Book Review: Winning the Player by Lessa Bow

21793247 Winning the Player by Lessa Bow

Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Pages: 273 (ebook)
Publish date: April 14th 2014
Publisher: Destiny Romance (Penguin Australia)
ASIN: B00JEUKI5E
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

When injury destroyed her dream of playing college basketball, Aubree Taylor fled overseas. Now she’s finally home again and ready to move on with her life. Until she runs into Hunter Stone on her first night out, the only guy who’s ever meant anything to her – and the last person she wants to see.

Since she ran out on him two years ago, Hunter hasn’t been able to get Aubree off his mind. The sexy football star has had girls all over him for years, but Aubree is the only one to have ever seen behind the cocky persona he puts on for the crowd.

Despite her attempts to keep her distance, Aubree is unable to resist the strong attraction between them and it isn’t long before they fall into a passionate relationship. She has never been afraid of a challenge, but Hunter’s arrogance and inablity to trust are testing her to her limits. Aubree must decide whether to follow her heart and lower her guard…or risk losing the best thing that’s ever happened to her.

Winning the Player:

I received an e-arc of Winning the Player from NetGalley in exchange for a review from Destiny Romance. This in no way has influenced my review.

For the first time ever, I read a book and understood the sport that it was centred around or included. I love footy, the AFL (Australian Football League) I have been going to and watching the footy since I was 2 years old. I have grown up watching it. So it was really different reading a book not only set in Australia but which also includes a home grown sport.

I felt sorry for Aubree. I understood what it is like, even though it wasn’t what I wanted it to be, how an injury can ruin what you love. I use to dance all the time but then I dislocated my knee, tore my ligament and had a few other things happen that now prevent me from dancing. So I understand her heartbreak, to an extent, of how an injury can stop you doing something that you planned to do forever.

I also really enjoyed Aubree, yes she did have quite a few negative thoughts, but like I said before I understand why she was so negative, she had trained and worked hard her whole life for something, which then came crashing down on her. I don’t like that she ran away from her problems and does a few more times, but I guess that is how she deals with them. I felt that Aubree was a really ‘real’ character. She wasn’t fake.

Life is what you make of it. You take the good with the bad. Turn a negative into a positive.

Hunter. Hunter is a name that I always refer to as those hot bad boys. He may not be a bad boy but he is definitely hot. He is the footy boy, but he is also the Alpha male. Meaning that I wanted to hit the hell of him for 80% of the book. He was arrogant, rude and so immature. He has slept with pretty much all the girls of the South Australian population and he doesn’t hide it. Then there was the other 20% where I loved him the death, and he treated Aubree just perfectly.
Both Aubree and Hunter made mistakes, Hunter making the biggest mistake out of the both of them. But hey, we all make mistakes.

I loved that Winning the Player was set in Australia, even though it’s set in South Australia and I live in Melbourne, it still has the essence of the ‘Australia life.’ Not the one that everyone expects that we all say ‘shrimps on the barbie.’ It was nice seeing what it is really like.

“You can’t win something after the siren sounds.” My hand cupped his beautiful face. “The game ended long ago. You had already won.”

I really enjoyed Leesa Bow’s writing in Winning the Player. It was easy to read and understand. I also like that it was pretty clean and only had mild sexual scene. It still isn’t for anyone under the age of at least 17. Lessa Bow is able to invoke the characters emotions to the readers.

Overall I really enjoyed Winning the Player. It was entertaining and emotional, it took me on a ride. I loved that it was set in Australia and had a lot of AFL, it just made me so excited.

Have you read Winning the Player yet? If you have what did you think of it, if you haven’t will you read it?

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