Review : Playing for Her Heart by Megan Erickson
Title : Playing for Her Heart (Gamers #2)
Author : Megan Erickson
Publication Date : August 11th 2015
Publisher : Entangled Brazen
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble
Grant Osprey just had the hottest sex of his life. Sure, they were both in costume, and yes, it was anonymous, but he never expected her to bolt in the middle of the night without so much as a good bye, let alone exchanging numbers. Or names. All he’s left with are her panties and some seriously X-rated memories...until he meets his business partner's little sister.
Only Chloe Talley isn't the bold, sexy vixen he remembers. And she wants nothing to do with him.
Cosplay is Chloe’s only chance to leave her boring, socially awkward world behind. To forget that she’s failing at life and can’t be with anyone, let alone a single-father like Grant. But the raw hunger between them is undeniable. With him, she can be a misbehaving maid. A sexy call girl for hire. Each scene pushes Chloe beyond her strict boundaries, until Grant demands the one character she can't play.
Herself.
Personal Thoughts
By now, I think everyone and their mothers know my intense and deep love affair with Megan Erickson's books. This woman's writing turns me into a complete fangirl and I absolutely have no regrets for shoving her books in my friends' faces. The Gamers series is one of Megan Erickson's hottest series to date and I honestly can't get enough of the characters that each of these books feature. When I opened Playing for Her Heart, I heard that teensy voice inside my head that expressed doubt that I would love this one as much as I loved Changing His Game. Clearly, the voice was delusional because Playing for Her Heart was just as sexy and romantic as the previous book.
As someone in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) field, it brings me so much of joy to see female characters working in the same field. For the longest time there has been this notion that smart and nerdy characters aren't sexy in books as they have most often been rendered to jokes in books. I love love love that Megan Erickson has decided to showcase that yes, nerds can be as sexy as anyone else. Chloe, our protagonist, was a smart woman, driven when it came to her career. Every time she discussed her job, her voice would ooze passion. More than the fact that she was a woman in STEM, I loved the fact that she loved what she was doing and got very effervescent when someone asked her about it. While Chloe was undeniably an intelligent heroine, she was also quite vulnerable. After the loss of her sister in a car accident also involving her brother, her family was a complete emotional mess. Their relationship with each other was frayed and Chloe was dealing with the guilt of being the one who is alive. Her older sister was more cherished according to Chloe and she felt deep down that if she had been the one to lose her life in that accident, her sister would have handled the aftermath with her family better. I ached for Chloe as she went through this guilt and sorrow because no one ever deserves to feel that way. She used that as a way to push people away from her and not show her real side. The only time she was ever comfortable was when she was cos-playing.
Grant, himself, was someone I loved since Changing His Game. It wasn't the hardest to fall for this sexy, nerdy, funny and charming single dad. In Playing for Her Heart, we get to know more about him and his past. I loved how loving and caring he was with his daughter, Sydney, and their scenes together were some of the highlights of the book, especially with Sydney constantly mothering him. We also got to see more of Grant's swoony and dirty-talking side, which obviously made me fall harder for him. I already knew that his chemistry with Chloe was going to be off the charts before I read the book, but holy wowzah! It was so much more intense than I expected and these two and their role-playing shenanigans had me fanning myself all throughout the book. Part of me did wish that we had gotten to see more of the emotional side of the relationship a bit earlier or maybe have the book be a bit longer (totally being selfish here). That being said, I was not disappointed when Chloe did finally decide to open up to Grant and let him into her heart. I love that Megan Erickson is able to have these sexy couples still have really have sweet moments between them. It's hard to find that balance when it comes to Brazen books like these. We also get to see more of Ethan, who I was a little iffy about in the first book and I'm curious to read his book soon. This man's story is going to break my heart! I also loved the few glimpses of the couple from Changing His Game. As always, Megan Erickson's writing was excellent and addicting. I was able to finish this one in just a few hours because I couldn't put it down. If you still haven't read Megan Erickson's book, you really should because she's one of those author who continues to impress with every book that she releases.
Playing for Her Heart is for those readers craving a sexy and romantic book to escape from the real world for a little while. This series itself is one of the best Brazen series out there because it's able to balance the steamy scenes nicely with the more sweet sides of a relationship. I have nothing else to say about the Gamers series other than "READ THIS SERIES, PEOPLE!".
Rating
Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5
Author Interview
Hi Megan! I'm very excited to have you on Nick's Book Blog to chat a bit about you and your new book Playing for Her Heart.
Thanks for having me Nick! I love you and your blog and I'm happy to be here!
Firstly, for those readers who haven't heard of the book, can you describe Playing for Heart in a Tweet using only emojis, to convince them to check out the book?
I've told you this before and I repeatedly mentioned it in my reviews of the first book and this one, but I love that you decided to feature strong women in fields that are dominated by men. Was there a specific reason why you wanted to discuss these women in STEM fields in the Gamers series?
Well, my husband went to college for computer science. And we were together in college and his classes were... hugely dominated by men. To the point he even noticed it. And then you have the quote by that Nobel Prize winner who said women were hard to work with because they cry when they are criticized. I'm not in the STEM field, but I wanted to write about women who were, and I'm excited to do that with this series!
There were so many great scenes in Playing for Her Heart. My favorite ones especially were the sexy role-playing times and those with Sydney baking all her goodies! ;) Were there scenes in the book that you found particularly challenging to write for some reason?
The sex scenes in this book were actually challenging to write. Because on one hand you have Chloe, who's trying desperately to stay in her roles and not fall for Grant. And then there's Grant, who is falling for Chloe (the real one) and doesn't realize that's exactly what she doesn't want. It added a whole other layer of emotion and was tough!
Both Changing His Game and Playing for Her Heart feature pure nerdy fun. Did some of your in real life nerdiness translate into any of these characters?
Yes, absolutely. I asked my husband what a software debugger does -- that's Chloe's job. And he was so earnest and serious while telling me they do "penetrative testing." And because I'm a romance writer and apparently twelve years old, I laughed and said, "Well, that's going in the book." And it did. :)
I'm going to put you in a tough position. If you can take one couple from the Gamers series to be on a deserted island with, who would you pick and why?
Oooooh ha ha ha. Well, readers meet Chad and Owen in CHANGING HIS GAME. And they get their story told in a book out in January called TIED TO TROUBLE. And I love love love those guys so much!
Finally, can you tell us/share exciting news with us about what's coming next in the Gamers series?
Well, as I said above, Chad and Owen get their story told in TIED TO TROUBLE. That's out in early 2016 and will be the first male/male romance on the Brazen line at Entangled. I love that book so much! I had a blast writing it. Chad is funny and Owen is sort of uptight and together, they were dynamite (hey, that rhymes). Also, Ethan gets his story told in a fourth, untitled book, which will be out in the spring of 2016.
Thanks for taking your time to answer these questions and good luck with the release of Playing for Her Heart, Megan. I have no doubt it will be well-loved by readers.
Thank you so much for having me, Nick!
Author BiographyMegan worked as a journalist covering real-life dramas before she decided she liked writing her own endings better and switched to fiction.
She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids and two cats. When she's not tapping away on her laptop, she's probably listening to the characters in her head who won't stop talking.
Website • Twitter • Facebook •
Giveaway
Prize:
- Signed print copy of Playing For Her Heart
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Be sure to check out the other tour stops here.
Thank you to Tasty Book Tours for letting me be part of this blog tour and to NetGalley and Entangled for the e-ARC of Playing for Her Heart.
Comments
Post a Comment