alone.

It took me a bit to get into this book. I didn’t really take to the character of Taylor right away and maybe it’s due to the health/diet aspect. The characters getting food advice were almost doing it for revenge and not to better themselves. Anyway, maybe it’s just me and my relationship with food that put me off.

I felt the chemistry between Taylor and Jamar got better as the book went on and was hoping for more steam between the two.

I also feel there were some things that were left open ended. We find out Taylor’s in big debt in the beginning, and a big deal
Is made about her affording things, but by the end, it’s never clear how she’d get out of it.

Overall, this was just ok for me. I did like London and Samiah and may give their books a try.

Thank you to the publisher for proving an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Taylor is a bit down on her luck. Her personal training business isn't thriving as she expected and bills are racking up. So when a built show-offy guy comes to her class and asks for her to be his personal trainer exclusively, she has no idea that he is actually hot shot football star Jamar who is trying to recover from a career ending injury. After much back and forth she decides to take the job, but there is one catch, no one can know about their training until after it's done. SO when a reporter see's them together and assume's their training, Taylor makes the split second decision to lie and say they're dating and so begin's the Dating Playbook, a way to pull off the fake dating while training. Except, lines begin to blur when the fake dating and real attraction blend together. Can Taylor break her "no dating a client' rule and act on her feelings? Or is her commitment to her business stronger.

I really enjoyed this book. It had a lot more depth than just a cute sports rom com. Taylor deals with feeling like the black sheep of her family, and discovers she might have a learning disorder. Jamar is dealing with the pressure of providing for everyone and keeping his best friends legacy alive after his death and feels responsible for his death. This book was so thought out and not over the top at all. Sometimes I feel like sports romances can just add problems for problems sake and that wasn't the case with this book. Please note this is the second in a series. While I didn't read the first book, I think it would have been a little helpful to read the first in the book. You don't have to read it, but I think I would have been more invested and known a couple of incidents from the first book to make a more well rounded experience.

CW: death of a friend, anxiety, learning disability

Woo, another fake dating romance that is worth the read! And there's sports!

The Dating Playbook is about Taylor, a fitness coach who is struggling to find more clients and Jamar, a former NFL player who wants to make his return after a bad injury. When Jamar wants to hire Taylor as his personal trainer, there's a catch: They have to keep it secret from the press. But of course, its impossible to keep secrets, so what do they do? They pretend to date.

Not only does this story deliver on comedy and banter, but it deals with some difficult obstacles such as Jamar feeling guilty about his best friend's passing, and Taylor wanting to go back to school but learning she might have a learning disability. I loved this book and the characters, steam, and sports references. It was a fun read and I can't wait for Rochon's 2022 release in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrah Rochon for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an adorable read. Taylor and Jamar's relationship felt genuine as they helped each other deal with their individual traumas.

This book follows the next in a trio of best friends who met when they found that they were all being cat-fished by the same guy in book #1 The Boyfriend Project. In this book we follow Taylor Powell who is a fitness instructor and personal trainer. Even though she is very talented she is still struggling to make ends meet financially. She's in need of a miracle in order to pull her out of the whole. Enter former football player Jamar Dixon. He approaches her with a request to become his personal trainer, but in order to take the job she can't tell anyone she's doing it. He doesn't want anyone knowing he's working on returning to the NFL. The two are soon accidently outed as a couple and are forced to pretend to date in order to keep people from finding out his plan to return to the league.

The progression of their relationship felt very natural. Sometimes when the characters are fake dating they forget the fake part and immediately go to the relationship part. But Jamar and Taylor don't forget. In fact Taylor is adamant that they not forget. The one thing that I didn't really like is that in all their fake dating they rarely went out in public. Sure they posted some cozy pics on Instagram, but people didn't see them out side together. I just felt they needed more public seeing them to make the 'fake dating' believable.

