First of all, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Grayson Long for the opportunity review this ARC of "Playing The Field".

This story follows Kate and Malcolm, two friends who after years of non dating catch feelings.
I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoy any romance books, although there were times that I felt the narrative was a little repetitive.
There was miscommunication between the two. which I enjoyed, there was just enough to make you feel for the characters but not too much that you'd look at the book and think "What are you thinking/doing!?"

All in all, this was a cute little friends to lovers, small town, slow burn romance

The perfect friends to lovers romance! A sweet read for summer.
The love story between the main characters was wonderful.

I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Grayson Long for the early access copy of Playing the Field.

Playing the Field tells the story of Kate and Malcom. Kate is a free-spirit, who after a bad break-up swears off dating. Malcom prefers keeping to himself. That is until Kate unexpectedly interjects herself into his life, Malcom can’t seem to get enough of Kate. After five-years of friendship, and years of swearing off dating, Kate decides it’s time to start dating again. With the help of meddling friends, a work trip, and of course mishaps, will Kate realize what is right in front of her?

This is a slow burn, friends-to-lovers romance.

So, Kate and Malcolm are cute but the book was so boring and repetitive. I do like miscommunication but it was just too much in this book. They are supposed to be best friends but it seems like they don't talk that much.

I received an arc through netgalley.

How to convince your best friend for years, that she should take a chance on love with you. Everyone sees that Malcolm is in love with Kate but her. Everything that Kate wants in her life is to be loved but will she take a leap of faith and give Malcolm a chance? I love this sweet high school teacher grump romance. Malcolm is a very lovable grump and easy to love, Kate is funnily distressed and sometimes frustrating but she finds courage in the end to fight for love.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgalley

Book 2 of The Glendale Series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Book Tropes:
🐥 friends to lovers slow burn
🐥 pining!
🐥 forced proximity, one bed
🐥 fun work group and friends
🐥 he falls first and is so far gone for her :)
🐥 FMC who struggles with feeling unloveable
🐥 Lola with a TikTok obsession
🐥 chick named Nugget

Closed Door Romance with slow burn and I wish they would've communicated their feelings more.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book.

Oh wow!!!!! This was a first for me by this author but will not be my last! Such a good story! The characters worked so well together. Such great chemistry. Good love story!!

SUUUUUUCH A SWEET BOOK!!! 💕

I am typically not a fan of the sweet boy tropes but I was hooked on this book. The relationship between these two characters were so loving in their friendship. I was constantly highlighting sections of the book because of all of the cute moments that they shared.

Find 👏🏼you 👏🏼 a 👏🏼 man 👏🏼 like 👏🏼 Malcom 👏🏼

I was dying at his every line. Don’t get me wrong Kate was good too but Malcom poured his heart and souls out to her. His feelings were so genuine but then also hearing his internal battles pulled at my heartstrings. However, I did with there were a bit more of those moments. I aching was sprinkled in there but there were cry moment opportunities that just missed by a hair.

Really good read, I was pleasantly surprised.

Thank you very much to NetGalley for the opportunity to receive an ARC copy!

Best friends to FINALLY figuring it out lovers. Slow paced but scratched the itch. I think everyone needs to add this book to their TBR. You can't go wrong.

I read as a standalone but cannot wait to add the remainder of the Glendale series to my TBR as their own standalones. If all of their books read as this one does, I think Grayson Long is one of my new favorite palette cleansing authors.

This was incredibly cute! I adore these tropes, and the book was delightfully hilarious. He really was completely boy-obsessed. I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a charming, uplifting read with a male main character who embodies green flags all the way through.

This book was so fun! It is friends to lovers and I absolutely loved their relationship! The setting in this book is great for summer time!

friends to lovers supremacy!!!! this was so fun i really enjoyed the athlete camp setting and this was honestly such a fun read! i hope this series continues

All my favorite book tropes!! Can never go wrong with them! Loved the dynamics of the characters and the whole story. Very cute read. Highly recommend!

