This was a light, kind hearted modern romance about two people helping each other move forward in life. And as a New Yorker, I could relate to their obsession with real estate. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a short burst of joy in their day.

I loved it!

It's such a short, cute novella. And very sexy too, aye.

It was nice reading about a couple of the same descent as i am. I could relate to quite a lot of the cultural norms, and being able to do this was rather refreshing. I loved the romance and i would love more of Fay and Oliver!

My only regret is that it was a wee bit too short. If it had been a full length novel, it would've been a much more compelling story. The story felt as id it had been kind of rushed. Other than this, Playing House was amazing!

Much shorter than I was expecting going into the read, so I've opted not to write up a review for my blog as I don't think it's long enough to discuss. It was promising but I felt like I was missing key information going in and that their past was assumed knowledge. A full length book would've meant this could be explored more and I think would greatly have increased my enjoyment.

Pacing was off and I found it hard to connect the with characters. I liked the brother better than the main guy which isn't what you want in a rom com book

Short and sweet romantic comedy which left me slightly disappointed in the length. If you're looking for a quick, fun read, this one will do.

Urban planner Olivier Huang has been freelancing since his previous company went out of business, a situation that only exacerbates his feelings of failure as the only unsuccessful child in his Chinese-American family. When he runs into Fay Liu at an open house, he feels awkward about the fact that he's just received an invitation to interview at her boutique planning firm, and keeps it a secret, even as the two begin to embark on a fake-marriage thing while they visit other open houses.

I have LOVED all of Lang's previous romances, but this one fell flat for me, in large part because it feels underdeveloped (this is a novella, rather than a novel-length book, as previous Lang books have been). Both Oliver and Fay are interesting characters, characters with whom I wanted to spend far more time with. I hope that in future books, Lang's publisher allows her more room to do what she does best: explore complex, intriguing characters in depth.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary Jo – ☆☆☆
This was a cute book about two acquaintances who met again by happenstance and quietly form a quirky relationship. Both Fay and Oliver are awkward with each other. Oliver hasn't been in a serious relationship for a while and Fay is unsure how to date now that she's divorced.

The romance between Fay and Oliver is a slow one, but not necessarily filled with heat. I didn't think Fay and Oliver had much chemistry although they have a lot in common.

This was such a light, sweet summer read. I love a good novella to cleanse the palette after a heavy read, and that is exactly what this one was. Two adorable urban development planners, Oliver and Fay, cross paths after not seeing each other since college. The hot physical attraction and intellectual attraction leaves them both eager to reconnect, but the one twist is that Oliver is up for a job at Fay's firm and she doesn't know it. Between the tension, chemistry, and light storyline, this is a slam dunk for a summer read.

I dunno what I expected since Ruby Lang is a new author to me. This was a bit shorter than I thought. Novella like the background was dropped straight in the story not much build up. I like the whole urban planner, real estate architecture part. It's mostly American Chinese in characters which was interesting, Oliver and Fay were not typical at all .It had a good plot just needed more build up for any believable romance, IMO. The writing was ok it was simple straightforward

This s a delightful novella about two city planners re-building their lives and falling in love in the meantime. I have read the previous series by this author, Practice Perfect, and I really enjoy her voice and writing style - direct, somewhat abrupt but really fitting to the characters and the stories she tells.

I liked both MCs here quite a lot. Fay had all the professional success but her personal life was in shambles as she was trying to navigate her it as a new divorcee. Oliver was in more fraught situation than her since he had neither personal, nor professional success (in his own eyes, at least).

I liked how they got together, the pretense which gave them the freedom to be themselves and to do the things they wanted but under normal circumstances would be hesitant to try. I also love the personal growth they undergo, on their own and while being together. The conflict felt real and it forced them to re-evaluate a lot of things about themselves and what they want their lives to be in the future.

The story had great secondary characters, Oliver's brother really stood out and I'd love to read his story some day. hey both have complicated relationships with their families.

As a minor drawback, the story was too short and last quarter felt rushed, I would have loved to see more of Fay and Oliver together, adjusting their lives to the new direction they chose for themselves. It feels especially relevant for him because he did make profound changes to his life/future plans.