I liked that the author had the characters discussing real world issues. Things like learning disabilities, the pros and cons of higher education, stereo types in sports and dealing with grief. The two supported each other in every aspect of their lives which was wonderful. Jamar supported Taylor in her desire to grow her business and she helped him worth through is grief over losing Silas.

I will definitely be recommending this book to anyone looking for a quick, sweet and romantic read. The friendship between Taylor, Samiah and London was very well developed in the first book. I enjoyed watching how they supported Taylor in this book. I can't wait to see what happens in London's story.

One of the things my favorite authors have in common is that they love their characters for who they are at any given minute of the story and not because they represent an idea, an architype, or a wish fulfilled. In The Dating Playbook, the second in the Boyfriend Project series, Farrah Rochon loves her characters. She loves her three friends – Samiah, Taylor, and London. She loves Jamar. She lets them feel all their feelings, be indecisive, be sexy, be messy and always worthy of love and respect. Rochon lets us love them until they love and accept themselves the way they deserve to be loved and accepted.

Taylor, a personal trainer, is on the brink of financial disaster. For a variety of reasons, she is about to be sleeping in her car unless she catches a break or accepts help from Samiah and London. She doesn’t want to accept help from Samiah and London. Her break shows up in the form of Jamar, a good looking former football player who was sidelined by an injury. He seeks Taylor out because he wants to try to get back into shape and try for another shot at the NFL, but he doesn’t want to make noise about it. She agrees to train him for two months. It’s the money she needs to buy herself a little time. They are trying to keep his training a secret, so they lie and tell people they are dating. But, of course, they are attracted to each other. Rochon builds their relationship from instant attraction, to respect, to friendship, to love so smoothly, even when Taylor and Jamar are running the other way. Watching Jamar and Taylor realize they are each other’s safe space gave me warm fuzzy feelings.

Sometimes the fake dating got in the way of the relationship Taylor and Jamar were building, and sometimes it felt like the fake dating plot got in the way of the story. But the characters and the banter kept things rolling. I’m looking forward to seeing London get the love and appreciation (and sex) that she needs in the next book.

CW: grief, learning disability, recovery from injury, difficult family relationship.

I received this as an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book so much, more so than The Boyfriend Project!

Taylor Powell is a fitness instructor and personal trainer, who is trying to get her business off the ground. But, she made a few bad moves along the way, and she has some debt that needs to be paid off. She's not sure how she's going to take care of it all, when the opportunity of a lifetime falls into her lap. Jamar Dixon wants her to exclusively train him for the next 2 months, to get him back into pro football shape, then she'll get the payday she needs. But, the catch is, she can't tell anyone they're working together. What's an aspiring Fitnessgram star to do?

Jamar Dixon, known in his college playing days as "Diesel," needs a drill sergeant to get him over the final hump from his knee injury, and back into pro-playing shape. When he sees Taylor's boot camp style fitness videos online, he knows she is the trainer he needs. He's determined to get back on to a pro team no matter what he has to do, and he needs her help to do it. But, no one knows all that's riding on this dream for him, or how a tragedy in his past has led him to feeling the need to play ball again, at all costs. He insists no one can know that Taylor is training him, but the idea they come up with to combat any questions, comes with its own issues. Can he successfully "fake date" a girl that he would love to date for real?

Jamar and Taylor had glorious chemistry from the beginning, and I loved all their bantering. They really got along well, and each of them complemented the other's personality traits. They were a perfect match, and I loved watching them discover that for themselves. They each had issues from their past that they were trying to deal with, and they helped each other out. Their connection was strong, and couldn't be denied.

Taylor's friends she met in book 1, London & Samiah (who was the heroine of book 1), were back again in this story, and were just as wonderful as before. Their friendship is awesome, and I love the way they motivate each other to meet their goals, and be their best selves. Their girl talk is so relatable, and I adore them! They were probably my favorite part about book 1, where as the romance in this book took top prize for me this time!

