"Play By My Rules" by Michelle Karise delivers a delightful blend of humor, romance, and workplace drama. The protagonist's encounter with the charming yet thieving Harrison Cooper sets the stage for a rollercoaster of emotions, with sizzling flirtations and stormy kisses in the office. As the story unfolds, the challenges of navigating an unexpected office romance and dealing with a shattered world keep readers engaged. Karise's writing style and the dynamic between the characters make this standalone BWWM romance novel a compelling read, perfect for those who enjoy a a workplace romance.

Michelle Karise’s Play By My Rules follows Arianna Williams making a fresh start for herself after a disastrous relationship left her life in ruins. Written in alternating dual first-person POVs of Arianna and her new boss Harrison, it’s a humorous and steamy romance without much time wasted on unnecessary drama. Karise’s vivid descriptions and complex, relatable, and likable characters drew me in—at once.

Karise’s characters are complex, relatable, fallible, and so likable, and she wonderfully develops and evolves them through detailed descriptions, dynamic dialogue, and emotional and intimate interactions. Arianna and Harrison’s office interactions are funny. Harrison’s aloofness and antics to make her quit have the opposite effect and the added bonus of bringing back Ariana’s spark. She rediscovers her fire and fights fire with fire. It’s frustrating that she feels so insecure and ashamed about her past and unable to believe she’s worth fighting for. Harrison and Arianna’s funny, sexy, flirty, sweet, steamy, intimate interactions and love scenes further their relationship’s development and characters’ evolution. Their banter and how they spent time talking, learning about each other, and watching movies together are all sweet, funny, and engaging. They support and encourage each other in pursuing their dreams.

Arianna stops for tea before starting her new job. But a sexy, gorgeous man steals her drink order and then asks her out on a date. As if that weren’t enough of a rough start to a first day, she arrives at her office barely on time, only to discover the gorgeous thief is none other than Harrison Cooper, the company’s President and her new boss. She’s decided to make the best of the situation. However, her attraction to him and resisting his stormy kisses and heated flirtations might be bothersome. After her last relationship destroyed her life, the last thing she needs is to get involved in an office romance. When her past is exposed, shattering her world, how will she pick up the pieces and walk away?

Arianna was a confident, free-spirited young woman given to recklessness before losing herself in her relationship with her first love, for whom she sacrificed her dreams, goals, and herself. Her entire life was in ruins when the relationship ended—her finances, emotions, self-confidence, and reputation. She’s lost her belief in true love and herself and fears being lied to and bought, not being a priority in her partner’s life. When I say her ex is a colossal jerk and loser, I’m not kidding. And dating after him hadn’t been a much better experience for her.

Harrison avoids relationships to protect his heart. But Arianna slips past his barriers, and he falls for her deeply. Unlike past relationships where he’d been selfish, he happily lets Arianna into his life and heart.

Harrison and Ariana’s office interactions had me laughing and giggling. I love that Harrison’s aloofness and antics to run her off had the opposite effect and the added bonus of bringing back Ariana’s spark. She rediscovers her fire while standing up for herself. I hate that she felt so insecure and ashamed about her past and couldn’t believe she was worth fighting for. But she had to find it in herself to fight for what she wanted and for herself first, I think.

Play by My Rules is an emotional, steamy, angsty, sweet, sexy, and humorous interracial office romance exploring themes of self-discovery, self-esteem, forgiveness, family, fresh starts, second chances, fighting for love/happiness, and taking risks.

Advanced review copy provided by Michelle Karise via Netgalley for review.

Funny beginning .... Some forbidden love.... Steamy scenes.... A definite book to read.... It's my first time reading a book by this author and liked it...

I hate to give a not great review but…I didn’t enjoy this. If I’m being honest, I almost didn’t even finish this. I was skimming and speed reading by the end just so I could get it over with. The plot was ehh, the characters were one dimensional, and the writing style was weirdly formal.

There was nothing about the characters that made me want to root for them and keep reading. I didn’t really feel sucked into their story and I definitely didn’t feel any chemistry between them. I was being told that it was there, but it didn’t come through on the pages. Which was how a lot of the book was.

It felt like this book was written and then someone went back in with a thesaurus and changed all of the verbs/adjectives to bigger words in order to sound smart. But instead it felt disingenuous and robotic. Especially when it was juxtaposed with characters using descriptors like “a WAP” and “his rod” (which was just nope, blegh, immediate ick🤢). Totally unnecessary and pulled me out of the story on multiple occasions.

