So first off I want to say how good this book was, I loved it.
Also I really liked the cover of this book. :)

Maddie and Cameron were best friends growing up along Maddie’s brother Ethan. Maddie's brother is a major background character in this book, his role in this story is very important. So Maddie and Cameron grew feelings that they could both feel and Cameron had to do what he thought was the right thing and stop the friendship. Was he right???? The way he did it broke her heart and she has always had issues with dating and finding the right guy all throughout her life, do they get their 2nd chance or does Cameron push her away again????
You are gonna have to read to find out about that whole journey. And what a story it is.
College Spring Break is here and they all are back in town together.
There was a lot of emotions, bickering, chemistry and drama. The thought of Maddie being his best friend's sister plays a ton in his head and so does how much his best friend's family was there for him through everything. The history between these two (how they grew up together and all the family dynamics) had me cheering them from page one. A lot of dad drama for Cameron also. There is a lot going on in this book. That's what makes it good and you wanting to keep reading it to find out more.
I think that the one negative thing I could say about this book was maybe the character development could have been a bit better and more sweet scenes (not all spicy) to show that it's not just hormones or physical attraction but real caring about each other. But not every book can be exactly just that or the plots might get boring, so I am ok with the decisions made for this book.

This was my first book from the author and I cant wait to see what else they have written now. :)

I love a good sports romance book and this one had me blushing and giggling! Best friend's little sister, childhood friends, dual POV. It was entertaining from start to finish and I loved every second!

Thank you to Wattpad books and NetGalley for the advanced E-ARC of this title.
Tropes included: Brother's best friend, college aged romance, childhood crush, virgin MFC, and found family.

This author is new to me, but I found her writing style to be similar to that of Hannah Grace, without the long lulls in plot. Deanna Faison makes 400 pages go by in a flash.
The characters were well developed with palpable chemistry. I always love when the MMC is torn between his demons and not feeling worthy of love. Cameron is the epitome of this. He has everything to lose by falling for his best friends little sister, yet can't fight being drawn to her.

Maddie may play the role of innocent virgin, but she holds her own against bad boy Cameron. The back and forth, stolen glances, and secret moments between the two made this a delectable read.

I absolutely LOVED *Playmaker* by Deanna Faison! The relationship progression between Maddie and Cameron was pure perfection—everything just flowed so naturally between them. Cameron’s character had so much depth, especially with how he was dealing with the loss of his mother and trying to navigate his grief throughout the story. It really added layers to his character, and the yearning between him and Maddie? Chef’s kiss!

While I’m usually not a fan of a third-act breakup, I appreciated that Cameron didn’t take the typical route of saying he didn’t love Maddie. Instead, he told her the truth behind his reasons, which made the whole situation feel more honest and heartfelt. It was a refreshing take that I really respected.

This book checked all the boxes for me, and I loved how comfortable the main characters were with each other. I can’t recommend *Playmaker* enough!

OH I JUST LOVE MADDIE & CAMERON SO MUCH!

there's just something that hits different about a sports romance with brother's best friend, secret romance, friends to lovers, & childhood crush!!🔥

if you're looking for something easy to read, but filled with all things nice & spice, then this is IT for you! maddie is head over heels for cameron, who just happens to be her older brother's best friend. she's loved him since she was a kid, but as he gets older and comes off as a total playboy, she thinks her chance is long gone.. FAST FORWARD to spring break and things finally start to roll!! when i tell you this man was SAT for her, I MEAN IT!

my favorite part of this book was that we could see things unravel from both maddie and cameron's perspective. it was so clear that they both needed each other, but were afraid of what would happen if they just let their walls down and let it happen. ALTHOUGH this book was spicy, there was some raw emotions in it, too. the trauma that cameron went through made me want to run into the book and give him the biggest hug. maddie brought out the best in him, and i just love how she was there for him through it all. AND THEN WHEN HE CARRIED HER DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!! i was done for.

in all, this book was everything i needed! 4 stars for me⭐️

thank you, netgalley, wattpad books, & deanna, for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!🫶🏼

