This book started out hot and heavy! I loved the characters and their story. I loved watching them grow. The forbidden secret love, the sneaking around, and the HEAT! My oh my! This was a very fun read, and it also took you on an emotional journey

Absolutely loved Playmaker!!! I fell in love with Maddie and Cameron I wish there was more to read! The ending seemed a little rushed to me I kind of wish there was a bigger moment at the end but happy it all worked out in the end!

Playmaker by Deanna Faison
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I adored this book from beginning to end, it had me giggling kicking my feet and crying in the same chapter. The chemistry between Maddie and Cameron was captivating, and I especially enjoyed the flashbacks to their younger years. The book struck a perfect balance between plot and spice, and the way the characters were written made it easy to fall in love with them. I also found myself falling in love with Deanna's writing, and thanks to Netgalley, I'm now eager to read her other books. Many thanks to Deanna Faison, Netgalley, and Wattpad WEEBTOON for this ARC!

Read Playmaker if you love
🔹Sports Romance
🔹Best Friend’s Little Sister
🔹Dual POV
🔹Friends with benefits
🔹Childhood Friends

Love this and I read in one sitting! It had the right balance of spicy and actual storyline! Love love Cam! Definitely will be buying this books

I am obsessed!! I couldn’t put this down and when I had to I couldn’t stop thinking about being able to read it!

Have you ever started reading a book and within the first page you knew that you loved the authors writing and that this was going to be good? Playmaker was that for me.

This had the perfect balance of plot and spice. I loved the flashback to when Maddie and Cam were younger. This really helped with understanding their history and their characters. The chemistry and longing between Maddie and Cam really made you fall in love with them.

What to expect:
- Sports Romance
- Best Friend’s Little Sister
- Dual POV
- Friends with Benefits
- Spicy
- Childhood Friends

I cannot wait to see what Deanna writes next!

Thank you to Deanna Faison, NetGalley, and Wattpad WEBTOON for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

I ate this book up 👏🏼 This was such a cute sports/falling for the brother’s best friend romance. This book had me reading at red lights in the car because I had to see what was going to happen next!
Hoping there will be a second book, I would love to see what comes next for these 2!

This book was a cute college romance and childhood romance. I would definitely recommend this book. It is a super easy read and the storyline flowed really well. I never got bored, something was happening at every turn. The relationship that Cameron and Maddie had most people can relate too. Parents always trying to do the right thing when it comes to their children. Deanna (The Author) did an amazing job on covering how it is to have to depend on your parents while your still in college and also shows how being a child you are always wanting to make your parents proud and happy. Thank you Deanna and Watt Pad for giving me the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book. I love love loved this book.

Cameron and Maddie spend a steamy spring break together only to realize they might be falling for one another. The fact that Maddie's older brother is Cameron's best friend only further complicates things. A spicy sports romance with an HEA.

If you like sweet, smuty romances you will propably like this book. For me, it felt a little flat, too much smut and not enough story, I would have love to see more character development and not only with the two main character, don't get me wrong there was some but not enough in my opinion. I liked the characters, especially Maya, I don't know she just she seems so sweet. Also I was so lost between Maddie, Maya and Mary (female main character, best friend, mother) for about 40 % of the book, it's probably my fault tho.

Just want to give a quck spoiler alert before reading this review because there might be something people may consider to be a spoiler.

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON for an arc of this book.

Ugh i love Maddie so much. She reminds me of myself. and Cameron is so hot. Though there were parts that made me dislike him, he ended up redeeming himself by the end.

Some thing i disliked about this book: I feel like the mention of his mother became to much. it would be brought up to much I feel. I undersand that it was a big part of the book, <spoiler> it was the reason why Maddie and Cam stopped talking. <spoiler>

Something I liked, however, was the ressemblance to the Summer I Turned Pretty. I didnt like the books that much to be honest, they felt to young for me, but I liked how Cam gave off Conrad vibes, though i am team Jellyfish all the way!

Thank you again to NetGalley for giving me an arc!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶

Synopsis:
Playmaker follows Maddie and Cameron as they dive into a friends-with-benefits arrangement during a spring break, only to find themselves falling for each other. As their romance heats up, they must navigate secrets, overprotective siblings, and the realities of their changing feelings, setting the stage for life-changing decisions and unexpected love.

Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed Playmaker and ended up binge-reading it. It's a delightful, easy read, and I absolutely adore Maddie and Cam. Their chemistry is palpable, and I found it compelling to watch Cam come to terms with his feelings. If you're a fan of spicy sports romances, I highly recommend it!

Thank you Deanna Faison, Net Galley and Wattpad Webtoon Book Group for the ARC.

I don’t normally read sports romance but I enjoyed this one. A fun & quick read. YA romance. Includes - Brother’s best friend, Friends to lovers & Sports romance.

Thank you to Wattpad Webtoon Book Group, Netgalley and Deanna Faison for an ARC copy. All opinions are my own.

