Playing It Cool
by Amy Andrews
Synopsis:
Harper Nugent might have a little extra junk in her trunk, but her stepbrother calling her out on it is the last straw… When rugby hottie Dexter Blake witnesses the insult, he surprises Harper by asking her out. In front of her dumbass brother. Score! Of course, she knows it’s not for reals, but Dex won’t take no for an answer.
Dexter Blake’s life revolves around rugby with one hard and fast rule: no women. Sure, his left hand is getting a workout, but he’s focused on his career for now. Then he overhears an asshat reporter belittle the curvy chick he’d been secretly ogling. What’s a guy to do but ask her out? It’s just a little revenge against a poser, and then he’ll get his head back in the game.
But the date is better than either expected. So is the next one. And the next. And the heat between them…sizzles their clothes right off.
Suddenly, this fake relationship is feeling all too real…
Review:
I am loving this series! I still don’t know much about rugby, but who cares? Hot guys. Tight pants. Romance.
Nothing.
Else.
Required.
😉
Favorite line:
His trousers cupped his a$$ like little elves had sewn it with threads of awesome.
I ask you, how can you not love that imagery?
Dexter Blake, a man clearly after the heart of curvy girls everywhere, truly appreciates a woman with–as he so eloquently puts it–some junk in her trunk. Harper Nugent catches his eye on the very first page of Playing It Cool, but he realizes before we even turn to page two that she can’t possibly be for him. She’s got “relationship” written all over her, and Dex doesn’t have time for anything in his life but rugby. He knows his days are numbered in the league, and he can’t afford to shift his focus even an iota. There’ll be plenty of time for the c- and m- words (“commitment” and “marriage”–just to be clear) when his playing days are over.
But Dex also has a chivalrous streak about a mile wide, and when he sees Harper getting dissed by one of the people who should always have her back, he asks her out in a kind of white-knight reflexive moment. Harper declines–because really, she’s seen pictures of him online with stick-thin models on his arm; what could he possibly want with her? But fortunately for everyone involved, Dex is persistent. Even more fortunately, their chemistry will practically melt your ereader.
One date turns into two, which turns into a friends-with-benefits situation, which turns into trouble. Basically, Dex acts like a major idjit and has to do some of the greatest groveling I’ve seen in…well…I don’t even know how long. Seriously. His grand gesture alone is worth the price of the book. Harper’s BFF Em and Dex’s manwhorish teammate Linc are clearly being set up for a future book (book three, please?) and gosh darn it, that one’s going to be awesome too. I. Cannot. WAIT.
(Playing It Cool should work fine as a standalone, if you haven’t read book one, Playing by Her Rules, yet. You’ll see Tanner and Tilly just enough in this one that you’ll want to see how they got together, though–don’t say I didn’t warn you!)
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
