That was absolutely adorable! I loved every moment of it. It gave me all the emotions—like the butterflies of a first crush, the tears of heartbreak, and the warmth of a happy ending. Maddie and Cameron faced so many challenges, but seeing their love grow and refuse to fade no matter what was amazing.

This book had me hooked!!

Brothers best friend, sports, forbidden romance, & lots of spice with different POVs!

Maddie and Cams relationship was everything!!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and W by Wattpad Books for this ARC! I am honestly so amazed this book started on wattpad bc it is so good!!! It is a breath of fresh air. Whereas other romance books play out the third act breakup for far too long, Deanna Faison gave us just enough heartache to keep us hooked without the heartache becoming too unbearable, and I for one couldn’t have asked for it to be any other way! The book deals with what grief can do to you, cause you to push those who love you away. However, Deanna Faison showcased through the characters what course of action can help with mending those relationships we destroy when we’re consumed in grief. Cameron’s story was heart wrenching but also inspirational in the end. I really enjoyed how, despite their fears and traumas, the characters displayed the healing power of love, be it romantic, platonic, or familial. I bawled my eyes out many times throughout the second half of the book. And on a less serious note, this book is SPICY. Did not expect that much spice and I am not complaining!! This book gave me everything I love and I hope to read more books by this author!

This is a steamy brother's best friend football romance. Maddie has loved Cam since she was a little kid and though Cam is her brother's best friend, she and Cam were close too. But when Cam was starting high school, his mother died and the bottom fell out of his world. He turned to partying and women to attempt to kill the pain. He pushed Maddie away and things became very strained between them. They are both in college now and on break and they decide to try to repair their friendship. Then they find themselves unable to fight their attraction to each other. Cam is relationship adverse, so this is supposed to be a temporary arrangement until break is over and they head back to their schools. Maddie refuses to miss a moment with Cam while she has him.

This is a well-written, dual POV book with LOTS of spice. I enjoyed the book, but I would have enjoyed it more if the emotional relationship between the characters was a little more developed, but what the book lacked in emotional connection, it more than made up for in actual physical connection. I felt sorry for Cam. He clearly is damaged and struggling. Maddie refuses to give up on him. This was a fun, mspicy read and I enjoyed it.

This book had me HOOKED! It is definitely a binge-worthy and easy read. The chemistry between Maddie and Cam was palpable and emanated off of the page in the best way!

I absolutely ate this book up, sports and a forbidden romance with your brother’s best friend?!? say less.

I loved Maddie and Cameron’s chemistry so much and the flashbacks truly gave me an understanding of their relationship history.

I cannot wait to read more from Deanna Faison because I absolutely devoured this.

This is my first book from Deanna Faison and this was so cute! I am a fan of sports romance and Playmaker was so good! Loved that this book was a friends to lovers romance- esp with flashbacks between Maddie and Cameron (it had me rooting for them).

This book not only had be laughing but also some deep moments that made me cry.

If you love sports romance, brother's best friend, childhood friends to lovers, friends with benefits then I would recommend Playmaker.

I can't wait to read more from Deanna!

🌶️🌶️🌶️
💭My thoughts: They grew up together, he’s her brother’s best friend. Timing was never right, especially when she gave him space to grieve the loss of his mother. Then one night they’re at the same party during college break and thrown into the closet blindfolded for seven minutes in heaven. I loved feeling the chemistry and intense heartache along with Cameron and Maddie. Their story was so cute and I had to finish it asap, I couldn’t put it down! I did get a bit confused sometimes not knowing when it was a flashback to the past or not but it became obvious once I continued on, in those chapters. I still definitely recommend this one! Just be aware of grief and family drama.

This book is a good mix of sweet and spicy! (Maybe leaning more towards spicy)! Watching Maddie finally accept that her crush on Cameron was going nowhere—until Spring Break changes everything—was such a fun twist. Who doesn’t love a guy realizing, "Wait, why am I jealous? She’s supposed to be off limits”

The dual POV really drew me in, making their emotions feel so real as they worked through their tension! Cameron’s trauma added depth, and I loved how their story came together in the end.

