Playing Games (Dickson University, #2)
by Max Monroe

 

Released – 7 February 2025

 

Available Now!
Amazon  |  Paperback

 

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Blurb

Dickson University’s star quarterback and campus golden boy is used to winning on and off the field…until he meets the one woman who changes the game.

Blake Boden is the ultimate distraction—annoyingly handsome, enigmatic, and confident enough to make my teeth grind.

He’s the kind of guy who could charm anyone with a single smile, and somehow, I’ve become his latest challenge.

Only, I don’t do challenges—and I don’t do love. Emotions? Just chemical reactions. Distractions? Not on my agenda.

But he has a stubborn streak that won’t leave me alone, and I have a dissertation due at the end of the semester on computer-assisted research that I could put to the test a little more.

I’ll analyze his charm, track my reactions, and prove once and for all that attraction is nothing but science…and love is a mere figment of the imagination.

Hypothesis: Time with Blake Boden is purely scientific.
Conclusion: He’s not just breaking my rules—he’s rewriting them.

Find Playing Games on GOODREADS

 

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Review

4.5 stars!

I have wanted to get my hands on Playing Games since the moment we see Lexi, who we met in Scoring the Billioniare, as an adult. I loved her as a child and I couldn’t wait to see who she was now as a twenty-five year old woman. She is a neurodivergent genius who is getting her second PhD at Dickson University. Blake is the twenty-one year out star quarterback who, from the moment he met Lexi, has been obsessed with her.  He is used to getting the girls he wants and Lexi is the first and only one to turn him down. However, Blake is friends with some of Lexi’s friends who she has grown up with so he runs into her all the time. The more time Lexi spends around Blake, the more intrigued she becomes, wanting to know what it is about Blake that makes girls go crazy. And Blake refuses to back down. He knows if she just give him a chance, he could make her his.

I adore Lexi.  She is so smart and is confident in who she is.  She doesn’t want to waste time on relationships and feelings because she feels things differently and she wants different things.  She has been happy by herself and likes to be in control. But Blake changes everything.

For someone who thrives on control, losing it is terrifying, even if it’s to something that feels good.
And Blake? Well, he makes me feel good.
Too good.

I loved Blake. I loved his determination, his fun personality, and the fact that he is a total sweetheart.  Even moment he spends with her puts a smile on my face.  He truly liked her for who she was. He understood her and gave her space when she needed it but was also there for her when she didn’t know she needed him. He teaches her to step out of her comfort zone and shows her that taking at love could be worth it.

I don’t know when it happened, but somehow, someway, Blake went from thorn in my side to my newest hyperfixation.

These two are great together and bring us a bunch of my favorite tropes. It’s a reverse grumpy/sunshine book where Lexi is the one who is grumpy and Blake is the beam of sunshine. He is all smiles and positivity. I love secret relationships and these two bring heat to the pages but don’t want anyone to find out. The sneaking around is fun especially with their intense chemistry. As I commented before, Blake was the one that falls first which is so refreshing. I love that he was all in from the start. And Blake and Lexi couldn’t be more opposite but they complement each other so well.

I also have to mention all the cameos we get from the previous Max Monroe books.  These characters have such a special place in my heart and seeing them again was wonderful. I can’t wait for more from the Dickson University series.  I really need Ace and Julia’s book!

*ARC generously provided by the author*

 

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Dickson University

 

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About Max Monroe

A duo of romance authors team up under the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling pseudonym Max Monroe to bring you sexy, laugh-out-loud reads. 

Max Monroe is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of more than ten contemporary romance titles. Favorite writing partners and long time friends, Max and Monroe strive to live and write all the fun, sexy swoon so often missing from their Facebook newsfeed. Sarcastic by nature, their two writing souls feel like they’ve found their other half. This is their most favorite adventure thus far. ​

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