This novel, the second installment in Rochon's The Boyfriend Project series, is an engaging read that balances romantic tension with personal growth and self-discovery themes.

The story follows the lives of Taylor Powell, a personal trainer trying to make ends meet, and Jamar Dixon, a former NFL player determined to get back into the game after a career-halting injury. When Jamar hires Taylor to help him get back into shape, sparks fly, and their professional relationship quickly evolves into something more.

This book contained familiar romance tropes (fake relationships, for example) and could sometimes be a bit predictable, but I did enjoy it!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book!

I enjoyed this one and I highly recommend. I thought the narrators really captured the essence of the characters.

I absolutely loved the audio of this book, and I relisten to it regularly. The narrator does a great job delineating all the individual voices and made the story very engaging.

I wasn't sure I would enjoy this book. First, it's a new to me author. Second, it's book 2 in a series.

But let me tell you! I absolutely enjoyed it! The characters were chiseled well, the story line of fake dating was captivating and I felt like I was making new friends!

The narrator did a great job at bringing these characters to life!

I absolutely adore this series and everything Farrah Rochon writes - the relationship between Taylor and Jamar was realistic and their chemistry was palpable. Looking forward to book 3!

This is the 2nd book in the series. Taylor is a fitness guru but she is having trouble making ends meet. Jamar needs to get back to NFL standards after an injury. Nobody can know that she is helping him so they are outed as dating. The lines blur and it becomes real. I enjoyed the character development of the main characters. I can’t wait for the 3rd book!

I'm a sucker for a good sports romance and this one really delivered. I enjoyed this even more than book one! I love that both main characters are athletes and that the hero actually respects the heroine and her expertise and not just in a surface, patronizing way. The obstacles facing their relationship felt real and the stakes are realistic. I also love the exploration of grief and the long lasting weight of it as well as the long term affects of a learning disability on a person's life and psyche. Plus the steam is impeccable! I can't wait for book 3!

This was a fun, feel good read. I still really enjoy this friend group! However, I was not a fan of the narrator and that really hindered my enjoyment.

I am in the minority with this one but I cannot get into the audiobook because I do not enjoy the narrator. Thankfully I have the ebook so I will be able to continue on with the story in a different format.

Taylor and Jamar’s story is a cute fun steamy romance. Good story I love the friend group having read the first book I’m rather familiar with how they became besties. The narration was great.

This book really dragged for me. I'm not sure why I couldn't get into it. I'm not sure I would have finished it if it hadn't been a Net Galley book.

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬

The Dating Playbook focuses on Taylor, a fitness instructor. She is trying very hard to grow her training business. Her bills are piling up, rent is due and her money situation is terrible. She needs a miracle in order to get out of the situation she’s in. When a former NFL player, Jamar, hires her as his personal trainer, she’s very excited to help him.

𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

I really enjoyed this book. I listened to the audiobook and I liked the narration a lot. I haven’t read the first book yet and didn’t know details on the friendship between Taylor, Samiah and London. However, I like how their friendship is shown in this book, they’re very supportive and funny. I love strong female friendships in books. I definitely want to read more about Samiah and London.

The characters are amazing. I loved Taylor from beginning to end, and I also loved Jamar. They’re so good together.

I really like the fake dating trope and it was well done in this book. I loved the honest discussions the characters had about grief, learning disabilities, financial issues and other important stuff.

𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: death of a friend, guilt and grief, anxiety, panic attack.

• ARC received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

A former NFL player, trying to get back into the game he loves, but falling for his fake girlfriend / secret trainer along the way? I’m a sucker for sports romance and the fake dating trope, so reading this book was an absolute no-brainer for me!

The Dating Playbook was my first read by Rochon, however it is book 2 in Rochon’s The Boyfriend Project series. I read it as a stand-alone and didn’t miss a beat.

What I Loved:
-Solid Female Friendships - I loved the friendship between Taylor, London and Samiah! A tight-knit trio, with each member being a badass, career driven woman in their own right - it was so easy to root for all three of these powerhouse women!

-Various Reps - There are quite a few reps in this book - anxiety, a learning disorder, ADHD, deaf - and I really appreciate how much the author attempted to do with each of them.

-Dual Points of View - I loved getting both Taylor and Jamar’s perspectives on things! Having access to both POVs gave the pair’s story a nice balance.

What I Didn’t Love:
-Not Enough Football - The book’s title, “The Dating Playbook” lead me to believe that there’d be a lot of content dedicated to football, but that actually wasn’t the case. I would have loved to have learned more about Jamar’s time in the NFL / more about his football journey to get into the NFL.

-Slow Pacing - It took me longer than normal to get through this book due to its pacing. Certain sections definitely dragged more than others.

-Something Missing - While I did like Taylor and Jamar as a couple, something always seemed to be missing for me with their romance. It ultimately came down to me feeling like their relationship had a tendency of being too surface level / too one note.

Overall, I enjoyed reading The Dating Playbook, but it didn’t become a new favorite of mine. If you pick up this book, I do recommend reading it via audiobook - Rebecca Lee was a great narrator and kept me laughing for a large portion of the story!

I loved The Boyfriend Project by @farrahrochon so was so excited to read The Dating Playbook, book 2 in the series. Although this is a series, these books can be read as standalones. They do have overlapping characters though so I do recommend reading them in order to understand the friendship between the three main female characters.

