3.5 stars.
I enjoyed the story alot, espesially the relationship between Nathan and Holly, but some parts went a bit too fast. Espesially since it was her ex and Marc in the picture.

I absolutely adored Holly. She was charming from start to finish. And despite the age gap (which I usually don't root for) and family obstacles, I adored Nathan, as well. The novel was a fun little book that I'm glad I read. I would recommend this if you want an enjoyable, light rom-com read.

DNF
At this time, I'm no longer interested in this title. Thank you for the opportunity to read the book and I apologize for the inconvenience.

This book walks a very thin line between cute and creepy (mostly on the cute side). And that line is that the hero is the heroine's best friend's father. Holly has always thought Gwen's dad Nathan was cute. And Nathan was only 16 when Gwen was born, so it's not *that* big an age gap. When Holly needs a new living situation after she discovers her fiance has been cheating on her, Gwen suggests she move in with her dad temporarily.

Nathan and Holly have a lot in common: they're both board-game nerds, love watching The Office, and have similar senses of humor. The age difference didn't even bother me that much. It's just that Holly is almost exactly the same age as Nathan's own daughter, which is a little...squidgy. But the other characters in the book react appropriately (i.e., freak out), which allows Heffernan to deal with the ick factor directly. And it's hard to deny that Holly and Nathan are a good match.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

I loved this book. The atmosphere was everything I wanted it to be. I loved the plot and storyline in the book. I loved the characters in this story. It gave me all the feels I was looking for when I started reading this. I highly recommend this author. I loved the writing. I will be looking for other works in the future from this author.

I definitely recommend this one!

It’s part of a series though, so make sure you read the first one before you pick this one up.

It’s definitely a quick read!

I received an e-arc from Netgalley and sadly I did not care for this book

2 Stars

It's been a while since I started reading this book and I got about 32% of the way through, before that I thought the book was enjoyable/cute. The main character goes through a series of bad blind dates and is staying with her friends dad because she is struggling after a bad breakup. The game sessions were fun but confusing in regards to the details. Everything is leading to a destination wedding that everyone is attending, which roughly was where I stopped reading and the book is in Mexico (or wherever the wedding is?). Basically I stopped when the couple got together because there was no spark plus very fade to black sex scene.

Nothing about Holly’s life is simple right now. She is the main witness in the case against her money stealing ex, she is unable to work in the field she has a degree in until the case is over, she had to move out of her beautiful home and is in love with her best friend’s Dad.

She has been refusing to date however, with her friends encouragement Holly realises that to get over her ex and her awkward crush on Nathan she must bite the bullet and start saying yes. Because sometimes you just have to take a chance.


I hadn’t read the first in this series. But I didn’t think that took anything away from the story at all. I will certainly read more by this author.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

What a cute cover and story!
This is the second book in the series, and unfortunately, I haven't read the first.
The series is about female gamers.

Overall, a solid read. I'd prefer to have read the first book in teh series first though.

*I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.*

So, this book has already been published. I believe it hit the shelves some time in October, but I'm too lazy to go back and look to be sure. I am super behind on my reviews, as per usual, but I'm workin' on it!
Also want to point out, because the description from NetGalley didn't, this is the second book in a series. It wasn't super confusing not having read the first one, but there were references made to the couple that the first book was about that of course I didn't understand. Didn't take away from the over all quality of the book.

Alright, so here we go. Our main character, Holly, has sworn off men after her ex not only cheated on her, he embezzled all of their money and tried to implicate her in his crimes. Can't really say I blame her at that point, but her best friend, Gwen, is encouraging her to get back into the dating scene. What Gwen doesn't know though, is that Holly has a crush on someone already-- Gwen's dad.

The premise was a bit odd to me, mainly because I didn't have friends with hot dads, so that wasn't ever a thought in my head, but I liked the inclusion of board game play and I actually really enjoyed the relationship between Holly and Nathan. There was a bit of a love triangle, but it was super obvious where the whole thing was going.

All in all, this was a CUTE, easy read. Little bit of sex, not enough to make my grandma blush, but enough to maybe not let your preteen read the book. We don't have this series in our library but I would be interested in reading both the first and the third books in this series.

3.5 Stars / 2 Steam Fans

Another story about the female gamers we met in "She's Got Game." Holly is the best friend that was super sassy and fun but had a horrible boyfriend. Now that she has gotten rid of that piece of crap, Holly is debating on how to handle her crush. Nathan is Gwen's very young dad and the crush that Holly has been harboring. This book is even more substantial with the board game lingo and plays that it was overwhelming. In some ways, it took away from what should have been a fun and sweet age-gap story between Holly and Nathan. I also didn't like the possibility of a love triangle. I was entertained as the story progressed, but I did want a few things changed.

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I loved this book! Even better than the first in the series! I really enjoyed meeting Holly, Nathan & all the gamers.

Loved the gamer girl heroine! Such a fun read!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Gamer girls novel! If you love games and you’re a girl then you should totally read this book! I loved it. It was smart and cute and funny. So

This was a cute and entertaining read. My first title by this author. Thoroughly enjoyed. Will be on lookout for future titles.

