I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The characters were well-developed, storyline was believable, dialogue and banter between the characters were both engaging. This was a beautiful story of life, love, and letting go. I enjoyed the glimpses into the hockey world. Author did a great job providing the perfect balance of game/sport detail without drowning us in unnecessary terminology.

One of the things that jump out at me about the book was the banter. I LOVE good banter between characters, especially the hero and heroine. This banter was great. I laughed at these too. The heroine gave as good as she took. I also like that the characters were from two different world and each were willing the navigate the others.

If you’re looking for an entertaining read, I would highly recommend this one.

Sassy, strong black ”firelady” meets a sassy strong black hockey player in this page turner of a romance. Both Solomon and Adina have experienced the ultimate pain of the death of their partner. Together they navigate the possibilities of starting over. Solomon’s in-laws, Adina’s best friend and family, and the cutest 5 year old boy also add to the drama of whether this couple will get their second chance. A spicy read that focuses on the grief of lost love and starting over, black and female discrimination, and woman empowerment. I didn’t always love Solomon’s approach with Dina or Dina’s unwillingness to confide in her family but as the plot developed, I found I was utterly engaged in this book.

The story was soo good. The fact that both of the characters were dealing with similar and different things was so compelling. I really felt for them. And was rooting them. The characters were so good and had good development.

I did feel like maybe the way they talked was exaggerated or something. It just seemed the way characters talked did not really match up with who they were supposed to be and it bugged me a bit.

The spice was really good though. And it ended so well.

Fantastic steamy grumpy-sunshine firefighter romance
This grumpy-sunshine, second chance at love for a widow and widower is full of emotion – and emotion-filled hot seggs that all readers of steamy contemporary romance will enjoy. Both Adina and Solomon are still not quite over their lost loves when they meet, and their individual journeys and their evolution to love is as well-told as any of Simone’s books. Add in Solomon’s dirty mouth in the bedroom – and various other spots – and you might need your own firefighter to put out the flames when you’re reading.
Solomon had the added complication of in-laws (his dead wife’s parents) who help with his son but are not yet ready for him to move on…one of whom owns the team Solomon plays for. This conflict was also well-handled, amping the tension and causing Solomon to question the right path forward. I felt the parents seeing the error of their ways was a bit too quick/unrealistic for me, but as it’s not the focus of the book, I was willing to buy it.
Two minor things I’d really have liked – given the mess-ups Solomon had with Adina, I would have liked to see his grovel be deeper. And I’d like to have seen more – and I’d say the same of quite a few other books lauded as hockey romances – actual hockey and team dynamics.
<Note to publisher> I did not comment on the typos, incorrect pronouns and verb tenses where it had been changed from 3rd person past to 1st person present, and repeated echoes of 'mugged' by all characters, as I was told this had not gone through final proofreading. Hopefully those are changed in the final book.

This story starts when Adina Wright finds a journal after her fire-engine responds to a fire in the local hockey team’s locker room. To discover who the owner is, she starts reading it against her better judgement. That is how she meets Pirates’ star Solomon Young; hockey player, single dad and grieving his deceased wife.

She is feisty, he is gruff and icy .. but they connect over the loss of their respective partners.
The author knows how to beautifully handle mourning and how people handle it in their own way, while trying to find the courage to move forward. It was brought very respectfully and realistically for me.

The main characters have a lot of big topics/issues to handle and therefore there is quite a growth arc. There is also fiery chemistry, lots of tension and instant attraction between Adina and Solomon which goes from fake dating into situationship of sorts. Once they are on the same line, the book is at its end but I kinda missed a more rounded finish with some more details or an epilogue or something.

Where the writing was not completely my style, the story and characters were very intriguing and made me want to keep reading on. However, some of the internal dialog or conversations felt off for me. Not sure of it was the way it was worded or the use of specific words, but it just didn’t completely click for me personally.

Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for the chance to read a free advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start by thanking the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. This book honestly wasn’t a page turner. I had to put down for a while before I eventually went back to finish it.

* received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This book follows Adina and Solomon, who are both going through the waves of grief. I thought this topic was explored really well and depicted how various people would handle being in a similar situation. Overall, I enjoyed the writing and thought the flow of the story and the main characters inner monologue was executed well. By the end I felt their pain when certain situations occurred, which I think is all props to the writing.

This book had so much potential, but unfortunately I just didn't connect to the characters in a romance capacity. I felt like the relationship between Adina and Solomon was purely physical for majority of the book, and then when their relationship started to build as more, the book was over. As individual characters they mentioned the changes in their feelings for one another, but they never fully explored this together, which I felt like they needed to do with the trauma they were both going through!

