I always enjoy the best friend's sibling trope, but this book was so strangely paced. They plot for the first half of the book was basically the exact same thing happening, like same conversations about how they shouldn't be together followed up by sex in a closet, and it just felt repetitive right out of the gate. There's really no reason they couldn't be together right now.

Dirty Tactics is a combination of several of my favorite romance tropes, friends to lovers, sports hero, older brothers best friend, character who thinks they aren't worthy of love. All the good stuff. And as cliche as it sounds, the book actually worked really well and I enjoyed the story overall. Oddly enough I was giving a quick overview of the book to a coworker, the male main character mistreated and abused as a child, becomes best friends with kid he meets at school and gets accepted into their family, and the heroine, the youngest and only girl with lots of overbearing brothers, who's had a crush on her brother's bestfriend for years. She asked me if I was reading Harry Potter fanfic from Ginny's POV. Idk why but that actually made me enjoy the book even more cause if it was intentional (with the set of twins I think it has to be) it's brilliant. But that's where any connection to HP ends. Instead we have Zac, who managed to escape his abusive childhood and become a professional hockey player along with his best friend Aiden, and Reagan, the little sister who has been in love with him since she was 15. Reagan is ready for a relationship but Zac thinks that he'll never be good enough. They agree on two weeks on trial dating to decide if they will be together forever or forget the romance ever happened and go back to being friend.
There were a lot of things I really loved about this book. It was very funny, but also very emotional at times. I loved the Thomas family dynamics. They were so funny together and while the idea that all four brothers are pro athletes is pretty far fetched it sets up nicely for a romance series. I enjoyed how Reagan was accepted by her brothers and interacted with them like one of the guys. There was a lot of angst in this story. Like a lot. Everyone has a hidden demon but I liked that everything was addressed without it being super dramatic and nothing was just magically resolved. I loved that Reagan sat down and had an actual conversation with her dad and Zac did the same with his mom and they all made a commitment to work on resolving things. That was really touching and I thought very well written. I really like the relationship Reagan and Letty have. I also cheer for strong female friendships especially in romances cause it's important. And I'm looking forward to reading Letty's story.

There were only a couple of criticisms. For someone who reads sooo much romance I will admit that I can be kind of prudish so I did think some of the language was a bit much and honestly, I thought there were more sex scenes than needed. They were definitely well written scenes but after a while i skimmed over because it wasn't actually contributing to the story. That's just a personal preference though so if you like erotic romance,
it's definitely a win. There were moments where I honestly felt Reagan was coming across as desperate. It's one thing to believe in the power of your love but it's another to keep going back when someone's clearly told you they don't want to be with you. I was so relieved though when Reagen called herself on it. I get it was for purposes of the plot but it she came off very pick me-ish. In the end I was happy with the how the book turned out. It was a quick relaxing read and I think a very strong effort for a first romance novel. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

Um what did I just read??!! Omg I loved this book!! This is now one of my top favorite! I really enjoyed reading this one! really thought it was going to be a hockey romance ,which I love but there's not to much hockey stuff in it but have no fear! The book was so good on its own! I just finished and was going to check Amazon for more books by this author then I see this is her debut novel?! Wth?! I would have never guessed that! This book kept me intrigued! It was 🔥🔥🔥!! And I mean 🔥lol there was some heartbreak and heartache! I just really enjoyed this book alot!! Definitely don't miss out on this one! Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me! I can't wait for more from this new author!

Ok first things first: Zac does not deserve Reagan. That's that.

I'm definitely sad that this disappointed me a bit. Various things took place that made me not root for the hero, the romance (is there any tho?) wasn't all that convincing, and things like that all over the book that just left me feeling kinda... eh about it.

The hero? Well Zac is a hockey player and his best friend is Ree's older brother. Zac's family situation isn't all that good. His dad was very abusive when he was a kid (still is abusive) towards his mom and himself. So he really treasures Ree's family and her dad very much. He doesn't ever want to lose them. And if he acts upon his feelings towards Reagan he thinks that they will get angry because once upon a time they (her brothers) told him to never ever think about being with her.

So Reagan plans to make Zac fall in love with her (or realize his feelings once and for all). This comes as a two-week plan to date each other and see that they work together so well. Zac isn't that convinced and he is sure he will make her see they are not good together. It's clear Reagan is in love with him and constantly says it to her friend Letty since the start. So it's really ugh to see Zac just completely hurt her time after time, regretting the kisses, the sex, and everything they do. I disliked so much that they didn't talk about anything? No romance? They just had sex. That's it. I'm not saying that I disliked the sex scenes, but for me, I do need some romantic moments where a couple talks and understands each other even if they have been friends for years. I don't think they ever talked or maybe it was behind-the-scenes? Reagan gave too much while Zac gave 0.

This book is STEAMY. They do like to have sex in public places or places where they can be easily found. Like the coatroom of a party, at her dad's house, her office, etc. They have wild sexual chemistry and I cannot deny that. But as I already told you, every time these scenes were over, Zac changed and told Reagan that couldn't happen again and she obviously felt really bad. To be honest, I had hoped for a big big groveling scene because what Zac did at the climax was awful and I wouldn't forgive him but the groveling scene was... eh. Not enough!!!! Reagan deserves more I'm sorry but she does.

There are def more things that annoyed me (like he called his mom "a weak woman" referring to the constant beating his dad did to her and that made me sad) but I am stopping right now. It's sad that it didn't leave up to my expectations, but as always, you can read it and maybe like it! Zac is very alpha, I think, and sometimes if they aren't well-written I just completely hate them lol.