3.75 rounded up to 4⭐️ 2.5🌶️
Brother’s best friend is always a hit for me so overall, I really enjoyed this book. The tension between Cameron and Maddie was superb and I really enjoyed how the spice helped move the plot along!! I wish there would have been more development shown with their relationship and their backstory as well as a little bit more development of their current relationship rather than going from 0-100 in 2 seconds. I know they have such a huge history but without much background other than bits and pieces, I was left wanting a little bit more. The end wrapped up abruptly but it made sense for how limited the conflict was. The supporting characters were a hit and I am so happy with the Maya/Ethan subplot, it added drama to the story that was fun and I’d definitely read a book about them.

I will definitely read more from Deanna and I’d say Playmaker will be a hit for people who love brother’s best friend spicy college romances with so much tension it could be cut with a knife!!

I was excited for this based on the premise but ultimately did not enjoy this very much. I love NA sports romance but this was heavy on the spice and not much else. Honestly if this was not an arc, I would have DNFed it. Just not enough story.

It was cute. I’m a sucker for brothers best friend trope. The ending seemed a little rushed, but I liked it overall.
Thank you NetGalley for the Arc

Tropes:
Brothers best friend
Forbidden/Secret Romance
Sports Romance
Childhood friends to Loveds

What to expect:
- college romance
- he plays football
- brother's best friend
- overprotective big brother!
- lots of tension
- secret friend with benefits
- he was her childhood crush
- open door
- dual pov

This just wasn't for me.

I felt like there were too many spicy scenes. For me, they took away from everything else. There needed to be a bit more character development and really plot development. It seemed like those were sort of rushed or discarded for spice.

There really isn't much to say other than that. It was, for me, flat and became a bit boring. I found myself skimming towards the end to get through it. If you're looking for something spice heavy, you will enjoy it absolutely.


Thank you to Netgalley, Wattpad WEBTOON, and Deanna Faison for this gifted arc.

First and foremost, thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON group for sending me this ARC in exchange for n honest review.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A sweet brother’s best friend book detailing a journey of grief and overcoming parental expectations to find your own happiness. I loved most of the aspects of this book. The romance was sweet and the spice was just enough not to retract from the storyline.

My only dislikes were it being marketed as a sports romance, but there was no sports outside of mention of him being an athlete and his professional aspirations.

I wouldn't say that I was entirely impressed with this book. It read like a bad fanfiction with so many errors and very little plot besides a girl having a crush on her brothers best friend, and him feeling the same but expressing it by sleeping with any girl that moves, except her, until he does.

Thank you to Deanna Faison, Wattpad Webtoon Book Group, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

This book was an easy, entertaining binge read. I loved the characters, on the surface very typical “I’m madly in love with my older brothers best friend” Maddie and “I sleep around because I’ve been hurt and didn’t learn how to emote in a healthy way” Cameron are a solid win for this genre of novel. However, to go deeper and have them both experience a loss that shaped them and is integral to both their past and who they become was another layer that made this novel even better. Spicy, fun, and with two characters that you can actually believe could figure it out, this novel was genuinely enjoyable.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

The plot was fun and flirty with lots of chemistry between main characters. Somehow I wasn't sold on the sum of the parts together, because separately they are great. Beware that there is trauma within this through death of a parent so don't read if this is something that can trigger you.

There was character development, but not enough to sell it for me. I think because the writing felt a little lazy in the sense that over and over and over they called Maddy "a bore" when they could literally use any other language to get the point across. In this sense it felt repetitive.

Thank you NetGalley, Wattpad Webtoon Book Group and Deanna Faison for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Maddie, her brother Ethan and his best friend Cam grew up together and were extremely close until a few years ago when Cam pushed Maddie way while grieving the loss of his mother. Fast forward to now, they’re all home over spring break and Maddie and Cam still aren’t friends. Despite this, both of them cannot get the other out of their mind. A few tense interactions pushes both of them towards crossing lines.

This book was a lot of lust, partying and sex but also had pieces of grief, basically parent abandonment, self discovery and support.

Open door.
Brother’s best friend.
Secrecy.
Former ‘playboy’

3.75/5 ⭐️s
🌶️🌶️1/2 - medium to heavy spice

LOVES:
- I am absolutely here for the side story with Maddie’s brother, Ethan and Maddie’s friend, Maya 💖
- The flashback scenes are cute
- Maddie is a relatable, real person who takes no shit. She has insecurities like anyone, but she’s mature and kind. She’s a great FMC.
- Ethan is really good friend to Cameron 💕 I really appreciate when they have real talk moments
- As much as Cameron irritates for a while, he does have a good redemption arc. He’s still a little cocky for my personal preference, but I did grow to like him.

CRITIQUES:
- The way it’s written is not completely off-putting, but I just don’t want to see the MMC get with another girl
- Cameron is kind of a major jerk. I’m cool with the bad boy being sweet for only one girl, but he takes it a little too far for my tastes 😒 he just needs therapy real bad.
- Yikes, Cameron’s dad. Obviously written as a problematic character, but he just made me so MAD.

This quote kind of represents one of my major issues with this book:

“Doesn’t she realize how much I care for her her?
*Why would she when you’ve treated her like shit for the past six years?*”

I really enjoyed a lot of this book. There were some things that didn’t match up with what I was looking for, but I was still rooting for these two in their relationship and in their relationships with the other characters too.

Thanks to @netgalley and @wattpadbooks for the eARC 💝

Dual childhood crushes with an only for her reformed playboy, yes please! Too bad it wasn't as well executed as I would have hoped. I wanted to like our MC's but had issues connecting with them both. Maddie lacked dimension with more telling than showing. I wanted more about her connection to Cameron's mom Stacey to explain her dive for school work and to become an oncologist. And Cameron repetitively bring up how many women he's slept with and how good he was at it just wore thin. I think if written differently it could have come off more as confident and cocky vs borderline sleazy. And he leaned on his trauma as a constant excuse as opposed to learning from it.

The dialogue was also cringy at times, like the author was trying to hard to make it sound dirty. I will give Faison credit for the fact that it was a fast read, that I breezed though. I would consider picking up a future book to see if it had the same issues, but not in the near future.

Tropes: best friends sister, dual pov, childhood crush, sports romance, virgin FMC
TW's: Cancer, death of a parent, toxic parental relationship, grief

Thank you to Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group | W by Wattpad Books for the ARC of Playmaker!

Deanna Faison delivers an addictive mix of sports romance and the ever-enticing brother’s best friend trope. What starts as a casual spring break fling quickly escalates for Maddie and Cameron, bringing to life Maddie’s long-buried childhood crush on her brother’s best friend—now a rising NFL prospect with a reputation as a total player. Their chemistry is off-the-charts, and their secretive relationship is packed with tension, making each stolen moment feel all the more thrilling.

Set against the stunning Arizona landscape, the story weaves together the excitement of forbidden romance and the complexities of navigating feelings in a high-stakes world. Maddie’s protective brother adds an extra layer of conflict, keeping readers on edge as she and Cameron try to balance their budding relationship with family loyalty and future ambitions.

With a well-crafted dual POV, Faison allows readers to dive deep into both characters' perspectives, making their journey from a spring break fling to a deeper connection feel incredibly satisfying. Playmaker is a perfect college romance for fans of steamy sports novels, offering just the right mix of heat, heart, and high-stakes drama. If you loved Icebreaker, Night Shift, or Tessa Bailey's spicier rom-coms, this BookTok favorite is sure to hit the mark. Highly recommended for those craving a fast-paced, entertaining read with a hint of drama and plenty of romance!

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

I’m a sucker for sports romance and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. Highly recommend and can’t wait to add it to my bookshelf.

Wowww I absolutely loved this sports romance for football season and I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a spicy, bingeable story! I loved the relationship between Cameron and Maddie, their chemistry was entertaining and the sneaking around was added fun.

What To Expect:
-- Brother’s Best Friend
-- Friends to Lovers
-- Reformed Playboy

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and Deanna Faison for an eARC of Playmaker!