| Title | : | Playing Hard to Get (The Players, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 398 |
| Publication | : | First published December 1, 2022 |
Star offensive tight end on the football team.
He is the complete opposite of me in every way.
I'm quiet. He's loud.
I'm shy. He's definitely not.
Everyone loves him. No one knows me.
Fresh out of a breakup, I don't really trust him, and why should I? Knox is the ultimate player. When I become his English tutor, I tell myself we need to keep things between us strictly business. Watching my mother deal with my ex-athlete father long, long ago taught me to stay far away from that type of man.
Yet Knox is impossible to resist. Next thing I know, we're getting hot and heavy in the library—and that was never part of the plan. When Knox admits he can't stop thinking about me, I have a realization.
I can't stop thinking about him either.
Instead of keeping my distance, I pull him in closer. Until somehow, we're spending all of our time together and I find myself falling for Knox. Hard.
Will this actually work between us? Or am I getting played?
Playing Hard to Get (The Players, #1) Reviews
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dnf 60%
The beginning was pretty promising but it didn’t last too long. The book was basically "I’m not like other girls because I read" x "I have to go celibate in college because I can’t control my d!ck". I don't know why I even bothered reading this if I couldn't get past the second chapter of
A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime, but I guess I wanted to try this author one more time. It obviously didn’t work out. I felt like I was back in Wattpad, where you are the most special, different, mysterious girl in the world, because you read books."This girl is…interesting. She’s not a football fan. Doesn’t throw herself at me when I give her the opportunity, and she likes to read. She’s smart, and I’m guessing she’s pretty ambitious too. She’s nothing like any woman I’ve spent time with before. Not that I spend a lot of time with only one woman."
Oh yeah she is so original. She doesn’t like football? Who even likes it right. She doesn’t throw herself at you? How could she even resist that temptation. She liked to read? Who even reads these days. She is smart and ambitious? Such an interesting creature."my gaze shoots in Joanna’s direction, I find she’s already watching me. I smirk at her and she looks away. Ha. Caught her checking me out."
I think I died a little inside reading this."He jumps to his feet, staring down at me. “Women would kill to be in your position, you know.”
Yeah, every girl would kill to sit on your overused d!ck."I try to readjust myself, wincing at the ache that rocks through my balls. I don’t even have boxer briefs on to contain this beast. Jesus."
BeASt ? bro, you are not from
Ice Planet Barbarians to have a beast d!ck.“I hate pumpkin spice lattes.”
“Of course you do,” I mutter as I follow her to the door. Every other woman I know seems to love them."
Yeah becuse she is NoT LiKE oThER GirLs. She probably likes Ice Latte, a very rare, unique, special, and different coffee."I want to do with my life. Work at a bookstore forever? I love books, but not that much.” She pauses. “I sometimes think I want to be a writer, but that’s just me dreaming.”
Okay, so you don’t like books that much but you want to be a writer. Love your logic.“Big D. You know.” She tilts her head to the side, her long hair falling across one shoulder. “Because you’ve got such a big dick.”
I had a stroke reading that.
Soo as you can see I was DONE. -
POPULAR GUY WHO PLAYS A SPORT x QUIET GIRL WHO TUTORS HIM???? naley hello???
i enjoyed the hell out of this for the naley vibes alone. it was very low drama, the characters were really mature, and it set up for the next book so well. + he falls first? + the immaculate spice!!
jo jo + knox <33 -
I’m afraid I didn’t fall in love with this one 🫠
Although I did appreciate the learning disability and her being his tutor, and also the fact that there was no big drama or miscommunication trope (big relief here, my friends) I did find this whole book a bit… bland?
I guess I could say this would be the exact way a real life “healthy” relationship evolves, but I don’t usually read romances to be witness to real life issues.
I’ll try some of the author’s other books because the writing style was good and I guess I just didn’t like this story. -
It was fine? I don't know where to land this book really. It wasn't awful but not great either.
