An adorable, uplifting romance. The story raises some pertinent issues such as women in gaming, dealing with grief and the difficulties of running a start-up company, but all in a pretty light-hearted way. No surprises in how the plot pans out and the prose style is not Hemingway, but this is easily one of the best romances I have read in the past year.

A book about gaming and finding your true love? Yes, please. I‘ve been an avid gamer myself (before I became a mother…), so I really like the setting and the storyline revolving around video games. But this one unfortunately didn‘t work for me and here is why:

I don‘t like the main characters. They are highly ambivalent, sometimes too superficial and awkward (and not in a good way). I was so annoyed by them being under-confident and easy to manipulate. Especially our heroine tends to be so childish ('He gave me his hand climbing up the monolith, he must be in love with me.') I wasn‘t able to feel any connection or chemistry between them, because they didn‘t even made an effort to get to know each other properly but BOOM, they are hopelessly in love.

I wanted to like this book so bad, because the story sounds so promising and I feel really guilty for writing such a negative review, but I have to be honest and clear.

A romance that looks at gaming and grief and the gap between online and offline realities. I liked this a lot. The gaming scenes were well done (and better than the IRL scenes actually). The thing that I found hardest to suspend disbelief is wouldn’t the characters recognize each other’s voices? Still, a sweet low-heat geeky romance.
I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book more than I expected.
The YouTube gaming world is new and fascinating to me and I enjoyed it so much. The protagonists had depth and was likeable. Their story and problems were realistic. I especially loved the hero. He was adorable.
This is a clean romance and recommended.

This book was so cute. If you're in a mood for a cute little romance book that'll make you feel warm inside, id recommend this book. I really enjoyed the two interactions been the MCs both in real life and online in. I thought the online games they had to play, added a fun element to the book and a bit of adventure. I'm happy I got approved to read this book :)

I can't express how much I loved this book. I loved the aspects of females in gaming, start-up companies and handling grief. Sam is in love with a gamer pro who took her through some hard times. Meanwhile Luke has been into Sam since he first saw her. In real life he's shy and clumsy but his online presence is a whole different story.. I devoured the story and finished it in. a day. Although the spicy was at a minimum I truly enjoyed the whole book.

When she isn’t busy building her fashion business, Samadhi ‘Sam’ Ranaweera turns to her other passion to de-stress: competitive late-night gaming (in secret, of course). She can’t believe her luck when she’s selected to play in a virtual tournament with notoriously elusive gamer Blaze.

Blaze is a little cocky and very self-assured – no surprises, given his huge online popularity – and Sam feels under pressure to impress him with her gameplay. But she has no idea that in real life, he’s just shy Luke Burneside, the awkward guy from her office.

As her crush intensifies with each game and she becomes obsessed with winning Blaze’s attention, will Sam lose her chance with the man right under her nose?

I like the characters in this book. They are relatable and actually nice. :) The rest of the family is also interesting. A light hearted fun book. Very enjoyable.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an arc.

The writing is was is was is was so bland and unfeeling that i cried! i really did! i could write a better book i aint even joking this is my last straw

A great read.

Luke and Sam work in the same building. They both have their alter-egos online, not knowing who the other person actually is. When a gaming competition puts them on a team together, will they realise who has been in front of them all along?

I'm a huge fan of Indo Anglo fiction, and I've read a couple of other books by Jeevani Charika, so was over the moon to be able to read Playing For Love.
Sam (Samadhi) is trying her hardest to make a success of her new start-up business, Shanthi Bags, with no support from her family. Because she hasn't told them. Instead, she's ploughed her savings into a small office within The Nest, and hopes her crowdfunding campaign works.
Luke's a nice bloke... Who happens to see the most beautiful woman ever, at his workplace, and hasn't a clue how to approach her. He's too shy. But, he can help her with her business, and then, maybe she's fall in love...
Unlike his alter-ego, Blaze, Youtube gaming star, Brash, confident, and always that little bit aloof. (But no one knows that Blaze is Luke.)
Who happens to be someone Sam has watched on Youtube for many years, admires. Maybe even has a fangirl crush on...
Then something happens that throws Sam and Luke together, but not in the way they ever expected.
I devoured this easy read in a couple of hours in one sitting. A light-hearted fun read, with a little family background to tug at the heartstrings, and a sweet, bumbling Luke, who you really want to succeed in his attempts to woo Sam.
Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ Digital for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.