Jamar and Taylor each had personal hurdles to jump before they could figure out how to be together, and I liked how they encouraged each other, and helped the other toward success. I loved how into each other they were, and how they didn't fight it for too long. I'm excited to get London's story next, and I'm so curious what type of hero will sweep that super-serious surgeon off her feet!

I got this book from Net Galley. I was excited about it after having read the first book in the series, The Boyfriend Project, which I enjoyed. I really enjoyed this book as well. Taylor and Jamar were wonderful. Taylor is a fitness instructor and Jamar attends one of her pop-up classes. Then he hires her to be his fitness coach while he tries to get back in the NFL. Then a slip of the tongue leads them to fake dating. I like that trope more than I thought I would. This was a good romance and it gave me the warm and fuzzies. Four out of five stars. Can't wait for the next book.

First off -- you can easily read this book without reading the first one. I didn't realize when I started it that it was part of a series and I found it easy to understand despite having not read the first.

Overall, this was a good book. Nothing spectacular but nothing horrendous. A pretty simple rom-com style book with likeable characters and a basic plot. As someone with a chronic knee issue I found it hard to believe Jamar could run long distances at all (let alone think he could re-enter professional sports) but that was generally besides the point, anyone who doesn't have a knee issue won't realize this.

The Dating Playbook was so much fun (though it does have a side of serious).

I want Taylor to be my BFF. While she has some struggles and insecurities she also is a fantastic person and has the right attitude. I can relate to her insecurities, as I have some of them myself. She desperately wants to make something of herself for herself (which is awesome!) but struggles with what she has to do to get there. Her newfound BFF's (from the viral situation) are wonderful and supportive, especially once Taylor comes clean about all the things.

Jamar got hurt is rookie season in the NFL and wants to make a comeback to honor his late friend Silas. I thought this part was so well done. Jamar's struggles with the death of Silas, the early departure from the NFL, how to come back all felt so real. He did a lot of back and forth and I appreciated how he went through his decision making.

Taylor and Jamar are couple goals. While it starts off as a fake relationship you can clearly see how they gravitate towards each other. Taylor has principals and I appreciate how she stood by them, and that Jamar didn't pressure her to change her mind, he understood her reasoning and accepted it. Of course they eventually get together and I enjoyed every last minute. Their banter is so much fun, and they're so sweet to each other.

Highly recommend!

I fell in love with Taylor from The Dating Playbook. The ways she is trying so hard against society's pre-judgements. How she feels so inferior to those around her. My favorite element of The Dating Playbook were the characters. The ways Taylor falls into old habits and catches herself falling into expectations - especially negative ones? Or the ways Jamar struggles to try not to let the outside voices of others effect him? Full of heart and incredibly relatable, I ended up looking forward to ending my day with The Dating Playbook.

Thank you for my review copy. All opinions are my own.
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🤔. This one puzzles me. I loved The Boyfriend Project. Like LOVED. L•O•V•E•D
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This particular title in the series was alright. I didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it. I was not very invested in the characters. I also felt like I was missing some spice.
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Will I read Book 3? Yes ma’am, I will.
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I wouldn’t skip this title….but keep your expectations in reign.

I enjoyed this book but it was also a bit of a miss for me.

I really enjoyed Taylor and Jamar together.  They definitely had a lot of chemistry and great banter.  But, Taylor as a stand alone fell a bit flat for me.

Honestly, it could be as simple as a personality clash. She's no one I'd befriend in real life. She's stand-offish, constantly defensive, and super stubborn. Am I also these things?  Yes, hence why our friendship would never work.

I also must give a CW for anyone who struggles with diet culture, food restriction, or food. While I completely understand She's a personal trainer, and Jamar is a professional athlete, there was a decent amount of diet culture bullshit that I hated.

We have your typical vilification of white rice and regular potatoes, a client who gets a divorce and loses weight to feel better, and Taylor constantly overruling Jamar on his food choices by changing his orders or making "healthy" swaps, with foods he hates.

I personally have many issues with my relationship to food, and it took me longer to read this for all the times I had to take a step back.

