Playing the Player

Miami Piranhas, Book 2

By: Beth Bolden

Narrated by: Darcy Stark

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Center Logan Banks didn’t come to Miami looking for a best friend.

He came for football and for a chance at freedom—the freedom to live out of the closet.

But after a water main break, he lands an unexpected roommate, the new Piranhas kicker, Dylan Leonard. Between practices, games, and too many late nights on the couch, a best friend is exactly what he gets.

When Logan’s past rears its ugly head and outs him ahead of schedule, Dylan becomes more than just a friend. He becomes a lifeline.

But then their friendship gets incorrectly labeled as something more, and Dylan shocks Logan by suggesting they play along with a fake relationship.

Logan knows it’s off limits to fall in love with Dylan. He’s supposed to be straight—he’s his best friend, his roommate, and his teammate. But the closer they grow, and the more he and Dylan fake falling in love, the more real it feels.

The more real Logan wants it to be.

Making a play for love is the biggest risk he’s ever taken, but he wants it all, and he wants it with Dylan.

©2022 Earl Gray Publishing LLC (P)2023 Earl Gray Publishing LLC

when life takes you on an adventure

when you decide that you do not need friends just keeping your head down and playing your best. That's Logan Banks plan until an unexpected water break leads to his team mate Dylan Leonard needs a place to stay.
Soon they find themselves becoming friends , late nights hanging out on the couch. Then the past hits Logan Hard and he's forced to come out before he's ready. Suddenly Dylan an Logan devil a fake relationship. Can these two men fall in love ? Can it last .. Take a listen and find out for yourself. Believe me you won't regret it..

Great addition to the series!

This goes to show that anyone and everyone, no matter where you are in life have insecurities. This audiobook tracks these two when life blows up for one and the other is there to help. The Piranhas are a fantastic football team as are the players!

From faje dating to real love and dates in a box

Dylan is unsettled after being traded, and right away, Logan offers him a room in his house. They become best friends, and for Dylan, his feelings for Logan are new, but right.

Logan has only had hookups, but it’s different with Dylan, who knows him better than anyone. When an ex outs Logan and mentions Dylan as his new guy, they agree to be fake boyfriends.

But from the start, nothing is fake, and everyone sees what they’re afraid to bring up, until they finally believe it could be real between them.

I like these characters, Beth Bolden crafts sports romances well. My favourite person is Coach Dawson, who adds a human element to this fictional world, and gives an incredible speech that highlights a number of problems in the world of professional sports.

The audiobook was very well narrated, with lots of accents for characters, voices, and the coach’s speech was particularly dramatic.

I received this audiobook for free, and am glad to provide my honest review as a thank you for this book.

Friends and Firsts!

Logan is the best friend in the whole world! Seriously loved Logan. He just knew how to make others feel better, make them laugh and always there to help anyone close to him. He takes Dylan in to live with him and they start to become really easy and fun friends with that underlying sizzle! Dylan wants to help Logan in return, so they start fake dating. Dylan learns a bit more about himself during this! Loved Dylan's first times with a man. That man of course being Logan! Darcy our narrator did a really good job of voicing these guys and really brought out their caring and eager personalities. These two were honest and open with one another throughout which made me super happy!

Perfection!!

There was no doubt from the very beginning that Dylan and Logan were going to have some incredible chemistry! These two were made for each other. I also love the sharing of the date boxes. This story is simply sublime and Darcy Stark does such a phenomenal job bringing these characters to life. The emotion he was able to convey with his narration makes the more than worth a listen.

Swoony best friends to lovers to story!

