Playmaker by Deanna Faison @deannafaisonbooks

I am going to be honest, I don’t read a lot of sports romance books but there was something about the synopsis of this book that piqued my interest!!

Maddie is pre-med and Cameron is on his way to the NFL and happens to be Maddie’s brother's best friend… He is the epitome of off limits but the sizzle between them can’t be tamed and they spend their vacation time hooking up in secret, things get right off course for both of them.

I like Maddie. I don’t normally like characters that have the kind of personality she does but you can tell she is really sweet under the facade. She has always had feelings for Cam and he hurt her once so you can see why she comes across so standoffish in the beginning. Don’t even get me started on Cam. I felt my palms start to sweat right from the get go. He is a total F*$k boy but you know you wouldn’t say no and those men…. Walking red flags but you know you gonna dip your toe in. I feel like you weren’t supposed to like him because he is a total dog but you can tell he was doing it to fill a void.

The spice was **CHEFS KISS** perfect for me. Plus the book is loaded with all your favorite tropes.

Friends to lovers CHECK
Forbidden Love CHECK
Sport romance DOUBLE CHECK
Brother’s best friend CHECKKKKKKK

This book is pretty much Cam and Maddie fighting and F-ing with some cutesy moments in between. I could have used more of their childhood, I felt like it missed an opportunity to really round the story out. There is a TW in this book for me. A photo of a teen passed around… It bothered me so it might bother you.

I enjoyed the dual POV and all in all I quite enjoyed the book. It is exactly what it states to be, there isn’t a massive amount of depth so don’t go looking for the meaning of like in the pages. If you want a sexy novel with some good banter, grab this one today.

4 stars

Thank you @wattpad for my gifted copy

I will never not read a brothers best friend!! This is my first book I've read by this author and I had such a good time. I love when books have flash backs so you can see the characters when they're younger and kind of understand better what they went through. This book was so so spicy!

Holy freaken wow!! For a Debut Novel, this Novel was everything and then some!! Like seriously Deanna this Novel made me Giddy, hoped for the Love to grow, and excited for it to continue! Brother's Best Friend has quickly become a trope I think I'm starting to like more and more! Chapter 29 started the emotions for me But Chapter 36 gutted me! Cried for two chapters straight that even my husband said " You are still crying" Wow just wow! Congratulations again @deannafaisonbooks and Thank you, and also Thank You Netgalley and @wbywattpadbooks for allowing me to read this Book for my Honest Review!

Right from the start I just loved these 2, yes they might be toxic and imperfect, but that's the reality of life. Relationships are not always perfect and people make mistakes. I really loved them together, their chemistry is palpable, the spice is hot, their friendship and banter is everything. I loved where the story went and how the author developed the characters. I cannot wait to see what Deanna comes up with next.

I had conflicting emotions at first with this couple, but I'm so glad that l pushed through because I absolutely adored them by the end of the story.

Playmaker is a spring-break, friends with benefits, and brothers best friend romance. Thats a mouthful hahaha Maddie has been in love with Cameron, her older brothers best friend, for years now. Despite this man telling her he wants nothing to do with her, she can't shake off those feelings.

I'm not gonna lie, I was scrunching my nose at Cameron in the beginning. He is THE player and was sleeping with people left and right, admitting cheating on girls but claiming it was okayish since they were never together. That was the hardest part for me to push past, but the more I learned about him and the struggles he was facing, I finally had some sympathy for him. Cameron was living his life by making choices that would make others happy rather than his own.

BUT, once he finally got it together and was selfish for once, he made decisions for his own happiness - finally risking it all for a chance with Maddie.

Maddie deserved it all. There was not a single thing I hated about her, other than how quickly he took her back of course. She was level headed and she was focused on her future rather than impressing others in a typical college environment. While she does make some questionable decisions regarding Cameron, I can understand wanting a taste of the dream even if you know it'll lead to heartbreak.

This book was spicy but also really sweet once these two finally face the attraction they have for each other. I would read it again and look forward to any potential books that would continue this series!

2.75*

Thanks Wattpad Publishing for a gifted copy of this book!!

I was excited to read this during football season! Whatever the opposite of slow burn is, that’s this book. They THINK they are going slow but the entire thing is bam bam bam!

It was a bit spicier than my liking which usually doesn’t bother me but I wasn’t connected to the characters as much in this one. The plot was cute, it felt like a mix of a summer I turned pretty and sports romance.

This was a fun, sweet/spicy brother’s best friend story!
Cameron and Maddie grew up together along with her brother Ethan. With so much time spent together, they had a special connection - until his mom died before he started 9th grade and he pushed away the girl that made him feel the most. Now it’s been 6 years of brief interactions and Cameron being a major playboy. But they are both home for spring break and going on her family’s trip together. What will happen when that lifetime worth of connections just won’t go away?

