Of you enjoyed The Boyfriend Project, you're going to want to pick this one up.

This book follows Taylor, her quest to take her fitness consulting business to new heights and her journey towards a learning disorder diagnosis as an adult. Simultaneously the book considers the grief, guilt and career of Jamar, a one season professional American Football player.

The two are well matched but I never bought this fake dating trope and whilst I liked them individually, I wasn't particularly invested in the two of them together.

This is such a well written story, props to the author! It's such a refreshing change to find a romance novel with a black hero and heroine where they aren't stereotypes. Our main characters are intelligent, with career aspirations, natural hangups, and loving families, and although the story is predictable, it's written in such a hot, romantic way, with characters you fall in love with, that you're happily swept along for the ride. I enjoyed this story and am sure you will too!

✨ REVIEW ✨ The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon @farrahrochon

I’ve read some amazing romances this year and believe me when I say this is up there with the best.

There wasn’t anything I didn’t like about this book, it was fast paced, funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

✨ This book was full of natural banter between the lead characters, they had such a fun and genuine relationship from the beginning!

✨ The ‘fake dating’ trope is a favourite of mine and this book did it soooo well!

✨ I love how Taylor and Jamar came together to help each other through their individual issues and it was great to see both characters be so open with how they feel and willing to face the difficult thoughts they’re having, not only about each other but about what they’ve been through and losses they’ve faced in their lives.

There's some phenomenal representation in this book, and I also loved the strong female friendship depicted here. It also wonderfully portrays the pressure that can come from wanting to impress your family and live up to their expectations, and the grief following losing a loved one in tragic circumstances.

I loved the steamy scenes in this book. They were fantastically written, and fans of smut will hugely enjoy them.This book is second in a series, and I wouldn't say it can easily be read as a standalone. There are often call backs to the first book you'll not fully get if you haven't read book one.

This book is quite heavy on the sport, and as someone who doesn't know a whole lot about American football it was a little difficult to understand some terms. It that didn't take away all of my enjoyment, but did dampen it a little.

Taylor is shown to have a learning disability, and I would have loved to see that developed a little more. It felt a bit shoved in towards the end and not really discussed as it could have been.

Overall a good read but with some tweaks I felt could have been made.

I bsolutely loved this book an easy read with a few twists and turns. I loved the main characters and the humour too.
I really enjoyed the teasing relationship between the main characters. I hadn't read the first book The Boyfriend Project but this book is readable without having read the first.
Will be adding more Farrah Rochon books to my Tbr.

This book grabbed me immediately and I did not want to put it down. I haven't had the chance to read The Boyfriend Project but that didn't stop me from enjoying this read A LOT!

I loved the relationship between Taylor, London and Samiah, although they have only been friends for a short time their friendship and dynamic is really enjoyable (can't wait to read Boyfriend Project for Samiah's story and London's story coming out in 2022!).

Now...on to Taylor and Jamar....what a steamy build up! It had me turning the pages. I loved how they helped each other to grow through their struggles and I'm not going to lie those particularly tense moments...well they were like a cherry on the top.

This book hit all the marks for me for a fun, easy read with a bit of steam, some laugh out loud moments, loveable characters and a good story line. 10/10!

Disclosure: Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this sports based romantic comedy a lot more than I thought I would. Taylor and Jamar was a well rounded couple. The book worked well as a standalone and could completely be read separately from the rest of the series with minimal impact.

Taylor is struggling to say a float running Taylor'd Conditioning, her personal training business. She's tried everything from discount coupons to freebies to build up her clientèle with no luck. That is until Jamar Dixon joins one of her spontaneous exercise classes in the park. Jamar, an ex NFL player, wants to hire Taylor as his personal trainer to get him back in the league. It's just a shame that they have to fake date to hide his intentions from the media.

I really enjoyed that this didn't involve a power play of a much wealthier man and an unfortunate  woman down on her luck. Taylor was still independent and headstrong despite overwhelming debt. She was grateful without feeling like she owed Jamar anything which was refreshing. It was also wonderful that Jamar didn't expect anything but exactly what he paid for.

The fact the romance came from close proximity and time spent together rather than anything coercive made this book highly enjoyable and fun. I also appreciated that Jamar fell first and exposed his feelings before Taylor. This maintained that Taylor was desirable in her own right and treated her as an equal in the relationship.

As someone who knows nothing about sports in general, let alone American sports, I liked that it wasn't heavily dwelled on. The plot was easily followed without any knowledge of American football and it was nice not to be patronised by oversimplified explanations on the topic.

The pacing and tone was great with somber moments to break up the lighthearted nature of the book. I found this quick to read but not rushed in anyway plot wise. I also liked how it dealt with a variety of topics such as learning disabilities and grief.

The humour and smut were both timed well and not excessive. The humour complimented each characters personality and added another dimension to them. The smut was brief but well written. Part of me wished there was more as their relationship developed but its subtly added to the legitimacy of their relationship long term.

I would 100% recommend this book and look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

* Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review *

Another loveable romance added to the read list!

I had no idea this was part of a series (a similar set up to Talia Hibbert and Helen Hoang) but it was nice to read the friendship between the three women and the budding romance between Taylor and Jamar as the story developed.

