Title: Play With Me (Grover Beach Team #1)
Author: Piper Shelly
Release Date: December 9th 2012
Publisher: Self-published
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: eARC for blog tour
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Ryan Hunter's parties are legend. And tonight she's going to be there.
Liza Matthews anticipates the return of her best friend and only love since kindergarten from soccer camp. But when Tony finally shows up, his mind is more focused on another girl. And worse, she's a soccer player. Fighting for the attention Liza craves, she's just a hairbreadth away from making a very stupid decision. But when extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, she's prepared to play ball to get her man.
The tryouts are hell, the first match ends bloody, and the morning after the selection party she wakes up in the worst place possible—in the arms of the captain of the soccer team. The hottest guy in school. Ryan Hunter.I learned that Play With Me is a novella just before reading it, and I thought, "A short read to cure my reading slump? Perfect!" Well, excuse me while I facepalm, because having read it now, I can tell you that my biggest problem with it was its length—I want more! Luckily, it's the first in a series, so there is more. But for now, let me talk about just how much I loved this book.
First there was Liza, our tad-bit-insecure and lovestruck but nonetheless cool, tough, and endearing heroine. Her love for Tony was cute and all, if not a little childish, but I enjoyed seeing their friendship more. In real life, it's not unusual for a boy and a girl to be friends, but best-friend-ship? One could say it's unheard of, and I really wanted to shake Liza and tell her to stop loving Tony in a romantic way because it would only ruin their relationship (and also because he was stupid enough to fall for a Plastic, ugh). I also pitied her because she'd been in love with him for so long, she didn't immediately realize that she was already falling for Ryan.
And who wouldn't fall for Ryan freaking Hunter? Rich, sexy, dangerous, captain of the soccer team—I can go on and on, but you get the idea. He's the hot guy with the sweet side for the right girl, and that girl's been Liza for so long. That part's not too hard to guess, so every little move he made on her gave me twice the feels. And there were feels very early on, so you can imagine just how flail-y and giggly I was the entire time.
Although I did say earlier that I wanted this book to be longer, I'm pretty sure forced lengthening of this crazy-cute story would have ruined it. I didn't think I'd like it this much, but now I can't stop thinking about it and I'll surely be reading the next books soon!
MY FAVORITE PART was the first time Liza went to one of Ryan's historic parties. All. The. Feels. From that night! :3
RATING:
About the author:
The quick-and-dirty:
I’m a cool girl with a passion for writing.
The genres you’ll find me hanging out at are contemporary and paranormal YA, but I’m also snooping into some adult paranormal right now.
All of them romances…of course.
The nitty-gritty:
I’m an Austrian lass—totally uncomplicated and up to anything fun.
I grew up in Vienna, not by free will but because my parents decided to move there when I was only 4 years old. I. Hated. The. City.
Everything about it. So right after graduation I moved back to Upper Austria, where I settled down with a nice husband and an awesome laptop.
I’ve been a storyteller all my life. Already in kindergarten, I came up with the most exotic fantasies and tales. My teacher would call me a liar. I call it the cornerstone of my writing career.
People always told me you can’t make a living with being an author. So when my first novella PLAY WITH ME came out and shot straight to the stars within the first week, I was totally dumbstruck. Took me a while to realize what was happening, LOL.
And the personal stuff:
At the (awesome) age of seventeen, I met the love of my life. But he was a playboy, and I was so not going to be his next trophy. It took him another four years of fighting for me until I finally decided to give that “couple-thing” with him a shot. I’m now married to this man. ;-)
We have an eleven-year-old son, and together we travel a lot…although I sometimes wish the trips were shorter because I can’t wait to get back to my laptop and my many stories. Unless we’re in Disneyland. No stress to go home then…
If you still want to know more about me, my FAQ page is the right address for you. ;-)
I totally get when you want the book to be longer because you're really enjoying it but on the other hand it' perfect the way it is. So happy you enjoyed it! :)
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