A. huge thank you to Montlake, Netgalley and Sasha Lace for allowing me access to this ARC. Having rated book one 3/5 this was the same rating for me and pretty much the same feedback as before.

I felt it was rushed and points skimmed over. I didn't feel connected to the characters as much as I wanted to. I felt the jumped into their relationship very quickly - almost unrealistically quick! - so their stance on things weren't clear.

I enjoy the concept of the series but just wanting more. More sports elements throughout and more interactions with the main characters before they jump each other!

Playing to Score by Sasha Lace was a really good installment in the Playing the Field series.
The storyline as well as the characters really had me hooked since the beginning and I couldn't turn the pages quick enough.

I enjoyed this next book in the series a lot.

I loved that there was a greater focus on the sport itself and we got to know more about the characters and supporting characters.

It felt deeper than the 1st one, and I enjoyed getting more into their heads than we did with Gabe and Miri.

It was a fun quick read, I couldn't put it down.

2⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for an advanced copy of Playing To Score.

Skylar has found out that her boyfriend has been cheating on her and she is done. She is the captain of the football team and she cannot let this stuff get to her. Reece the new counselor for the team has been in love with Skylar since high school. When she goes to him with her problems he tries to remain professional but both of them become attracted to one another.

This is the second book in this series. It was again just not my favorite read. The characters were okay and the storyline was promising but I just felt bored reading it.

The Calverdale Ladies are back, and this time Miri's brother Reece, the rather OCD psychologist, comes head to head with his lifelong crush, the current team captain. The crowd we know is back, a baby in the family on the way, and two people fighting love for different reasons battle on ...

Rounded up from 3.5
When Skylar, captain of a women's football club, breaks up with her boyfriend, she finds support in Reece, a psychologist who has been hired to help the team be at their best to end the season.
This sports, sorta second chance, workplace, fodbidden romance where he falls first is book 2 in the Playing the Field series. It was a fun and spicy read, up until the third act break up. The last quarter of the book was a big mess, and it was just plain stupid (and it was the same thing in books 1 and 4, so I have the feeling it's something the author could work on).
I received an advance reading copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This romance novel follows Reece, a deeply nurturing and selfless character, and Skylar, a strong but vulnerable woman who learns to accept love and herself. Reece’s unwavering support for Skylar, alongside her journey toward self-acceptance after heartbreak, creates a heartfelt dynamic. Set against the backdrop of elite women’s football, the story provides an engaging glimpse into this world. Sasha’s passionate, intense writing explores relationship imperfections and draws readers in with its addictive style. Ideal for fans of spicy romance with endearing, complex characters, this book delivers an emotional journey that’s hard to put down.

Thank you NetGalley, Montlake and Sasha Lace for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Didn’t feel connected to Reece in book one but I got over that quickly. However, about midway through the book Reece started to drive me a little crazy. It was nice to see even professional therapists have issues but his were a little frustrating after a while.

Hard to look past Skylar ignoring Reece’s verbal boundaries and that she just kept pushing. If it were a role reversal and a male ignoring the “no”, it would be more glaring. Yes, from knowing his POV we know he wants her but he still said no several times.

Overall, I liked book #1 better but I did like a few themes in this book - most notably that Skylar wasn’t broken and there was no reason for her to doubt herself. I especially appreciated that Reece stressed that she didn’t need him, she just needed herself.

Similar feedback with this one, they jump so quickly to love and don’t even have the “what are we” conversation.

Open door.
Forbidden/work place.
Childhood crush.

5 ⭐ 3 🌶️

I'm absolutely loving this series. Reece and Skylar were so dang sweet together and while it took him foreverrrrr to get his shiznit together, I loved how both of them grew during the process.

I love that we keep getting these forbidden office romances, they are so much fun. Reece and Skylar's back and forth and her persistent quest to bed him had me swooning and screaming non stop. Unrequited grade school crushes are always one of my favorite tropes, especially when it's the nerdy guy and popular girl, and even more so when she falls so fast as an adult.

I really enjoyed the ending and Reece stepping up to make things right. Lana is up next and I'm really unsure how I feel about it... I was kinda hoping she'd get cut after that stunt she pulled, but it better be an epic grovel if she's gonna fix things.

Another great installment in the series. Absolutely loved this one as well. This one was so fun and spicy but also with some more in depth themes which I truly appreciate. The author has a writing style that just hooks and grips you straight from the start.

"Playing to Score" is a captivating installment in the Playing the Field series, blending sports and romance with emotional depth. Skylar, the determined captain of Calderdale Ladies, is recovering from a toxic relationship when she finds unexpected support from Dr. Reece Forster, the team’s hot, off-limits psychologist. Their sizzling chemistry contrasts with the professional boundaries they strive to maintain, making their growing connection all the more tantalizing. Sasha Lace masterfully weaves humor and heartfelt moments, creating a compelling story about love, ambition, and the risks of crossing lines. A must-read for fans of steamy sports romance!

