"𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚣𝚊𝚛𝚍."

This book is one of my favorites, along with the second one, and being able to listen to it on audiobook was an absolutely incredible experience. The voice actors for Madison and Geraint were so well chosen, so well acted and worked, and my favorite part was hearing Maddy's southern US accent and Geraint's Welsh accent (that deep voice was amazing).

It's so well executed that you can feel the whole range of emotions that Sasha puts into the novel. It was a double narration and it was so immersive that I had tears in my eyes and my heart clenched at the most vulnerable moments, even though I'd already read the paperback version and knew what was going to happen. It's impossible to remain indifferent to this version, and that's something I loved.

If the book was full of introspection, pain and suffering, forgiveness, second chances, self-rediscovery, friendship and family, it was even more intense with the audiobook. The audiobook was just like the book: deeply comforting and soft, like a warm blanket on a winter's day. We dive into their lives, fall in love with every aspect of their personalities, and have no intention of leaving this world or these characters, who become like family to us.

Tropes :
* Golden retriever hero
* Black cat girl
* Age gap
* Snowy christmas romance
* Football girl x Rugby Player

ALC Review
Playing to Win by Sasha Lace
Playing the Field - Book 4

I absolutely loved the Christmas theme of this installment of the Playing the Field series. I also appreciated the lessons in Welsh language and traditions.
The story was fun but definitely had some heartbreaking moments. Both MCs had been burned before, so it was hard for them to open up.

The narrators, Amelia Hugh and James Ford, had such wonderful portrayal of emotions throughout the book. James' accent was heavy, but was not too difficult to understand. And oooo boy was it excellent during the spicy scenes.

Pick this one up if you enjoy:
* Christmas romance
* Professional female athlete x former rugby player
* Black cat x golden retriever
* Snowed in
* Running away from heartbreak

📖: 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
🎧: 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
🥵: 🌶️🌶️.5/5

Playing to Win is the 4th and final story in the Playing the Field series. It follows new transfer from LA, Maddison, as she looks to escape the pain and humiliation of being jilted. She moves to the UK to play for Calverdale Ladies, but can't escape her sadness, and decides to spend Christmas in a small town in rural Wales where her parents married. The inn owner, Geraint Maddock, a 6'6 ex rugby player, is facing closure, and is desperately trying to save his father's legacy.

This was such a lovely end to the series! We don't see as much of the other Calverdale ladies, only getting a few glimpses of them, but it tied everything off nicely.

There was quite a lot of angst, with Maddie still suffering from her breakup, and Geraint uncertain what his future holds. They both help each other figure out what they want and need with plenty of spice in between!

The narration was performed in dual style by Amelia Hugh and James Ford. Both are new to me narrators and I really enjoyed them! Given the variety of accents, Maddie is from Kentucky, Geraint Snowdonia, and the rest of the English characters, there was a wide breadth of accents on display! Overall they were done well, and I would listen to both narrators again!

Overall, I've really loved this series, and I'm so happy to have found another UK author with amazing audios!

This book was so good! Sasha is an amazing writer. I don't usually really care for sports romance but I could not put it down! The way she makes you fall in love with the characters is just amazing!

Okay so if you want a sports type romance with christmas vibes then this one is for you. I enjoyed this whole series and the fact that the last book gave us some new characters to close out the whole stories. As a former soccer player, I actually understand where Madison came from when it came to injuries and wanting to fall back in love with a game that is a big part of your life.

A fun and entertaining sports tale about Madison, her talent with soccer/football, and how it took her to England to play for Calverdale Ladies Professional Club after being left at the alter in Kentucky. She really just wants to be left alone but accepts a place on this competitive football team. She is struggling to love her sport again and not finding much to be joyful about. She takes a vacation over Christmas and meets Geraint in a welsh pub. He is handsome and kind former rugby player and chef who is running his former dad's pub (badly). Madison decides she might like to get together with him for Christmas break but he wants much more and in the end doesn't want to take away her career which would have to happen for her to stay with him. After exploring Wales, swapping ideas on how to make the pub more successful and getting happily involved, Madison reluctantly goes back to her team where she gets badly hurt. He comes to her in the hospital and they painstakingly work out how to make their relationship work. They both get their HEA. The pub becomes successful and the story ends with an Awwww. Great story! Loved learning about England and Wales as we lived it through Madison and Geraint. I was not familiar with the narrators James Ford and Amelia Hugh but greatly enjoyed their skillful storytelling! A great read.

This is maybe the better of the series but still not my favorite book I've read. I mean it's a fast series to read but it's truly in my opinion nothing special. The characters are bland and lacking depth. The stories are okay, but lacking something.

solid 4.5/5

It was cute cozy christmassy and fun. Geraint is a total golden retriever I loved him from the start. He's just got that tender love and care vibe that I absolutely adored. He was such a sweetie the whole time. Lana was fun above all else. Complex, moody, strong, she had it all. I loved seeing her grow and heal throughout the story she deserved the HEA.

I really liked the plot of this one!

I love a book about a professional female athlete, so this series has already got that covered. It had a really interesting dynamic that I'm sure many female pro athletes face - she wants a family, but loves her sport. Because she wants a family, she got caught up in a whirlwind romance and was left at the altar after a quick engagement. To escape her humiliation she takes a position on a professional women's soccer (football) team in the UK. She's not ready to head back to LA for the holidays to face her family, so she takes a solo trip to a small town with a run down inn and falls for the golden retriever inn keeper/retired rugby player.

She gets freaked out when she falls for him in two weeks after thinking she wasn't even over her ex-fiance yet and flee's back to the UK.

I really liked the plot of this one, however I struggled with the internal monologue of the FMC at times. I found her to be very whiny and she definitely came off as rude to the absolute marshmellow of a MMC in the beginning.

