Sassafrass

Playing the Player (Sydney Smoke Rugby Series) - Amy Andrews 

PLAYING THE PLAYER by Amy Andrews is the lastest installment in the Sydney Smoke Rugby series and Em and Linc burned up the sheets as well as my kindle. And while that hot lovin' was good, it was the fun that I had reading this made the story so memorable.

High school teacher, Em Newman is done with wasting her time on the wrong guys. She wants it all: the husband, the kids, the happily ever after, but she's always choosing the men who don't want to stay around. So, she decides that she's going to go on a man-hiatus until she finds a man who is willing to go the distance. And if she happens to be ridiculously attracted to the the exact wrong type of man she's looking for, she'll just have to get over it. Even if it happens to Lincoln Quinn, star rugby player for the Sydney Smoke.

Linc loves women, he loves rugby, and he feels that he excels at both. But the one thing he will never do is settle down. It doesn't' work. His own parents showed him that. So, why is it that he can not seem to get the hot little teacher Em out of his head? And why is he willing to jump through all sorts of hoops to be with her?

Both Em and Linc know that acting their attraction is inevitable, but it's what comes next that has them both changing their outlook on relationships.

So PLAYING THE PLAYER was cute and sweet. I loved Linc's character. For a guy who admitted to being emotionally stunted, he sure did have great insight. He wasn't all the way there (or else he wouldn't have messed up), but I thought he was much more deep than anyone gave him credit for. I loved that he was willing to show that part of himself to Em.

I thought it great that Em was not willing to give in the goals that she wanted for herself but it kind of ticked me off too. She's twenty-three years old in this story and she wasn't willing to give Linc more than two months to plan the future. Linc was the one who was supposed to be emotionally stunted but it seemed like Em was in that category too. I get that they both had their baggage but, two months didn't seem like long enough for them to have it all worked out.

And while those emotional landmines gave me some issues with he storyline, PLAYING THE PLAYER was an extremely fun read. Between the sexy banter, the insane amount of chemistry between Em and Linc, and the trouble that Linc went through to guess Em's given name (it's worse than you can possibly imagine), I zipped through this one in one sitting.

PLAYING THE PLAYER is the third installment of the Sydney Smoke Rugby Series which centers around the players a rugby team of the same name, but you don't have to read the other stories to enjoy this one. There's enough back story given to enjoy this as a standalone. This series is far from over and I am excited to see who is going to fall next!

This is only my second book by this author (I read book two in this series and enjoyed it), but it won't be my last. I enjoy the fun that Amy Andrews has with her characters. And I love the fact that she takes pity on Americans like me and gives me a glossary of the Aussie terms used in the book. How cool is that?

*Advanced Reader's Copy provided by NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for an honest review*