Playing It Cool (Sydney Smoke Rugby, #2)

by Amy Andrews

[Eve1972]

From author Amy Andrews comes book two in the Sydney Smoke Rugby series...



Harper Nugent is a big girl. Always has been, always will be. When her douche of a stepbrother insults her in front of rugby star Dexter Blake, she is embarrassed and just wants to get on her way. She is more than a little surprised (and sceptical) when Dexter stops her from leaving to ask her on a date.



Dexter Blake's whole life is rugby. It was his ticket out of poverty, and there is no way he is going to let anyone, especially a woman, come between him and his career. When he overhears some douche reporter call the woman he has been eye-f@cking "fat" he finds himself asking her on a date.

One pretty great date later, and a plan has been hatched. Harper and Dexter will pretend to date. A little bit of fourberie to get one over on Harper's stepbrother and stepmother.



But when one date leads to another, and another, and another. Will these two be able to keep their hands and their growing feelings to themselves??


"“Hey, you want to talk masturbation? I’m up for that. But you’re talking to an expert here.” Her lips quirked, dragging his gaze south to their full, glossy pillows. “Expert, huh? “A Jedi,” he deadpanned. She laughed, but it was husky, the sound going straight to his balls. “A Jedi?” He nodded. “Obi-frickin-wan, baby."


To say I was excited to get an ARC for this book would be an understatement. I ADORED book one in this series Playing by Her Rules and could not wait to dive right into this one. I was NOT disappointed. The same great characters. Fabulous writing. Humor and heartache. A great supporting cast. Like the first book there isn't any OW/OM drama. No groupies hanging around. Neither were virgins. Dexter wasn't a manwhore. In fact very little space is given to their past sexual history (thankfully).



Harper was a great heroine. She was funny and strong, and a bit nerdy. Very likable, and wasn't a pushover. She had issues with her size due to her stepbrother and stepmom, but I didn't think they overshadowed the book. She got over them quick when the sexytimes with Dexter started and they only popped up a bit again towards the end. That said. "I" did have a slight problem with her size, or rather the way she is described. It's why I enjoyed this one SLIGHTLY less than the first. Harper is described on several occasions as "amazonian" and "big" and "thick" She is 6´ tall and stands the same height as Dexter. Her calves at one point are described as "muscular" and her thighs could "crack a walnut" Now had this been mentioned once I would have been OK, but it's repeated several times and all I could picture was a giant "mannish" looking woman with "tits and ass." That said, it was only slightly distracting to me so I only took half a star off.


"I think you may just be the perfect woman.” “Oh?” She kicked up an eyebrow. “Curvy,” he said, his gaze drifting to her breasts then lower to her hips and belly and lower again to follow the line of her thigh, “and kick-ass. My two favourite traits."


Dexter was a fabulous hero. Not as great as Tanner from book one, but still right up there. He was sexy and sweet and smokin hot. The friendship (with benefits) he developed with Harper was cute. They were both secret nerds that loved gaming and Star Wars. That isn't to say I didn't want to slap him upside the head and tell him to get his head out of his ass. Thankfully Tanner did that job for me. The conversation Dexter and Tanner have near the end of the book was hilarious.

Overall this was yet another fabulous read in this series. I enjoyed it just a SMIDGE less than the first book. It had the perfect combination of laugh out loud moments and teary eyed agnst. I can't wait to read who from the Sydney Smoke team is going to fall next (except Link. I am not totally sold on Link yet) Two thumbs up from yours truly...