Basically a douchey football player falls in love with a "nerdy" girl who kind of changes her whole personality for him bc love. Spicy scenes were good tho, the tension was awesome, so I guess save this book for a "mood"
I have to give this book credit tho bc there wasn't a third act BS and I did love that. -
2 ★
Let's start with the fact that this is the italian edition of “Playing hard to get” (so the cover and the title are different)
I've been feeling like reading a sports romance these days and having recently purchased this on my kindle, i said “yes let's give it a try”. So in this case a football romance with the nerdy girl x popular boy trope
𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
How to ruin everything ; in this book nothing happens, no plot twist! they meet, they fall in love, the end. for me it could have ended on page 200 since in the remaining pages it makes you want to fall asleep.
Things repeated in a loop; i found both protagonists empty
𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐱
Classic popular boy wanted by everyone etc...; the thing that is repeated endlessly is his 𝐕𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐘 for the season and for its objectives. It doesn't end here! Because it seems that he has a monstrous male virility! Shocking isn't it? 😰 the cringe of the spicy scenes...
𝐉𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚
The author has forced this character so much, she is the different one ... because she reads ... she is the different one because she doesn't like football, in short the main concept is that she 𝐈𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓.
2 stars only because i liked it at first and because the female main character has two lines from two taylor swift songs tattooed on her.
“𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭“
“𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭“
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
I'M FREE
───╰➤✧
pre read review :)
my first book by this author! hope i like it ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶
started : 22/07
finished : 26/07 -
4.5 STARS
You are my end goal, Jo Jo.”
My whole heart right now. It's been a minute since I read a good college sports romance, and man did this deliver on all fronts.
I love when authors interconnect their characters throughout their books. And if you all loved Drew and Fable from
One Week Girlfriend and recall Fable's brother Owen in
Four Years Later, prepare to meet his son Knox Maguire in this one. Knox is the football team's tight end well on his way to the NFL. Knox has a packed schedule and a class in which he knows he's going to struggle is the last thing he needs. He needs to focus, so what's a man to do? Swear off women and go celibate of course. But you know what they say about no good dead...
Enter Joanna Sutton, the quiet studious girl who just got out of a three year relationship with a heartbreak she's not yet over. She doesn't like to be the center of attention and she doesn't like jocks who draw all attention to them. So the ridiculously handsome Knox is the last man she should be spending time with. But when Knox hires her as his tutor following the most adorable meet cute at the book store she works in, sparks fly.
This was such a sweet romance, packed full of emotion and with a splash of steam. Knox is a reformed manwhore who is a total cinnamon role. And while that's not usually my thing, it just worked for me here. The way he pursued Joanna and the easy camaraderie between them just did it for me. He's not used to women turning him down, yet that's what Jo seems to do at every turn. She's not impressed with his rep and unwittingly forces him to chase her. I loved their banter and their instant chemistry and slow burn romance.
This was a one sitting read that I enjoyed from start to finish and I can't wait for more in this series. Hopefully we get Knox's sister's book next. I do love me the brother's best friend trope.
ARC courtesy of author in exchange for an honest review
Find me on:
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On hiatus from women, star tight end Knox Maguire is paired with a pretty, but nerdy tutor.
Football might as well be a four-letter word to Joanna Sutton. Yet, she’s quickly entranced by the player and his open and honest demeanor.
Knox and JoJo have settled in as one of my favorite couples. I loved their story and the way the grew into their love. I only wish we would have seen a bit farther into their future. Fingers crossed Monica revisits them someday!!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Burn: 🔥🔥1/2
Darkness: 🤍
Heat: 🌶️🌶️
Range of Emotions: 😊😋🥵🥰😍
Ending: 💕 {HFN}
POV: 👫🏻 {Dual}
🗂 Genre: Sports Romance
✨ Tropes: College, Reformed Player, Friends-to-Lovers
💋 Kinks: n/a
⚠️ Warning: The angst in this slow-burn will edge you to the point of combustion!
🚩 Safety Squad: n/a
📣 Type: Playing Hard to Get is a standalone.
🛑 Be Advised: My Goodreads shelves are … explicit in both senses. As such, they could be considered spoiler-y. -
“Pretty sure I’m completely obsessed with you.”
