BOOK REVIEW: Plays & Penalties Series by Maggie Rawdon
I mean, I just think we need to talk about your attraction to me if we’re going to be roommates. You know, boundaries and all that.
I saw this series when Wildfire Marketing Solutions sent out Personal Foul as an available ARC. I passed it up - I can't remember why - but when Reverse Pass came out as an available ARC I signed up immediately - reverse grumpy sunshine and an older female main character? Yea, I knew that was a romance I needed to read ASAP. Well, without spoiling the rest of my review, I LOVED it and immediately went back and starting reading the whole series, Plays & Penalties. So today's blog is a 4 for 1 deal.
The first book in the Plays & Penalties series is Play Fake. First off, I love this couple, and I love their dynamic. A nerdy girl and a guy who looks like Thor? Yes, please. Now, I will say this book centers a lot around the miscommunication trope - which I usually despise - but the way Maggie Rawdon wrote it made it not only bearable, but I actually really enjoyed this whole book. They both speak up, and often, it's just usually at the wrong time.
I really loved many of the supporting characters too, especially Wren. But Ally? She's a shit friend, and I hope she doesn't show up in any other books. When reading this, I was really hoping for future books to center around Liam and Olivia (hooray for book #2) and Easton and Wren. But thank God I read Ben's book first because I don't know if I could have handled waiting three more books for his story!! Overall, Play Fake gets four stars from me.
Number two in the series is Delay of Game, which centers around Liam and Olivia. I love that we're getting to see more of the friendship dynamics in this one, and Easton is growing on me more and more. I kept thinking he better be the male main character of the third book while reading this.
Ok, but on to who this book is actually about. I love that Olivia was ready to take control of her life and make others see her as someone other than the football mom. And while we definitely can tell that Liam and Olivia's relationship is filled with tension, she drops a bomb early on in the book I wasn't expecting, which just added more complexity to their relationship. But she still took control, throughout the whole book really, and I love that for her. This my least favorite of the series, but it still gets a solid 3.5 stars, so I wouldn't skip it.
Number three in the Plays & Penalties series is Personal Foul. This one took me a bit longer to read because I was in a fantasy mood, but it's my second favorite book of this series. In Personal Foul we finally get to see Easton and Wren's relationship in the limelight. And Easton is the player turned king of romance that we love to read about in these romance novels.
Plus, there's already been so much lead up to Wren and Easton's relationship that we dive right into the spicy scenes. But then we also get to see the sweet and dedicated side of Easton, and let me tell you, that's a man anyone would be proud to be in a relationship with. He's so thoughtful and just really does his best to try and take care of Wren. I love Easton for it. And Easton alone makes me rate this one 4 stars.
And now we've finally made it to Ben!! I had a feeling he'd be my favorite leading man of this series, and I'm not wrong! He's thoughtful, he cooks, he buys the girls baked goods, and he reads smut out loud to Violet. 🥵 I FLEW through this book. And I might have even teared up at the end... And what Violet does to prove her love to Ben...well, it gave me second hand embarrassment but also was so sweet and just what Ben needed to see she was all in. And then Joss's words to Colton had me laughing so hard. I wanted to save them to share them here, but it might give too much away. Which how is this my favorite book, but was my shortest review?!
I'm so sad this series is over. I really hope there's going to be a spin off series, maybe even focusing on the hockey team of Highland? Can we make this happen somehow??? Until then, we'll just have to be happy with these living on Kindle Unlimited. Although I did have to buy Reverse Pass (the discreet cover is so beautiful) because I think it may have just become my new romance comfort read.
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