First off, a huge thank you to Forever Pub for an ARC of The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon! This is the second book in The Boyfriend Project series. I enjoyed last year’s The Boyfriend Project, and I ended up loving The Dating Playbook even more!

Read this one if you enjoy:
-Fake dating tropes
-Sports romance
-Strong female friendships
-Empowered women

I loved the sports romance piece! The male lead is Jamar, who has a lot of emotional depth, and he’s a former NFL player who hires Taylor to be his personal trainer. He’s trying to make a football comeback, and Taylor hopes to expand and publicize her company, Taylor’d Conditioning!

More importantly, Taylor is 1/3 of the fierce friend group with Samiah and London! They all bonded after being catfished by the same man and developed a strong sisterhood. They push each other to become the best versions of themselves and aren’t afraid to give the tough love.

I can’t wait for the next book to hear London’s story and see how Taylor’d Conditioning has taken off!

Taylor Powell is a power house personal trainer who received her 15 minutes of fame from a social media snafu involving her now 2 BFF's and a douche of an ex. She was raised by a military father and she has successful siblings whom she is always compared to so she wants her personal training business to be successful. And randomly she takes on a client who may help her do just that.

Meet Jamar "Diesel" Dixon the former football player who was injured during his rookie season. Jamar wants Taylor to train him back to full strength. And in return he promises to tell everyone that she and her business are what made him successful.

Along the way things get a bit muddled and she becomes his fake girlfriend and maybe fake becomes real? Guess you'll have to read to find.out more. . .and know the details from start to finish are absolutely fire! They are hot, breathtaking, something you can't take you eyes away from and something you want more of. Fire!!

Farrah has done it again! She has written a beautiful story, characters that we can relate to a root for, and a story that we want MORE of!

THE DATING PLAYBOOK by Farrah Rochon is a smart contemporary fake dating sports romance that blurs the line between work and play.

WHAT WORKED:
- Strong female friendships
- Representation- Black, adult learning disability, grief
- Real and relatable characters with depth.
- Readability: It was quick paced and kept me engaged enough to keep flying through the pages.

WHAT DIDN’T
- It is sports/fitness/nutrition heavy, which isn't really my thing. Some of the nutrition elements felt heavy handed.
- The tension and chemistry between Taylor and Jamar didn't align well for me. Something was just off.

So- I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. Still- I am eagerly awaiting London's book/3rd in the series.

This is a simply delightful fake-dating romance. I loved the heroine's complicated back-story and (no spoilers) challenges. Watching her overcome them (and their intersections with her family history) was achingly real.

This book was so good. I loved the romance, the banter, and the premise. It was adorable and had me laughing out loud and rooting for the couple at the same time. This is the second book of this author that I have read and I will continue on because her books are absolute gems. They are feel good romcoms that keep you interested from the first page. Great book I must read for this year!!!!

I am obsessed with this book & @farrahrochon has become an auto-buy author for me. I read The Boyfriend Project last year and knew when I saw The Dating Playbook come up on netgalley, I just had to read it! Thank you @readforeverpub for the early copy!

If you love fantastic banter, steam and fake dating, this is for you! Jamar and Taylor’s relationship, whether it’s fake or real, is top notch. I am so obsessed with their love story. The smack talk between them had me giggling throughout the whole book. Meeting back up with Samiah and London was also so fun; I want to be a part of their friend group.

An easy, lovable 5⭐️! Be sure to add this to your TBR, you won’t regret it.

I enjoyed The Dating Playbook more than The Boyfriend Project and felt like this story had a lot more personality. However, I was hoping to like this book more than I did. It took me a while to get into the story because I wasn't super interested in the amount of time spent on talking about nutrition and training. I wanted to note that some of the conversation about the type of food eaten equaling how much exercise Jamar had to do to make up for it made me uncomfortable and I would imagine others would feel the same. A warning for readers who may find that content triggering.

I did like that this story talked about grief and healing. Additionally, I appreciated the representation of learning disabilities as I don't see it very often in romance. And as always with this series, my favorite part was the friend group being together and reading their banter! Overall, I did enjoy the story but there were some factors that brought down the rating for me.

I always enjoy Farrah Rochon's books and was so looking forward to Taylor's book because she was such a great hot mess in The Boyfriend Project (one of my favourite books last year) -- and The Dating Playbook did not disappoint. Rochon has a knack of writing incredibly real and relatable characters who have a ton of depth, and I loved both Taylor and Jamar for this. I wish the sex scenes had matched the tension and chemistry they had--these were the only places where things fell flat for me. But it's a great, fun read, and I will definitely be reading London's book!