Pretty sure Playing Hard to Get is the “Player — Down Bad pipeline” guidebook. JK, but also Knox does fall pretty quickly for his favorite bookstore clerk/tutor despite taking a football season long vow of celibacy. Joanna isn’t feeling the feelings all her coincidental forced proximity meetings with Knox bring out of her because she’s just out of a bad break up AND he’s a football player. Which in her experience means he’s not to be trusted, but maybe she’s too quick to judge? Maybe he was too quick to make his vow? I don’t know you’ll have to read and see.
PHtG is pretty low angst for Murphy. I appreciated it though. Every single time I was preparing myself for the drama, she sort of tapped the brakes so that I could enjoy Knox and Joanna falling in love without interruptions from their past or whatever other drama we can insert like a wrench in the machine. This book was also pretty hot. There’s one scene where I had ti look over my shoulder to make sure no one was peeping. It’s also super sweet and even gets funny at times.
I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone looking for a low angst tutor/jock college sports romance read. Also, if you love the angst, I have a feeling the potential next book in this series will provide.
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*ARC -
Idkkk 2.5?! I’m so sad because I was super into this at first but the book is titled playing hard to get and I don’t feel like this chick played very hard to get 🤣 and I’m fine with a quiet, bookish MC but I feel like she didn’t have much personality 😭 I was bored once they got together (too quickly) and I kept waiting for some conflict but nothing happened 🥱
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DNF @ 58% - I liked the beginning… even if the celibacy bet was supremely far-fetched for a Star Athlete at an elite university, I liked that it artificially slowed down the physical relationship of two very experienced MCs. It was fun watching the manho marvel over kissing just to kiss. I thought maybe I could hang with a non virgin h, and I was doing ok (she’s only been with her ex bf who she dated for 3 years), trying to ignore the signs that her sweet shy demeanor was likely hiding a “bad girl” 🙄 - I mean, I’ve been wrong before… 🤡🤷🏼♀️…. Anywho this was sweet and I was tentatively on board until the first sex scene when the manho hero just decides to chuck his “💀vow of celibacy💀” so he can do the h… and she, as I expected, started acting like she didn’t care about having casual sex… even tho her character has not been portrayed like that at all til now. And she keeps interrupting their hot moments with unnecessary commentary and thoughts about her ex bf and the sex they had and his dick… I’d never want to read the H thinking abut his OW while having sex with the h, so why would I want to hear the heroine’s comparisons? 🤢… and it was just so awkward… and at one point the hero says she’s killing the mood…. 👀 And she laughs it off as a joke… but I was right there with him, 👀 and it wasn’t a joke. 😬🙈
Besides the sex stuff, I find the over emphasis on PC behavior a little too pronounced in this book. It’s been present in other books by this author but in this one it almost felt like a secondary character and I found it annoying. The one time the hero is even the tiniest bit aggressive, he beats himself up for it in his head. It really takes away from the intensity when the hero is neutered for the sake of political correct PSAs. We’re all adults here. We don’t need primers on consent. 🤷🏼♀️ and in the same vein… making the hero and heroine second guess every judgement they make in their heads and all characters to be bland with no “villain” makes for a very boring read, and feels like blatant pandering… which is fine I guess… but it also removes all personality from the plot and the characters. This is FICTION. It’s ok to write characters who aren’t *perfect* in their enlightenment. Overly sanitized books are BORING.
I think we will part ways here. The next book is likely the h’s slutty bff and I rarely jive with those books, so I’m guessing I’ll have to wait for the next series from this author. 😕
I liked MM’s Million Kisses book, quite a bit, so this DNF is a bummer. -
I read up until 63% and then just started skimming the rest of the book. The writing felt so immature to me, and I really didn’t like the MMC. I thought he was too full of himself, and it was like every chapter was the same inner dialogue. The FMC was pretty boring too..
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This is a fabulous addition to my nerd/jock romance trope collection!
One thing I really like about this book is that, while the book isn’t enemies to lovers, the hero and heroine don’t fall for each other immediately. In fact, Knox doesn’t even remember Joanna when they meet the second time. I loved this! It’s far more realistic, but without the “enemies-to-lovers” lens that many books tend to have if they’re not going the love at first sight route. I’m kind of rambling, but I’m just excited to read a slow-ish burn romance that I couldn’t put down! 5 stars.
