Playing for Keeps

By: Kendall Ryan

Narrated by: Jason Clarke, Virginia Rose

Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

The first book in the scorching new Hot Jocks series by New York Times best-selling author Kendall Ryan - available in audio first!  

I've never been so stupid in my entire life. 

Elise Parrish, my teammate's incredibly sweet and gorgeous younger sister, should have been off-limits, but my hockey stick didn't get the memo. 

After our team won the championship, our flirting turned physical, and I took her to bed. Then shame sent her running the next morning from our catastrophic mistake. 

She thinks I don't remember that night - but every detail is burned into my brain so deeply, I’ll never forget. The feel of her in my arms, the soft whimpers of pleasure I coaxed from her perfect lips....

And now I’ve spent three months trying to get her out of my head, but I’m starting to understand she’s the only girl I’ll ever want.  

I have one shot to show her I can be exactly what she needs, but Elise won’t be easily convinced.  

That’s okay, because I’m good under pressure, and this time, I’m playing for keeps. 

©2019 Kendall Ryan (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

TOO MANY THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE

WARNING - POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!! - DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!!!
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There were a few things I enjoyed, so I will start with the PROs then follow with the CONs.

PROs:
1. Jason Clarke
2. Jason Clarke
3. Jason Clarke
4. A "Happy" Ending.

CONs:
1. Immature, exasperating, frustrating, insecure main characters (female 24 - male late 20s)
2. MCs put their best friends and everybody else's opinions and needs ahead of theirs.
3. This next one was a Hell-to-the-NO for me: If a big brother "cared" about his little sister even a bit he wouldn't have her stay in a place (even if it is his place) where she is surrounded by usually drunk puck bunnies and hockey players having sex all over the place. NOPE, it wouldn't happen!
4. Bad enough that our hero acts as if he doesn't remember having sex with the heroine the night before, but ghosting her after taking her virginity without talking things out? Another BIG NO for me.
5. And yet another thing that killed this for me ---> the male main character, who used to be a manwhore, believes one of the many women he slept with when she tells him that she is pregnant with his child. He believes her without question. No proof of pregnancy, or paternity test, NOTHING! he just believes her, gets emotional about his baby, and sends her money! REALLY???
6. There is more and I could go on, but I just got more frustrated so I will say no more.

Most of the reviews are positive, so don't let my opinion stop you from listening to this book. This story was just not for me.

Fun, Sweet and Sexy!!!

Elise has had an unrequited crush on her brother’s best friend since her teen years but hockey player Justin has seen her as more of an off limits little sister type until one night after too many drinks finds them hooking up. After some confusion, some setbacks, some time away and neither one being able to let the night go they eventually decide that they are going to try a friends-with-benefits-no-strings-attached arrangement without letting anyone know - especially Elise’s overprotective brother.

This book is fun. So much fun! The chemistry is perfect. Their shared moments are such a varied range; sweet, sexy, sentimental. But the best part is that their friendship shines through, they’ve been friends for so long and it shows in their interactions. We are shown how much they know each other and how much they care about one another, but that there’s also room to discover more and deepen that connection. The sex scenes are phenomenal...and hot. Kendall Ryan does some amazing work in making us care about these characters. They’re not perfect but we want them to be happy.

Jason Clarke and Virginia Rose do a wonderful job bringing this book to life. Narration can make or break a book sometimes and they breathe extra life into this story. Jason Clarke is one of my top top favorite male narrators (he’s one of the voices that I hear sometimes when I’m actually reading a book) so I will always gladly listen to him. I’ve also discovered how much I love listening to Virginia Rose, she’s done a great job with the last few books I’ve listened to her in!

This stand-alone book is the first in the series and it builds a cast that you can be sure to see in the subsequent books....which I am highly anticipating! For me it’s all about connecting with the characters and I can’t wait for what’s in store next!

His voice.... swoon

I'll admit, Kendall Ryan is hit or miss for me. This is kind of your typical fall for your brother's best friend/best friend's little sister... but there were several points in this story that had me laughing out loud. "My brother is a slut." Not sure why, but I laughed so hard at that. It's still a good story.
And O.M.G..... Jason Clarke's voice.... GAH! He's a fave of mine but still, he sounds different in this one, deeper maybe. But either way, SWOONY, heart eyes kind of voice. I couldn't wait until his chapters <3
Virginia was on point as well.
I'm looking forward to more books after this, I would love to hear about the secondary characters' stories.

my favorite Kendall Ryan book I’ve read in a while!