Captivating story. Was a great read to pull me out of my reading slump. Definitely worth the read. This author has done a great job.

This charming second entry in Rochon's series focuses on personal trainer Taylor and side-lined football player Jamar. The two have instant chemistry but fear that a real relationship would stand in the way of each of their goals. They grow closer as they train privately and spend time in public to sell their fake relationship, and work individually and collectively to address the familial and professional issues that concern them. This book deftly goes from serious topics to laugh-out-loud humor and I highly recommend it.

This is a terrific book, I absolutely loved it! Taylor is an absolutely terrific heroine, and I really enjoyed her entire backstory. I love a woman with grit and she had it in spades. Jamar's reason for wanting to keep his association with Taylor a secret was very believable but in an interesting way, and I loved the turn to fake dating to keep everyone guessing. Excellent.

I loved The Boyfriend Project so I was so excited for the opportunity to read this continuation of the story. I love Samiah, London, and Taylor’s relationship with each other and how even though their friendship is new, they feel like they’ve been friends their whole lives. I absolutely loved Taylor in the first book, so I was looking forward to seeing her shine in this book. Her character is an amazing, no-nonsense, strong female lead that was a joy to follow along during this story. And Jamar! He might be one of my new favorite male leads. He was flawed, but so real at the same time and he shows intense growth by the end of the book. And the two of them bounced off each other in the best way. This book was such a breath of fresh air and highly recommend!

I have been waiting for this one since the day I closed the cover of The Boyfriend Project. It will go down as one of my top reads of 2021!

Taylor Powell has her hands full. She's an excellent personal trainer who has herself in a bit of a financial crunch after a series of dead-end jobs and what could have beens. At a last-minute boot camp held solely to pay off the previous night's use of her "emergency" credit card, Taylor meets Jamar. Thinking he's just another man coming out of the woodwork, she blows him off- until she realizes who he is and how the situation might benefit her professionally and financially. Jamar suffered a devastating knee injury and thinks Taylor is just the one to whip him back into physical shape, so he can rejoin the NFL. Little does he know, their relationship is about to get a lot more complicated...

When the two are spotted together in public, to cover their working/professional relationship Taylor implies they are dating. They begin to build up their fake relationship, as publicity for them both, not realizing the more work put into the fake relationship the more real it would become.

Rochon's writing is excellent and pulls in the reader from page one. The characters are so diverse and their worlds so realistic; I was immediately drawn in. I love the hard topics she tackles- women in sports, recovering from injury, loss, personal debt, self-confidence, and of course, love.

This is a 5 star read for me and I highly recommend it.

This is the second installment of a three book series. I enjoyed catching up with the other ladies from the first story and learning more about Taylor. This book is about Taylor the least accomplished of the three ladies. We get a good glimpse of Taylor's family history which causes her not to be as accomplished as her siblings or her newly found friends. In an effort to build her brand she strikes up a deal with the handsome hero. Of course they fall in love but the journey is not smooth. Taylor has family and personal issues to overcome while Jamar tries to renew his career and overcome a guilt ridden past.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward the third installment.

The Dating Playbook was a great addition to this series. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't love the Boyfriend Project, book 1 in this series; I was more invested in the female friendships between the London, Samiah and Taylor than I was in the romance between Samiah and Daniel. The Dating Playbook kept the focus and strength of these female friendships and filled that gap; I was SO invested in the relationship between Taylor and Jamar and could not tear through this one fast enough. The imposter syndrome and barriers Taylor faced in getting her business off the ground are going to be relatable to so many and the drive and obligation Jamar faces to get back into the NFL are emotional and noble. I'll admit to wanting to hit him upside the head a few times, especially towards the end (you'll know when you get there), but that just shows how invested I was in their story and their lives. The fact that this one releases right before football season gets underway is perfect, it'll get even non-sports fans ready to cheer for an NFL comeback.

Small-town romance, a tight-knit girl group, football players, and the fake dating trope? Sign. Me. Up. The Dating Playbook, the highly anticipated sequel to Farrah Rochon's The Boyfriend Project is the ideal summer into fall romance read.

The personal trainer and owner of Taylor'd Conditioning, Taylor Powell, is in trouble. She's over-exerted herself financially, and seeing as she considers herself the black sheep of her "perfect" family, going to them is not an option. When former NFL star Jamar Dixon pops up as a student in Taylor's class, she is attracted to him, but apprehensive, even more so after he offers her an exorbitant amount of money to become his trainer. Finally, Taylor and Jamar reach an agreement, she'll train him so that he can return to the NFL and finishing living the dream that he and his deceased best friend shared. In exchange, he'll pay her and endorse her company publicly once he signs on to a team again. The biggest catch? She can't tell anyone that she's training him. When Taylor and Jamar run into a reporter, they accidentally tell him that they're in a relationship -- the perfect cover, right? What follows is a story of finding oneself, learning how to love again, coping with grief, and some very steamy interactions.

