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Title: The Dating Playbook
Author: Farrah Rochon
Sub-genre: Contemporary
Fall is in the air, and in my house, that means one main thing: football. We are most definitely a football loving family and since seasons are not a thing here in Southern California, football is how we know fall has arrived. I really love football romances and I loved Farrah’s first book in this series, so I was really excited to pick this one up.
Taylor is struggling, with just about everything, but mostly with her career. She launched her own fitness company and things were looking okay, but she can’t seem to move from okay to good. And when she loses out on a big job because she doesn’t have a degree, her bank account starts inching closer to zero. Jamar’s football career ended with a brutal injury after just a few games, but despite being told he’d never play again, he’s determined to get back out on the field. But first, he needs to be in tip top shape. Jamar hires Taylor, swearing her to secrecy about their training because he doesn’t want the media to know he’s planning on getting back into the league. But he promises her once he’s had his tryout, he’ll promote her business. In order to throw the media off the scent, Taylor comes up with the brilliant idea to tell a reporter she and Jamar are dating. And thus the fake dating begins. And you know how that goes. Taylor and Jamar both have quite a bit of internal work to do before they can finally come together for real, but it’s a romance, so they do!
I think I’ve said many times now how much I loved the first book in this series, The Boyfriend Project, and so I was really excited to dive back into this friend group. I loved catching up with Samiah and spending more time with London (her book is coming next). I just love the idea of a group of women bonded over their trash boyfriend and how they manage to stay friends and support each other. I thought the setup with Taylor and Jamar was a lot of fun. I know nothing about personal training so it was interesting to read some of the career stuff (though it should be noted, if you have issues with restrictive eating, this book might be a tough read since they do talk a lot about Jamar’s diet). But I thought was the most interesting about Jamar was his backstory and exploring the reasons why he is so dead set on getting back into the game. I’m a sucker for a fake dating, so I was here for this one. It was a really enjoyable fall read!
Overall Rating: 4.5 stars