This story is really sweet, and to be honest, even though it's a romance there's a LOT of emphasis on the best friend relationship. Holly and Gwen have a lot of work to do on their friendship, and it's really because they just want the best for each other, but kind of go about it the wrong way. Which is great, because it makes it so much more realistic!
Can I also just put here that I wish the tabletop game they played throughout this book was REAL?! Because I very much do!!
The romance was also cute, and not too explicit (which is kind of nice for a romance these days).
The downside is... I guess this story was kind of predictable. And by that I mean, I knew who Holly would end up with by the end of book 1, so book 2 really had no surprises in it at all. In fact, the complication towards the end was also predictable... because what else were they going to do with the plot?!
Overall, I enjoyed it – it's a sweet romance, and books about gaming girls deserve their own special love-fest, just like books about witches, necromancers and vampires do.

AGAINST THE RULES is the second book of the Gamer Girls series by Laura Heffernan. Heffernan writes such a fun story with all kinds of complications about a young woman getting ready to come back to the dating world after a cheating ex and a broken heart. I thoroughly enjoyed this and worked beautifully as a stand alone and not having read the first book in the series, but of course after reading this I am now a fan.

Holly McDonald falls for the last person she should be falling in love with and that is Nathan Williams, her father’s friend. But Nathan is Holly’s best friend Gwen’s father! This relationship was doomed from the start or is it? Can they keep their feeling from each other?

I adored this wonderful story about heartbreak and loss, and finding the strength to open up to trust and love again. I love a great contemporary romance and this one did not disappoint.

This is Holly and Nathan‘s book, Holly works at a game store and is definitely a gamer at heart! She takes her self out of the dating game since she broke up with her cheating thieving ex! Nathan is one of her good friends father and is definitely off-limits! But as her and Nathan play the latest new game together they grow closer! This book wasn’t really my cup of tea it was very into the gaming industry and I really don’t know the first thing about that LOL it seemed a little young for my taste and just wasn’t really for me! Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!

This is the second book in the #gamergirlseries and was just released this week! I am in love with this Candyland-ish cover! You can read this as a standalone, but you should pick up the first one anyway. The third one in the series comes out in two months! Thanks to @lauraheffernanbooks @aterockbooktours for my review copy! .

Here is the synopsis: Holly has taken herself out of the dating game since breaking up with her cheating, thieving ex. She barely notices Marc, who comes into the game store every week, hoping to get her attention. Her friends insist it’s time to take on a new role, to leave Quiet Holly behind and embrace her inner flirt. And on paper, Marc’s great: cute, funny, and a hardcore gamer just like Holly is. .

Then there’s Nathan. He’s everything twenty-eight-year-old Holly wants…except he’s also her friend’s father. Absolutely off-limits. But as she and Nathan playtest a new legacy game together, they’re growing closer. The game is complex and intriguing, and there’s no way to know how choices will pan out. What seems like a good idea could lead to disaster…or sweet victory. But in gaming, as in love, sometimes you have to roll the dice and take your chance

Holly is an incredibly fun character, and I really enjoyed getting to spend this time with her. She is nerdy and game-minded, yes, but she is also really smart, and strong-willed, feisty, and she has a fierce love for the people around her. When we first meet her she is in the last few months of reclaiming her life from issues caused by and related to her ex, who is in trouble with the law due to his part in their new business was revealed to be less than upstanding. She’s been having a hard time while trying to get back on her feet, working at her local game shop and having weekly game nights with her friends, and is inspired to start putting herself out there more in the world of dating.

While none of the first few dates go very far, some not even making it through the salad course, I had a really good time getting to read about the dates, especially the really cringe-worthy ones whom she had met online. It felt a little bit like gossiping and sharing bad dating stories with your girlfriends, and let me just say that I was all about it. And while we are on the topic, I loved her whole group of friends at the game nights. They are such a tight knit group, and all getting to share in a mutual love of the game and the competition. Also the game that they are playing throughout the whole story sounds really cool. I am not always a huge gamer myself (I had older brothers, so I can play sometimes, but I grew up mostly watching the games instead), but I wanted to try and join in the game too. Take out? Check. Good friends? Check. Awesome sounding board game? Check. All I’m saying is that I’m upset I don’t get to have game nights anymore.

And yes, we couldn’t talk about this book without talking about the love story. Throughout the story Holly has two main love interests that she focuses on – Marc, who stops by the game shop during her shifts, and sweetly plans dream dates to try and woo our lead; and Nathan, who she has had a crush on for years and gives her enough butterflies to fill her stomach twice over every time they brush hands. He seems perfect (hey, they even already live together) except that he is the father of one of her best friends. Yikes. Her whole internal debate between the two men revolves around how her friend, Gwen, would react if she chose Nathan, worrying she’s breaking some girl-code and that her friend may never forgive her. While I’ve never been in this particular situation I think we’ve all had moments where we worried we might hurt or even lose a friend depending on a choice that we made, and so I found that part of the story really easy to follow and found that I could fairly easily relate to the character. And plus, there’s something about a forbidden romance that just makes it that much more fun to read, right?

Overall this book was really enjoyable, and I wanted to jump right into the middle of this friend group. None of the characters were perfect, which I always think makes for a better and more enjoyable reading experience. And while, yes, the central gaming theme may not be for everybody, I found it different and new and thoroughly entertaining.