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"Playmaker" is the type of book you pick up when you want a steamy bingeable romance. I read this book cover to cover in a few hours and really enjoyed Cameron and Maddie's love story.

I would love to see this developed into an interconnected series to some of the side character's storylines and also more for Cam and Maddie.

Definitely worth checking out of you love a spicy sports romance.

Thank you Deanna Faison, Net Galley and Wattpad Webtoon Book Group for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Thank you to Wattpad Webtoon Book Group and NetGalley for the ARC of Playmaker: A Hidden Attractions Novel in exchange for an honest and independent review.

YES, YES, YES! So much YES with this book! Without question, I loved it from start to finish and all I felt was deep disappointment when the book was over that it couldn't go on and on. Please, please, please give us more from Maddie and Cam!

Maddie is home for Spring Break from college. It's her freshman year and she's already studying for her MCATs, while everyone else is out having fun. She's planed out her time to make the most of her break, but what she hasn't planned on was falling head over heals for her brothers best friend, Cam. Maddie's been in love with Cam since she was little. Two years, older than her and destined to be a first round NFL draft pick, Maddie knows that even though they have a past (which he single handedly brought crashing to the ground), there's not room for her in his future.

Cam has been a part of Maddie's family since she was little. Six years ago, Maddie and Cam had their shot at love, which was immediately destroyed when Cam's mom passed away form cancer. In that time, Cam pushed the world away, including Maddie, and turned to meaningless sex with random girls and partying to fill the gaping void in his heart. It's been six years since Cam cast Maddie out of his life, but his feelings for her under the surface have never changed, even though his persona has.

Fast forward to this spring, after being thrust together for a mind blowing seven minutes in heaven at a house party, Cam and Maddie decide to bury their past and take a chance on exploring where this could go and their years of pent up feelings towards each other. Knowing Cam could never commit to anything serious, Maddie has set herself up for a potentially devastating heartbreak. Maddie also doesn't love the idea of keeping their relationship a secret from her brother either, but the secrecy adds a level of excitement for them both, and they cannot trust telling Ethan until they know exactly what is happening between the two of them.

The forbidden romance trope can go horribly wrong if not done right, but this was executed perfectly. The characters in this were so loveable, well thought out, and complicated. Cam is lost and broken from the loss of his mother, but it only makes you love him that much more. Maddie is so pure and love struck, you cannot help but remember your own first love while reading through Maddie's emotions the deeper her and Cam get. The supporting cast brought the story full circle and the plot never seemed forced and was light hearted. There was nothing here that felt unbelievable or a stretch of the imagination. The spicy scenes were the perfect level of spice and the feelings between Maddie and Cam were palpable. I could not bring myself to put this one down and I will be researching Deanna's other works. I seriously hope this turns into a series, if it isn't already as this was a major win for me. I cannot wait to see what else she comes out with as this one was a complete touchdown in my opinion!

This book felt as if we started on the wrong foot and ended up we’re just not going to get along.

The story is about childhood best friends Maddie and Cameron who had a falling out. Cameron stayed best friends with Ethan, Maddie's older brother as they’re the same age. However, later on, it would say that they sort of grew apart because Cameron is pursuing his football career and Ethan went to community college. They only hung out on breaks, like most siblings do.

Cameron’s feelings for Maddie intensifies when he sees Maddie again when I believe they’re 22 and 19. With “feelings,” I meant a lot of lust and regret has resurfaced and Maddie's presence is giving Cameron big feelings that he has decided to act on.

Before anything else, the spice for this book was *chef's kiss*.

This story feels like a fanfic for the Summer I Turned Pretty. There are a lot of differences but when I got to the part where Madison focuses on Cameron’s emerald eyes, it felt so similar to Jeremiah’s ocean blue eyes. So many SITP parallels, it is making me think this is SITP's older sibling...which is not really a bad thing.

Cameron is written as an over thinker. All of his dialogue is lead or followed by a paragraph of thoughts. It was exhausting to read through all the thoughts. I wish he were having the conversations with someone else...the only time he did was when he was speaking to his dad in the third act.

Labels such as *four years ago* or *Spring Break, four years ago* would have been helpful while going through this book. The formatting on Kindle was a little distracting, I hope it gets fixed before publishing.

This story took place during what seems like a two-week spring break. The build up to their annual family spring break trip felt big but the actual vacation and ending felt rushed.

I usually enjoy NA romances but this one felt written for YA however, there’s a lot of spice in there and would not recommend to YA readers. Speaking of spice, there was a lot of mention about virginity, I do understand it's a huge deal for a lot of people but I think it's not huge deal for people this book should be targeting.

I thought this book was so cute! I could not put it down because I was so into it. It was a nice and quick read.

High drama and heavy sex -- everything you would expect from a wattpad story. No hate whatsoever because this is totally my jam!

4.5⭐️ ARC Review 🫶🏼 This was such a cute romance! I love Cam & Maddie! All of my fav tropes - older brother’s best friend, childhood crush, football player sports romance. This was a fun, easy, quick read that I would definitely recommend to my friends when it is released this fall!

Okay so I was first introduced to this from Wattpad. The version on there and this version have big differences. The first one being this story takes place in college not high school. Which I think is a smart move in general due to the themes they explored in the story. Second the Wattpad version was over the course of a school year vs. just a week. Scenes have been removed or altered dealing with Sadie.

This story is the much better version out of the two. Cam and Maddie’s relationship is still so cute and spicy. You are rooting for them both the whole way through the story. The spice does take a front seat in the book so I wish we got more conversations that helped build the relationship.

The one thing I’m kind of curious about is if this is a whole new series since her Wattpad series has 4 books revolving around cam and Maddie. From what I have gathered It’s this story is now apart of a whole new series.

