Liz Fichera

After saving Riley Berenger from falling off a mountain, unassuming Sam's life is turned upside down when rich girl Riley's plans to repay him by making him popular go awry.

Played

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Liz Fichera's Played was a fun and uncomplicated young adult contemporary novel. I hadn't read the first book in the series, Hooked, before reading this one, but the story still made perfect sense. I was missing a little backstory between the secondary characters, but I really see no reason why this couldn't be read as a standalone. Played also gets a big thumbs up from me for having diverse characters! 

Played is told from both Riley and Sam's perspectives. I have to be honest and say I didn't love Riley. I had some problems with her because she came off as a bit of a princess at times. I also really had to question her motivation in trying to break up her brother and his girlfriend, Fred. I will say she experienced some much-needed growth during the course of this story. Sam, on the other hand, was golden to me from the beginning. I thought he was funny, sweet and cute. He and this book have that in common. 

Riley and Sam had really good chemistry. They were thrown together most unexpectedly and in a way neither wanted to be at the beginning of the book. Their banter and the inexplicable hard feelings between them pulled me in immediately. (Inexplicable to me, I assume, because I didn't read the first book in the series.) Reading about how they bonded the night they were stranded together and then watching the ways their feelings toward the other changed was fun. I shook my head a little as Riley became convinced the way she would repay Sam for saving her life was to break up her brother's perfectly good relationship with Sam's crush, Fred. I just knew that wasn't going to take. 

If you're looking for a light and fluffy young adult contemporary book with fun romance, you should definitely check this one out. It didn't pull a lot of emotions from me, but I think that's mainly because of my lack of connection to Riley. My love for Sam, however, more than made up for any ambivalence I felt towards Riley. I wanted him to find happiness and, well, it didn't matter to me who it was with. I liked this book and plan to go back and read the first book when I have a spare minute. Ryan and Fred were great secondary characters, and even though I know they end up together, I still feel compelled to read their story.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Played

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