~ 4.5 stars for a new-to-me author ~
Ainsley Booth is a new author to me, and let me tell you, The Playing Game will keep me coming back. I have to admit, I love a good hockey romance, so nothing is too surprising that I loved this book. The main couple, Harper and Kieran, were so darn lovable. I learned while starting this book, that they do have a prequel that shows us the couple meeting and their first night together. I STRONGLY recommend reading the prequel, as some parts of the prequel are referenced in The Playing Game, but it is not necessary.
The Playing Game starts two years after the prequel and our couple’s first night together when Kieran is drafted by a new NHL expansion team in Harper’s hometown. During their first home game, he locks eyes with her and recognizes Harper as Jersey Girl, aka the girl he has been thinking about for two years now. He tries everything he can to find Harper and he lucks out through a few fateful situations. Harper has a lot of baggage from a childhood and is understandably hesitant to get into a relationship with Kieran. However, that man sure was persistent and was great at meeting Harper wherever she was at. Our main girl, Harper, worked as an inpatient pediatric nurse, which was awesome to see play out throughout the book as the author did a good job of discussing the nuances of the job, including weird hours and working night shifts. Plus, getting to see the soft side of Kieran interacting with the kids when he would visit the hospital made the story even better. I mean, it was truly swoon worthy. Seeing him there had me all like:
The only negative I found and why I have a 4.5 star rating instead of 5 as I sometimes found the timeline confusing. The pacing of the book was hard to follow at times as chunks of time would be sped through which made some parts less believable or harder to understand. Having a more spread out time frame could have helped a bit, but honestly was not anything that would make me not recommend this book to others!
I loved getting to watch this couple grow in their relationship with each other and not have to worry about a third act breakup. There was such a genuine feeling with these two that kept me wanting to come back for more. As much as I loved the main couple, the side characters also kept me wanting to read more. The friendship and camaraderie found in sports romance books is one of my favorite parts of them. Getting insight into the other players only encouraged me to want more of them and get their love stories as well. The Playing Game was a very easy read for me and one that I binged rather quickly. Unfortunately, now I have to wait for the rest of the series to come out as we wait for the next release. Great job, Ainsley Booth! I cannot wait for the next one.
* Review given in exchange for receiving free digital review copy provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op *