The Play

By: Elle Kennedy

Narrated by: Ana Osorio, Teddy Hamilton

Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's Summary

A brand-new stand-alone novel in the New York Times best-selling Briar U series!

What I learned after last year’s distractions cost my hockey team our entire season? No more screwing up. No more screwing, period. As the new team captain, I need a new philosophy: hockey and school now, women later. Which means that I, Hunter Davenport, am officially going celibate...no matter how hard that makes things. 

But there’s nothing in the rulebook that says I can’t be friends with a woman. And I won’t lie - my new classmate Demi Davis is one cool chick. Her smart mouth is hot as hell, and so is the rest of her, but the fact that she’s got a boyfriend eliminates the temptation to touch her. 

Except three months into our friendship, Demi is single and looking for a rebound. 

And she’s making a play for me. 

Avoiding her is impossible. We’re paired up on a yearlong school project, but I’m confident I can resist her. We’d never work, anyway. Our backgrounds are too different, our goals aren’t aligned, and her parents hate my guts. 

Hooking up is a very bad idea. Now I just have to convince my body - and my heart.

©2019 Elle Kennedy (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

The Play

Demi & Hunter
This was an interesting book, I couldn’t get enough I never wanted to press pause. This couple went from friends to lovers and those are truly my favorite kinds of stories. I loved the other two books but I think this might just be my favorite.

Demi is so outgoing and Hunter is so set in his ways he doesn’t even see her coming. The humor in this book was great too. I love that it wasn’t too serious. They could poke fun and it was still sexy.

There was this one very serious scene and I am glad it was in here because it showed Demi’s depth as a character not that we didn’t already see it but it was just that little extra push.

I LOVED the narration, it’s no secret Teddy is a favorite of mine but it was Ana Osorio that hit it out of the park for me. I don’t think I have listened to her before or if I have I never put two and two together. I will be looking for more books by her you can’t bet your booty.

Teddy Hamilton's narration was the best part!

I hesitated to write this review, but I was disappointed with this audiobook. Teddy Hamilton's narration was wonderful! He does a great job with tone and inflection. I lose myself in the story and feel what the characters are feeling whenever he narrates. Plus his voice is wonderful to listen to! The female narrator was a disappointment. Her voice was fine, but she mispronounced words frequently. I found myself cringing and waiting for it each chapter she narrated. I also thought she used the wrong emotion or tone many times. Her narration actually distracted me from the story.

I am a fan of Elle Kennedy and her Off-Campus series were some of the first audiobooks I loved. I purchased this book even though I did not like the second Briar U as much as the The Chase. Then this book sat in my library for four months and I couldn't get into the story. I finally listened to the whole thing and it felt like a chore. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. There were parts that I thought were unnecessary and others that I would have appreciated more details. For example, Hunter's relationship with his parents. It's discussed but there were no scenes with his parents. Demi's interactions with her parents were frequent, but her relationship with her father confused me. Demi's father treats her like she is smart and strong one minute and then belittles her the next?

I didn't feel warm and fuzzy and satisfied at the end of this book. I just felt relieved it was over.

Just okay.

Elle Kennedy is my go to author for an escape from reality. This book however is not her best work. This was a stand alone book, however since she kept referring to previous characters and relationships I think it is helpful to have listened or read her previous works in this series. I listened through Audible Escape, so I did not use money or a credit. This is worthy for Audible Escape, but I would not buy or use a credit.

Mispronounced words

I cannot get past the way Ana Osario mispronounces words. Is there no one directing her performance? The story was good and Teddy Hamilton is solid but I will avoid books that she reads from now on.

So-so. Mispronunciations annoying.

Most people who enjoy listening to books enjoy language. We want to hear language as it is meant to be spoken. So when someone mispronounces words such as “executive” (ex-i-CUE-tive??) or ambiguity (am-BIG-u-I-ty) we get annoyed. It takes us out of the escape that listening to a book provides. Teddy gave a very good performance, but Ava’s reading was just that—a reading, not a performance and the number of mispronounced words was very annoying.

As for the story it was good, though not as good as “The Risk.” It was almost a little boring. I found myself wanting to hear more about the shenanigans of the rest of the hockey team than I did about the female character’s angst and irritating friends & family.

Worth a listen if you have run through the rest of the AE package, but not worth a credit IMO.

Have Faith

The Play was an overall steamy, entertaining read. it had humor, heat, and heart. The narrators did a great job adding to the depth of emotion into the character interactions. There were some mispronunciations on the part of the female narrator that occasionally took me out of the story, but she did a great job infusing Demi with youth, energy, and determination. Teddy Hamilton did a fantastic job as a cocky, horny, and funny hockey player.

The play they never seen coming....

We have previously met Hunter but now he is the responsible captain of the Brair's hockey team. Due to pass mistakes Hunter sole focus is school and hockey. Then there is Demi she is in a committed relationship and has a full school work - load. Hunter and Demi are paired for a school project and they easily become friends. I really enjoyed their budding friendship. The friendship is pure because neither of them are looking for anything with the other. The banter between the two was perfect. I thought the build up to the relationship was great. I loved seeing the other characters as well. Overall good book.

Don't waste your time!!!

This one was soo bad which is strange because usually I love Elle Kennedys books. But this one OMG everything was just off!!! I hated the way Brenna was portrayed in this book, it's like she's a completely different person from The Risk.
Demi didn't feel anything after she broke up with her boyfriend of 8 years. Come on!!? And thier relationship just didn't seem like something that would carry on that long. Her dad's reaction when she told him her bf cheated on her numerous times.... Seriously!!
But mostly I really didn't like Demi. She didnt respect Hunter's wishes when he didn't want to have sex and kept pushing him for it, then went as low as to make out with one of his friends to make him jealous. Yes make out not flirt. If you care about someone, you just don't do that. I hated Demi!
Oh God and the Rupi character... Just WTF was that about. And dating your stalker is not a joke.

Narration ruined it for me

I had to stop listening to this book and decided to read it instead. I love this series. Elle is one of my favorite authors and I typically buy her books as soon as they are posted. I have to say, I'm glad I didn't buy this and it was included in AE. Nothing against Elle or her story writing....but the female narration was awful. Mispronunciations of common words were annoying....but I felt like the female narrator was bored. Her voices were the same for each character and I found myself waiting for Teddy to come back. In the end, I just couldn't do it. It was too disjointed. I had to bail. This is a to be read for me, not to be listened to.

Must read or a must listen!

This is such a funny book. Could not stop laughing, people started to looking at me funny.