The spice! Every scene delivered, and the chemistry between Cam and Maddie was on point. Their slow-burn romance, rooted in a deep connection from childhood, made this such an easy read to love. Plus, the flashbacks were a great touch! I loved getting a glimpse into their younger years!

While they face some tough challenges like grief and uncertainty, their story is seriously engaging. It's a fluffy, spicy sports romance with an authentic connection that’s so easy to enjoy!

This was so cute! If you're looking for a very quick and easy romance read, this book is for you!

Cameron is the NFL bound hometown hero and ladies man. He's also Maddie's brother's best friend.
Maddie is the pre med student who hates partying and prefers staying in to read her books.
They were really close when they were young but had a falling out 5 years prior and have barely spoken since.
This book takes place during spring break when Cameron and Maddie are both home from their respective colleges. Feelings from a long since forgotten crush resurface and they are forced to acknowledge the tension between them.
It has everything I want in a romance book. Tension, pinning, jealousy, flashbacks, secrecy and spice!

Overall I enjoyed. It was well written and I liked the college setting and characters. Can’t wait to add to my bookshelf.

This book had me hooked from the beginning . A jealous Cameron is my favorite Cameron. I adored Maddie and Cameron both as individuals and as a couple. They both really grew and their behavior and character made sense from what they experienced. The only thing I would have changed is sometimes the internal dialogue became repetitive, but otherwise I loved it. Maya and Ethan are going to be fun 😍

I am newer to sports romances and was excited to dip my toes in with this one. Honestly, Deanna… what did you put in this ?! I didn’t just dip my toes, I was all in. I’ll admit I really wanted to dislike Cameron with his player vibes but quickly understood why Maddie has been crushing on him for so long! It’s spicy, in a she’s my best friend’s sister and definitely off limits kind of way. The dual POV really worked at setting the history between the two and exploring the spring break forbidden friend-with-benefits situation-ship. Definitely a binge worthy sports romance novel with some important conversations surrounding grief and friendship, while also exploring forbidden romance, my brother’s best friend and spicy, oh so spicy scenes.

✵𝖬𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖶𝖺𝗍𝗍𝗉𝖺𝖽, 𝖣𝖾𝖺𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝖥𝖺𝗂𝗌𝗈𝗇 ＆ 𝖭𝖾𝗍𝖦𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗀𝗂𝖿𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖠𝖽𝗏𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋’𝗌 𝖢𝗈𝗉𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗆𝗒 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝗏𝗂𝖾𝗐.✵

Playmaker by Deanna Faison is a steamy romance that is a prime example of the brothers best friend trope. This book is perfect for anyone that wants a fast paced romance with lots of spice and steam. This story is reliable in a sense if you are in need of a straight forward university romance. Although it was not my cup of tea, I would recommend to anyone that enjoys a university sports romance.

A great brother’s best friend romance! I was initially drawn to this book because of how cute the cover is. The main characters Maddie and Cameron were meant to be with each other. I loved how all the history they had between each other was explored.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I absolutely adored this book! It ended up being less of a sports romance and more of a book about grief and forgiveness. Cameron and Maddie were two great characters. They have flaws, but they are aware of them and want to work on them.

Cameron is an extremely flawed character. He lost his mom suddenly to cancer and still never fully processed it. His grief process was t sleep around to dull the pain. His relationship with his father is also strained since his mothers death. Cam always had feeling for Maddie, but when hi mother died he shut down and iced her out. That is where the main conflict of this story starts. Cam and Maddie are both home for spring break and realize that all those years of suppressing their true feelings is no longer feasible. Cam vows to become a better person so that he is worthy of Maddie. I will say, although we have a slight third act breakup, overall he is a pretty decent communicator. He is upfront with Maddie about his flaws so she is never in the dark for long.

