Sophie Reads YA

Blog Tour & ARC Review: A Lady's Lesson in Scandal (The Queen's Deadly Damsels #2) by Darcy McGuire

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ARC Review: Playmaker by Deanna Faison

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Playmaker
Series: None
Author: Deanna Faison
Published October 22nd 2024 by W by Wattpad Books/Orion

Goodreads Synopsis
Spring Break is about having fun–and a steamy friends with benefits relationship for Maddie and Cameron until they realize they might be falling in love. This BookTok sensation is perfect for fans of Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker and Tessa Bailey’s spicy rom-coms.

What started as a game just got serious.

Cameron's a hot NFL prospect, and a total player on and off the field. But his moves don't seem to work on Maddie. While she once crushed on him hard, that crush has since faded. She’s got big plans of her own and they don’t include him.

Then Spring Break turns their plans, and their feelings, upside down. Maddie and Cameron start a steamy affair, sneaking around behind their families’ backs. But there's one big problem: Maddie’s WAY overprotective brother–who happens to be Cameron’s BFF.

Will Cam be able to admit he's got real feelings? Will Maddie ever be able to stand up to her brother and make her own decisions?

One thing's for sure, their choices will change their life playbooks for good.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

They've known each other their whole lives, but this Spring Break may be the holiday which changes everything. Maddie and Cameron are polar opposites: Maddie is focused on her school work, whereas Cameron is more into the party lifestyle, albeit on track to join the NFL after graduation. Maddie is sure she's over her crush on Cameron, but after being forced to spend 7 minutes in heaven with him at a party, they both realise that the attraction between them is two sided, and decide to enjoy Spring Break and have fun together. However, Cameron broke Maddie's heart when he rejected her after his mother's death, and he has his own trauma and issues to contend with before he can feel worthy enough of Maddie. Will they get their chemistry out of their system, or are they bound to fall in love?

When I saw this book on EW, I knew it would be one I'd enjoy, especially as I've gotten myself into a sports romance phase at the minute. Maddie and Cameron's past was heartbreaking, especially when it was clear that they had always had an attraction to each other, and missed out on being together for so long. Having the get out clause that they're only going to be together for the remainder of Spring Break was a good way for them to explore their feelings, though it was easily clear to readers, and even each other, that they were fooling no one. The sneaking around behind Maddie's family's back was hard, but the scene when it was all revealed was fantastic! Such a fun read, and I hope we get more from the pair in future books.

Dates Read:
August 21-22, 2024

Rating
4 Stars

October

Stacking the Shelves: October 12th 2024

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October

Stacking the Shelves: October 5th 2024

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4 Stars

ARC Review: Wicked Serve (Beyond the Play #4) by Grace Reilly

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Wicked Serve
Series: Beyond the Play #4
Author: Grace Reilly
Published August 13th 2024 by Avon/Headline Eternal

Goodreads Synopsis
He’s my brother’s biggest hockey rival… but he’s bringing the heat for me.

Nikolai

Hockey is my life, and I need to make this last season count. But when I’m forced to transfer to rival school McKee University for my senior year, I risk pissing off the captain, who happens to be the older brother of Isabelle Callahan: the gorgeous beam of sunshine I messed around with in secret this summer.

Rekindling our fling could risk her brother icing me off the team—not to mention the fact that my scarred past makes having a real relationship impossible—and yet the moment I see Isabelle again, all my wild, burning feelings come rushing back.

Izzy

I have two goals for sophomore year: win back my old volleyball position, and forget I ever knew devilishly handsome hockey defenseman Nikolai Abney-Volkov. As the youngest and only daughter in a family full of athletes, failure isn’t an option.

But when Nik crashes back into my life, I can’t stay away from his broody charm. I’m determined to guard my heart this time, but between the furtive hookups and the heartfelt conversations, the lines between friends-with-benefits and more begin to blur.

As we fall deeper into a place we can’t come back from unscathed, we’ll have to make a choice: fight for a future together, or watch it go up in flames.

Filled with swoons, spice, sports, and koalas, Wicked Serve is a don’t-miss new adult college sports romance.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Izzy Callahan is a star volleyball player, but after spending the summer in New York, working for a prestigious wedding planner, she wants more than just the game. However, she also wants the only boy she shouldn't have - though she did this summer - Nikolai Abney-Volkov. Nik is her brother Cooper's arch nemesis, and the two have come to blows more than once on the ice. But Nik is sweet, and the time they spent together this summer proves how made for each other they are. It was just a fling though, and they're off to different colleges, where they'll be enemies again, right? Wrong, as Nik takes the fall for a younger team mate, and the only hope he has to finish his degree, and play hockey, is by transferring to McKee, and joining Cooper's team. Seeing Izzy again is one of the hardest things he's ever done, but he's damaged, and he legacy his father left him haunts his every move.

I've found my favourite book in this series! Nik and Izzy were the couple, and it was both heart wrenching, and heartwarming to read their romance. They were so right for each other, and they fought to be together so much! I'm in awe with how utterly made for each other they were, and the moments when it was just them, being vulnerable and opening up about their pasts, were perfect. I was worried how Coop and Nik's animosity would play out, especially given their past, and Coop now being Nik's captain, but Grace wrote their development from enemies to best friends so well. The epilogue was the piece de resistance, and really tied the whole series together! I need Grace to write some more books, and stat!

Dates Read:
September 1-2, 2024

Rating
4 Stars