Overall still a really enjoyable read! If you are looking for a good brothers best friend, it’s always been you HEA this is the story for you!

This book was steamy and romantic with some family drama added in. The forbidden brother's best friend trope is one of my all time favorites in a rom-com and this one delivers on that aspect very well. I do like that the 3rd act conflict in this book is very near the ending and is resolved quickly. I think Maddie and Cameron are so cute together and I love their character growth.

Well done rom-com novel from Deanna Faison. A quick, fun, steamy read. Looking forward to reading more by them in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group | W by Wattpad Books for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Okay I loved them. I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. It got wayyy more emotional than I was expecting. Such a fun spring break romance.

3.5 stars

This one was so bingable- I finished it in less than a day! It was a great brothers best friend, second chance (ish? kinda?), reformed player story that was light and so easy to read. For a debut novel, I thought this was great and exactly what I was needing to read at the time. I'm excited to read more from Deanna in the future!

Read if you like:
- smart girl // athlete boy
- brother's best friend
- have known each other since childhood
- reformed player
- taboo/ hidden relationship

Thank you so much, Deanna Faison for the advance read of this book!

Fans of the Summer I Turned Pretty series will absolutely love this! this book is a cute, steamy brothers best friend romance, who could ask for more? I think Deanna Faison did a wonderful job for her debut novel, I read this in a day and was hooked the entire time!

This book features an adorable plot centered around childhood friends Maddie and Cam, who find themselves navigating a forbidden romance. Having grown up together, their feelings for each other intensified during their teenage years. However, Cam, Maddie's brother's best friend, tries to resist their attraction and pushes her away. Now back home from college, they can no longer deny their undeniable chemistry. While I found myself occasionally struggling with the formatting, unsure whether we were in a flashback or not, overall, this book delivers a delightful blend of cute, fluffy, spicy romance set against a sports backdrop—a combination that's hard to resist!

This book is about two childhood friends, Maddie and Cameron who stopped speaking for 6 years after a death in Cameron’s life alter the way he sees everything and now they’re finding their way back to each other.

Honestly, I am NOT one of the romance girlies. If I see romance as a genre, I stray away from it. But today, I decided to give the book a chance. And I will say, it was something.

Maddie was a better girl than me. If a man tell me he doesn’t have his life together and he’s a walking red flag, I will take that as a hint. NOBODY is worth going to hell and back with. I don’t care how long I have known them. But for this novel, that perspective was needed to pull in the story. If you like romance novels with spice and an enemies to love trope, this book is right up your alley. It’s to the point, run your emotions and properly paced.

I could not get enough of Cameron and Maddie. I literally read this book as much as I could because I needed to know how the book was going to end. It did not disappoint and it even had me to tears around the last little bit. it is very spicy so if that inst your cup of tea I wouldn't recommend it however it is very well written

This was a great and spicy read. I love this take on a brother's best friend romance.

Spring Break is not where Maddie thinks she will get her chance with her first crush after years of not being in touch, but a series of events leads to opportunities.
Cam had a crush on Maddie, but after losing him mother, he really uses football as a focused distraction, and he is known for being a playboy.

The author went spice heavy and, in my opinion, some of the issues could have been navigated more deeply if the author had given them space earlier in the plot.

This book had everything I want in a romance novel! It was well paced and I was able to read it in one day. I just had to know what happened between the main characters. The male main character is very swoon worthy. I also enjoyed the character growth he went through and how his relationship with his dad shifted. I look forward to reading the next book in the series!

This book was so cute. I love spicy, cute sports romances. The spice level was out of this world. I'd say this is perfect for fall since it's a football romance. Still, I loved this so much!

Loved this one! Great and fun read. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for my ARC.

Maddie and her brother Ethan have palled around with Cameron since he was little, and Maddie has nursed a not-so-secret crush on Cameron. Now that they’re older and Cameron is a superstar football player on the verge of being drafted by the NFL, Maddie watches from the sidelines as he works his way through girls like it’s his job. Things change on Spring Break when Cameron realizes he doesn’t want Maddie to be with anyone else and they decide to strike up a friends-with-benefits relationship. Jealousy, feelings, and intense-dad relationships occur.

I mean, I don’t know if I need to review this book because I am NOT the audience. It’s college-aged, college-minded, and really immature. Cameron is allowed to be a male slut because his mom died of cancer, Cameron can’t say no to Dad because he pays tuition, and Ethan smokes weed and plays video games and doesn’t want his sister to date his bestie even though he wants to date Maddie’s bestie. The whole thing was a little icky for me - I think that perhaps the younger set would read it and appreciate it but it was definitely not for my age group. Cameron was weird and although I can get behind an “experienced” MMC, his sleeping around ways were icky and excused as “boys being boys.” When things happen at the end with his dad, the dad just turns around and is like, “Yes, I am changing who I am 100% right now, everything you say is right.” Relationships do not work like that. It wasn’t my thing - too immature for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

You all have heard of hockey romance, but this book is taking it back to where it all started with football. With childhood friends to lovers and a little forbidden romance, Deanna Faison created the perfect football romance that will leave you teary eyed one minute, and giggling and kicking your feet the next. I am absolutely obsessed with these characters she has created! I loved the body representation in Maddie being described as a curvy character because I feel like there isn’t enough rep for us in romances! She’s a smart and capable female main character who can stand her ground and I just loved her character so much. Cameron was the greatest gentleman and gives off HUGE golden retriever vibes. His story made me cry the most and I resonated with him a lot. The writing was amazing and once I picked it up I didn’t want to put it down! And a second book is now confirmed which I am looking forward to!