Review: The Player

the player, denise grover swank, book review
 
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Divorce attorney Blair Hansen is convinced that marriage should be based on practicality, not passion. But as her own wedding approaches, she finds herself remembering her law school boyfriend, the only man she's ever loved, and regretting what might have been. Then a twist of fate lands Garrett back in her life, and the man who loomed large in her past is suddenly casting a shadow over her wedding, making her question everything. To complicate matters further, the job she loves is in peril, and she can feel the ‘perfect’ life she’s fashioned for herself start to crumble under her feet. Could everything she's believed about life and love be wrong?

Garrett Lowry is a divorce attorney who's ready to settle down. The problem is that he can’t find a woman who suits him nearly as well as the one he loved and lost. He broke her heart by playing the field after their break up—something he’s always regretted. But after months of pining for Blair, Garrett stumbles across her in a freak coincidence—and then destiny keeps throwing them together, the coincidences becoming ever more unlikely. He’s convinced it's a sign they should give their love a second chance, but Blair is engaged to another man—a man who is absolutely wrong for her.

Can Garrett convince Blair that a player once isn’t a player forever, and that happy endings aren’t just for dreamers?
Genre: contemporary romance

Publishing date: June 2015

Offensive content: There's sexual innuendo but only one sex scene in the book. In a way, The Player is much more subdued than book 1 in the series, the Substitute.

Review: 
The Player: The Wedding Pact #2 (Volume 2) is book two in the Wedding Pact Series. When they were barely teenagers, three best friends, Megan, Blair and Libby, made a pact that they would all be married before their thirtieth birthday and then, shortly after, a fortune teller tells them that while their pact may hold, they will not marry the men they were initially destined to. 

In book one,  The Substitute: The Wedding Pact #1, Megan and Josh's wedding seemed to prove that the fortune teller was right (read my review here), but Blair, the second of the three friends to set up a date for her marriage to Neil, does not believe in the curse. Actually, as the daughter of divorced parents and a top-notch divorce lawyer herself, she really does not believe in marriage at all. 

She's getting married because she feels it will bring her stability and help advance her career. That is, until a flame from the past comes tumbling back into her life, in the form of Garret Lowry, former lover and current opposing lawyer in a difficult (but funny) divorce settlement. By a trick of the destiny, both Blair and Garret soon discover they have a lot more in common then they initially thought, since not only is Garret Neil's first cousin but, suddenly, also one of the groomsmen in the wedding party.

While there are several funny moments in this book, it's not as hilarious as the first one (though Neil's mother and her curse kitty almost make up the difference). There's a lot more drama and the storyline is a bit heavier. While I do not condone people scheduling marriages to someone they don't love and then leaving them for someone else almost at the altar, Neil comes across as such a jerk you can't really expect Blair to marry him. Still, this story made me think of all the wrong reasons why people still get married today, especially the part of believing marriage gives an idea of stability and may therefore help your career. While it seems odd, I can totally see it happen and, what's worse, I can totally see some companies endorsing that policy.


Enough rambling. Don't let my reflections scare you. This is an awesome book, and an awesome romance and I totally recommend it. I'm almost done with book three in the series (Libby's story) and I'll post a review later this week!

Oh, and on a side note, I really like the covers of these books. I often complain about covers in romance novels, especially since some editors believe that putting almost naked men and women in the covers will help them sell more books (and maybe it does, who knows) but the covers chosen for this series are rather nice and graceful, which is also a plus.

Happy readings,

the book worm, book reviews

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