Playing House, the first book in the Uptown series by Ruby Lang, is a short novella featuring two urban planners in New York City. In just about 100 pages, there isn’t much time to develop a complete love story, but it’s a fun read nonetheless. Fay and Oliver, who have been casual acquaintances for years, run into each other at an open house. Fay is being harassed by a stranger, so she latches into Oliver when he walks in and they’re mistaken as a couple by the realtor. They continue this ruse as they attend more open houses together, all the while starting to develop romantic feelings for each other. After divorcing a year before, Fay is just getting back into dating while Oliver is struggling with his feelings of inadequacy since losing his job and having to move in with his successful younger brother. He’s working freelance and is waiting to hear if he’ll get an interview with Fay’s small firm. However, he fails to mention it to her because he fears she’ll think he’s only using her to get a job. She has trust issues, so it’s not a big surprise what happens next. There isn’t much character development given the brevity of the story, but it’s a cute and sexy read for what it is. Hopefully we’ll get more of their story in Book 2.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Carina Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

This was fine -- novellas are generally not really my thing, but it sounded interesting so I thought I'd try it when I saw it on NetGalley. I think the main reason I didn't like it more was that there's a lot of telling instead of showing, especially in expository dialogue. It may just be that Lang's writing style isn't for me. However, if you're looking for diverse, own voices contemporary romance, I would suggest giving this a try.

I was provided an e-arc by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A sweet story and a quick read, Ruby Lang’s novella Playing House is a fun spin on romance. Centering around two characters who are both Chinese-American and both Urban Planners, I had a lot of fun with the theme of this book around architecture and pretending becoming reality!

Out-of-work urban planner Oliver Huang is on a tour of the historic Mount Morris home when he finds himself the recipient of a snuggle and a kiss from long-time acquaintance but NOT long-time lover Fay Liu. Much to Oliver’s confusion, fellow-urban planner Fay gazes adoringly at him, calling him her boyfriend Olly to deflect the attention of another man on the tour who is clearly pursuing her.

Oliver is happy to play along with Fay. She feels good snuggled up against him. But it is complicated, Oliver doesn’t know what this means. He’s up for a job at Fay’s firm and he doesn’t want to cross any lines. But then again, Fay is beautiful, smart, interesting, and funny. How is he supposed to turn that down?

Newly divorced Fay isn’t sure if she is ready to put herself back out there. She hasn’t even unpacked in her new place yet since she became single. But she can’t get Oliver out of her head… A girl needs friends, right?
As the two begin scheduling non-dates to tour luxury real estate all over Manhattan, they find themselves playing at being a couple so often that suddenly it’s not clear whether they are playing house or falling in love. Bonding over their love of old architecture, strategically-placed windows, and large closets (good for making out in), Fay and Oliver begin to fall for one another. Perhaps they aren’t playing house after all…

This one is a mix of sweet and steamy!!! There were a few scenes that made me blush on the train as I wondered if the man next to me was reading over my shoulder! This is a super fast read—more novella than novel I would guess (not sure what the exact definition is to categorize this). I didn’t worry about the length though because this is already billed as book 1, so it promises to have more to follow. I don’t think we are quite done with the theme of love and architecture….

I will say that this book could have actually been a bit longer. Not only because I was enjoying it and wanted more, but also because I did find it to be a tad jarring the way it leapt straight into the meat of the story. I like a bit of literary foreplay in my romance books! The ending is adorable but also a bit rushed. I did think we jumped straight to the HEA and I wanted a bit more depth as we wrapped up their love story!

One of my favorite parts of the book was actually getting to read about the homes they were touring. There’s a lot of descriptive architectural language in here and I was quite tickled at the idea of touring a beautiful home as foreplay!

All in all a cute book that is a fun read-in-an-evening pick!

Thank you to Harlequin Publicity for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Ok, cute quick story.
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Not the best I’ve read...but certainly not the worst.
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I read this little one in the span of a lazy, rainy morning 💙.
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Let’s talk about what I liked:
• New York City. I love it when NY is featured as a character in her own right.
•The quickness of the read. The downside of this is I didn’t have time to become super invested in the characters.
•The steam was well done and the build up was well executed.
•Overall. A pleasant read. 🌟🌟🌟💫
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#lovestory
#quickread
#bookish
#booksandbooks
#thesoutherngirlreads

I've enjoyed this short novella quite a lot.

Oliver and Fay meet by chance during an house tour,they are old acquaintance because they work in the same environment but they hadn't seen each other in a long time.
They feel comfortable and happy in each other's company so they decided to see other houses together.
Will they start a relationship?Or for them it's only a funy game?

I liked these characters and their journey,they are not too young and their lives problems and decisions to take are real and relatable.
I'll absolutely read the second book in the series.

I need more of this story. It's too short and has so much potential to be a best seller. Lovely and reliable characters but there's not much development in it as it's way too short. It's more like watching an episode of Friends between Chandler and Monica.

The writing was good but honestly, the story could be more than this.

4 Stars / 2 Steam Fans

This was a quick funny, sexy, and sweet fake coupling story. Fay and Oliver were friends during college but went their separate ways until they are both on a house tour in New York. As urban planners they are both interested in the communities they live in. When a guy becomes overly pushy with Fay, she sees Oliver as a way out of the creepy situation. Oliver plays along and this starts the two of them off on a fun adventure of make believe. But what happens when things change and people catch feelings? I look forward to reading more Ruby Lang.

This specific video review will be included in the August 2019 wrap-up.

For other video book reviews check out my YouTube Channel: Steph's Romance Book Talk.

I debated on whether or not to write this review. I’m not sure how helpful it’ll be.

This is about two two city planners, Fay and Oliver. (confession: I had to look that up on the blurb)
See, this is my issue. I couldn’t even remember their occupation. I honestly can’t even remember much of the plot.
Oliver is currently unemployed, he’s just been working as a freelancer. Fay is a partner at her small
firm. The book starts off very oddly and I think that just threw me off from the start.
It was like starting a series on episode 2 and episode one is nowhere to be found. I was trying to get a grip on the story - which mind you, this whole book was pretty short. And I still struggled to finish it.

For it being written in the third person POV, I wish there was more witty dialogue. There wasn’t much for me to form a connection to these two characters or care about their connection to each other.

I don’t enjoy writing negative reviews, this novella just wasn’t for me.

"Playing House" by Ruby Lang was a cute, sweet, quick read. There was a surprising amount of character development for such a short story, but even so, I wish more had been said about what happened with Oliver's father. Oliver was so worried about being "feckless" like his father was, but it's unclear exactly why he and the rest of his family thought his father was that way. The only time I remember his father's behavior being directly mentioned is when Oliver's mother tells him that he is "too nice" like his father, who apparently used to help others before he helped his own family because he was afraid of letting other people down. When he could no longer do that, he left. What exactly does that mean, and how is it relevant to Oliver's situation? Oliver's worries seem to center on the fact that he doesn't have a full-time job but has instead been freelancing since his former company closed down. Is it just that he's worried about letting his family down because he's not making a huge salary like his brother and sister? I'm not sure who else Oliver is expected to (or would want to) help besides his family, except possibly Fay.

Also, I was expecting the fake relationship between Oliver and Fay to be a bigger part of the story, but it ended up barely being a factor. Truthfully, it was kind of disappointing to me because that's usually a fun trope, and I was looking forward to seeing what kind of mischief "Olly and Darling" managed to create.

Overall, while this was a cute story and I enjoyed it, I think it had the potential to be so much more if it had been expanded into a full-length novel rather than a novella. It seems like there's a lot more that could have been explored here.

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“Delightful, hot and unforeseen. Playing House was unexpectedly a lovely story. This was my first time reading a book of Ruby and I enjoyed her writing skills. The story was shorty, I wouldn’t considere it as a full length novella but it was good.

Oliver and Fay shared a special connection. Two urban planners who met up again at a house tour. Oliver ended up helping Fay from an awful stalker. Their love blossomed wonderfully.

It was a lovely story, well-developed and the characters were refreshing and genuine. I highly recommend you this book.”