I really enjoyed the story here, however it felt like everything was wrapped up a little quickly towards the end.

* gifted copy from Netgalley

I could not have picked a better romance book for my 2nd book for 2022. I can just imagine how my other books are there on the shelf, hoping they will measure up to the first 2 reads of 2022.

Playing for is You've got mail mix with Warcross and a dash of Emily in Paris. I have to admit. I enjoyed the fashion element to the book with Sam's handbag insert company. The thing that I was skeptical about was the gameplay in the book. Some books will have me lose interest when reading the gameplay parts. In reading Playing for Love I did not hate it. It was just the right amount of gaming and explanation in it.

Let's talk a moment about Luke and how he is. How he guided Sam and would do anything to be just close to her. The best thing about Playing for Love is that it shows us that great romance novel do not have to have sex in it.

Final verdict. Playing for Love would have gotten 4 stars. But, I was never bored once while reading this book. Not one time did I wish the book would end! I enjoyed each moment of the characters and how their story develop.

I give Playing for Love
★★★★★ out of 5 stars

When Samadhi ‘Sam’ Ranaweera isn’t struggling to get her handbag insert startup business going, her secret guilty pleasure is watching YouTube game streamer, Blaze, whose friendly voice and animated narration has been a source of great comfort after her mother’s passing. When a virtual competition presents a rare opportunity to game with and meet the elusive Blaze, Sam signs up - and is selected. As her crush on Blaze intensifies with each round of the tournament, she has no idea that in real life, Blaze is Luke Burneside, the shy and awkward guy in the same office building who has a massive crush on her.

I’ve read quite a few novels centered around gaming in Chinese, so when I came across one in English - yes, please! The premise of this story reminds me of a story by Qiao Yao where the female lead confessed to and got rejected by her crush in real life, only to later find out he’s that online gaming partner who likes her (gaming persona). But I find “Playing for Love” to be much better executed.

Written in third person (yes!) but presented in dual POVs from Sam and Luke, I love that we get insights from both sides of the story. I was initially a bit put off by Sam’s attitude, particularly towards some of the guys in the office building. She’s not the friendliest character but she does warm up over time.

Luke is an absolute cinnamon roll! I love his character. He’s confident and self-assured as Blaze, but in real life, such a shy awkward guy in front of the woman he likes. He is also a very kind and helpful guy, not just to Sam, but to anyone in need.

I do enjoy stories centered around gaming, because I love playing games, especially RPGs. And I also watch gaming videos, so this story really resonated with me. The pacing of the story is good. The writing draws you in and makes you wanna find out more. I devoured this book in a day.

Thank you NetGalley and HQ for the e-ARC.

I went in really expecting so many things from this book and finished feeling mostly disappointed. The premise sounded amazing and I was so looking forward to some amazing chemistry and an original plot. Although this book had the latter, it really fell flat with the chemistry between Sam and Luke. I really tried to enjoy the book for what it was, but it became more and more difficult as I read more.

I also found the author's writing style difficult to keep up with. Initially I did not mind, but as the book progressed I found myself becoming bored and wanting to skip forward.

A really different take on a romance, very enjoyable and easy to read whilst appealing to both gamers and non gamers

I am not the slightest bit interested in gaming but I really enjoyed this enchanting romance between Sam and Luke, alias Blaze and Bravura. The characters had depth and their struggles with work, family and the game felt realistic. The other characters were well drawn, too - Pete, Kim, Bradley, Niro, etc. all had important roles in the story. The plot had enough tension to keep the interest and the writing is lively and assured. It was refreshing to read a light romance with no swearing or graphic sex scenes. Maybe it is meant for the YA market.