This is my favorite Kendall Ryan book I’ve read in a while!! Justin and Elise are too cute, sports romance is my jam, and sibling’s best friend/best friend’s sibling romances are amongst my fave tropes so this had all the ingredients to be great. Add to that FANTASTIC sexy times, appropriate angst, and a couple who handles their sitch maturely (or as maturely as possible while trying to be on the DL) took Playing For Keeps over the top. And the narration is PERF. Now, I’m simultaneously reading another KR book right now (Two Week Arrangement) and now I have high hopes that I will enjoy it just as much and if not, I’ll just float on the cloud of contentment produced by Playing For Keeps. AND I can’t wait for the next book in the Hot Jocks series!!! Five wine glasses!

very boring

no drama. no suspense. not even really a plot other than two people hook up and decide to date.

Great start!

Based on this book I am Looking forward to the rest of the series! Great narrators, great story, great chemistry between the characters. Couldn’t ask for more from this lighthearted romance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️FANTASTIC ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is such a sweet, heartwarming story low in angst guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I can’t wait for Becca and Owen’s story to come out next.
Narration was PERFECT!

Loved This Book

I absolutely loved listening to Justin and Elise's story. Kendal Ryan did an amazing job with this book and Jason Clarke and Virginia Rose did an amazing job bringing the characters to life. I can't wait for the next book, I highly recommend this book, you won't be disappointed

Not for me

I couldn’t stand the heroine. She was constantly putting blame on the hero and acting like she did nothing wrong. She would act young and bratty.

The narration was good. I liked Jason Clarke.

Great narration forgettable story

Story is like every other romance novel out there . I’m bored. Nothing interesting. But good narration and fun sex scenes.

My Kind of Story - Friends to Lovers

Another light, easy read from Kendall Ryan, a new series no less (Hot Jocks), and yes, Justin Brady is definitely hot. He’s also sweet, sexy, and a hockey player to add to the mix. He’s also got the hots for his best friend’s little sister, Elise Parrish, whom he’s known pretty much all his life. Elise too has a major crush on her friend (a friend who’s like a brother to her), and she knows she can’t act on it, she just watches from the sidelines. Until that one fatal night, you know what I mean, one party, too many shots and a lot of bad judgement. So what do they do? Yep, pretend like it never happened, that’ll make it better. Yeh right. My kind of story, friends to lovers, forbidden hockey romance. What’s not to love? Also, I’ve got to say Jason Clarke narrated Justin perfectly.

Fab

Playing for Keeps - Another great story from Kendall Ryan. What’s not to love about a friends to lovers romance including a gorgeous hockey player!?

Quick dirty read

I think this is the first Kendall Ryan book I’ve read, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Playing for keeps was a quick and dirty read. Your able to jump straight into the story without feeling like I had missed something.
Justin and Elise are very likeable characters and you feel a connection to them straight away. The things they got up to while sneaking around, had me laughing so much. I loved seeing their relationship go from friends to lovers, and I’m not normally sick a fan of this trope!
I listened to the audio of this book and the narration was one of the best I’ve listened to, it had me captivated.

Quick easy listen

Nothing earth shattering although it kept me hooked. A nice easy listen, would listen again. Well narrated too.

Easy predicable read

Agree with other comments around Justin’s voice is sometimes a bit of a cringy interpretation of the story.

Very predictable

Agree with some critics the male narrator was dreadful. Very weak storyline and so predictable

Not really a romance.

Didn't enjoy the narration and story line was rather weak! Very lightweight characters, didn't draw you in.

It's a NO for me.

Why does the male narrator constantly sound like he's trying to seduce someone even when talking about random stuff? Urghhh I can get past it!

Depth of feeling

A new series for me, I really enjoyed this story and also the performance by the narrators. Perfectly voiced, the story felt very real and in the moment with the depth of emotion and feeling portrayed.

I felt like there could have been given a bit more back story depth to Justin’s relationship with his parents.

I loved how close the team were and especially Elise and Owen.

A very enjoyable listen indeed

Super enjoyable / quick listen

I have a soft spot for sports romances. Playing for Keeps didn’t disappoint. Low drama, loads of spice, quick read/listen. Personally I love listening a dual POV like this.

Well paced, good story and a preferred trope (best friends sister/brothers best friend). Only really point of improvement for me; I would have been happy with it playing out a little longer, perhaps upping the drama.

Overall, I liked it and have already added the second book in the Hot Jocks Series to my TBR.