Review – Playing by the Rules by Monica Murphy

Playing by the Rules; The Players #2
(#2 within a series)

Publication Date: March 30, 2023

Genre/Tropes: New Adult/Sports/Brother’s Best Friend Romance

Author: Monica Murphy

Review Rating: 5 Gold Stars

Review/Synopsis:

Review:
Playing by the Rules is fun, steamy, with a touch of angst. The perfect romance to get your blood pumping and your heart racing.

The beginning of this book has Blair crushing on Camden hard, basically from afar, but also up close as he’s her brother’s best friend. Worst spot to be in especially when her brother is uber protective. However, that never detours Blair from seeking out Camden and being upfront about how she feels about him. In return Cam lays it all out there as well, while he may find her attractive, Knox, Blair’s brother, will kill him if he touches her. Their angst begins and their chemistry was instantly off the charts.

What did Blair do next when Cam kept her at arms length;

“Pull my hair, and call me baby.”

Record scratch…what did Blair just say?!😲 The gloves come off, along with their clothes, because honestly how can Cam compete with those images running through his mind. 🔥However, as the heat rises so does the angst because Cam is still battling demons Blair can’t see.

Camden can hardly go a few minutes without thinking of Blair and it’s more than just the smexy times. They have a connection, but he can’t get past the feeling that he will never live up to the hype she’s created in her mind of him. This poor guy may be the QB of a D1 school, but his confidence doesn’t match his position.

Their secret relationship weighs heavy on them both and while it’s fun to sneak around in the beginning, it’s drowning any hope of a future. I do love and appreciate how the ending all came about, I don’t want to give it away, but for Cam especially, his future will look brighter because of how he took the reigns on his mental health.

Playing by the Rules runs concurrently alongside Playing Hard to Get, which is Knox’s book. Go figure he’s a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to his sister finding love, but that’s an over the top protective big brother for you. 😉 This book is a standalone, but personally I enjoyed reading it after Knox’s.

Lastly, Knox and Blair have a younger sister, Ruby, and she sounds like all kinds of fun. I can’t wait to read what trouble she stirs up in the next book.

Synopsis:
What happens when you fall for your brother’s best friend? Find out in this upcoming sports romance by New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy…

Camden Fields is the star quarterback of our college football team.

Quiet.

Smart.

Absolutely gorgeous.

He’s the man all the women on campus rave about. And while he’s had a few casual hookups over the years, it’s never anything serious. Cam doesn’t do serious.

He also doesn’t do me.

See, I’m his best friend’s little sister, and whenever we’re around each other, he’s always warning me that I’m off limits. That nothing can ever happen between us.

But I see the way he looks at me when he thinks I’m not watching. The heat in his gaze. The hunger. He can deny it, but that man wants me.

I want him too.

I’m tired of always being the good girl and doing what everybody expects. For once, I’m going to break all the rules that have restrained me my entire life.

I’m going after Camden Fields.

And no one can stop me.

Find more of my reviews on Amazon under Kayreader
on Goodreads under Kay Daniels Romance
At Bookbub under Kayreader
or you can follow me on Facebook at Kay Daniels Romance