Oh my how I love Sophie and Jonas so much!! In addition to the (part-time) Boston setting, the forced-proximity, athlete/musician, grumpy/sunshine, he falls first romance tropes all did me in. Jonas is up there on my book boyfriend list! Also the relationship between Sophie and her father was so lovely, and the subsequent interactions/relationship between Jonas and Sophie's dad just about melted me. I want to say this is my favorite of Libby Hubscher's books, but it's a tough choice since they are all awesome.

Get this one on your tbr for when it publishes on 6/20!

As a Yankee’s fan, it’s difficult to admit that I enjoyed a book with so many references to the Red Sox! Charming and full of great characters, Play for Me is a love story about Sophie, a recently disgraced and fired Red Sox trainer and Jonas, an injured and pessimistic concert pianist. Both Sophie and Jonas have lost what they thought was the most important thing in the lives….their greatest achievement and what defined who they are. They both ended up teaching at a boarding high school in New Hampshire and sharing an apartment with two other teachers…the delightful and zany Revi and Andy. Will Sophie and Jonas overcome their apparent animosity and other struggles, past and present, to find love and happiness? It’s definitely worth reading the book to find out.

Play for Me is the first book I’ve read by Libby Hubscher, and I’m happy to say I’ve found a new author to follow. I enjoyed this story of sports and romance, and I was quickly invested in sunny Sophie and her grumpy new roommate Jonas.

Sophie finds her job with the Boston Red Sox come to somewhat of an abrupt end, and she ends up taking a new job as an athletic trainer at her best friend Astrid’s old boarding school. There she meets her three new male roommates, one of who is the very standoffish Jonas Voss. He’s anything but nice to Sophie, and she’s absolutely convinced he despises her. Or does he?

Play for Me is a layered, emotional romcom, with many side plots waiting to tug on everyone’s heartstrings. It’s a great example of the grumpy/sunshine trope, and I definitely liked that element the most. I warmed to Sophie almost instantly, but it took me longer to like Jonas — he isn’t one of my favourite book men, though I did finish the book firmly on his team. He’s a complicated character that takes a while to get to know, but once you do, there’s no going back.

I liked learning more about the world of baseball and sports injuries, which I admit isn’t an area I’m particularly well-versed in. I always like to see a strong female character doing a job in a predominately male sports world, and doing it well. That’s exactly what Sophie does here, and its a very enjoyable aspect of the novel.

Overall, Play for Me is a fun, memorable addition to the romance genre by an author I’m keen to read more from. Read it if you like sports novels, grumpy but loveable men, and brilliant secondary characters. If they tick all your boxes, you won’t go wrong with Play for Me!

3.5/5.

Libby Hubscher is a wonderful romantic comedy author and Play for Me is such a great read! Filled with enemies to lovers, forced proximity, opposites attract and friends to lovers, this book hit all my favorite tropes! I love a book that has the laughter, but also the deep emotional connections as well. Such character growth between Sophie and Jonas! I highly recommend!

I was definitely underwhelmed by this one. I think the market is very crowded and if the book had come out a few years prior I would have been much more positive about it.

Play For Me by L. Hubscher, published by Berkley Publishing Group is a story of quiet notes, beautiful, heartwarming. A read that leaves you with a task well finished with a warm glow.
Sophie Doyle is a woman who knows what's right and wrong. And giving that a voice she has to bear the consequences. Fresh out of a job she accepts a temporary job as active trainer at a boarding school.
And one of her new roommates is Jonas Voss. Jonas is a bit a mystery. The man is an island and keeps his emotions close to his chest, is a bit of a grump.
What then happens is a beautiful storyline that gives all the feels, makes the book unputdownable. I very much enjoyed reading this book, 5 stars.

Set in idyllic New England, sports trainer Sophie, and world-class musician turned teacher Jonas, become roommates and are off to a rocky start. Thus the stage is set for an enemies to lovers romance as the two begin to appreciate each other's differences and increasingly enjoy being together more than apart. A delightful read with lovable characters, intriguing back stories, and adorable romance!

I had such a good time reading this book! It was fun, swoony, and heartwarming. I loved the grumpy hero, forced proximity, and the family/friend group in this book. Overall this one was such a win!

Sophie lost her dream job as a Red Sox trainer and is now working as a sports therapist for a private high school. She ends up with 3 teachers as roommates, and one is Jonas Voss, the musician. From the moment Sophie meets Jonas, she can tell he doesn’t like her and she doesn’t really know why… but with time, she starts to grow on him.

Jonas is the type of hero I adore. I loved him and Sophie together. Becoming friends, then more. It was so sweet. I also loved all the students in this story, and Sophie’s dad was amazing. This was such a great read for me. It’s my second Libby Hubscher book and I’m looking forward to reading more!

I truly enjoyed this read - I went into it expecting a nice light hearted enemies to lovers romance, and was pleasantly surprised with how emotional and poignant this felt. The chemistry felt true and natural between Sophie and Jonas. Definitely my favourite Libby Hubscher to date!! Do yourself a favor and pick this up when it comes out in June!!

Thank you so much NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and Libby Hubscher for access to this e-ARC!!

I wanted to love this so much. Grumpy sunshine is such a vibe!!!! It just always felt like something was missing. Whoch is very common is singular pov. Jonas was so grumpy I needed his voice to feel less put off.


Overall the story was cute.

Sophie Doyle has her dream job -- trainer for the Red Sox! She also has a perfect boyfriend. When she recommends that a star player doesn't player, which causes the Sox to lose, Sophie is blamed and fired, even though she stands by her decision. Sophie applies for a trainer position at a boarding school in New Hampshire, which comes with room and board! She moves into teacher housing, living in a room with three guys.