The MMC was an absolute sweetheart. Although some of his ideals were a little old fashioned or outdated, I liked that he was open to learning and growing to help his late father's legacy live on and improve the place.

The narrators did a good job - it wasn't an especially outstanding or memorable performance by any means, but they got the job done without anything worthy of complaint.

Thank you to Brilliance Publishing and NetGalley for the ALC.

I am loving everything about this series. It is so fun and the characters are great. I love their dynamic and sports development within the story. I'm so glad this is all coming out together so readers get to experience them as a whole, instead of waiting months for the next one because I see this as such a bingeable series. The narrators chosen work so well and are so easy to sit back and listen to.

The exploration of two characters unexpectedly drawn to each other captivated me from the start. Their chemistry was undeniable, but both struggled with fears and reservations about entering a relationship. It was clear that neither truly wanted to fall for the other, which only heightened the tension between them.

As their lives intertwined, I became engrossed in the complexity of their push-and-pull dynamic. The author portrayed their internal conflicts authentically, making their reluctance relatable. Each conversation was filled with unspoken emotions, keeping me invested in their evolving relationship.

What resonated most was how the narrative reflected the unpredictable nature of love. It reminded me that, despite our best intentions to resist, connections can develop in surprising ways. The journey of these two characters was filled with humor and vulnerability, illustrating how love can challenge our assumptions.

This experience led me to reflect on the beauty of unforeseen connections and how the heart often knows best, even when we hesitate. It illustrated that sometimes spontaneity leads to the most meaningful experiences in life.

Sasha Lace did it again! This is so well done! A little bit of a slow burn but perfect! I was rooting for Geraint the whole time haha. Definitely recommend reading or listening to this one!!

After being left at the alter, Maddison, a professional soccer player, decides to escape to spend Christmas alone. She booked the last available room, in an inn with very bad reviews, where she meets Geraint. He isn't looking for any commitment, because he is entirely committed to running his father's inn.
This black cat/golden retriever romance is book 4 in the Playing the Field series. It's the first book I read in the series, but I didn't feel like I've missed anything since they are all interconnected standalones. I've read this series being compared with T L Swan books. They may be as steamy, but I think the ressemblance ends there, at least for this book. I am not a fan of FMCs who are "absolutely done with men" and then fall for the first man they happen to stumble upon. I hated the third act break-up, based on miscommunication and assumptions and unsaid things... All in all, though, I did enjoy the read and the Chrismas feel to it! The audio book narrators did a great job.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The fourth and final instalment in the series is something a little different. Unlike previous books, both the MCs here are new. Madison, an American import, reluctantly accepts an offer from Gabe Rivers to come and bolster Calverdale's midfield after she's jilted at the altar and left reeling, her plans to retire from soccer and start a family in tatters. Struggling to connect with her team and wanting to escape over Christmas, Madison books into a Welsh inn over the holidays, in a sort of pilgrimage to the area where her parents were married. There, she meets Geraint, an ex-professional rugby player who lost his career and his marriage to injury, and now struggles to keep his late father's beloved Dragon Inn afloat.

For the most part, the lack of direct connections to previous books and characters means this reads a little like a standalone Christmas novel, with a reverse grumpy/sunshine black cat/golden retriever vibe. Like Lace's other books, there's emotional complexity; in particular, FMC Madison is not always very sympathetic given how closed-off she is for much of the book, but that makes the eventual HEA earned, I think.

And we do eventually see the Calverdale crew brought into the story, as Madison heals and finally commits to her place in the team. The book closes with a nice scene of the gang together enjoying Christmas in Wales, bringing a sense of completion and full-circle-ness to both the book and the series as a whole.

My favourite in the series! I loved the snowy Welsh countryside and rural pub setting, the black cat/golden retriever energy of the protagonists, the found family vibe of the supporting characters, the parallel in emotional journeys of the mc's and the way the author tied the series up with connections to the earlier books.

The narrators for this series have consistently been top shelf. They have done incredible jobs bringing each story to life and I was eager to hear Geraint and Maddison telling me about themselves. Having never listened to a Welsh narrator it took me a few minutes to sink into the pacing and accent of James Ford, but he was perfect as G! Amelia Hugh was so believable as Maddy, delivering her pain and emotional distance perfectly. Both did fantastic work with the array of characters, accents and were convincing when voicing the opposite sex.

This is an absorbing story, infused with introspection and growth. Two very different people brought together by fate and a snow storm, who have no intention of forming a connection - but we all know about good intentions and roads to hell! The author remains true to her style and there are many layers and lessons to this story, built around characters with hidden pain to be worked through and resolved. That is the aspect I most enjoy about Sasha's books - she gives us people in trouble and lets their strength and resilience shine through, as they find their way to a solution, relying on their own tenacity plus support from a special someone.

One of the rawest lines I have ever read is in this book and it was enough to stop me in my tracks. Geraint lays his heart bare and makes himself incredibly vulnerable when he says to Madison " 'Just let me be with you until you leave me.' " But then to counter that there are the lighter notes of the Tom Jones jokes!

On a cheeky note, I luuuurved how the author used the term "beast" to describe Geraint's size! Sigh!! If that doesn't help the imagination, I don't know what will!

This really is a wonderful Christmas story, with a likeable couple in a beautiful setting earning their hard won HEA. The author has tied it all together by finishing the soccer season with the Calverdale Ladies in a very enviable position on the table (as Gabe promised Miri 3 books ago), Reece cooking/hiding in the kitchen (much to Skylar's affectionate amusement) and Lana no longer the wild child but a caring step-mum. As always, I recommend anything Sasha Lace writes!