Such an adorable book!!! I loved Maddie and Cameron, and their story! I really liked the dual POV. This book was definitely spicy and I liked the forbidden romance plot! Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced release copy of this book, I really enjoyed it!

Overall I enjoyed this story. Cam and Maddie were childhood friends who accidentally reunite on Spring Break. They quickly become friends with benefits and there’s a lot of spice throughout the book. Some things did feel a tad unrealistic, like her thinking she’d never find love after being heart broken in middle school. Cam took awhile to grow on me.I did enjoy getting to see some flashbacks to them and the brother in their younger years.

This was positively adorable! I read this pretty much in one day once I started I couldn’t stop. Was so so good!

I devoured this book! It was such a fun, binge-worthy read. Cam and Maddie’s chemistry is 🔥 🔥. I love a dual pov, and honestly prefer the MMC pov sometimes more, and Playmaker delivered! The flashback scenes were some of my favorite scenes, and made me root for Cam and Maddie to be end game. I also loved the dynamic between Maddie’s brother Ethan and her best friend Maya (book 2?!?).

If you love sports romance, brothers best friend, forbidden romance, and friends to lovers then this is the book for you! The spice was definitely spicing 🌶️🌶️🌶️.

Thank you Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group, NetGalley, and Deanna Faison for the opportunity to read this ARC 🫶

I REALLY wanted to love this one. I went into Playmaker hoping for a fun and steamy read. While I was entertained while reading, I found myself getting annoyed at the characters and just pushing through to say I finished the book.

While this fell flat for me. I do think people looking for a quick and steamy read would enjoy!

Book Review: The Playmaker by Deanna Faison

The Playmaker is an adult contemporary romance between two former best friends.

Maddie and Cameron were best friends growing up along Maddie’s brother Ethan. But when their relationship started to show a romantic side in middle school Cameron put on the brakes fearing that he’d hurt Maddie. But it broke her heart and she never dated seriously for the rest of her teenage or adult life. Cameron meanwhile has had a series of one-night stands and enjoys a one time hit-it-and quit-it policy. But the chemistry between the two of them never went it away and it boils over in their hometown during their college spring break.

This book was not great. The dialogue veered wildly between corny and horny and didn’t come off as authentic. The idea that this stunning girl would never find love or romance again because she had her heartbroken in 7th grade was ridiculous. The plot was a whole series of modern contemporary romance cliches with the good girl virgin who studies all the time (even during spring break) and the football god who doesn’t do relationships. The only tension is THIS IS MY BEST FRIEND’s SISTER and a bunch of nonsense about if this inexperienced virgin could please this worldly skirt chaser. There is also a throwaway line about how main male character shared a teenage girl’s nudes with the football team in high school (and no he didn’t seem repentant or remorseful) and I’m surprised the publisher left this in. The fact that this is included as part of his man-whore history is gross and made me completely disgusted with him the entire book.

There wasn’t enough humor, plot or characterization for me unfortunately. The characters felt like cliches and I didn’t really care what they did or said.

2 stars

Very cute book and a very fast read. I probably finished this book in 4 hours total. Great for reading at the beach or on vacation. The writer wasted no time in outlining the potential romance between Cameron and Maddie. I was hooked the whole way through and honestly would love to see a sequel about Maya and Ethan! Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced release copy of this book.

This was good. I did get a little annoyed at times with the way the MMC acted. But he grew on me. I did enjoyed this one. Would recommend if you are looking for a pallet cleanser..

Thanks so much for the eARC.

This is a tension-filled read, which carries a grabbing story the entire way through.

Maddie has had a crush on Cam forever, but when his father died, their long-year, childhood friendship hit a wall. Cam handled his grief by shutting down, and they drifted apart. Now, several years later, they find themselves face-to-face in a closet at a party, and sparks fly. Reunited, they want to try to see how far things go between them, which won't be as simple as it sounds.

This was a quick-paced novel with tons of tension and steamy moments to fit. The characters are very likeable, and the back-and-forth between them makes the scenes sit just right. The earlier friendship might have benefitted from a bit more depth, but the emotions come across clearly and set the stage for the later relationship when it shoots off. Even the attempts to handle the situations with the brother are understandable, and add a nice edge.

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.