“Playmaker” by Deanna Faison is an irresistible blend of steamy sports romance and the forbidden brother’s best friend trope. What was supposed to be a fling for spring break quickly turns into something more for Maddie and Cameron, rekindling Maddie’s unrequited childhood crush on Cameron, now a hot NFL prospect and total player. Their chemistry is electric, and their sneaky, behind-the-scenes relationship keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Set in the beautiful backdrop of Arizona, which I particularly enjoyed as a local, the story captures the thrill of forbidden love and the challenges of navigating feelings in a world of high stakes and family expectations. Maddie’s overprotective brother, who is also Cameron’s best friend, adds an exciting layer of tension and conflict to the story.

Through a satisfying Dual POV, Faison skillfully develops the characters, making their journey from a casual spring break fling to a potentially serious relationship both engaging and emotionally satisfying.

“Playmaker” is the perfect college romance—young, steamy, and full of ambition. It’s based on the smash Webnovel “MY BROTHER’S BEST FRIEND” and is perfect for fans of Hannah Grace’s “Icebreaker,” Annie Crown’s “Night Shift,” and Tessa Bailey’s spicy rom-coms. This BookTok sensation delivers all the heat, heart, and drama you could want in a college sports romance. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a fun and spicy story that’s a breeze to read.

Read if you like:
🏈 Brother’s Best Friend
🏈 Friends to Lovers
🏈 Reformed Playboy
🏈 Sports Romance
🏈 Open Door Romance

3.5⭐️ but I think 4 stars is more fair, solely because I just don’t think that I am the targeted audience.

The story, characters, dialogue is very very very much college minded. It’s all very juvenile…it feels like my favorite romance books I read in high school, but much spicier (which was well written spice scenes I’ll give you that). With that said though, I would’ve enjoyed the hell out of this book in my early 20’s. The writing was great, the characters were really fun to read about. There were big feelings and trauma that they had to navigate. Cameron and Maddie were so damn cute! I mean seriously, what a sweet young couple!! 🥹 All in all, this was a very fun, great, lovely little romance book to read I just don’t think it’s in my romance space that I usually go for!

Thank you so much for the arc🫶🏼

An easy to read sports romance between a brother’s best friend and little sister dynamics, and includes a childhood crush. This book is more romance than romcom, more spice than plot.

I have two big issues with the story.

First off, the characters aren’t well thought out and read as more caricatures or tropes. Maddie’s personality is solely that she wants to be a doctor and is a virgin. Just because partying isn’t her thing doesn’t mean she couldn’t have hobbies, things in the story that give her depth, etc. Cameron has a few more elements to his character (football player, playboy, dealing with the loss of his mom, etc) but it still comes across as more convenient to pull in traditional literary trips vs a well thought through main character.

Secondly, the contradiction of how both characters come across as more YA but there is so much sexual content it obviously can’t be a YA book. For example, their ’love’ for each other feels like that of teenagers (closer to lust) since it’s based in physical desire and not aligning to anything more substantial (e.g., shared interests, life goals, etc). I would have been much happier if either this was a YA book (and sexual content removed) or if the characters and plot were more mature to match the new adult romance genre.

I received a free copy of this book; I wasn’t paid for this review.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book! I enjoyed it as it was a fun and easy read. I loved the characters and I love a sports romance. I wish there had been more banter and tension between Maddie and Cameron. I felt like they fell too fast. I did enjoy their love story and kind of hoping it will continue. Would love to hear Maya and Ethans story and see if Maddie and Cameron make it. Does Cameron get drafted? I need to know lol!

I’m always a sucker for a sports romance (especially football) and became obsessed with their story! It’s a quick read and perfect for the fall! Loved the chemistry between Cam and Maddie! Would definitely rec this!

What a fun read! A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced read. While there are many sports romance novels out there, this was much deeper about the bonds of family. I loved it!

This book was cute! A fun blend of drama, spice, and romance. I enjoyed the characters and their “it’s always been you” love story, my favorite kind!

“The truth is, anywhere he goes, I’ll gladly follow because home isn’t a place. It’s with him.” Maddie - Playmaker: Deanna Faison

I was so thrilled to have the chance to read this before it comes out! This is my first arc and I was not disappointed in the least!!

Wattpad knows what’s up. All the authors I’ve ever read from there, understands the assignment!

This book was no different!! I loved this book with everything in me! The characters, the dialogue, and the emotions all came together for me and it could not have been more perfect! Maddie is resilient and an undeniable force that just pulls you just as much as it pulled Cameron. Cameron! MY MAN! He might be an occasional a** BUT… he always knew how to treat Maddie. There was no ifs, ands, or buts when it came to her!

I was a little irritated but that’s because I feel the situation with Maddie’s Brother could totally have been handled another way, I wasn’t mad, nor does it drop my rating because I loved the book through and through.

This is the perfect summer/spring break read!! I enjoyed every minute and you will too 😍❤️