Name: Anri's review of The Player Next Door by K. A. Tucker
Item: The Player Next Door
Rating: 5
Author: Anri

K. A. Tucker

From the international bestselling author of The Simple Wild and Ten Tiny Breaths comes a new second-chance, hate-to-love romance. Scarlet Reed has returned to Polson Falls, convinced that twelve years away is long enough to shed her humiliating childhood identity as the town harlot's daughter. With a teaching job secured and an adorable fixer-upper to call home, things in her life are finally looking up. That is, until she finds out that Shane Beckett lives next door. Shane Beckett, the handsome and charismatic high school star quarterback who smashed her heart. The lying, cheating player who was supposed to be long gone, living the pro football dream and fooling women into thinking he's Prince Charming. Shane Beckett, who is as attractive as ever and flashing his dimples at her as if he has done no wrong. Scarlet makes it abundantly clear that old wounds have not been forgotten. Neighbors they may be, but friends they most certainly are not. She won't allow herself to fall for the single father and firefighter again, no matter how many apologies he offers, how many times he rushes to her aid, or how hard he makes her heart pound. But as she spends more time with him, she begins to fear that maybe she's wrong. Maybe Shane has changed. And maybe this time she's the one playing herself-out of a chance at true happiness.

A Novel

The Player Next Door

Anri

Shan

Super cute! This was just the light read I needed during quarantine. Another great one by KA Tucker. I absolutely loved the characters Scarlette and Sean💗 it was quite steamy just so you know

Maggie Hepditch

This was such a cute book! Exes to lovers is one of my favourite tropes so I knew I'd love this. I'm glad that Shane got the chance to prove he's better than he was at 17. I liked how this book ended and how it felt like everyone got a second chance. Only reason it's not 5/5 is because it wasn't that romantic and it felt a bit insta love and I prefer a good slow burn. Spice was like a 3/5.

Tshering Yangzom

it did not give what it was suppose to give ://
i have a soft spot for single parent trope but ugh the female mc was so frustrating and immature 80% of the book

Aundreya Rich

@katucker_ has a way of writing characters I just want to fall in love with.... Shane Beckett is right up there with Jonah... officially.

Scarlet grew up in a small town, with a promiscuous well known mother and a summer love with Shane that crushed her heart. After high school the only who to be free of the baggage and pain she carried was to move to NYC and the fast pace life.

Only 13 years later she receives a call from her high school principal offering her a job she can’t refuse teaching 6th grade and her dream home is up for sale.
Everything feels like it’s falling into place until Scarlet realizes her hot neighbor just so happens to be Shane, and she is ready to hold onto her grudge as long as possible.
•
This was an enjoyable read by an auto buy author of mine, and if you love KA Tucker let me tell you, this is NOT like her others.
Yes it’s flirty and charming, but it’s steamy 🔥.

There were lots of moments that left me laughing and wanting more, like a second book with Dean and Justine?!
•
•
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: 😂😂😂

Amanda Furlan

Find this review and more at 
  kimberlyfaye reads.


If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know second chance romance is my jam. It’s one of my favorite tropes and I literally can’t get enough of it. I’ll devour just about anything K.A. Tucker writes, but I was especially over the moon to learn she was writing The Player Next Door. It sounded like it would be right up my alley.

Sometimes when I read a second chance romance, the reason why the couple broke up in the first place is a bit of a mystery. I learned right off the bat — literally in the first chapter — what went down between Scarlet and Shane. It wasn’t pretty and it didn’t do much to endear Shane to me. But, they were in high school and heavens knows poor choices are made. When we fast forward a few years and find Scarlet and Shane as neighbors, they both have some baggage to work through. I knew it would be a bumpy road for these characters given their past, but their chemistry convinced me they could make it work. But first, they had to be honest with themselves and communicate better. There was a lot of pettiness between them and they sometimes came off as much younger than their ages.

I breezed through The Player Next Door in a mere matter of hours — again, something I haven’t been doing much over the last few months. While I did get frustrated with how childish they could be at times, I was all in for Scarlet and Shane. I hoped they could let go of some past ugliness, get through the challenges of external forces in the present-day, and make it work. It was an enjoyable read — light, fun and super sexy, with just enough drama to make it believable. I’d like to see Kathleen take us back into this world at some point. There are some side characters whom I think could have interesting stories of their own. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Favorite Quotes:

“There’s not much I can say except that I’m sorry. If I could go back in time, I’d do a lot of things differently.”

Megan Rose

** spoiler alert **
           
  People f*** up but they also change. It’s not fair to hold them to one standard forever when they’re trying to be better.


This was such a light and refreshing read. I really enjoyed Scarlet and Shane's relationship and loved the trope of them being next door neighbors. They had to work through some complicated hurdles (Scarlet being Shane's son's teacher, Shane's ex being Scarlet's enemy growing up, etc.), but they worked through it together.

Bibi Disco

Lacey

3.5 STARS

I am such a big fan of K.A. Tucker, so when I heard she’d be releasing a new standalone with summer vibes, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! Also, I’m always a sucker for both second chance romances and single parent romances. I ended up enjoying Shane and Scarlet’s story – it’s both sweet and dramatic, if that makes sense. If you want a summer read with a swoony hero and lots of unresolved tension, give The Player Next Door a try!

Scarlet has returned home after being away for twelve years to be a school teacher. She packed up and never looked back as soon as she could, not wanting to deal with heartbreak and her narcissistic mother any more. But she’s moved into the cute little house she always admired, not knowing that her next door neighbor is none other than the guy who broke her heart and caused her to want to leave: Shane Beckett. Who also happens to be the father of one of her new students.

This romance is a bit of an enemies to lovers one, at least on our heroine Scarlet’s side. She hasn’t forgiven Shane for breaking her heart over a decade ago and isn’t about to make it easy for him to try to get her to give him a second chance. I love a heroine who makes a hero work for her affections, though I do feel Shane could’ve groveled a bit more rather than say it was something that happened so long ago. There’s plenty of chemistry, of push and pull, between Shane and Scarlet to make this romance exciting and fun.

The main reason I’m not rating this higher is that I felt a bit disconnected from our main characters. I liked them, but I never truly connected with their stories. I may have rolled my eyes a bit at some of the miscommunication and it wasn’t quite as light and fluffy as I expected. But still, it’s a quick, sweet (which mostly comes from our charming hero and his son) romp with a dash of drama (from our heroine) that will make this a fun summer read!

Anri &
The Player Next Door by K. A. Tucker

Reviews

Join the club

Anri &The Player Next Door by K. A. Tucker

Reviews

Join the club

Anri &
The Player Next Door by K. A. Tucker