Maddie is out great FMC. She is smart and protective of her heart. She has had feelings for Cam basically her whole life and even though they had a falling out, those feelings kept her from meeting other people. She had her standards set and was not willing to settle for less. She knew what Cam needed, whether it be a push or a shoulder to cry on. She is the only one who truly saw Cam and saw the pain he dealt with everyday. She never tried to hold him back from his goals, and he constantly supported her also.

Our main conflicts were Cam not being able to express how he truly felt because of fear of being abandoned, and of how Ethan would react. Luckily these two realized that they were it for one another just like Cam's mom wanted them to be.

The spice was SPICING! I really loved how there was an equal amount of plot to smut. There were enough spicy scenes to placate me, but not too much as to be without plot. Each scene felt intentional.

Normally I would say that the romance between these two characters happened very fast, but considering their past I think it was more a long time coming and the timeline actually made sense.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was my first by the author and I definitely want to read more. Can't wait to read Ethan and Maya's story!

Thank you to Wattpad and Deanna Faison for this eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book soooooo badly. Sports romance, brothers best friend, spicy lessons are some of my favorite tropes
But at the end of the day, I couldn’t vibe with the characters
When Cameron was all proud of himself for not hooking up with anyone since him and Maddie kissed I wanted to scream it’s been like a day?!

I felt like some instances the male and female character were so immature which is super normal! They are 19/21!
But other times they were so profound and deep and I’m like what 19 talks and thinks like that

Playmaker is a steamy rom-com that is perfect for those bookworms looking for a new sports romance to sink into.

This is a fun and easy book to get lost in for a weekend. I am a sucker for a brother's best-friend/ secret romance. There is just something so exciting and delicious watching the characters fall in love with each other in secret. The heightened emotions of getting caught just make for such an addictive read. This is a dual POV story, which I loved. It was great being able to see inside both character's heads and watch as they try and fail to fight those emotions they are feeling for each other. The spice was great, and I loved that steamy, lusty tension between these two characters.

For those in their icebreaker and off-campus era! We have a brother's bestie/estranged childhood bestie reconnecting when they're both home over spring break. Plenty of spice, melt worthy moments and alllllll the longing glances until Maddie and Cameron finally giving into their feelings. And it's everything you wanted it to be.

While I wanted a bit more depth to the emotional portions of the plot and really really wanted an epilogue, I loved watching Maddie and Cameron fall in love in this one sitting read, perfect for anytime of year!


Thank you Netgalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group | W by Wattpad Books for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Rating: 2.5 stars rounded up

Review: In general, was this a bad book? No, not at all. But there were definitely issues with it that editing should've caught. One, the writing style was incredibly chunky. The sentences often left me stumbling over how uncomfortable/uncoordinated they were. There was also such potential for the plot/character development, but the focus SO quickly shifted to the spicy scenes that a lot of the potential was lost. Like we already knew Cam was someone who hooked up with a lot of people, providing a very detailed example of him hooking up with someone who wasn't Maddie was incredibly unnecessary and felt like spice for spice's sake. While I understand that the point was that Cam was traumatized and broken by the loss of his mom, we just heard about it over and over again, in near verbatim sentences, and he didn't really do anything to try to change except say that he was going to try at the very end. In general, just fell flat for me. I'd definitely give the author another chance because again, I really think these are things an editor should have caught, but I'm not running to recommend it

Synopsis: Cameron's a hot NFL prospect, and a total player on and off the field. But his moves don't seem to work on Maddie. While she once crushed on him hard, that crush has since faded. She’s got big plans of her own and they don’t include him.

Then Spring Break turns their plans, and their feelings, upside down. Maddie and Cameron start a steamy affair, sneaking around behind their families’ backs. But there's one big problem: Maddie’s WAY overprotective brother–who happens to be Cameron’s BFF.

Will Cam be able to admit he's got real feelings? Will Maddie ever be able to stand up to her brother and make her own decisions?

One thing's for sure, their choices will change their life playbooks for good.