Based on the spice alone I give this book a 5 but add in the heart warming plot and two main characters that were destined for each other and you have this fabulous 5 star book!

Cameron and Maddie haven’t talked in 6 years but being forced together again and they spark up a truce because once upon a time they used to be close but tragedy struck and broke the bond they once had. That bond now has morphed into something more but can they have forever or is it only a moment in time that they will be given.

This book has such a cute plot idea. Brothers best friend, childhood friends, and forbidden romance. Maddie and Cam have known each other since they were kids and developed feelings for each other as teens. However Cam is Maddie’s brother best friend so he pushes her away. Now they are both home from college and can’t deny their attraction to each other.

I wanted to love this book so much but it just wasn’t for me. I found the writing to be a bit juvenile and in need of a few rounds of editing. We get a lot of info dumping for the relationship dynamics right in the first few chapters and then we also get flashbacks. It made a lot of it unnecessary. The formatting on the kindle was so distracting and made it hard to read the book and also made it hard to understand the difference between time jumps. I did open it on the NetGalley app on my phone and it was much easier to read. I tried to read the whole book since it was an ARC but I did end up DNFing the book fairly early on.

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

The story seems to forgo plot in favor of spice. That would be fine but it's a 400 page book and at a certain point it gets repetitive. I hadn't even made it to the half-way point and I was already anticipating the third act break-up to happen (I was shocked by how much was left when I looked at the progress bar). I think it could have been edited significantly.

I loved Maddie and Cameron’s story!! All of the characters felt so real and the connections between them weren’t awkward or forced. Maddie & Cam’s childhood stories were perfectly intermixed in the story, and reading Cam’s mom’s letter made me cry. I typically go for hockey romances but I am so glad I read this football romance! Absolutely obsessed with this story and I will be recommending it to everyone. (I also love that Deanna lives in Clayton! I love supporting authors that live so close to home.)

PLAYMAKER by Deanna Faison
⭐️ rating: 6.5/10

read if you like:
🏈 football romances
🏖️ beach reads
💙 long time friends-turned-lovers
🙊 smut

summary:
After a few thrillers, I needed a casual beach read, and this book did the trick! It’s about Maddie, a college freshman, who finds herself on spring break with her brother’s best friend, future NFL star and family friend, Cameron. The two, who were once close friends drifted apart after Cameron’s mom died, quickly find themselves taken over by the sexual tension between them. But can they make it work given Cameron and her brother’s friendship? Can Cameron even make a relationship work given his focus on his athletic future?

I’m a sucker for a good athletic romance, and if you’re a fan of Elle Kennedy’s books, this is perfect. It alternates between Maddie and Cameron’s POV, which helps us get to know each of them and their vulnerabilities. I wanted there to be a little more football plot and a little less just reading about them hooking up, but I guess it comes with the genre! I wanted there to be a little more conflict though, or at least a little more unpredictability. This book plays out exactly how you would expect, without any curveballs. That being said, it’s still a satisfying romance if that’s what you’re looking for! I think I just wanted a little more Abby Jimenez, and instead it’s a little more straightforward, with everything wrapping up in a nice bow at the end.

Thanks to Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group and Net Galley for the advanced copy. If you need a beach read palette cleanser, check this out when it releases on October 22!

Maddie and Cameron grew up together, were there for the good bad and the ugly. He’s her brothers best friend and shouldn’t have an interest in her… right? When spring break comes along and things start to spark between the two of them, they go along for the ride not knowing where it’s going.
If teenage romcoms from the nineties had books, this would be one. It’s full of romance, drama, tension, everything you could want for a romcom. The plot is a bit lacking, but I feel like the vibes cover it all. The combination of what the authors writes brings the book together, and I feel like none of it would work without the other aspects.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for an eARC of this book.

Think fluffy, spicy, sports romance with a totally believable connection between the MMC and FMC. This book is so easy to adore.

OH MY GOD I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN. this book is cute, fluffy, spicy, and just so authentic. i adore cam and maddie so much, their relationship was so enticing!!! if you love brother's best friend, friends to lovers, and sports romances i cannot recommend this book enough!!!!!!!

thank you so much to NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for the arc copy <3

This was a fun book to read. Perfect if you love sports romances & books along the lines of Icebreaker.