Now, I'll be the first to admit I've been on a bit of a romance novel kick this summer. I've come to expect a certain flow of these books. Despite these expectations, Rochon still made the story unexpected and engaging. The writing style of this book is absolutely engrossing, I was drawn in and stayed hooked until the end. Even the epilogue had me wanting to see more of Taylor and Jamar. I haven't read The Boyfriend Project, but after reading this book (and still being able to understand the characters and their personalities), I am absolutely jumping at the chance to grab it off the shelves.

Overall rating: 4.5/5 (rounded up to 5)

The Dating Playbook will be available for purchase on August 17th. Be sure to add it to your Goodreads shelf and see where it's available for purchase. Also, be sure to check out Farrah Rochon's website!

I was lucky enough to be able to read this Advanced Reader's Copy through my partnership with NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

REVIEW • The Dating Playbook • eARC #gifted @readforeverpub • Pub Date: August 17

A highly anticipated summer romance with fake dating and sports? Sold! The Dating Playbook follows Taylor, the second in the trio of friends we met in The Boyfriend Project, as she tries to decide what's next for her fitness training career. Former NFL star Jamal offers to hire Taylor to train him in secret as he tries to make a comeback after injury. But when they get caught, rather than share his potential comeback, the pair decide to pretend their dating.

I loved Taylor with her dry sense of humor and the banter that she and Jamal had off the bat. Like book one, one of the strengths was the friendship between Taylor, London and Samiah, and I am so so excited for London's book next. An aspect of this story that I really enjoyed was seeing both Taylor and Jamal work through insecurities in their respective careers and lives and how that impacted both them as individuals and as a couple.

There were only a couple of small things that I didn't love about this: I thought the point of conflict towards the end could have been executed better (or about something else) and while it was a cute ending, it felt like it was really rushed.

We met Taylor in book one of the Boyfriend Project as one of the stars of the viral video where Taylor, Samiah, and London confront the guy who's been dating all of them. Samiah and London are thriving, at least professionally, and Taylor is having trouble keeping it all together.

She's made a series of poor business decisions, leaving her personal training company, Taylor'd Conditioning, at risk. Her credit cards are maxed out, she's one missed rent payment away from living in her car and starting to get desperate. When former NFL star Jamar approaches her about becoming his private personal trainer, she's suspicious but can't turn that kind of money down.

Jamar is gearing up for a comeback after a career-ending injury and needs to keep their business relationship on the DL to avoid rumors and speculation. When a reporter catches on, Taylor blurts out they're actually dating. While publicly pretending to be together and privately training, eventually the lines between real and fake start to blur.

I loved that Taylor took a journey to discover why she struggled so much, and she really grew a lot as a character. Jamar was a nice guy with a good head on his shoulders and a strong sense of (possibly misguided) responsibility.

I would have loved a little more romance, I never really got a sense of what drew them together other than mutual hotness and proximity. There wasn't a lot of swoon for me, but there was a pleasing amount of steam.

Overall a very enjoyable read!

Thank you @readforeverpub for a copy of this book. I loved the friendship between London, Samiah and Taylor in The Boyfriend Project and was excited to read Taylor’s story and their friendships. I love the chemistry between Taylor and Jamar! The slow burn and banter was great between them and the fake dating trope is always a lot of fun. I was frustrated with Taylor at times with how hard headed she was and was glad she got called out for it by Jamar and her friends.

Taylor is a personal trainer who is struggling to pay the bills. One day Jamal shows up to one of her group classes asking her to be his personal trainer. What she doesn’t realize is he is a pro-football player looking to make a comeback from an injury. He’s not ready to announce his comeback so they have to keep their training super quiet, so when they almost get caught, they pretend to be dating, not training. The more they work together, the more attracted to each other they are, which complicates things even further.

This was one of my most anticipated summer reads and did not disappoint. I didn’t think this was possible, but I may have enjoyed this follow up even more than book one! As with the Boyfriend Project, I ADORE the friendship between Taylor, Samiah and London. Also I am here for these strong female characters. Taylor takes no nonsense and it willing to work hard and do what she needs to do to succeed. She stands up for herself and is truly everything I could want inn a strong female main character. I was hooked on this one from the start: the chemistry, the friendship, the romance, the self-discovery and strength made this one an incredible read. I can’t wait to see how this series continues. I’m already anxiously awaiting London’s story!
Thank you to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy!