Just pure perfection and the perfect narrators. I felt like it went by so quick but that's because I was fully emerged and enjoying it so much. I found myself just stopping what I was doing and sitting and listening to the story. I really loved the pacing and story telling and the narrators brought it all to life.

This was such a easy breezy quick read. Listening this in audiobook format was the best experience as the narrators were amazing and wonderful.
Coming to the book, the plotline was well paced and executed nicely. The characters were given sufficient scope to contribute and shine throughout the whole book. I absolutely loved each and every character in the plotline.

Title: Played
Author: Naima Simone
Narrators: La'Rey Aris and Sean Bassett

Narration
The narrators, La'Rey Aris and Sean Bassett, were a perfect match for this story, bringing both the characters and their personalities to life in a way that felt authentic and engaging. Each character’s voice was distinct and believable, adding to the overall chemistry between them. Their performance didn’t just match the characters but enhanced the listening experience, making the romantic tension all the more swoon-worthy. The pacing was also spot-on—smooth and consistent—and even when sped up, it maintained clarity and flow without losing any emotional impact.

Story and Themes
Played centers on the relationship between a hockey player and a firefighter, touching on the nuanced challenges of widowhood, rediscovering love, and being a woman of color in a male-dominated field. The representation of a strong, resilient female protagonist in such a setting was refreshing and deeply impactful, making her journey feel authentic and grounded. Naima Simone weaves in real-life issues seamlessly with romance, crafting a story that’s as touching as it is steamy. The slow-burn romance was executed beautifully, and when it started burning? WHEW! Call 911 baby, because its HOT!

Flow and Listening Experience
The flow of the audiobook was smooth and easy to follow, with clear transitions that made it effortless to keep up with chapter changes and pacing. The narration, combined with the story’s natural progression, kept me engaged from start to finish, making it one of those audiobooks that you can lose yourself in for hours without realizing it.

Recommendation
This is a book I’d wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who enjoys a strong romance that’s grounded in real-life themes and characters with depth. The audiobook format is especially impactful, thanks to the incredible narration, which brings the story’s emotions and chemistry to life in a way that I think wouldn’t be quite the same in print or ebook form. If you’re looking for a romance that’s as heartfelt as it is hot, Played is one you won’t want to miss—I’ve already been recommending it to friends!

I am truly in my hockey romance era!
But honestly this had so much depth to it.
You've got a heartbroken single dad pro hockey player who falls in love with a black woman fire fighter who lost her fiance (also a fire fighter) in the line of duty. Both navigating how to move on and learn to let each other in even if it felt like at times a betrayal to their past relationship. So lots of baggage and emotional trauma.
The spice level ~in my opinion~ is about a 3.

The audio book was fantastic. Great choice on narrators, they really brought Adina and Solomon to life. You can definitely feel the emotions during those intimate scenes.

Thank you Netgalley, Naima Simone and the Brilliance Publishing for the Audio ARC

* This was also posted in Goodreads*

Played
by Naima Simone
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Oh my gosh, Played by Naima Simone is a total rollercoaster! It’s about a badass woman firefighter, Adina, who’s dealing with some heavy grief when she crosses paths with Solomon, a widowed hockey player. And let me tell you—sparks fly!

The tension between them is so real, and I loved how they both had to deal with their past while trying to figure out their future. And Solomon? Total broody, single-dad vibes, but with a heart of gold once you get through the tough exterior.

This book seriously hit all the marks—it's funny, emotional, and steamy in the best way possible!

This book was five stars the way the slowly helped each other while fighting the connection was cute and I loved every min of this book

This dual POV sports romance was my first book by Naima Simone and I absolutely LOVED it!! A Black female firefighter falls for a hot Black, single dad pro hockey player. This was STEAMY, full of emotional depth (grief over the death of a wife and a fiance) and involved the feelings of grandparents and a little boy. Highly recommended for fans of authors like Deanna Grey or Alexa Martin. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Narrators: La’Rey Aris / Sean Bassett 4.0/5.0
Overall Rating: 4.5/5.0

Solomon and Adina were a mess! And I absolutely loved it! They were a funny, crazy, exciting mess and their relationship was a joy to watch as it progressed throughout the book.