I also got frustrated with Solomon by the end. I went through waves of liking him. I understood that he was trying to handle his situation the best that he could, and that he was technically a "grumpy" character, however, the man fumbled some serious situations (consistently). Although Solomon is a professional hockey player, I don't think you should go into this book expecting it to be a sports romance, as hockey isn't explored in depth.

My favorite summer read!
I love this author, and I’ve probably devoured everything she’s ever written. Getting to read “Played” before the release date was a gift and it did not disappoint!!! It had all the feels, super-spicy bits and characters so relatable and real that you just want to buy them a drink and hug them. Dina and Solomon had to work hard for their HEA…but it was worth the tears, laughter and frustration to see them get there. The writing style with Ms. Simone is just so fun and fresh, and every now and then I found myself highlighting something because it was just too damn funny not to read again. I hope this turns into a series where we get to see the other characters in the book and their stories.

Played is a book about dealing with loss for both the male and female character. Their career choices were interesting, we get a female firefighter and the male is the only Black hockey player on the team. The city is Boston where the Patriots rule. I enjoyed the show of loyalty by the female lead and her family to the team. It was funny at times. The male lead was attracted to the female but felt guilty about it. The conflict was somewhat predictable, he had in laws that didn’t want him to move on and the female had problems on the job. I did not feel like I got a complete ending because the people that caused problems for the couple weren’t punished

I enjoyed the book and most of the tropes. As someone who has experienced grief, the wildness of it is beautifully captured. The relationship that Adina has with her family and Noni is also done well. And it’s steamy. I think the firehouse stuff was less well done and a bit clunky for me. I am not American so calling her “ma’ and ‘lil mama’ was a bit icky for me. Also I wish we got more into Solomon’s background and his therapy. The therapy seemed like a side note. Overall a lovely book, always enjoy reading Naima’s work.

I don’t if its because I am a Rhode Island/ Providence native and a niece to a firefighter, but I really enjoyed every part of this story. From reading this description of the locations, to hearing how everyone spoke and their mannerisms. I was hooked. And yes I enjoyed the hockey without the hockey.
As for the character Adina held her own, not only when she was with Solomon but even at the station. Even when she should have opened her mouth about being harassed, not just when her life was on the line. I wished she would have had at least her best friend sooner. Matt can kick ROCKS. And Solomon, he needed to get his head out of his much sooner than he did. He let not only his grief almost steal his blessings. But I did enjoy knowing that he was falling first even if he didn’t see it we did. And he does.
I’m a going to recommend this to anyone who enjoys a HFN love story, pick this up when it comes out.

I cannot tell you how much I loved this book! There was delicious tension, an adorable little boy, a smart mouthed hockey player, and a woman too stubborn for her own good. This book had introspection, a look at the family we choose vs the family we are given, love after loss, and a TON of phenomenal lines that I can't help but highlight. Naima Simone nailed it with this one.

This book just touched my soul!! I loved it. It involved hockey and black love and I was in heaven. This book was deep because it dealt with living or existing after the death of a partner and with overcoming survivor’s guilt and guilt in general.

Adina is a lady fire fighter who finds a journal when she responds to a call at the local hockey arena. She reads the journal even though she knows that she is invading the owner’s privacy. The journal entries reveal her secret feelings and she just relates to the writer. She decides to return the journal to its owner. The owner is Solomon Young, hockey player, single dad and widower. Solomon isn’t happy that Adina invaded his private thoughts. He lashes out at her but she claps back. Despite their not so meet cute, they are both intrigued by the other. Meeting each other awakens something in them that was dormant.

Solomon and Adina have grief in common. They have both lost someone they love and they are both going through the motions in life. They get to know each other and their friendship evolves. Solomon is adamant that he is never getting emotionally involved again but his actions say otherwise. Adina softens his grumpy demeanor and she earns the love of his little boy. The issue is that they both have obstacles that they need to address. Adina is having issues with a co-worker and Solomon must deal with his boss who is also his father in law. This couple has to decide if what they have is worth fighting for, worth letting go of the past, worth taking a chance on!!

I was totally enamoured with this story. I am a Naima Simone junkie and I am never disappointed. She has a way of taking difficult issues and making them work. The chemistry between Solomon and Adina burned off the pages of my reader. I experienced so many emotions while reading and I had a book hangover when I was done. I give this book 5 gloriously hot smoking stars. ⭐️🔥⭐️🔥⭐️🔥⭐️🔥⭐️🔥Solomon Young can talk dirty to me any day!! 🙌🏾

DNF:

How our two main characters meet:

“Omg I’m so sad about my dead wife…*pretty girl walks in*… imagine what my dick would look like in her mouth.”