Overall I enjoyed the premise of this book. Brother’s best friend is one of my favorite tropes because it just brings so many dynamics to the story. With Cam and Maddie’s families being so close and finding out they each always had feelings, it kept me interested in how everything would play out.
I enjoyed seeing the character development of Cameron as he dealt with his feelings of grief, attachment issues, and letting people all the way in.
I wish we had gotten a little more of Maddie, as I feel like what we did get all revolved around Cam.

At times the writing/story was a bit repetitive. The descriptions of what occurred 6 years ago (when his mom died), character’s inner monologues, and other thoughts and feelings were explained a lot when no new information was really being included.

I really enjoyed the relationship and growth during the second half of the book and I liked the way the story was resolved.

Available now!
✨brother’s best friend
🤭friends with benefits
💕it’s always been you

It’s a brother’s best friend secret romance and sorta a sports romance as Cameron is the star football player but they are also on spring break so he never actually plays during the book. It’s a lighter read but some themes of grief within it.

It’s spicy, cute and enjoyable but there was nothing super original to make it a stand out for me. Kinda like a perfect palette cleanser!

Thank you @wattpadbooks for my advanced copy!
3.5 ⭐️

I know my reading time was longer than my average BUT it was not at all due to the quality or my enjoyment of this book. I genuinely REALLY liked this book. I've never read a book from Wattpad, but have definitely have heard of it. I was not sure what I was expecting, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ ½ / 5
📅 Dual timeline
📅Present Time: Course of Spring Break
🗣️Dual POV

Tropes:
🏈It was ALWAYS you
👩‍⚕️Brother's Best Friend
🏈Football Star x Future Doctor
👩‍⚕️Childhood Friends>Frenemies>FWB>Lovers
🏈Reformed Playboy
👩‍⚕️Virgin FMC


🧍🏼‍♀️Maddie is VERY hardworking and determined to do her best in life and especially college. She does not go out to college parties and is all school all the time anytime she is not sleeping. She plans to spend her spring break back at home studying for the MCAT that is over a year away.
🧍🏽‍♂️Cameron is a top tier college football player who is NFL bound. Cam is VERY sociable. He enjoys to party and has a very active sex life. To put it bluntly Cam is 100% an F-Boy. He lost his mother to ovarian cancer before going into high school. This loss and his grief have caused him trauma and to change in ways that aren’t exactly for the better.
While Cam did was no longer active friends with Maddie, he remained best friends with Ethan (Maddie’s older brother) and close to Maddie & Ethan’s parents.
After the loss, Cam’s relationship with his father began deteriorating. His father began work out of town more and more until it was rare they were home together. His father started overly monitoring Cam’s football career. The monitoring became more harmful than positive.
👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏽Maddie+Cameron: They are childhood friends who had a falling out shortly after the passing of Cam’s mom. We get to see glimpses of their relationship throughout childhood (prior to their “no contact” period). I love these flashbacks and the insight they give us into the feelings they have always had for one another. I was ROOTING for them from chapter one.

Dislikes:
• I did NOT like the 3rd act breakup at all. I usually don’t mind them, but this one really frustrated me. I wanted Cam to just stand up to his dad and tell him NO and just choose Maddie. The breakup was 1000% unnecessary and they immediately get right back together. I think we could have done without this.
• Cam was in desperate need of therapy. I know trauma and grief causes people to react in ways they otherwise wouldn’t BUT after 5+ years and Cam was still stating his mothers passing was why he slept around so much and only saw girls as a piece of 🍑. I am NOT slut shaming here but after so long he should just own that he may be an F-boy.

Other Relationships:
• The sibling bond between Maddie and Ethan was undeniable.
• I CANNOT CANNOT WAIT FOR ETHAN AND MAYA’S STORY. I was shocked by Ethan’s revelation to Cam towards the end. I was a bit shocked and wish he felt comfortable with Cam to tell him from the beginning and not lie to him.




Taste of Spice:
There wasn’t a ton of Spice, but it was so good. 🥵 🥵

♥ TEXT MESSAGES:
CAM: "Which part of me are you fantasizing about, baby?"
CAM: "Let me take a wild guess... *inserts picture* Is it this?"

♥ "She's smiling with my release splattered across her skin, and the thing I said about sunsets being my favorite view in Arizona?
Scratch that.
Maddie becoming my personal canvas just took the top spot."


Thank you to Deanna Faison, NetGalley, and Wattpad for the opportunity to review this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Playmaker by Deanna Faison was a wonderful friends-to-lovers romance!
This story was really good and I really enjoyed reading it. I hated to see it end.
My first time reading this authors work and I’m pleased to say I truly enjoyed it.
The characters were well fleshed out.
A spicy and cute romance.
Well written, great characters. The chemistry between the main characters was off the charts. The story itself was well crafted & interesting that kept me turning the pages.
I will be keeping this author on my list and looking forward to her next title.
A fun sports romance that had me hooked from the very beginning.

I’m shocked that this is a debut title! I can’t wait to see what Faison creates next!

Thank You NetGalley and W by Wattpad Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

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!