POPSUGAR Reading Challenge 2023: This book fulfills the "Book about an athlete/sport" category. -
4.5 rounded up!!
this was a super cute, fun and light read. i was totally prepared to hate it after the first few knox chapters, his “i get so much pussy” monologues were getting so annoying but after they stopped he was perfect.
the chemistry between jo and knox was amazing, they gave me such naley vibes 😭
i loved that there was no third act break up and no OW drama considering what a man whore he made himself out to be prior. the side characters were all super lovable as well 🤭
cannot wait to read cam and blair’s book!! -
“At the same exact time, he quietly confesses, “I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“Kissing you, Jo Jo. I can get kind of fixated sometimes.” He kisses me like he can’t help it. “Pretty sure I’m completely obsessed with you.”
This was so cute!! I absolutely lap up all of Monica Murphy’s books because they are just so good!! This one has the classic tutor x playboy athlete and it had very good smut scenes. Only thing that made me knock it down from 5 stars was that I cringed out a lot oops.
I loved Knox and Joanna!! Joanna is like all of us book girlies she’s so real for her Taylor Swift tattoos and working in a bookstore. She’s what we all want to be. Knox is so hot lord have mercy. He wasn’t ridiculously possessive and he had really great personality features that made him 3 dimensional. Hot.
I loved the side characters especially Leon and Natalie, they’re such good friends for Joanna.
Yeah, really enjoyed this. I’m debating reading the next in series but idk if I’m feeling the characters that are involved in it so I may skip to a different Monica Murphy book? Oops never mind it ain’t even out yet😭 -
3.5! So cute and fun but the writing is so bad😭
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Knox & Joanna
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playing hard to get was everything you would want in a sports romance and more. this book had me hooked from the beginning till the end. but then again it is a monica murphy book so of course i was bound to love it because this woman can write anything and i would read it no questions asked! any who! i loved this book so much! knox and jo jo were the cutest ever. i am a die hard fan of the tutor girl and player relationship and this one served 😩. gave me strong naley vibes let me tell you! knox is a known player and is famous on campus for being the literal best football player at their school while jo jo is the quiet, tutor girl who works in the bookstore and really couldn’t care about football HAHA. jo jo spoke to my soul! i related to her so hard, we are one at this point. and knox being the one who fell first and was so obsessed with jo jo from the start?! im in love!! this book was the cutest 🤍
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4 ⭐️ ahh this was so entertaining from the very beginning and was such a fun sports romance read!! i loved the reformed player + tutor trope and thought knox and jo jo were so cute. also boy falls first is my favorite and i loved how knox was so obsessed with jo jo.
so so excited for the side characters to get their own books. now monica has me wanting to read her callahans and college years series!!
thank you so much monica + valentine pr for sending me an arc 🤍 -
4 stars | 3 spice
Big thanks to Monica Murphy & Valentine PR for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!
I've been dipping my toes into sports romance and this one was definitely a good one! I didn't expect to like it as much as I did in the beginning when Joanna was all "I'm not a regular girl - I hate football players" and Knox was all "I could get any girl I wanted because I'm a football player". But we quickly get to see different sides of them as the book goes on.
The spice was SPICY!!! Knox with his grey sweatpants and backward hat had me ready to fall on the floor while reading. It had spice AND a plot which I love. I loved the vulnerability that Knox had when it came to his dyslexia and having Joanna help him as his tutor. I did wish the ending had a little more to it but I was glad it wasn't over the top.
Overall a 4-star read and I definitely will be picking up the second one because I cannot wait to read about Knox's sister and his best friend. I highly recommend this as a good fall, sports romance read especially if you like them on the spicy side. -
loved loved loved being back in this universe<3 callahan/college years is my fave series by monica so getting the callahans cousin story was super exciting for me!
as always, i love monicas writing!! this one was so easy and fun for me to read, devoured it in 3 hours!!!
it follows knox, the star football player & joanna the quiet girl who ends up being knox’s tutor!!!
if you like the reformed playboy and tutor trope, this one is for you!! -
In the first half of the book I constantly felt like it was missing something, and it gave me the whole “I’m not like other girls” vibe. The last 30/20% of the book did make up for it since it had no unnecessary drama or break up.
