Such a fun book that I can see being a tiktok smash! I really enjoyed this!

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

This book is the perfect palette cleanser for anyone craving something a little nice but spicy. Brothers best friend 🥵 i absolutely love a book with dual POV because you get the emotions and thoughts of both characters and it was done nicely. You could feel all their emotions tangled together in every interaction until they finally let the tension loose. Beautiful written and the spice was on point!

This did not stand out to me. However, if you like enemies to lovers and new adult romances you would love this. If you enjoy Hannah Grace, you will love this!!

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.

I loved this book! Maddie and Cam have the best chemistry.

And these tropes:
Sports Romance
Friends with Benefits
Secret Relationship
Brother's Best Friend
Dual POV

Where do I sign? This is the perfect beach read, and was a great balance between spice and plot, which was so great.

Check this one out!

This book was absolutely adorable!! I loved the relationship between Cam and Maddie…growing up together, falling out and reconnecting…him realizing he had feelings for her…her growth…him teaching her and giving her confidence….the brothers best friend…just for the summer….loved all of this so much. This book was fun, flirty and spicy and just an absolutely delightful read 💕

I just know a sports romance x brother's best friend x childhood friend book HATES to see me comin'.

So... I did like this and enjoy it. I was drawn to it based on the cover and description of the books. It sounds like something right up my alley. But. BUT. :( In my opinion, it was a little imbalanced when it came to the plot/smut. I thought it was fun, it has great tropes and was a quick one. But I was not entirely crazy about the characters and found myself skimming some parts (mostly the spice) because of it.

Synopsis:

Cameron's a hot NFL prospect, and a total player 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. Spring Break turns their plans, and their feelings, upside down. They 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?

Review:

This was a steamy friends to lovers/brothers best friend read. I enjoyed seeing the character growth for all the main characters throughout the book. The book goes between Maddie & Cameron's POV so you got to know both characters quite well that way. They both had some deeper stuff they had to work through to be able to be together. I liked that Maddie was a curvy girl because we don't get enough rep! I'm fairly new to the sports romance world but I enjoyed this - my first football romance! I've been reading mostly hockey so far.

Thank you to Wattpad Books for my finished copy.

I am absolutely getting a physical copy of this book. I love every second of it.
The tension, the chemistry, absolutely done right.

This is a good light read with so much substance to it that keeps the reader engaged. Spice aside, Deanna Falson did well in keeping the story and the plot alive without letting sex be the center of it all. This book could have easily become a messy plot with juvenile adults, but the characters were well developed and the story line was true to what it should be.

This book was so good! Full of sweetness and tons of spice! It was dual POV and was written well in both points of view. It had some of my favorite tropes- brothers best friend, sports romance, childhood crush, and friends to lovers! I think this author has a ton of potential and will be going places as she grows as an author!

Thank you NetGalley and Deanna Faison for this ARC!

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★☆☆
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Deanna Faison
𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 400
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: October 22, 2024

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭
🏈 𝚂𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎
🏈 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝, 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛
🏈 𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍
🏈 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎
🏈 𝚁𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚍-𝚋𝚘𝚢
🏈 𝙳𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝙿𝙾𝚅

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛, 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐

This book was a fun, easy read and the tropes in this book are always a good go-to. There is a lot of witty banter between Maddie and Cameron, and the spice was hot enough to burn However, there were some heavier concepts mixed into the plot that felt overshadowed by the amount of spice, and that took away from some of the impact I think this story could have had. I would recommend this book if you need a good palette cleanser!

I had a blast reading this, I loved the main character and I absolutely love seeing some curvy girl representation especially in sports romance. I’m so happy to got a physical copy for my shelf because this book was so fun and I literally could not put it down! Thank you to the author Deanna for sending me a physical Arc and for Netgally for this e-arc

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
SPICE: 🔥🔥🔥

I am always a sucker for a brothers best friend sports romance. Always, so when I saw this, I had to give it a chance.

💙 Football Romance
💙 Brothers Best Friend
💙 Reformed Playboy
💙 Secret Relationship

There were some parts I enjoyed immensely, like the history between Cameron and Maddie and the chemistry between them. Cam is a total playboy who owns it, but Maddie cannot help but fall for him, and he can’t resist her. And there was such an emotional connection between them as they grew closer due to Cameron’s past trauma.

Ans the spice was really good, and pretty plentiful. Honestly I loved that it was a bit more spice than I expected! Ans I love the little bit of forbidden aspect of this because Maddie is completely off limits!