I loved the premise of this book as a cute gamer love story. This is what really drew me in to reading this book. Thank you for letting me read this ARC to provide an honest review! There are not many books out there that have a gamer centered story (that I have been exposed to). Because the concept was so compelling the book was easy to pick up, and once I did it was even easier to stay up and finish as much as I could. The situations were fun and I personally enjoyed the main character Samadhi aka Sam. I am glad to have finally found a gamer centered story that is geeky and in general cute. Warning to spice lovers out there, there is not spice but for romance readers it worth a look. Meant for readers that love slow paced romance.

This was a cute book to help pull me from a reading slump! Definitely a cute idea for romance to stem from gaming together! Sort of felt like the work relationship between Luke and Sam was a different story compared to Blaze and Bravura, but it still worked out and I loved it!

Absolutely loved this book! Stayed up way too late to finish it because I was so invested.
The writing was so detailed. I felt like I was pulled into the story me the surroundings.
Sam and Luke’s relationship in the office felt so real. Sometimes things get messy and people make mistakes but having characters who actually thought about why the other made that mistake was very refreshing. Too often are characters just so stubborn.

I think this is the first book I’ve read that involves gaming and YouTubers, and I really enjoyed it. Jeevani managed to seamlessly move from telling the stories of Luke and Sam to Bravura and Blaze without it being remotely confusing. The little hints at who they were in real life, the game play, the real life office scenario- it was all so well written and there was lovely variety in the story. It was brilliant to see them both do well professionally at work and within the gaming competition. A warm and fuzzy romance story at heart, surrounded by interesting diversions. Definitely give it a read, you won’t be disappointed.

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was definitely a different kind of romance. I liked both of the characters and their interactions in the game and out. Maybe Luke was just a bit easier to like at times? I feel like Sam probably should've told Blaze about the crazy woman who had put her in a headlock.
It was a different concept and hard to pull off, but it turned out pretty well. The business side of things for both Sam and Luke made the characters more realistic.
3.5 stars

I really thought I would love this. But the writing and dialogue were really awkward and the characters had no chemistry.

This book had an interesting concept with both characters having two identities. I felt bad for Luke, as Sam was so focussed on Blaze she would barely give him the time of day, when he was helping her so much. The author did a good job of writing a character that was pretty oblivious to the person that was right in front of her all along.

I wish this book would have gone father exploring that sexism and problems that exist in the gaming community and how toxic that environment can be, especially for women. She touched on it slightly a few times, but it mostly just gets glossed over.

This is a sweet book, but I don't know if it is completely a romance. It is more women's fiction, with a bit of romance thrown in. It is a book about self discovery and coming more to terms with who you are. To push this into more romance territory, I would have liked to seen more interaction between Sam and Luke and more tension filled moments and some angst.

I also think the friends of both Luke and Sam were good side characters and they could have been explored even more. Both seemed like good people and really could have been confidents for both characters.

This was a middle of the road book for me. A quick and easy read that has some different aspects to it, making it not completely typical. I will check out more of Jeevani Charika's books in the future! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.

really loved this book. It was a really cute rom-com set in the world of online gaming.

Samadhi, or Sam for short, is a small business owner by day, and a gamer by night. She wins a spot in an online gaming tournament with her YouTube idol, the charismatic Blaze. Unbeknownst to her, Blaze is really Luke, the cute and shy IT nerd from her office building.

The story follows Sam and Luke’s adventures in the gaming tournament and their interactions in the office.

Sam loves Blaze, Luke loves Sam. Neither of them knows their online gaming partner is the other.

I found this to be a really endearing and heartwarming story of love and family. I never thought I’d be really into reading a book about online gaming but it had me pretty enthralled. Jeevani created a really lovely slow-burn romance set in a fun and interesting world of gaming and cosplay.

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ I’d definitely recommend reading this
Spice: 0/5 not that kind of book
Loved: the interactions between Blaze and Bravura during the online tournament
Disliked: not much to dislike here, I would have rated it higher if I clicked more with the world of gaming and YouTube, but I still loved it

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wasnt for me I am afraid, bit boring and very predictable, an easy read which I read in one sitting ..