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3.5 Stars
I fell in love with the relationship between Joanna and Knox. She is his tutor and he is the star tight end on the football team. I loved the back and forth between them but I felt that it ended so quickly. Like there was missing chapters. But overall it was a good sports romance. -
3/5
Дуже проста, легенька книга з незатійливим сюжетом і без зайвої драми. Нокс - футболіст і один з найпопулярніших хлопців коледжу потребує репетитора через проблеми з англійською (у хлопця дислексія). І цим репетитором стає Джоанна, яка недолюблює спортсменів. Звісно ж вона зразу привертає увагу Нокса, бо не така як всі, не кидається на ��ього, як усі дівчата і читає книги. Коротше, кліше на кліше, проте це було весело, іноді крінжово, але коли хочеться розгрузити мозок підійде в самий раз.
Що сподобалося:
🔸Відкритість і прямолінійність Нокса. Він прям така відкрита душа, ніколи не приховує того, що відчуває, завжди говорить те, що в нього на думці і дуже щирий.
🔸 Сподобалося, що Джоанна ставила свої кордони в стосунках, засвоївши уроки з минулих відносин.
🔸Стосунки головних, були досить здоровими, хоч і розвивалися занадто швидко.
З мінусів, мені банально не вистачило сюжету, все було занадто солодко, аж ванільно, також хотілося більше дізнатися про родину Джоани, а то склалося враження, що вона взагалі з ними не спілкується.
Загалом, історія досить посередня, але дуже мила і весела, якби я прочитала її в свої 18 або, навіть, рік назад я була б у захваті. -
I adore this book so much—it's the cutest ever! However, I have a problem with the title because it hardly fits them at all. The connection was there from the beginning, and they quickly developed a solid relationship with lots of communication. As a result, there was no playing hard to get.
The tutor/student trope absolutely hit, plus a college sports romance? Even better. Additionally, he is receiving a love narrative similar to his parents because they both met and fell in love similarly. Which is the cutest thing I've ever seen, hands down. Given that nobody in the real world will be as good as Knox, Monica made him in a way that has raised my expectations. What a letdown, to be honest. Do better, men, if you see this.
The well-known tight end in football, Knox Maguire, is most likely to be drafted into the NFL. Knox needs to concentrate because he is so busy in his senior year of college. Particularly now that he must enroll in and pass the class he has avoided since his first semester of college. He, therefore, organizes a pack to swear off women and go celibate. However, if he caves, he will have to pay Derek $1,000.
The intelligent but reserved Joanna Sutton is an English tutor who assists students with learning challenges. She also works at the university's bookshop. She recently ended a three-year relationship but has yet to move past it. In particular, she despises football and dislikes being the center of attention.
The moment Knox enters the campus bookstore to make a purchase, there is a connection between them. It gets to the point where he somehow finds himself having to visit this bookstore and talk with Joanna for the following three days, although he never asked for her name over those three days. Even though she dislikes the name JoJo, she wears a nametag bearing that name.
So, when Knox realizes he needs a tutor to pass his English class, he comes across Joanna Sutton's name. He goes to his tutoring appointment hoping that it is who he believes it to be, and he is thrilled to be with the girl who has been on his thoughts a lot lately. The two of them have been practically inseparable ever since, and they continue to fall in love more and more each day. God, when will it finally be my turn?
They have such incredible chemistry together. Joanna and Knox are genuinely so beautiful and alluring. This book is perfect in every way, so read it!
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 -
when there’s no third act breakup>>>>
ngl after reading Monica’s recent marriage arrangement trilogy I was scared that she had lost the touch since I really loved her precious books (things I wanted to say and a mission kisses in your lifetime) but this book had me grinning all the time.