This one has some trigger warnings so definitely check those out and has a bit of back and forth drama because it’s set in college, but it’s a fun quick read if you love these tropes.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 🌶️🌶️

This was sweet and spicy, and if you’re into new adult sports romance, you will definitely enjoy this!

I’m finding as I get older, I am struggling with the new adult genre but these two had chemistry and it was fun nonetheless.

Thanks to the publisher and the author for the finished book, as well as netgalley for the arc.

Such a perfect and cute read and perfect timing for the sports season. I am a sports romance girly and this was just my speed. I loved all the few good moments and the characters connection. There were the make you blush and feel giddy but also keep you not wanting to put it down feels.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

What a fun read from Deanne Faison. I enjoyed the easy going, spring break vibe this whole book had going on. Ok, not the entire book; I mean there is some deep, real world stuff happening, as well; but the overall mood of the book is light hearted, falling in love, having fun on spring break. I love a story where a girl he grew up with is more than just his best friend’s little sister. Having to admit those feelings to not only yourself, but others; one of my favorite tropes.

Cameron and Maddie have grown up together. These two had chemistry from the get go and I couldn’t wait to see how Deanne was going to have their relationship unfold as I continued reading. I also really enjoyed seeing these two grow together. It was clear, they were both just about the pleasure they could get from one another in the beginning. But as they continued to see each other, they had to talk about some hard topics and decide to move forward together or go their separate ways. Their outlook at relationships and each other matured as the story progressed.

Cam’s story was full of grief and what can happen when you don’t deal with grief properly. However, Deanne used this topic to discuss the dangers of letting grief control you and Cameron’s story turned into something inspirational. I loved how she didn’t harp on Cam letting go of his grief and just getting over his loss. She wrote how grief is valid and important, it may never go away, but you can’t let it take over your life and shut you down. I really loved her perspective on grief.

Through the dual POV the reader is fully able to immerse themselves into what the characters are feeling, in the moment. Although the chemistry of these two was leaking off the pages, they still had a lot working against them. The side characters Deanne wrote that the MCs turned to were a perfect addition to this book. Lots of heart, lots of healing, and lots of spice!

As always, review any author notes before reading.

Tropes:
✨Brother's best friend
✨Childhood crush
✨Friends to lovers
✨Secret romance
✨Sports Romance

I really thought I would love this book with it being a sports romance, brother's best friend, second chance romance, etc.. but it was all spice no plot. I am 30 and I think I'm just too old for this one because it felt so childish emotionally. Maddie is in love with her brother's best friend, Cam, but they haven't spoken in years since he broke her heart. They are forced to spend time together over spring break and end up reconnecting. I almost quit reading when I found out the big dramatic heartbreak that had them quit speaking for years was that he almost kissed her when she was 13 years old then changed his mind.. like what... Cam is also a walking red flag and I couldn't understand the attraction to him.

✅ college football romance 🏈
✅ Maddie, pre-med & Cameron, pre NFL
✅ brother’s best friend
✅ dual POV
✅ f***boy falling in love
🌶️: yes. And it’s not a slow burn

3.75⭐️

Was this book cheesy, predictable and definitely read like a wattpad book? Yes. But was it cute, sexy and addicting as hell? YES! I read this in one sitting and couldn’t put it down for the life of me. Maddie and Cameron were so sweet and I appreciated the communication between the two instead of usual books written this way where the writing easily falls into juvenile territory.

✨Brother’s Best Friend
✨Sports Romance (he’s a football player but there’s no games and it’s during Spring Break)
✨Secret Romance
✨Childhood Crush
✨Reformed Player
✨She’s the one that makes him feel again
✨Grief

This was the perfect palate cleanser after reading lots of fantasy and darker romance. It was an easy read that made you turn the pages until you realize you're at the end. I couldn't help myself but to root for Maddie and Cameron and every time those two figured out something gave me that fuzzy warm feeling. There were funny moments, swoon worthy declarations and some 80's worthy I will do anything for you moments. This was definitely a book to get your mind off of real life and just enjoy someone else's love story.

The chemistry between Maddie and Cam is unreal. They are so in tune with each other and I loved the whole childhood friends turned lovers.

But, I felt the whole book read a little young. Like I was too old to be reading it. I did not enjoy the time jumps. They weren’t really indicated so it would take a minute to figure out that it was a memory. I also felt like they were so young in the memories (like 6th and 8th grade) and some of the moments felt very mature for that age group.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad book group for this ARC