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Forever!

I read The Boyfriend Project, the first book in this series and was so happy to have this ARC to read immediately after. It doesn’t disappoint! I read both books within three days, because I could barely put them down except to sleep.

Taylor is an entrepreneur, building up her fitness and wellness business. She’s going through a rough time financially and she is fiercely independent, which has her freezing her credit cards and lying to her friends about her financial situation. For instance: she charges $80 on her emergency credit card to have dinner with her girl squad. I’ve been there, so her choices were so relatable.

To pay for that expense she hosts a pop up fitness class in the park and meets the hero of the story, Jamar, former pro-football player who wants to play again, but needs to work out secretly. So he proposes a two month, very lucrative deal with Taylor and then all the tension and fun begins! They also end up in a fake relationship to hide the fact that she’s his trainer. Yay!

Both characters have major issues to work through, and they have intense chemistry because they are both smokin’ hot!

I appreciated the portrayal of real-world issues they faced, their personal battles with insecurities and guilt, and the way they were mature about communicating, even when it took a little time to get there. Another thing Rochon does well is incorporating secondary characters for the character development and some comic relief. The scene between Jamar and his parents is gold and the tension Taylor feels at a family event is legit. It all felt authentic and real.

Farrah Rochon was a “new to me” author before I read these two books, and I’m a “shout her name from the rooftops” fan now. The book is so well-written, funny, sweet, real, and leaves you craving the next story in the series!

I read the first book in this series, The Boyfriend Project, in 2020 as a buddy read with a friend. We both enjoyed it but had mixed feelings on how the end was handled. (You can read my thoughts on it HERE). So when I saw The Dating Playbook was the next book I was a little worried. I had no idea if I would feel the same conflicting emotion I did with the first book. But I went in and read it with an open mind. And I can now report that The Dating Playbook was really good!

The Dating Playbook is about Taylor, a personal trainer, trying to get her business off the ground. She had her 15 minutes of fame from going viral when her and her new friends dumped the guy that was doing them all dirty, but now everything is stagnate. And with bills piling up and no new business is sight, Taylor needs cash and fast. Enter Jamar, former NFLer that wants back in the game, and he wants Taylor’s help, but in secret. What starts out as a simple business arrangement soon becomes Jamar and Taylor fake dating. But when real feelings start to pop up maybe money isn’t all Taylor needed in her life.

Much like The Boyfriend Project, what I liked best in The Dating Playbook was the characters. Jamar and Taylor were solid characters which made them a solid couple (both real and fake). They both had their issues and quirks, but they also managed to work so well with each other and off one another. Because of their on page chemistry I found their story pacing to be solid and their story was flushed out perfectly. There are some serious things both Taylor and Jamar are dealing with so everything isn’t roses and sunshine. But they were respectful of the things the other was dealing with and that was what I liked the most about them.

The Dating Playbook was an unexpected surprise. I wasn’t sure what I would get when I started it, but I loved the end result. I’m really looking forward to London’s story and seeing what Rochon does. Add this to your TBR.

With football and fake dating, this had all the ingredients for a perfect summer read, but it just didn't work out for me. The characters were a bit one-dimensional, the story was a little scattered and the romance wasn't developed enough.

I never really got on board with Taylor as a protagonist. She doesn't really have much of a personality beyond making poor financial decision and loving Disney (which technically aren't personality traits.) She also kept making a big deal out of her complicated relationship with her family which felt blown out of proportion and didn't have a satisfying resolution.

The story was all over the place. Taylor made a big deal about not wanting to have people misconstrue their relationship then turned around and came up with this whole fake dating ruse even when Jamar offered to set the record straight. The storyline with the diagnoses was just glossed over and felt a little shallow.

There was no real tension for the romance. It escalated so quickly, and it felt like we were just constantly being told they were in love/lust with each other without really being shown much.

Unfortunately, this was an overall frustrating and disappointing read for me.