This was kind of cliche but the cliche I wanted after reading ZA book 7. Overall, the chemistry was amazing and I can’t wait for the next book! -
First, allow me to rant about the title.
I absolutely HATE the title "Playing Hard to Get." It doesn't truly encompass Joanna and Knox's relationship, whatsoever. Even though, Joanna was all "I hate sports, etc." (I'll get to that character detail, later) which meant she had SOME apprehension towards Knox, there wasn't a long period of time when Joanna kept her distance for her to be considered "playing hard to get." The book should be titled: "College Insta Love."
What I hate most are the implications of the phrase "playing hard to get." This phrase is used so much in conversations, interactions, social media, tv shows, movies, books, the list goes on and on in regards to rape culture and harassment. The amount of times I hear/see men use this phrase or some other rendition to put the fault on women despite them being the one to blame is fucking ridiculous. The usage of "playing hard to get" as a norm is EXTREMELY harmful and perpetuates rape culture and harassment.
I'm not sure how the title became created, whether it was Monica Murphy's or an editor's idea, but that doesn't erase the harm from this language. I don't care about the intentions. Authors (everyone) need to do better.
Now, about the book
Overall, the book was okay--your typical college, sports romance. I'm the type of reader who has 2 college romance preferences. They either have to be a realistic, sweet plotline OR an unrealistic, obnoxiously dark plotline. I don't make the rules. The book 100% falls under realistic and sweet.
📖 Joanna (Jo Jo)
One word to describe Jojo? ✨ quirky ✨
She's not like other girls. JoJo works at the university's bookstore, tutors students, has Taylor Swift tattoos, and most importantly HATES sports, especially football players."I don't care about sports. And I really don't like football."
This inner dialogue happens for the rest of book until Knox converts her to be a face-painted, jersey-wearing football fan.
🏈 Knox
Knox is the university's star tight end with a tight end... if you know what I mean...
He's a player, cares about football, and has a reading disability.
Knox and Jojo's relationship grows from their tutoring sessions, and Knox becomes quickly obsessed with her.
I don't really have anything else to say. There was the Natalie x Jojo drama but it's completely unimportant to the plot. It wasn't a remarkable nor rememberable read, but I enjoyed the journey while it happened. -
Oy. Okay.
Playing Hard To Get was a college sports romance with opposites attract vibes that was a huge disappointment.
I don’t even know where to start.
1. The plot. It is completely unrealistic for a senior football player in college to take a vow of celibacy as to not distract him from his schoolwork. He never struggled before, even with multiple girls coming and going all the time but now, this ONE class is enough for him to cut all women out of his life? Uh no.
2. I didn’t feel that there was actually much ‘opposites attract’ vibes in this, despite what was advertised. Joanna was supposed to be the nerdy girl who is antisocial bla bla bla. The only nerdy thing about her is that she doesn’t like football, that’s all. And that’s a stretch because not liking a sport doesn’t automatically make you a nerd. She still went out, after a convincing from her friend but that does not a nerdy girl make.
3. These two had absolutely nothing in common. Honestly, their entire connection was sexual and I don’t say that often. There were zero scenes that made me believe that they actually liked each other for anything other than sex.
4. There were several references applauding Knox for being well endowed. While this does come up in books once in a while, there were waaay too much references. Towards the end, I was actually a little uncomfortable. We get it, you don’t need to bring it up every 10 pages!
5. There was so much talk about Cam and Blair, even if I did enjoy this book, I would want to read the next one. I feel like I’ve already witnessed their entire relationship.
6. The sex scenes were…okay. There was a lot of unnecessary information that ruined the entire scene. A lot of the time, I was asking ‘why did I need to know this?’.
7. The constant mentions of Bryan, Joanna’s ex were seriously annoying. I felt as if she was constantly comparing Knox to him, which is normal because he was her only boyfriend before Knox but she literally brought him up every 10 pages.
8. There was a lot of unnecessary information that I felt stole the ‘space’ from information that could have been a lot more valuable to the storyline. A lot of unnecessary dialogue that actually had zero impact on the storyline or development of the plot.
