Becka Mack

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨.5

First Impressions
Play With Me is the second installment in the "Playing for Keeps" series. Its been a while since I read the first book and I was nervous to read the second book because the heroine was a character I had seen in Consider Me and she was a bit prickly, in fact she was a bit of a brat or that is the impression I received so yeah I am not a fan of bratty heroine so I was so apprehensive to see if this author would be able to make her work for me and what do you know??? She worked some miracles in this book here because I had so much fun with it. It was so endearing and fascinating and I couldn't get enough of it.

First Line
"I fuckin' told you."

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Garrett
Professional Hockey Player
Playboy/Manwhore
Alpha Cinnamon Roll

The Heroine: Jennie
Prickly and Sprited
Professional Dancer
Isolated

Summary
Garrett and Jennie are brought together when Jennie's overprotective brother buys her an apartment in the same complex as Garrett and has Garrett being a bit of her protector when he can't be there for her. Even though at first there is some tension, very quickly, a fast friendship forms between them. And those bonds of friendship develop into something hot and heavy very quickly and even though they both know how forbidden it is, they have a secret relationship with each other. At first its just for some hot sex and the fact that they get along so well together, but that spice quickly turns into something sweet and tender. But as the secret is dragged out, Garrett and Jennie will need to decide if a happy ever after can be in their future.

What I Loved
Play With Me was such a deep and sexy romance that I instantly was drawn into. I absolutely had a blast with this one here and Becka Mack threw in the big guns with this one. I still don't know how she was able to redeem this pair for me but most especially the heroine for me because I had the most difficult time with her character in the first book and I honestly was sure how it would have been possible to do this for me. But I have to say, this book impressed so completely with this author's talent of being able to write such a unlikeable heroine and turn her so likeable so QUICKLY. I started liking Jennie almost from the beginning. She is a bit spirited and does act like a brat at times, but once you see why she is so defensive, you can really see why. I was so in tune with her character and felt for her in how she struggles making genuine connections. Garrett is a hero I honestly fell hard so quickly. He is alpha in the bedroom and a cinnamon roll out of it. But he is so protective at times and I respected his character so deeply. We see how much family means to him and the scars that he carries deep inside. Garrett and Jennie are just pefect for each other. They really balance each others strengths and weaknesses. There were so many heart filled moments within their sexy moments and I enjoyed seeing their relationship form so deeply in the most unexpected ways. And if you need great spice in a romance, look no further than Becka Mack. She writes it so spectacularly. I adored it in every way. And considering I normally skim those scenes unless its an erotic romance, then that should tell you how well it was handled. The family bonds were just right in this one. And the epic explosion from the brother was so well built up and if you love that aspect in the brothers best friend trope, trust this author to do it just so well and satisfy you in the end.

What I Struggled With
Jennie's character in the beginning is the ONLY reason this book isn't a five star. It did turn me off for a while until she started to become likeable which took some time.

Narration
The narration was BRILLIANT and so masterful and I never wanted to put this down. Even though I could have easily switched to the ebook, I just didn't want to let go of the narration. So well portrayed and the emotional impact especially was perfection!

Overall View
Play With Me is a stunning addition to the series that is packed with sexual intimacy to curl the toes, banter to endear your heart, and emotion to take captive your soul! A WINNER!

Favorite Quote(s)
you weren’t made to fit in, jennie. you stand out way too much to hide in the shadows.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance
Character Types: Athlete, Dancer
Themes: Slow Burn, Hot Spice, Dirty Talk, Praise Kink
Tropes: Forbidden Love, Brothers Best Friend, Friends To Lovers (with benefits)

Book Perspective
Duo POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Plot Conflict

Song This Book Inspires
Anti Hero by Taylor Swift

Recommendation For Reading Order
You can read as a standalone

Steam/Spice Explanations

Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.… (altro)

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒.25
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧.25
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨.5

First Impressions
Consider Me is the first book in the "Playing for Keeps" series. This is also my very first Becka Mack. I had seen her around plenty especially on instagram and I was very curious about this. I had also seen this in recommendations alongside with Liz Tomforde books so I was fascinated to see how this one would hold up and I will say that Consider Me was completely different from what I expected in many ways. If you want something more lighthearted that has strong levels of spice and is a hockey sports romance, then this is a book that you need to pick for sure. It also has ome endearing side characters that only have you encouraged to read the rest of the series for.

