Nyrae Dawn

Jolene Perry

Out of Play by Jolene Perry and Nyrae Dawn Rock star drummer Bishop Riley doesn't have a drug problem. Celebrities-especially ones suffering from anxiety-just need a little help taking the edge off sometimes. After downing a few too many pills, Bishop wakes up in the hospital facing an intervention. If he wants to stay in the band, he'll have to detox while under house arrest in Seldon, Alaska. Hockey player Penny Jones can't imagine a life outside of Seldon. Though she has tons of scholarship offers to all the best schools, the last thing she wants is to leave. Who'll take care of her absentminded gramps? Not her mother, who can't even be bothered to come home from work, let alone deal with their new tenants next door. Penny's not interested in dealing with Bishop's crappy attitude, and Bishop's too busy sneaking pills to care. Until he starts hanging out with Gramps and begins to see what he's been missing. If Bishop wants a chance with the fiery girl next door, he'll have to admit he has a problem and kick it. Too bad addiction is hard to kick...and Bishop's about to run out of time.

Out of Play

Rock star drummer Bishop Riley just needs a few months to relax and detox before his band’s next tour. But the last place he expected to do it is in Seldon, Alaska. And the last person he wants to do it with is Penny Jones. Fiery, headstrong Penny has zero in common with the cocky, too-hot-for-his-own-good Bishop, and she’d like to keep it that way. But the more Bishop gets under her skin, the more she wants to let him in. And the more Penny lets him see, the more Bishop wants to know this stubborn girl with the killer body and soulful eyes. The simmering heat between them won’t go away, no matter how hard either of them tries. Their time together in Alaska may be running out—but so is their resolve for not taking a chance on love.

“He’s got history, you know? But those people are the best kind because they already know what’s out there and are ready to figure out what they really want. Do you know what you really want?”


I was drawn to this book for two main reasons: Penny and Bishop. Penny sounded like such a kick-ass girl in the description. I have what just might be an unhealthy obsession with the troubled “bad boy” actor/musician/fighter that is so common in YA and NA lit these days. Additionally, as I may have mentioned a time or two before on this blog, I love reading about romance between a regular girl/famous boy.

I did love Penny. She was awesome. She truly was the kick-ass girl I thought she was given the description of the book. I’d like to think she and I would be friends if she a) was real and b) didn’t live in Alaska. Bishop just didn’t really interest me. I honestly felt he was boring. Yes he was troubled and vulnerable, but i just couldn’t connect with him. I didn’t care. Or, I didn’t care until that thing happens in the book – once you’ve read it, if you chose to, you’ll know exactly which “thing” I’m talking about. At that point, I felt so much for him. He was in so much obvious pain and was so vulnerable and unable to control his actions, it broke my heart.

The side characters were rather well-developed in this book. Gramps was amazing. He was a firecracker. He reminded me of my own grandfather in a lot of ways, so it was painful to read about his decline into dementia. Penny’s mom was a well-written character, but not one that I enjoyed reading about. I have a wonderful relationship with my mother. I know I’m lucky. Not everyone does. Penny’s mom was too controlling, manipulative and close-minded for me.

I know you should never judge a book by its cover, but trust me when I say I do. Still. I can’t help it. After seeing this cover and reading the blurb on Goodreads, I thought I was in for a fluffy New Adult romance novel with a Happily Ever After. Instead, I learned this was a book about growth and self-discovery, with a side of romance. The journey, so to speak, was great, but I found the romance lacking. I won’t say it wasn’t believable, necessarily. I just didn’t care. I didn’t connect enough with Bishop to care or want to see them fight for their relationship.

It wasn’t a bad book. I don’t regret reading it. It just really wasn’t what I thought I was getting.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. There were a lot of distracting cosmetic issues with the galley copy. It was incredibly difficult to read. The spacing was weird and when the document was sent to my Kindle app the first time, half the letters were missing. I converted it myself with Calibre and there weren’t as many missing letters, but there were weird paragraph and sentence breaks. I didn’t base my review on these issues, but I thought it worth mentioning. It did detract some from my ability to enjoy it. 

This review can also be found on my blog.

Out of Play

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