Sophie enters her closet of a room, and she is immediately yelled at by Jonas Voss for hitting the keys on a piano. Jonas is the orchestra teacher at the performing arts boarding school. He's a grump, quiet, and keeps to himself.

Jonas cannot play the piano, which is why he is teaching at school, instead of playing in the orchestra. Sophie offers to help him. Injuries to pianists are not much different than sports' players. As they work together, they both see one another in a different way.

Definitely a cute read. I loved Sophie and her father's relationship. I enjoyed seeing Sophie and Jonas develop a friendship and then relationship. Read if you enjoy enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and sunshine/grumpy.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love Libby’s work and think y’all will too. “Play for Me” gives readers …

✅ FORCED PROXIMITY

✅ ENEMIES to FRIENDS to LOVERS

✅ OPPOSITES ATTRACTS

✅ FANTASTIC FATHER DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP

✅ SMALL TOWN CHARM

✅ SPORTS + MUSIC

Friends, right off the bat, Libby hits the right notes with this one. <— this will make you lol or roll your eyes when you finally read this one! Be sure to come back and tell me what camp you fall into 🤣

thank you for the arc! i rated this 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 :)

this was absolutely adorable! i loved the characters, the plot was fabulous, and the meshing together of sports and music was really interesting to read about. the book was super fast-paced (i read it in a day), and the romance was so, so cute! the grumpy-sunshine trope is one of my favourites, so that definitely added to how much i loved this.

there honestly wasn't a lot going on by way of plot in this book; it was relatively slow, but I didn't find it to be an issue in this book! the characters and dialogue was what got me invested, so I thought that this was really well done.

this was my first read from libby hubscher, but I'll definitely be adding her other books to my tbr now! overall, i would definitely recommend this book :)

"Play for me" has several meanings in this book. Sophie is a disgraced professional baseball trainer who takes a job at a prestigious boarding school. She quickly realizes that sports are not a priority for most of the theater and music kids who attend the school. But the job comes with room and board, and Sophie gets to know her three (male!) roommates, including the grumpy Jonas. As it turns out, Jonas is a prodigious concert pianist, but hasn't been able to play--for Reasons--so he's teaching music at the school and looking longingly at his piano. (And also at Sophie, maybe?)

I love a good boarding school setting, and this one did not disappoint. There are the eccentric teachers, the quirky talented teens, and possibly a second chance for Sophie and Jonas both.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

This was fine. The writing feels very amateur and often cheesy, and it left me wanting more. There's also a lot of tell rather than show - we're led to believe something coming up is going to be a big part of the story, but then the action jumps to right after it. I think I'm in a reading slump where I've come across not-so-great writing a lot, so I'm a little more prone to noticing it.

I enjoyed this book. The plot was well paced and the characters felt fully developed. I would recommend this book to others and am looking forward to other works by this author.

Oof, I often complain about how a lot of romance novels devolve into drama. This one was the opposite. There wasn't much that happened. It felt like I was reading a teenager's diary. This happened, and then this happened, this boy is cute, and then this happened. The story was sweet, but was quite repetitive. There characters were two dimensional. This just wasn't the book for me.

Summary: When Sophie Doyle loses her dream job (trainer of the Red Sox), her boyfriend (who happens to be the team doc) and her apartment all in one day, she is left with nowhere to go. When her friend gets her a job as the trainer at an arts boarding school, Sophie quickly learns she will be sharing an apartment with three guys, one of whom can’t seem to stand her.

Thoughts: This book has everything you could possibly want in a romance. Fiesty and fun enemies to lovers/sunshine grump vibes? Check. Forced proximity with a one bed moment? Check. Found family vibes to rival none? You guessed it. Check. Will Play for Me leave me with a gigantic book hangover? Check, check and check!

In addition to the wonderful romance tropes we all love and adore, this book offered so much more. Set in part at a small New Hampshire arts boarding school, we were treated to the inner workings of how some of the greatest musicians achieve their greatness, while also learning about the significant abuse/ptsd brought upon by overly controlling parents. In addition, this book offers a sneak peek into the world of baseball and the pure love of it found in Red Sox Nation.

My favorite aspect, aside from the swoony romance of course, were the incredible friendships featured in this book. So many of our characters struggle deeply with parental relationships, but find the ultimate family within their close friends. In addition, the relationship between Sophie and her dad was so beautifully written and I could feel the depth of that connection from the start of the book through until the end.

And as for our pivotal MCs, Sophie and Jonas both shone as the stars of this story. Told entirely in first person, I still felt as though I knew Jonah completely. I was so impressed with their ability to tackle miscommunication head on in such an adult way and that was the freshest breath of all.

Read if you like:
•enemies to lovers
•roommates/forced proximity
•sunshine/grump
•found family
•New England charm
•strong father/daughter relationship

Thank you Berkley Romance for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. I just adored this book so much and will be pre-ordering it immediately.

I'm not sure what it was about this book, but unfortunately I just was not able to connect with it. I read the first half of it and then I had to skim the last half because I couldn't imagine another three hours reading it. I think the biggest thing for me is that I'm not into sports or music which were both central themes of the novel. Hopefully this will resonate more with sports buffs:

I’ve been loving getting to know Libby Hubscher as an author! She does such a great job of bringing out the emotions while also having some lighthearted and fun throughout the story. Her characters in Play for Me were so great, they were characters that you wanted to root for. Our FMC works in sports which is cool to see writers putting women in male dominated work environments, showing women can do it too. I love the modern woman energy in this book! I’m definitely going to be reading more from Libby!

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC! Such a great story!