Though the book is centered around two individuals who are suffering from the loss of their significant other, it becomes a story of opening one’s heart, of healing, of understanding, of letting go but never forgetting, of learning to go after what you want and not taking any sh** from anyone! It was an absolute joy reading this one! I laughed so many times, it was crazy.

Adina…what can I say about her. She is a boss. She is unapologetic. She does not let anyone walk over her. She is the other female firefighter and she is also black so the book does go into how she deals with trying to be a good firefighter and dealing with what comes with being black and female in that field. In addition to all of this, she is dealing with the loss of her fiancé. When she meets Solomon, a professional hockey player who is the only person of color on his time, she meets him while he is at his lowest. It has been some time since he lost his wife and the mother of his son, but he is still in that dark place. Both Solomon and Adina have to deal with their feelings for each other while experiencing guilt about letting someone else into their hearts after their loss.

It is a beautiful love story with a lot of twists, turns, and funny moments. The chemistry between the FMC and MMC jumped off the pages and this book was SPICY! Solomon knew what he wanted and he definitely went after it. Get ready ladies and gents…these two don’t play!

I also loved the secondary characters and Adina’s best friend was not only funny and brash, and an exciting character, but she also stood up for her girl! It was so sweet. Solomon’s in-laws were a mess and got on my nerves so many times but I’m happy about how it came together at the end. This was my first time reading this author’s work and I must say that she did a really great job with this one. This story was engaging, the characters were real and exhibited growth throughout the story and the overall plot was enjoyable.

Great narration and amazing story
Naima Simone can do no wrong. I will read all her books and find something to obsess over in any of them.

Also I love having diversity in hockey romance, it is so needed!

3.5 rounded up. Minus one star for Solomon because he’s not it for me. His personality and treatment of women had so much underlying misogyny. The way Adina showed regard for Solomon, just for him to constantly sexualize her and blame his “lack” of emotion was so he would never replace his late wife. As if his late wife would rather that he objectify women than fall in love with one? The glory hole reference was a little much.

What if Solomon’s son had been a girl? Would Solomon’s behavior been tolerated had he not been a rich hockey player? Further proved the underlying misogyny of this story which was such a bummer because my girl Adina was dealing with enough of that at work as a Black, woman, firefighter.

Nevertheless, Solomon grew enough as a character for me to enjoy this story. The spicy scenes weren’t my fave. It felt wrong knowing that he was just trying to justify constantly objecting her while she was trying to convince herself that she could never be anything to Solomon even though she wanted to.

So much happened in this plot from learning to love again, social media scandals, best friend family drama, harassment at the workplace, loss of a loved one, adding kids to the mix. Found myself wanting to pick this book up

I received this book in audio format from NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing and the quality was great. I enjoyed the voice actors — there were two of them, one for Solomon and one for Adina in this dual POV book. Would recommend this book in either format, but I definitely enjoyed the audio version.

This was a beautifully written story about grief and moving on, but unfortunately as a hockey romance book this one just fell a little flat.

I love a second chance romance and I liked that both of the main characters had experienced the loss of their respective partners. Adina and Solomon just didn't work for me. I didn't feel like they had much chemistry and their relationship felt like insta-lust early on, and somehow felt forced later in the story. Also with Solomon being a professional hockey player, I expected a little more hockey.

I loved Adina and thought she was a really well written character, but I feel like she could do better than Solomon, and I personally don't want to walk away from a romance book with that feeling.

There were aspects of this book that I loved, but also aspects that just didn't work.

I received an ALC from netgalley and Brilliance audio. I did really love the narration of this book. If you are going to pick this one up I do recommend the audio.