Sasha Lace has talent to burn and Playing To Score showcases her writing chops to perfection! This is the second book in the series and the emotions, storylines and characters are all addictively absorbing and of breathtaking quality. This is spicy sports romance but Sasha is an incredibly skilled author and successfully combines themes of growth, healing, family, strong friendships and finding your place with tales of women succeeding in the soccer world and the bedroom.

I have never felt such visceral and immediate loathing for a character as I did for Sean. His treatment of Skylar left me fuming, and I can only imagine that the author was left with a need to disinfect her keyboard after writing such disturbing dialogue. Brilliant work on her part to elicit such a response in me!

Skylar and Reece have a tangential history dating back to their school years. Over the course of the book both acknowledge this time and the events that occurred then as playing an important role in their ability to establish and maintain relationships. Reece in particular has suffered from trauma and dealt with it by personally and professionally finding ways to maintain distance in all relationships, while seeing that as himself freeing others to live their lives, not him pushing people away. It is heartwrenching to read when immersed so well in his mind. Ms Lace really delves into the way their youthful experiences have molded them and the strengths and flaws that resulted, in a very sensitive way. I have never had this kind or degree of emotional damage explained so well. The author has gently peeled back the layers of the psyche of these characters, revealing their innermost thoughts and unconscious responses. She has done this so gently that I while I occassionally wanted to rap Reece over the knuckles for his self-sabotaging, I never found myself judging or mocking.

While Skylar barely remembers him, Reece has carried a torch for her, and this is built into their current relationship in such a way that he immediately becomes a convincing sympathetic character. Reece's feelings are twisted up in his lack of self-worth and the way he has rationalised and transformed grief, loss and guilt into a need to control his world and help others. It is an absolute credit to the author that she had been able to take such a damaged character and make him relatable, while presenting this fraught story as one highlighting healing and have readers enjoy both mc's perspectives. The use of first person, dual POV's is, I think, the perfect way to bring the story to life - we know Reece is genuine in his desire to help Skylar and sincere in his feelings for her but misguided in his certainty of the existence of a therapy scenario and that Skylar feels genuine friendship for him, while moving towards regaining a sense of her own worth.

Found family and character growth are favourite tropes of mine and both are important in this book, and it seems, the whole series. Soooo looking forward to continuing with Sasha and her Calverdale family.

I Managed to snag books 2 and 3 from Netgalley, but before reading I had to go read book 1, only because I cannot read a series without reading the priors first.

So I divided into book 1 and it pretty much set the scene for me, in a sense of, now I have to read the rest in the series because I devoured book 1.

So book 2, playing to score we follow Reece and Skylar on their journey. When I tell you I wanted to scoop Skylar up and just shout “you are ENOUGH” so she wouldn’t keep beating herself up overt the breakup with her now ex. She kept pulling at my heart strings, but I wouldn’t change it. She was such a beautiful character.

Lace has such a good way of creating the tension and chemistry, but not in a way that makes you cringe. It is done properly and its enjoyable to read. I loved watching both characters on their journey and thoroughly enjoyed the tension that came from it.

I’m now off to dive into Book 3!

I’m hooked on this series! After reading book one in 2 days I had to move onto book two straight away! And I read it in the same timeframe. I enjoyed the story with the same characters moving on from book one. Appreciated the content warning at the beginning of the book and what psychological games Sean was playing with Skylar which I didn’t enjoy, but appreciated the reason and sensitivity of the writing. Can’t wait for book three to see who that’s about and where the characters lives are moving on. This book was a bit spicier than book one, it wasn’t all spice but a good storyline behind it. Thank you for accepting my request and I’m on to book three!

Via Netgalley, I was given the opportunity to read the four books in the "Playing the field" series written by Sasha Lace:

Playing the game
Playing to score
Playing for keeps,
Playing to win

As I had all four downloaded, I read them all one after the other. They are quick, feel-good reads, bringing back my own footballing memories from playing for one of the top women's teams in my country.

Lane has created some great 'book role models' for aspiring young female footballers. The male lead characters are supportive, sweet, suitably geeky and all round cinnamon roll book boyfriends...

They dynamic here is elite: team captain and psychologist? Yes, please. Give me all the forbidden vibes. Reese and Skylar have amazing chemistry and a second chance to make it work. He had a crush on her years ago and now he is finally given his chance, but he could risk everything if he acted on it. This is an amazing read! Loving this series and the women's sports league dynamic.

Reece is the team psychiatrist for the Calderdale Ladies football team and has been in love with premier player, Skylar, since they were in high school. When Skylar turns to him after getting out of an unhealthy relationship, he struggles between doing his job and telling her how he really feels.

A good entertaining romance. I enjoyed the story and the characters however at times i found the MMC to be annoying because of his attitude and unwillingness to listen to others - an easy read and a quick one

4 stars!!

I definitely enjoyed this book more than the first instalment of the series!
loved the main characters this time, and this book was spicy yet so so so fun

Thank you Netgalley for this book. I recently read book 1 in the series and loved it so i couldn't wait to get back in and read the next one! I did love this one also but i felt i didn't love the characters as much as book 1. I will defiantly be reading more in the series!