Sports romance will always be one of my favorite books and this one delivered. I know this is a book that came from wattpad and that is quite obvious in the writing but it was still addicting. There is a lot of drama and a lot of smut. If those aren’t your thing then this book is not for you. Unfortunately I’m not obsessed with those things as well which is why it is not a 5 star for me. If you are a fan of Ice Breaker, Night Shift, Say You Swear or the Summer I Turned pretty then check this book out.

Similar titles such as books by Hannah Grace have done well at my library, so this will probably also be popular. This book wasn't particularly memorable, but still a fun way to spend a few hours.

Oh my god where do I start!?

Firstly, I just want to start off by saying thank you so much to Deanna, NetGalley & wattpad WEBTOON for adding me to your DRC list I’m so grateful to have been chosen ! 🩷

Now this book right here was the cutest love story & the spice was on point 🤌🏼 ! The plot was super captivating right from the start! It had the perfect amount of romance & plot + the main characters were super likeable. This made it super easy to get wrapped up into the story!

I also loved how we got different POVs from both Maddie & Cameron. This allowed me to gain a more emotional connection to the characters which I loved! It made the story feel more real

I also want to mention that the chapters weren’t long so it made it super easy to binge read!

Tropes

- Brothers bestfriend
- Sports romance - (Football / NFL )
- Friends to lovers

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Spice 🌶️🌶️.5 /5

OH I LOVE MADDIE AND CAMERON SO MUCH😭 this book was so freaking cute and spicy and i could not put it down!! such an incredible read and i highly recommend it!!

I have had such a hard time reading this books because of the formatting. With this formatting being so terrible it took away from the book I was trying to read. I love the premise of the book and I think it could be great if formatting and spelling were checked.

What a great book!
I loved Cameron and Maddie. They had such an amazing and intense connection. I truly enjoyed seeing their relationship develop throughout the book. The story and characters were well-developed making this book an enjoyable read.

This book is great for fans of the brother's best friend trope!

🏈brothers best friend
🏈childhood crush
🏈second chance
🏈football player
🏈secret relationship

this book was exactly what I wanted to read and I ate it up! it was a fun sports romance and the brother’s best friend aspect added just the right amount of tension 🤌🏼

I didn’t love that they kept their relationship a secret for as long as they did, but I understand that after their history it wasn’t easy to just say ‘oh yeah we’re in love now’.

Cameron has a very complicated relationship with grief and I really respect the author for diving into such a touch topic. he gave a really genuine perspective and it was sad yet healing to go along with him on his grief journey 💞

I am very excited to be reading this book! My full review to follow.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book. It was the perfect balance of cute/fun and emotional. This was a super entertaining read with really enjoyable characters. I do wish we got to see more of Maddie's parents though, they seem amazing. The book ended to soon, I want to keep reading about Maddie and Cameron. And hopefully Maya and Ethan too!

Great spice! I love the sibling relationship portrayed. The brother's best friend trope is a favorite. Faison did so well with this story. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Four stars.

This book follows two young adults as they reconnect (mainly sexually) after a conflict from 6 years ago. I was unfortunately only able to get through 50% of this book for many reasons.

The first is the formatting. This book has a lot of flashbacks and there is no clear distinction between flashbacks and present day so the current time I am reading is confusing. The only tell tale sign I’ve notified is if the MMC’s mother is in the scene. There are also many pages (I am reading on kindle) where there will only be one word of text on each line for nearly the entire page and it is just so difficult to get through. I feel as though I can’t continue to read and review the plot if I do not know what is actually going on. I understand that this is an ARC, but the formatting is nearly unreadable and there are so many errors (including misspellings of the main characters names) that I feel as though it should have been at least roughly edited and formatted before making it this far.

My other issue is not the age gap, but the age of the two characters when they are discussing when their attraction first started. I believe the age gap between the characters is 3 years and they keep talking about how their attraction first started just before the MMC started high school which puts the FMC around 5th or 6th grade (10-12 years old) and the MMC talks about how he was distracted by her breasts. Personally, I cannot read about being attracted to a literal child and it is making me uncomfortable to the point that I am unable to finish the book.

The plot is pretty good, they came home for spring break. They’re “exploring” their relationship (mainly sexually) but have an expiration date. I don’t know what’s going to happen next as I am DNFing at the 50% mark, but I assume the MMC is going to start addressing his mental health concerns and the FMC is going to help him do so and then they will tell her brother and see how it goes once they are both back at their respective schools. I just think this might have been better with a 2-3 year gap between the past issue and present day as it currently reads like a wattpad book written by someone very young