Anyways, thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for allowing me to read this book. I couldn’t really get into this book. This was an insta love story and I’m really not into those types of romances. This wasn’t a bad book but I just wasn’t invested in the characters. They felt one dimensional and needed more depth. The relationship felt very lust driven to me.

Arianna Williams has her first day at her new job. She is starting it off right by picking up her favorite tea order from a local coffee shop when a man swipes her drink. Already mad and frustrated she orders another drink and gets to her new job. Lo and behold, her new boss is the thief from the coffee shop, Harrison Cooper. Harrison also happens to be the president of the company. As his new assistant, the heated stares and flirtation shouldn’t be a problem, right?

From the start of the book I could tell this was going to be a great read. The storyline and plot were enjoyable and kept my attention. I liked Arianna’s independence and playing by her rules. Harrison was very likable. I caught myself smiling and smirking through the banter of the characters. There wasn’t much spice but what was of it was well written and tasteful. The different troupes were office place romance and interracial romance. This was my first book by Michelle Karise and I truly enjoyed it and will be looking into her other books ASAP! Definitely recommend!

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was going to summarize this novel, but I didn’t feel I could without giving away spoilers. Read this novel for yourself to understand the steam factor.

This is the third novel I have read by the author Michelle Karise. I absolutely LOVED this novel. With each word on the page, I felt the flirtatious heat between Harrison and Arianna. I was on pins and needles, waiting for the “magic” to happen. As the love story between them progressed, I could feel Arianna's emotional struggle with how Harrison was taking care of her.

Although Harrison and Arianna were the main characters, Harrison’s best friend, Aiden, and Harrison’s younger brother made the story even more enjoyable. I do hope they get their own stories, especially Aiden—he was scandalous. I could not put this novel down. The secondary characters made the growing attraction between Harrison and Arianna more engaging.

In the end, I would most definitely recommend this book. If you like super steamy office romance novels, this book is for you. After reading this book, Michelle Karise has become my go-to author for office romance novels.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Overall this book was a good, fast paced read. If you are a fan of spicy office romances then this is a book for you. I enjoyed the dual perspectives, but felt the timeline was pushed too quickly. I believe the depth of the characters could have been developed more and they would have been easier to connect to. #PlayByMyRules #NetGalley

I made a quick read of this one. Of course the story is predictable from the beginning. The ending was lacking detail and closure. Thanks to NetGalley for access to this book.

I really enjoyed this enemies to lovers hot and steamy romance between the boss, Harrison, and his assistant, Arianna. The chemistry of these two characters just leapt of the pages. This was my first read by this author and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it! I will definitely be checking out her other books as well!


**Thanks to NetGalley and Michelle Karise for an arc in exchange for an honest review**

Loved this book! This story is well written and the characters are amazing. Couldn't put it down grabs your attention from the first page to the last.

I thought that this book had a good storyline.

It was an easy read with some good detail added to bring the book to life.

I thought that the characterisation was great, they were strong and well-developed characters and they had some great interaction.

I thought that the story was a good romantic and sexy read – it is 4 stars from me for this one!

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley, Michelle Karise, and Xpresso Book Tours for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Play By My Rules releases February 28, 2023

2.5

It’s Arianna’s first day in a new position as an executive assistant and her boss just so happens to be the president of the company and the same asshole that stole her matcha latte that morning. She now has to work directly for him for the next three months, only Harrison has a reputation of not being able to keep an assistant for long. Will Arianna be the woman that ends that streak?

I struggled to form an attachment to these characters and didn’t believe in their chemistry, which can probably be attributed to the pacing of the novel. Their spark/attraction just didn’t reach out to me and some of the dialogue was cringey as well — having a character reference WAP (wet-ass pussy), creampie’s, etc.
There was also a scene where she came from dry humping but then minutes later said that she wasn’t ready to have sex. LOL WHAT WAS THAT THEN?


Read if you like:
- dual pov
- workplace romance with boss/assistant dynamics
- interracial couple

Ariana first meet Harrison in coffe shop was good at first and suddenly his flirt make me cringe. Tha attraction already begin there, in office the spark flying, territory cave man appear when another man put eye on Ariana. After what happend to Ariana in her last relationship, she scare of commitment, scare not enough, scare something to good to be true. Harisson so patience with her he try to maoe Ariana beleve what they have is real.

Thank you to NetGalley for provide this book, it is pleasure to review this book.

#PlayByMyRules #MichelleKarise #XpressoBookturs #NetGalley #ARC