Play Along (Windy City #4) by Liz Tomforde

 

Summary (from the publisher): Kennedy

I’m the only woman on staff for the Windy City Warriors, and after years of putting up with a sexist lead doctor, I’m desperate to land my dream job with a new team next year. All I have to do is maintain my professional reputation for my final season in Chicago.

But a Las Vegas run-in with the team’s shortstop threatens it all, leaving me with a fuzzy memory and a ring on my left hand.

Now, not only am I legally bound to the most persistent man I’ve ever met, but thanks to Isaiah’s scheme to save my job, I have to pretend the whole thing was a planned elopement and not a drunken mistake.

Isaiah Rhodes is reckless, impulsive, and frustratingly charming. He’s also my brand-new husband.

They got the saying wrong. What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas… sometimes it follows you right back home.

Isaiah

As the shortstop for Chicago’s professional baseball team, I’ve had my fair share of fun. But that all ended the day Kennedy Kay became a single woman.

I’ve crushed on the team’s athletic trainer for years. I’ve flirted to no avail, so imagine my surprise when I woke up in Sin City with a ring on my finger and my favorite redhead in my bed.

We agree to stay married for one baseball season, just long enough to keep her job safe, but in my mind, I’m using our time together to prove to her I’m husband material.

Kennedy might be reluctant to join in on our game, but it’s one I refuse to lose.

So come on, wife… play along.

Review: Kennedy is the only woman on staff for the Windy City Warriors but is desperate to leave after years of putting up with the sexist lead doctor. But all that is threatened when a drunken night in Las Vegas with the team sees her married to the team's shortstop Isaiah Rhodes, who just happens to have had a crush on Kennedy since she first started her job. Reluctantly, Kennedy agrees to stay married just long enough to keep her job until she can secure her dream job in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Isaiah hopes that is finally his chance to get closer to the girl of his dreams, who also now happens to be his wife. 

Maybe I was just in the mood for a feel-good romance, but I was instantly sucked into this story! This was such a well done one that put a fresh twist on some well-known tropes: marriage of convenience, he falls first, and one bed. Kennedy has had a difficult love life in the past, and Isaiah helps heals some longstanding wounds. I absolutely loved how accepting and supportive of her he is in all ways. With time, this steadfast affection really helps Kennedy open up and also allows her to be in a place to help him with some trauma from his own childhood.  This was an extremely sexually explicit book; I loved how sex and body positive their interactions felt. But again - this is very spicy, so you have been warned. 

I shamelessly skipped right over the first three books in this series because I heard several people online raving about how good this book was. It didn't impede my understanding at all, although I know several characters that appear in this had their stories covered in detail in earlier books. After reading this one, I would love to go back and read the earlier books in the series. 

Also, a disclaimer that I am not a huge sports fan so I was worried I would grow bored with all the baseball content. But it really was relatively minimal and just helped set the scene for how these two know each other. 

Stars: 4