Thank you to Netgalley for an arc of this book in return for an honest review!
I wana start of by saying I have no experience or history of being a gamer but I still found this such a fun and easy story to read! The gaming aspect didn’t hinder my reading at all and generally just reminded me of how passionate I am about my hobbies and especially reading.

This was a cute and fun story that was dual POV which I loved it, Luke was such a sweetheart and his funeral demeanour and nervousness just warmed my heart, Sam was a headstrong bold lead who knew what she wanted and went for it but at the same time became nervous and starstruck anytime she was around Blaze which just made her all the more relatable.

I loved this story even though it was predictable enough that we knew how it was going to end but I didn’t mind that and this made it such an easy read.

This is a solid 3.5 for me just because I would have liked to have seen more interaction between Sam and Luke aside from their lunch dates and him helping her with work, I just thought it was a bit much for him to be saying that he thought he loved her when they hadn’t overly spent time together.

Overall a fun read and would recommend.

Playing for Love was a cute romance with gaming at the heart of the story.

We had some double lives action and a lot of sub plots - some that really worked and some that felt a bit unnecessary.

I am not one for gaming and I think that held me back from really loving this because I just couldn't really connect with our main characters.

Overall - this was a sweet read, but not one that will make a favorites list from me.

If you love gaming and the show Miraculous Ladybug then this book is for you!
Although this book wasn’t my cup of tea, I loveeeed Luke and I was super happy to see him grow confidence.
I also love when main characters stand up for themselves when people aren’t treating them well instead of letting them walking all over them and forgiving them immediately.
Sam was very interesting and all though she wasn’t my favorite, I really liked her relationship with her cousin Niro, it reminded me of my relationship with my cousins.
Again, this is a very lovable book and I can see many people falling in love with it. I just wish there was a bit more romance instead of this huge love square, but maybe that’s just me!

Playing for Love was a cute romance novel about gaming, online personas and double lives. The double lives bit definitely made the romance incredibly messy but I enjoyed the context and the setting. Sam is a small business owner trying to get her handbag inserts to take off. Inspired by her Mum's love of handbags (her Mum passed away when Sam was young), Shanthi bags are meant to make changing handbags easier. Luke is also a small business owner, doing some web design and internet based stuff. He also has a double life, he is a famous YouTube gamer called Blaze. Sam herself has a passing interest in gaming from watching her brother play when she was young. Through that she discovered Blaze. Sam and Luke work in the same building. Sam enters a gaming competition to fund her business and ends up paired with Blaze. There begins the confusing double life, Sam interacting with Luke and also with Blaze in the game.

Honestly I didn't like the double life thing, it didn't really lead to a good beginning of a relationship. But the competition aspect was fun, and it shed a light on the sexism in gaming. I liked Blaze's gamer friends Flick and Phil, and Sam's cousin was also a great friend to her. Overall, the book was an average read, but I was more interested in finding out what would happen in the competition than what would happen between Sam and Luke.

Sam is a girl trying to pursue her dream company and at the same building there’s this guy named Luke with his own already successful company that has had a crush on her since he saw her but she barely pays attention to him. What Sam doesn’t know is that Luke is this famous gamer youtuber ‘Blaze’ that she’s been watching for a long time that is totally the opposite of what Luke is in real life shy, lacking confidence and everything Blaze isn’t.
She sees a contest of a new game where anyone can join and whoever gets to the final gets to go the convention and play together in real life to win the prize $$$ when she realizes ‘Blaze’ is gonna be part of it she decides to join and finally have her opportunity to meet him and by destiny they get paired up and become a team.
During the day he helps her with work and at night they’re teammates without knowing.


I’m not really into gaming and watching streams but i know a lot of people enjoy it so i tried to give this book a chance and it was really entertaining i didn’t know what i was getting myself into but it was a cute, clean, easy romance to read, someone who’s probably into this kind of stuff would enjoy this book i give it 3.75/5 ⭐️ because i would’ve liked to see more of them outside of the office workspace.