9. Knox’s knee issue is completely useless in the story. I thought that because it was brought up in the beginning and he was forced to attend physical therapy again, that it would be some sort of contender for the plot or drama at the end but nothing. Absolutely no references in the book. What was the purpose then?
10. The characters felt very one dimensional and flat. I felt like every single one of them were extras that just waltzed into set and was told to stand on the line and read the script.
11. Why would Knox not hire a professional tutor, one that actually specialises in students that suffer with dyslexia? That felt completely unrealistic to me that for a class that is supposedly so important, he would go to a student tutor. Especially because he didn’t want other students to know he’s dyslexic. Like ???
Okay. One of the good things that I feel the author did well was the portrayal of Knox’s dyslexia. I felt that is was handled delicately and was realistic. That’s the only good thing I can say about this.
Probably don’t read this. -
ugh. i don't even know where to start. 2.75 stars.
first of all, the mmc, knox, is VERY cocky. he plays football, every girl drools over him, and so on. but when the fmc, joanna, doesn't give him attention he's upset because, like i said, woman normally drool over him.
he was constantly cocky about how he's been with other women, and how she's not like them... dude, we get it. we don't need a reminder every 10 pages.
the book also had a lot of 'coincidences.' joanna goes to the bar, dressed in a hot outfit, hoping knox was there to make him jealous. surprise surprise! knox was there since his best friend asked him to go that night.
further on, when joanna realizes shes in love with him in her pov, it goes back to knox's pov. surprise surprise, he then realizes he's in love with joanna when his sister mentions it.
the book was very predictable. it was a 100 percent chance they would end up together in the book. there was also many times knox didn't do anything big for joanna. yes, they would hook up for weeks but they weren't really anything. joanna just assumed he didn't like her, and in his POV it would all be about how hot she looks and how he's so into her. i don't know, dude, maybe you should tell her that.
there wasn't even any problems the couple had throughout the book. it was simply that they would hook up and couldn't admit they liked each other because knox is a player and doesn't settle down with one girl.
overall, i thought this was going to be a really good read. it probably would have at least 3.5 stars if it weren't for knox's cockiness. if you can stand that, then this should be a good read for you. otherwise, i wouldn't recommend this. -
“Is that what you want from me? Something like what’s in that book?”
“You already give me that.” I decide to be one hundred percent truthful. “You are like my own personal book boyfriend."
I really liked this book. It was light-hearted, drama free and fast paced. The side characters were also amazing and had a good amount of involvement. I'm definitely looking forward to see more of Blair & Camden (if they're getting their own book). Joanna & Knox's chemistry was off the charts and I loved them together. Joanna was such a sensible, practical and headstrong girl who could put forth her opinions in front of Knox so easily and could also bring down his ego to a new kind of low which is why I loved her so much! Knox on then other hand wasn't as appealing to me in the beginning but he won my heart towards the end with the way he brushed off all of Joanna's insecurities. But towards the end, I felt that I knew more about Knox than Jo because only Knox's family made an appearance but while Jo mentioned something about her father not being in the picture, it wasn't elaborated much. So I felt like I knew nothing about her past other than her breakup tbh. Though overall, it was an engaging read and Jo & Knox's relationship was adorable!
I received an ARC in exchange of an honest review -
3★ Finished it in one sitting and 4 hours. This is your typical college sports romance. I was extremely invested in this book at the beginning but the plot eventually became boring because there wasn’t much going on. There wasn’t any sort of conflict. I didn’t connect with any character because there was no background storyline or development and their relationship felt a bit rushed and monotonous. Also the title doesn’t really make sense in my opinion. There was no chase, angst or anything like that. However I enjoyed this book. I found the beginning entertaining and there were many heartwarming moments. It was quick and fun to read.
The epilogue was really nice and I can’t wait to read the next book! I feel like I’ll enjoy that one more.
Just need to leave this here:
“You do have a tattoo.”
“’To live for the hope of it all.’”
“It’s from Taylor Swift’s song ‘August.’ It’s my favorite line she’s ever written.”
The line gives me hope. That we should live for everything life has to offer, not just a man, not just a career or friends or family. For every last bit of it.”