I loved Taylor and Jamar’s story. I don’t always like fake dating books, but thought this one worked really well. They had a lot of chemistry, and there are some steamy parts in this book. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this being sports related, but I ended up enjoying Jamar’s football storyline and Taylor working with him as a personal trainer.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator, Rebecca Lee, did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life.

I’m looking forward to reading London’s story next. Thank you @netgalley and @hachetteaudio for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have already discussed this season of life that has me in the car for so long each day. And what better way to pass the time than an audiobook. So I checked out the ones available on NetGalley and requested The Dating Playbook. I ran into a problem though. Shortly after I got this audiobook, my son started wanting to ride with me to pick up Little Girl from school. So instead of having 30 minutes one way and 45 minutes another trip on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and 45 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday, I was losing that 45-minute trip every day. And thus my listening opportunity severely dwindled again. And one thing I've noticed over the years is that the length of time it takes me to finish a book does influence my overall opinion and enjoyment.

That being said, I was enjoying The Dating Playbook okay. Taylor is in a bind financially. She made some bad business decisions and racked up a good bit of debt that she needs to pay off. She's got ideas on how to take her business to the next level, but she's stuck in the daily grind to just make ends meet. Jamar requests her to take him on as a client with her being his personal trainer. She is really skeptical at first, but eventually, she agrees. The description says that the two are accidentally outed as a couple. Well, that's not exactly how things happened. To avoid spilling the beans that Jamar is training again in hopes of returning to the NFL, Taylor redirects the reporter with the story that the two are dating. And then they begin the fake dating trope.

I don't mind fake dating books. Even though I usually know exactly what's going to happen, I still enjoy going on the journey. And things were bee-bopping along just fine with Taylor and Jamar. And then Jamar makes a little trip home to visit his parents and I actually laughed out loud listening to this book. Twice. This bit of humor took my enjoyment level up from 3.5 to 4 Stars. Although, I do have to say that if I prefer my books less descriptive, I doubly feel that way about audiobooks. I do NOT enjoy descriptive scenes narrated out loud. Gives me a severe case of uncomfortableness. Anyway, The Dating Playbook gets 4 Stars. Have you read (or listened to) The Dating Playbook? What did you think? Let me know!

I think I may be in love with this book.

I actually liked this book better than the first one and I liked the Boyfriend Project too!

The story of Taylor and Jamar is so sweet, but the book is about so much more than their love story... though that has some good steam to it for sure!

The internal struggles that these two have to overcome in order for their relationship to work, as well as their personal futures, is so real. The focus on mental health and learning disorders is presented in a relatable, honest way.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book. The narrator was clear and expressed the male POV well (personally I have an issue when a female narrator is too "gruff" and over the top when reading for a male character). The only issue I had was that anything faster than 1x speed sounded unclear and I normally listen at a 1.2-1.5x speed.

I am here for Farrah Rochon and her series. Can we please have London's story like ASAP? I can't wait to see what is brewing for our Doctor friend!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC Audiobook!

I would like to thank NetGally for allowing me to have an AAC of The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon. This was my first audiobook from NetGally and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately I didn’t get to finish it but what I heard drew me in. I loved the speaker also.

We already know I loved The Boyfriend Project, but The Dating Playbook just took it up a whole new level. Fake Dating and Sports Romance?! What more could you ask for!!

If you've followed along with The Boyfriend Project you know how Samiah, London, and Taylor were all played by the same man. In The Dating Playbook we get to learn more about Taylor and her story specifically.

I really loved Taylor's story because she was SO relatable. Is it fun to read about women killing the game in their male-dominated industry or saving lives? Of course! But there is just something so REAL about Taylor and her struggles with financials and getting her passion project off the ground that I adored.

However, we do get a bit of that fictional element in the romance (which is OKAY because it IS a fiction book - LOL) with our star NFL player scouting her out and hiring her as his personal trainer. But of course no one can know he is being trained so that he can make his comeback without rumors/thoughts circulating before he is ready so the pair agrees to fake date.

This story was hilarious, real, and just a true treat to read and now I cannot wait for London's story!

In The Dating Playbook, the second rom-com in Farrah Rochon’s knockout Boyfriend Project series, a personal trainer with a struggling practice teams up with a high-profile former NFL player facing multiple hurdles to give him a second chance at playing pro ball.

It’s a great setup and well executed, with each character scratching just the right itch for the other. They both have a lot riding on their professional partnership and ample reason to keep it under wraps. Like the best rom-com couples, Taylor and Jamar are much more than the sum of their individual parts. They’re absolutely lovely together, making Rochon’s choice to have the friend group play a lesser role in this installment a wise one. The Dating Playbook is a gentle and relatively low-angst romance that makes a great comfort read in stressful times.

Full review at BookPage.com. Link below.

After being introduced to the dynamic duo in The Boyfriend Project, I was super excited to focus on Taylor in The Dating Playbook. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Super cute and relatable relationship with great banter and chemistry. Taylor accepts a one-on-one training relationship with Jamar Dixon to help jump start his career back to the NFL after a serious injury.

The book was refreshingly relatable. Even the drawbacks in the relationship were not forced but felt real. Taylor's insecurities and Jamar's grief. Throw in the strong relationship between three hard working woman and still finding just enough to make the friendship work. I am looking forward to book #3.