😐

Like, seriously? I get that she passed 2 years ago, but bro was still hurting. The split second he sees Adina all else is forgotten.

I carried on trying to get into it. But I just couldn’t.
Let’s not mention he just turns up at her parents house randomly to give her a jersey. Just go to her work dude. You know she’s a firefighter. Stalker much?

The final bit was her being pissed off with him but then telling her mum they were dating. Fake dating on top of hating each other, both having dead “love if their lives” … too much.

Unless you’re 80, the chances of you meeting someone the same age whose love of their life has died is slim.

The writing itself is fine. No complaints here. But I just couldn’t get in to the story.

I’m really sorry, but just not for me.

A massive thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc!

I really enjoyed this book, the set up of both being widows was something I’ve not read before especially in a sports romance and I loved the way they were trying to find love again.

The way this portrayed representation was amazing, both main characters are people of colour in fields where they are the minority. It focused on race, misogyny, and more. The author tried to be as socially aware as possible when writing this which I thought was amazing!

The plot was really good and I was gripped because although it had deeper meaning it was a fluffy, spicy sport romance. The writing wasn’t the most epic writing I’ve read but I did enjoy the banter!

Overall, I did enjoy the boon and binged it in 2 sittings! It’s a solid 3.5 stars from me!

Naima delivers an amazing romance novel. She writes in such a way that pulls you in and you can’t stop reading! Her ability to weave social injustices that people of color face every day into the story line is amazing. Her steamy scenes literally cannot get any better. She is just a phenomenal writer. Highly recommend this one.

Two broken souls discover each other despite a rocky beginning. The MCs are a hockey player and female firefighter who meet when she picks up his private journal after a fire at the hockey training facility. He is mourning the loss of his wife, she is mourning the loss of her fiancee’. Their shared grief creates a common bond between them. While I loved the concept/plot of the story, Played is not a favorite read from one of my favorite authors. I had difficulty with the author’s choice to write in slang as the characters' thoughts and speech. And it was a turnoff when the male mc nicknamed the female mc “ma, or lil mamma” - She’s not the single parent - he is, and on the other hand - just ick. And while I’m ok reading about diverse characters / intentionally trying to showcase diversity, I felt like I was being hit over the head with it here.
There were some redeeming points to the story - Solomon’s son Khalil was a firecracker, Adina finally standing up for herself with the issues in her firehouse, and there were also some holes that I felt could have been handled with better detail - the revenge porn, hockey teams have PR departments to handle sensitive issues; Adina constantly biting her tongue and letting her family/coworkers/ best friend’s sister walk all over her. After all that being said, I will still pick up the next book from Naima Simone as this is the first of all her books that missed the mark for me.

This is my first book by this author. I was surprised by how fast I zipped through this book. This sports romance was unputdownable. The banter was fantastic and I loved the firelady/professional ice hockey pairing. I also liked that there were some heavy topics covered in this book that Simone managed to pull off seemingly effortlessly. Such an enjoyable read - hoping there will be additional books covering some of the other characters.

Okay so overall I did enjoy this story. It was a quick, hot as hell read!! I finished in less than a day. There were parts that had me sweattting. I loved that our FMC was a female firefighter aka a "firelady" in a family of firefighters (reminded me of Station 19 a little). While this book has some hints of hockey. It is NOT a hockey romance. Our MMC plays professional hockey and there are a few scenes with his teammates, but it is definitely not a hockey romance in my opinion. I kinda wish we had gotten more of his teammates tho or at least his close friends.

While I enjoyed this story there were a few things that I didn't love. I had a hard time with the pacing in the writing at times. I would need to immediately re-read a sentence to understand what was just said. The book is written the way the main characters would actually speak and it made it harder to read for me. I felt myself falling out of the story and having to stop to really make sure I was getting what was actually written. Also, I felt like some things were glossed over or rushed to get to the HFN. Mind you, they were smaller things so they probably aren't that big a deal but I definitely got to the end and wanted a little more.

I did enjoy the book and my dislikes about the book honestly aren't huge deal-breakers and I could see how using the characters speech/slang may not impact other readers so I feel some people could enjoy reading or not even notice. I would rate this a 3.5 stars of 5.

For a book advertised as a sports romance I was very disappointed in the lack of both sports and romance.