Amy Andrews

After a long history with crappy guys, high school teacher Em Newman is going man-vegan. Four months of revirginization has opened her eyes to her doormat imitation but, baby’s got spine now, and some smooth-talking—even if he is sinfully hot—rugby player, won’t be adding her as a notch anytime soon. Lincoln Quinn loves rugby, women, and poker. And he likes to win at all three. When his team mates bet him he can’t break through Em’s resolve, he’s more than up for the challenge. But this lady has a shoebox of stipulations before she’ll even go on a date with him, much less use that mouth for kissing instead of giving orders. Something’s gotta give but this time Em’s not settling. And Linc’s questioning everything he ever knew about matters of the heart. Each book in the Sydney Smoke Rugby series is STANDALONE: * Playing By Her Rules * Playing It Cool * Playing the Player * Playing With Forever * Playing House * Playing Dirty

Playing the Player

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

I first became a fan of Lisa Brown Roberts after reading How (Not) to Fall in Love earlier this year. I was instantly drawn to how accurate her portrayal of teenagers were, keeping their romance at the appropriate age level and extremely realistic. And I was happy to see that this story had the exact same feel.

Trina and Slade are complete opposites and thrown together for a summer of nanny two children. Both go into this arrangement with a secret… which is sure to inevitably bring about the drama. Trina is a strictly Type A organized-beyond-imagination type of girl, while Slade is a laid-back lifeguard who loves the ladies. They couldn’t be more opposite, and this brings about a boatload of trouble more often than not. These two spend their days butting heads, while trying to nanny these two extremely difficult (one more so than the other) children together. I really enjoyed this story, which brought me back to my days of babysitting siblings during the summer when I was a teenager. (Days I DO NOT miss, AT ALL! Man, I’m so NOT a good babysitter…) I was giggling more often than not while reading about their days battling these two tykes.

Yes, this story was cliche… but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This incredible author took the often-done concept of “good girl changes player” and made it her own. This wasn’t only about Trina transforming Slade into something different, but even more so about Slade changing Trina as well. These two learned and grew as individuals while spending this summer together, and I loved every minute of it.

“I didn’t know what we were doing or what any of this meant. But I intended to follow it all the way through, because for the first time in forever, I felt fully alive.”


I read this a few weeks ago while sitting outside on the deck in the sun. It was such a great summer read for me, quick and effortless, and fun above all else. I love how innocent and pure Lisa Brown Roberts’ stories seem to be. Yes, there is drama, per say, but her stories are never dark, never filled with turmoil, and are always accurate to the age group of the characters. These characters reminded me of teenagers I knew growing up, all of their faults and bad decisions included. I even saw a little bit of myself in Trina, which was a little eye-opening, to say the least. A very realistic story that will leave you smiling and happy. Another extremely enjoyable, gives-you-the-warm-and-fuzzies read from Lisa Brown Roberts.

(Thanks to Entangled Crush for the review copy!)

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

Playing the Player

Reviews