First Line
Rolling on to my back, I inhale sharply and throw a hand over my head.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Carter Beckett
Carter is a arrogant, cocky hockey player who loves women and never gets serious with any of them. He is a family man and devoted to his family and has the heart of a teddy bear underneath the self assured exterior

The Heroine: Olivia
Reserved teacher who is only looking for a long term relationship. She doesn't settle and doesn't aim for casual relationships. She is sassy and strong willed but has self image issues at times.

Summary
Carter Beckett is used to having everything at his feet, and that includes his pick of the most beautiful women to share his bed. He knows who he i and has a more jovial outlook on life. But when he meets Olivia, who is the best friend of one of his friends girl, he is falling hard for her. There is only one problem, she has no interest in him at all. Carter has never backed down from a challenge before and he knows that what he feels for Olivia is different than anything that he has ever felt before with another woman and wants to fight for her. But even if he can convince Olivia to take a chance on him, being his girl comes with all sorts of challenges and both Olivia and Carter will have to work hard together to build trust in their relationship that will stand the tide of challenges up ahead for them both..

What I Loved
Consider me was packed with so many aspects to it that you can immediately be drawn into. I had so much love for this one here and the way in which this story developed. I wasn't sure at first what I thought this would turn out for me because it was really snarky and I have become very picky on that lately is that seems to be in so many heroines lately and its way overdone. But I have to give credit to the author here, she really balanced out the heroine here. She was such a likeable character and I found her very relatable. Even though she has some insecurity, its aspects that I think as women we can all relate to.

Then we have our delectable hero....Carter Beckett. This hero is wild and fun. There is such charm to his character and the way in which is he with our heroine especially. I have never had issues with cocky playboys in romances especially when they are well written. And Carter Beckett has so much depths to him. I really appreciated the growth that we see in his character and the way he pines for our heroine and fights for her is beautiful. We also see how he has to face up to the consequences of the type of life that he has led. It showcases the lifestyle of being "sex focused" in your life and we see this in this story. We also see the hero going out to redeem himself to the heroine and build a relationship of trust with her.

Their relationship has its moments of being rocky at times but we also see great dimension that is capitalized on it. We do see some fun aspects to the sport of hockey which I appreciated. I also valued what we see for family bonds within the story. The spice in this story is just right on this one. So if you love higher levels of spice, then you will definitely receive that within this story.

What I Struggled With
So there were a couple of things that I really struggled with. The biggest drag on the story was how insecure the heroine is within the story. While I related with some aspects of it, the issue I had with her was her lack of trust in the hero. And its continual and I really wanted the heroine to have more faith in the hero especially towards the end at times. The third act wasn't executed as well as I would have liked. And the feels in this story is what really kept the rating of this one here so high.

Narration
The hero's narration was brilliant, I was always so excited when it was the hero's POV because the voice for his perspective was spot on. The voice for the heroine however, wasn't necessarily my favorite. But it wasn't horrible either, but it could have been done better in the long run.

Overall View
Consider Me was a brilliant romance that captivated my attention, my heart and entertained from beginning to end. A HOCKEY GEM

Favorite Quote(s)
“When you show me the type of love you need, I learn how to give it to you.”

“She’s like…waking up on Christmas morning when you’re three years old and you finally understand what it’s all about. She’s the moment the rain stops and the sun comes out, lighting up the sky with color, and everything smells new and fresh. She’s the first skate on a frozen lake, surrounded by snowy mountains and pine trees and the freshest breath of air. She’s rolling over in the middle of the night, pulling that warm body into yours and curling around it, and everything’s just right.”

“I love you through the perfect moments, and there are so many, but I will always love you through the imperfect ones too.”

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy
Character Types: Athlete, Teacher
Themes: Sports-Hockey, Laughs, Pining Hero, Witty Banter
Tropes: Unrequited Love, Opposites Attract

Book Perspective
Duo POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Relationship Conflict

Song This Book Inspires
Consider Me-Allen Stone

Recommendation For Reading Order
You can read as a standalone

Steam/Spice Explanations

Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.

Narrators:
Kasha Kensington, Alex Kydd… (altro)