The Player

By: J. R. Ward

Narrated by: Emily Beresford

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.

alright

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

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.