**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**Playing the Player is a young adult contemporary romance that totally made me smile. I think it is safe to say that I am a huge fan of new adult contemporary romances, but young adult contemporaries are tougher for me to fall in love with. I feel like they have realistic and age appropriate for them to be well done, and for some reason I think that is harder in the young adult arena. I think Lisa Brown Roberts did a fantastic job keeping these high schoolers true to themselves and true to actual high school students in Playing the Player. That does not mean that they were perfect. Not by a long shot, but they were just like so many high schoolers that I knew growing up.

Playing the Player takes an age old concept- the good girl reforming the player, and breathes new life into it. It is not that Lisa Brown Roberts did something totally different with the cliche, but she executed the story so so well. And I have said time and time again, cliches are not a bad thing. They are proven concepts for a reason. They work- if they are well done. And this one was so well done. I absolutely loved the slow burn romance between Trina and Slade. No insta love here.

Trina is type A and organized to a fault. It actually hinders her in her every day life. (some of her little quirks did irk me momentarily. Like her hang up on people "ditching" her. I'm sorry, she was not ditched at any point in the story.) Slade mellows her out. And Trina helps Slade in all the best ways too. Slade gets to be vulnerable and himself around Trina. Not all at first, but it creeps up on him. Day after day working together and they each get a little bit closer, a little more crush worthy to the other. It was just so darn cute. I can't even take it. (I am smiling just thinking about this book, as I write my review.)

If you like young adult contemporary romances, Playing the Player is one you will not want to miss. I can't wait to read more books by Lisa Brown Roberts because she tells a story so well. This book brought me back to my summers as a camp counselor. It is totally easy to see Trina and Slade fall for each other because I watched it happen every summer. It is inevitable. But are they just for right now, or something more. Who is truely playing the player? Read the book to find out.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs