Friday, March 31, 2023

Book review: PLAYING BY THE RULES, by Monica Murphy


The Players #2

Blair Maguire & Camden Fields

I’m not a fan of the brother’s best friend trope, usually because it involves secrecy, lying, and an eventual hurtful face off.  In this instance, the secrecy lasted almost the whole book!

Blair has a crush on Cam since Knox brought him to their house during her high school senior year.  Now that she’s in college with them, she decides to take matters into her hands and chase Camden.  Initially, Blair was presented as shy, but with the encouragement of her roommates, she turns aggressive and started on the warpath.  Even when he repeatedly tells her his concerns, she brushes them off as inconsequential, which I felt was inconsiderate and disrespectful.  She played games with Cam and I saw it as manipulative.  At one moment, I felt she was calling the shots and Cam was just reacting and worrying.


During the story, Blair and Camden had a lot of hot and cold moments, mostly produced by Cam because he was, quite rightly so, worried about his best friend Knox’s reaction.  Sometimes he’s worried about Knox finding out, others he’s possessive and jealous!  On their own, Blair is a gentle, sweet girl, Cam is focused and chill.  I loved them, and once they are together, they make a great couple, if only they get their issues sorted out.


The story was limited to what was happening between Cam and Blair, all the going back and forth on their relation.  At one moment they were lying to everyone, roommates, teammates, etc.  Not a fun way to live, and of course, it caused negative feelings on both.


The book didn’t hold my attention until over half of the story, when an issue of mental health was introduced.  At this point is when I felt that the story had meat and purpose.  Before it consisted mostly of sex marathons and cutesy banter between Blair and Cam.


This story happens simultaneously with Knox’s and Joanna’s story and I was glad to have moments when both characters show up.  I also liked Ace, the second quarterback, who promises to be a cute boyfriend, hopefully in a future book


The writing was excellent, as I always expect from this author, but I expected more for the story between Blair and Camden.


Purchase links


Amazon: https://bit.ly/41tmpcZ

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/PlayingByTheRulesMM


Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3ZlJI6I

 

About the author


Monica Murphy is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling romance author. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and have sold over two million copies worldwide. Both a traditionally published and independently published author, she writes young adult, new adult and contemporary romance. She's also known as USA Today bestselling author Karen Erickson.


A native Californian, she lives on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere with her husband, two kids, one dog, and four cats. When she's not writing, she's an assistant coach for her daughter's high school cheer team, which is a two season sport. Meaning, she's at practice with a bunch of teenage girls all the time. Or she's at a football game. Or a basketball game. Maybe someday, she'll even write about this experience.

 

Connect with Monica


Website: http://monicamurphyauthor.com

Goodreads:  http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyGR

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/1YUl0Vm

Facebook: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyFB

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/monicamurphyreadergroup/

Instagram: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyIG

Twitter: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyTW

Bookbub: http://bit.ly/2ZAthV1

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/msmonicamurphy/

Verve Romance: https://ververomance.com/app/monicamurphy

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