This was so cute and fun! I wasn’t sure what to expect but I ended up really enjoying this book. Playing the Field is written by Grayson Long and it is a sweet romantic comedy.
Kate was an interesting character and she did have to grow on me a bit. However I liked Malcolm from the start. Kate and Malcholm became friends after a chance encounter and they have stuck by each other ever since. I liked the easy interactions and banter that they had together. They knew each other well.
They both had a lot of trauma that they had to work through because of their past. Kate had to see that she was enough and Malcolm had to learn to let Kate in. There were definitely some obstacles that stood in their way as they navigated their feelings for each other and their situations in life.
The plot was definitely driven by their love story but it was still enjoyable to read. I really liked the side characters, especially the high schoolers that Kate and Malcolm interacted with. The kids were so sweet. Malcolm and Kate’s friends were also really funny.
Playing the Field is a closed door romantic comedy. I would recommend it to those who enjoy rom-coms with hints of seriousness in between.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, I was not required to write a positive review.

Unfortunately, this book was not my favorite. I found it to be really dense and in need of cutting some unnecessary scenes as it felt like it took too long to get to the meat of the story.

I can see others really enjoying this book but it just wasn't for me.

A chance encounter at the local feed store 5 years ago between the curly headed vibrant, Kate and the eternally grumpy, Malcolm.
Since that day the two friends have been inseparable. Friends. Colleagues.
Sure, they’ve been attached at the hip ever since that day- but after a bad breakup years ago, Kate has sworn off men. So Malcolm has devoted himself to being the best friend Kate’s ever had, while not so secretly being in love with her.
But when Kate decides she is ready to start dating, Malcolm is determined to make her see him differently.
Enlisting the help of their friends, he hatches a plan to win her over while they chaperone the athlete talent exhibition.
When things begin to go awry, Kate starts to believe that the universe is telling her something and that she needs to listen.
Will Malcolm be able to get out of the friend zone, or will he lose Kate to playing the field?

This was such a fun story. All the supporting characters were amazing and I automatically fell in love with each one!
I am an absolute sucker for the forced proximity, grumpy x sunshine, one bed tropes, and will read any book that features any of those plot lines!
I was pleasantly surprised when I read a take on all 3 of these that I had not read before!
This book was sweet, hilarious, easy read. The descriptions were amazing, and I truly felt like I could picture each detail.
If you are a fan of sweet, rom-coms with low spice, I highly recommend.

Huge Thanks to NetGalley and Grayson along for allowing me to read and review 💚

I would like to thank netgalley and the author for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyable and I loved the back and forth of the main characters relationship.

Such a cute, feel-good that had me smiling and laughing at the banter and antics of the some of the characters. I particularly loved the depth of Kate and Malcolm's individual backgrounds and how supportive they've been of each over the years. SO sweet.

A definite read if you like:
- grumpy/sunshine
- Friends to lovers
- Dual POV
- Workplace romance
- Only ONE bed (very clean but flirtatious and fun)

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the ARC!

I mostly enjoyed this cute friends-to-lovers, closed door romance. It was a fun, light read that scratched my "best friends who eventually realize they're something more" itch.

The highlights for me were definitely the antics of the high school students and the relationship Kate had with her extended family, especially her grandmother. This book also had some great Filipino rep as well as PTSD rep and I always appreciate that in a story.

The romance was the sloooowest of slow burns, and I love a slow burn but it was almost too much for me. They kept getting interrupted right before big moments, and Kate was so in her head about everything and really just needed to get out of her own way. That combined with the miscommunication (just talk to each other, you're best friends!) got pretty frustrating. I also thought the MCs seemed a bit young (they're supposed to be in their 30s but I think 20s would have felt better), and there were times when I thought the writing could have used some tightening up.

Overall though this is a cute and easy read for your summer TBR, especially if you love pining and slow burn!

Thank you to Netgalley so much for letting me read this book before it came out! After reading the first in the Glendale Series I was so excited to read this one! Playing the field was such an enjoyable book to read. It had everything that I was looking for with relatable characters, amazing banter and sweet romance! Grayson Long is an amazing writer and I cannot wait to read anything new that she puts out! I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a small town romance. I also appreciate her unique take on the friends to lovers trope where they had the banter that I have come to expect from an enemies to lovers storyline. It added a unique spin to this story and I really enjoyed it.