Playing with Trouble

What a wonderful book. I absolutely loved Cole and Jane and we can’t forget about Finn. I loved Cole and I loved Jane and they were just awesome together. And the epilogue... just perfect. I would definitely recommend this book.

ARC for honest review with no compensation 4.5 stars received from NetGalley Playing with Trouble by Amy Andrews is about Cole Hauser, Australian professional rugby pro who was injured in a car accident and has to determined where is life goes now...so when his friend in America offers his home for recuperating and thinking he jumps at it... Jane Spencer, single mom is rehabbing a home that will take her company to the top but when Cole shows up things change drastically...until he offers to help with her son and give her more time to work. What neither expects is to find what has been missing in both their lives...only problem him being in America is temporary. Will they make it work? Only time will tell...

I just love these single parent books! The way the hero, Cole was with 4 year old Finn just stole my heart. Even if Finn wasn't in this book, Cole would have still stole my heart. Jane was very guarded and independent, and the way Cole navigated those obstacles and even loving her quirks is exactly what I like to see in a hero. This also had some yummy side characters. I'm gonna have to look up previous books to see if some of them are from other series. I would also love to see Arlo get a book. That's one of the things I love is when an author can surround a couple with other characters and get me to want more from those smaller roles. This was a very enjoyable read!

Amy Andrews brings all the feels, full of angst, laughter, lust, to panty melting heat and a awesome cute, boy named Finn with an escape artist chameleon named Carl. This is going to make you squirm and swoon and probably swear too haha! I had the biggest smile reading this, it just gave me all these feels. I didn’t want it to end because how enticing it was. Once again this author scores a touchdown with this heart tugging, full of feels sports romance...10/10. And a cross over book to boot. Cole Hauser is physically and mentally exhausted from multiple surgeries, and his long flight to the United States, hoping to finally get his pity party on in solitude. Tired of dealing with the tabloids and innuendo back home in Australia, about his accident and his injuries, that took his career from him. Only to be awaken by a screaming, crazy woman wielding a long nose pliers. Jane Spenser is utterly exhausted. She had come to Credence to do the most important job of her life that would be showcased in a national magazine on the house restoration she was doing. But two days in to the four weeks her ex had with their son he drops him off with her. Now she had her son and a new pet a chameleon to take care of during the day and had taken to working on the restoration at night. Only to wake up in bed to find a Hot man sleeping in his underwear beside her! The sparks of attraction fly between these two! Intoxicating and steamy! This will make you feel alive! Like new love always does! And the delicious possibilities between them are endless. These two will quickly have you flipping through the pages as fast as you can. Could this be pure old-fashioned, smack-you-upside-the-head, hit-you-like-a-ton-of-bricks Love? Well you will have to read to find out!

Playing with Trouble by Amy Andrews is a perfect crossover between her Credence, Colorado Series and her Sydney Smoke Series. At first this book was slow for me and took me some time to get into it. I’m glad Amy developed her characters so well though, because the further I got, the more I appreciated all the banter and build up of each character. Each chapter made me fall more and more in love with both Cole and Jane. Not to mention those steamy love scenes....hot and swoon-worthy! By the end I was rooting for them and felt all the butterflies! I haven’t read any of the Sydney Smoke series yet but you can bet your bottom dollar, I am now!

More and more, I appreciate single parent romances when the child plays a significant part of the book, and isn’t just cute background fodder. I honestly think I loved four year old Finn more than his mom! This bundle of energy was so much fun to read about and his connection to single rugby player Cole was more of a draw for me than Cole’s with Jane. Don’t get me wrong, I loved smart, hardworking business owner Jane, but something in their pairing was missing for me. It definitely didn’t take away any enjoyment I had in the book itself. I’m very glad that Finn was curious every time Cole came out with an Australian colloquialism, because I needed a translation or two. But I loved that, since I’ve read other books either set in Australia...or with characters from there...either have no explanations or worse, they americanize the character and take away that charm. No so with this book. Ms. Andrews lets her native country shine, even when the setting is the U.S. Great characters, a really interesting and different premise, especially the cause of Cole accident and smoking hot love scenes...Playing With Trouble was a book I couldn’t put down!

The Credence series hasn’t really been my jam but I loved the Sydney Smoke series so I was excited for this crossover. Finn absolutely made this book for me. That little boy stole every scene and every moment he showed up in and if it wasn’t for hope unbelievably adorable he was, I probably would have DNF’d this book. It took me so long to get into it and even then, I skimmed a lot.