The Player

By: J. R. Ward

Narrated by: Emily Beresford

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Ruthless might as well be Gray Bennett’s middle name. When the renowned Washington, D.C. insider talks, powerful people listen. But Gray hasn’t come home to Saranac Lake to play politics. Or play at all. A tragedy has shaken the unshakable Gray Bennett to his hardened core.

And so has the most unlikely of women.

The mousy redhead who used to run around the Moorehouse B and B - the one he never noticed - is now all fiery hair and lush curves. But sweet Joy Moorehouse is too innocent for a cynic like him. So Gray won’t let himself lay a hand on her…until the night he can no longer resist the woman she has become. That’s when he discovers a secret that leaves him gasping for breath - and wanting more.

©2012 J. R. Ward (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“[A] sumptuous mix of danger and romance.” ( Booklist on Crave)

Great listen!

This novel was uninterrupted and full length. Whatever glitches were left in the reviews must have been resolved. Wonderful story. J R Ward did not disappoint!!

Wow, this is a different book for J.R Ward

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I have read every book this author has written. I must say, I was surprised that this book came from the same author. Joy, the female lead, was not the typical strong character that Ward casts in her stories. Gray, the male character, was strong in some respects, but rather weak in others that didn't seem to quite fit. Honestly, I wanted to reach out and slap them both.

The ending was nice, but I was not truly satisfied with their relationship. It was too wishy washy for my tastes and lacked the in-your-face comments, descriptions and dialog that is typical for J.R Ward.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Not my type of romance. The characters were weak and seemed to sacrifice core values for the sake of physical gratification.

Did The Player inspire you to do anything?

She made the characters sound too young. I felt as if I were reading about teenagers and not adults.

Story OK, narrator seemed a little inexperienced

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not the audio version -- the narrator made it a little tough to listen to

Would you ever listen to anything by J. R. Ward again?

YES! I love her Black Dagger Brotherhood series and Jim Frangione is a superb narrator. I also enjoyed Covet and the other 2 books in this series.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I could tell she was reading and her inflections and male voices were off. It seems that the best narrators are good actors too. I don't like criticizing, but in the name of honesty it was kind of painful and made me want to stop listening at times.

Could you see The Player being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

no

Well I'm ticked!

Yes the book was good, but it was misrepresented. After the book was over I felt there was more to the story, turns out I was right. JR wars wrote a series as Jessica Bird, this is book 2 in The Moorehouse series, none of the others are available on audible which makes me ticked!

Now onto the story. The chemistry was good the build up of sexual tension was great the overall premise was a bit unrealistic and frankly out of character for the characters but it was a good fluff love story kind of like the Sullivan series. It's a light read nothing suspenseful just nice.

Not the best of J.R. Ward

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not unless they had anything better to do or it was free. I know this book was not part of her usual series so keeping that in mind I thought it rather pedantic. But maybe it was the reader. How to make an audible book sound like you're reading a physic textbook 101.

Would you be willing to try another book from J.R. Ward? Why or why not?

I really enjoyed her series and am glad she's branching out into new stuff but this narrator was truly a poor choice. Not only reading like a textbook but any concept she was unfamiliar with i.e. sewing, she over pronounced every word. There were many times in the heat of passion I didn't know which person was talking. Also didn't do the masculine voices at the beginning of the book well at all.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Emily Beresford?

Kate Rudd, many others.

Was The Player worth the listening time?

I have about 3hrs left and am having a hard time finishing it. I will, but only because I've gotten as far as I have.

Any additional comments?

Will continue to look forward to new things from J.R. Ward but will definately watch narration.

More angst than love but not bad.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but it wasn't my favorite. As with the first book in this series, there are more fights than there are tender moments which does not create the most loving environment for two people to actually fall in love in. Most of the angst comes from insecurities and lack of communication, which for me is annoying. The book also ended very abruptly. So much so that I went, "what...what just happened?"

That being said, there are two more books and if J.R. Ward keeps to her style, we will get a few more glimpses of these two as their lives begin together.

Overall I enjoyed the book but I don't think I'll be listening to it again.

alright

I love JR Ward, but this book was just alright -- I wouldn't recommend it, and I wouldn't read a sequel

This book HAD a bug!!!!!

This is a great book . This had a bug on. But its fix now and its a geart book.

SOMETIMES DREAMS (AND FANTASIES) CAN COME TRUE

I love JRW's works and this contemporary rich love story is just delicious and there's no glitches, change in narrator or storyline change - everything is a okay.

Gray's a cynical, wealthy, arrogant, powerful, behind the scenes ruthless political figure who's a 'been their done it all', disillusioned with life empty man and it's partly due to his family and partly with the type of business life he leads (and of course he's drop dead gorgeous too). Suddenly during a visit home things 'perk up' when he sees just how much Joy (a local hometown girl) has changed and, shall we call it 'little Gray', wants her.

Joy has been drawn to and dreamt of Gray since forever but he has never noticed her before, but now things are about to change but the trouble is she's just a naive virgin who's a family girl and an all-round good girl but he's finding it hard to resist her or believe in her and is torn between truth or lies. It's a well written, bitter-sweet romance that's sexy, tender, has a great storyline (it's a little unbelievable but hey and shrug this is fiction but we all love to dream), it's got interesting secondary characters who have problems of their own and the message of the book..... hold on to your dreams - 'cause they can come true.

Worth a credit? It would have been but at this price you'd be silly to use one - however, if I had of used one I certainly wouldn't be complaining. Go ahead and try this what have you got to lose - apart from $4.89 for nearly 8 hours so surely it's worth the gamble isn't it?

Great Listen

Loved the book and reader had no problems with 2 stories being combined or a reader switch in the middle like some have said it was great and smooth :) If you like J.R Ward pick this series up its a nice to read some of her early work