This series! Each book is better than the next and that is saying something because the other two books in this series were phenomenal! Dylan's first appearance in the Riptide universe was amazing and I have been hoping we would see him again and this time he gets his HEA! Logan was such a steady side character in the first two books so it was great to see him kinda lose control a little bit when he realizes his feelings for Dylan. I loved seeing Dylan experience his growing attraction to Logan and coming to acceptance as to what that means for his sexuality but I most loved that he really just went with it. Instead of doubting and burying his feelings, Dylan was super open to what love could come his way and didn't seem to get caught up on what gender the person who made him happy was. While the romance between Logan and Dylan was absolutely the center of the story, I also really loved seeing the Piranha's coming together as a team and working through rebuilding the franchise. I can't wait for the next book in the series and impatiently waiting for all the angst from Pax and Davis! Darcy Stark is an amazing narrator who is bringing these characters to life in the perfect way! I hope they will continue to narrate the entire series and I can't wait to find more books they have worked on!

New Kicker

Dylan just flew into Miami after a trade, not looking forward to starting over. As he is meeting with the Piranhas rep at the stadium he finds out he will be staying temporarily in a hotel which isn’t ideal. Logan Banks enters the office after hearing part of the conversation and offers to let him stay at his home until he finds suitable lodging. Dylan is shocked at the offer but accepts. This is the start of a very great friendship. With Logan’s help he meets the other players and seems to fit in great. This is the story of teamwork, ups and downs of football, big personalities, insecurities, and love with a HEA.

Darcy for the win!!

This was such a fun listen that was filled with an adequate mix of wit and unrest. Logan and Dylan were so exhilarating, with fierce sexual tension, leaving a satisfied heart and mind. Loved the storyline, and ending, even if the Sharks beat my Cowboys 🫶🏽

Darcy Stark delivers an amazing performance, capturing their essence, and eliciting them on a silver platter! Loved how Darcy was able to capture the emotions of Dylan’s first sexual experience with a man while nailing Logan’s eagerness!

Great team

This is a mix of a couple different tropes: fake boyfriend, and friends to lovers. Logan is that friend everyone wants to have. He's selfless and wants to lend a hand. Dylan, who we've also met before, is trying to find his way with the new team. The two become fast friends, until there is something more. Then drama comes to Logan while Dylan starts to learn more about himself. I love the supportive nature of this team and coach. I thought Darcy did a great job bringing them to life. This was an enjoyable listen. And I couldn't not listen to the preview of the next book - swoon.

Great story, mid narrator

This book has allll the best tropes - roommates, teammates, friends-to-lovers, fake dating, straight best friend, bi-awakening… *le sigh*

Logan and Dylan show up as side characters in the previous books in the series (and come on Dylan, did you really think you were "not queer"?) and it was OBVIOUS there were some major vibes there, so I was thrilled to get to their story! The chemistry between Dylan and Logan is so great from the very first moment, when they meet and Logan offers to let Dylan stay with him while he looks for a place. A few days turns into a few weeks then months as these two become besties... and then more. I really appreciate the way these guys actually TALK to each other when there are issues (mostly - there is of course the obligatory miscommunication tension you basically have to have in a fake dating romance). Their friendship is amazing and so fun to read, and when it develops into MORE... *heart eyes emoji*

Audiobook specific comments:
I listed to this on audiobook, narrated by Darcy Stark, so this bit of the review is just about the audio version. While I did mostly appreciate Darcy Stark's narration, for some reason he decided to give Dylan's voice this super annoying tone. The first time he narrated some of Dylan's dialogue, I thought "Well that sounds super annoying and super nerdy." And I guess Dylan is kind of nerdy, but geez, did he really need to make him sound as nasally as Kermit the Frog? The entire rest of the audiobook I liked - he does a great job on the actual text (non-dialogue text? - I don't know what to call it) and I appreciate how he makes each character's dialogue/voice distinct and unique - but MAN, I sure wish he'd made a different stylistic choice for his portrayal of Dylan - it really grated on my nerves through the entire book.

This is the second book in the Miami Piranhas series, and can be read as a standalone. That being said, there are spoilers for earlier books in the series, as well as connection to events that happened in another of Beth Bolden's series, The Riptide (I assume, I haven't read that series yet). There's also a fair amount of lead up in this to Miami Piranhas book three, Playing by the Rules.