I found the story very well executed and who doesn't love a fake relationship trope? The characters were realistic and the dialogue between the characters was engaging. I wish I had read Samiah's story first but I am definitely interested in seeing how London finds her love in book 3!

This is such a cute rom-com novel! I will definitely read it again and again. Although this is the second in the series, I read it as a stand alone novel having not read the first. I love the fact Jamar and Taylor’s relationship blossomed from a fake relationship, but it was so brilliantly written it didn’t feel fake or forced. It was great the strong female relationships also developed.

I will be recommending everyone to give this a read!!

A HUGE thank you to Forever At Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with and eARC of this book to read on exchange for an honest review!

If I'm being completely honest...I was a smidge disappointed by this book. It's not bad, I just had high expectations after how much I enjoyed 'The Boyfriend Project' last year.

'The Dating Playbook' is a sort-of sequel, in that it takes place in the same world, but this time follows Taylor, one of the other 'Craig Girls'. Taylor, a fitness coach, is hired by a pro football player to help him get ready to rejoin a professional team.

Some things I liked - I thought the additional grief aspect to Jamar's character was really interesting. We got to spend a lot of time in his head and, from reading the author's note, you can see just how personal this storyline was to them. Jamar, overall, was a really great character. He had depth and shades of light and grey, which made him that much more interesting to read about. Obviously, the book is a little steamy - a bit 'avoid-y' for my tastes, but the scenes are always a great addition to the story. I also loved that we got to see old characters return again and I'm looking forward to London's book (which I imagine is next in the series...?).

Some things I didn't like. There were shoots of great ideas in this book but they never fully got a chance to bloom. Taylor's learning disorder is a wonderful addition, but it comes so late it doesn't get a chance to be used as part of the wider narrative. Also the conflict with her brother felt entirely unnecessary and made her come off as mean and a bit of a steam-roller (that happens multiple times in the book). I didn't understand WHY this problem happened. With a bit more development, I feel it could have been better executed as a wider part of the narrative. Also - the book is sold on a 'fake dating trope' thing and that...just kind of happens for a couple of chapters and then it stops. Another thing that I feel, with a bit more time, could have made the plot really sparkle.

I thoroughly enjoyed Farrah Rochon's lovely story of Taylor and Jamar's romance and journey for both of them to get through the challenging circumstances they found themselves in. A brilliant fake dating, sports romance, with sparkling dialogue, a heroine who is both vulnerable and kick ass, a hero who knows how to laugh at himself and exactly how lucky he is to have found his heroine. There's such sensitive treatment of learning disorders, grief, family expectations and self doubt too. I loved the glimpses we got of both Taylor and Jamar's family, as well as Taylor's girl gang, but this book was really about them... And the smut, though minimal, was top quality!! Definitely worth reading ASAP. I'll be picking up the first in the series soon, having already cued it up on my kindle.
Many thanks to @netgalley, the publishers and @farrahrochon for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I loved it!

This book tells the story of Tamara, a fitness instructor who is hired by an ex-NFL player to get him back to fitness. I loved how the plot felt realistic in that it didn’t take the whole book for anything to happen and I loved how the main characters grew together.

At the time of requesting this book, I hadn't clicked that this was part of a book series, therefore am yet to still read book one. However, all that being said, this can easily be read as a standalone, as Farrah briefly covers certain circumstances that occurred in 'The Boyfriend Project', allowing you to catch on to everything pretty fast.

Taylor was a wonderful leading female to read about - she has quite the past when it comes to her love life and when a video goes viral, she believes this will be the 15 minutes of fame she needs to boost her fitness business. Unfortunately, her 15 minutes of fame is over before they really begin and no benefit was made from this video being released for the world to see. She is one boss babe, with a strong passion for her job and is ready to give it her all, no matter the routes that leads her down. Her academic insecurities have begun to build up a rather negative impact on her making her fitness dreams come true and during the time Farrah really goes in to depth as to why that is, some of my most favourite scenes from this book are created. When another advantage to boost her business arose, including the help of NFL player, Jamar, Taylor took the opportunity and her beautiful and tear-jerking journey to becoming the woman she had also wanted to be had begun.

Jamar is one gorgeous man, but he definitely comes with his baggage - trying to heal his knee after a devastating injury cuts his first football season short and also trying to heal his heart from the devastating loss of his best friend, Jamar is determined to get back on his feet and live the life he always wanted his best friend to experience and with the help of Taylor, he was one step closer to making that happen. Jamar's development throughout this book was really heart-warming and paved the way for a broken man to really mature and open his mind to endless possibilities of life without football having to be involved. The outcome of all of his decisions had a massive smile on my face and it was safe to say I had fallen very much in love for his character, only wanting the best for him.

This is a very sexy, football romance with a lot of humour and the most superior trope of them all - the fake dating trope. Taylor and Jamar's energy constantly bounced off one another, the two always bring out the best in the other, providing some extremely humorous moments and their communication skills were perfection. It is completely impossible to not root for our two main characters, individually and together. Farrah wrote about mental health, learning disabilities and black stereotypes throughout in a really light, yet impactful way and it really does cause for some through provoking moments. I also loved the female friendship that had come out of the circumstances during the first book of the series, the three ladies supporting each other down their separate roads and allowing a humiliating experience to make them the best of friends. I am now going to have to go back and read Samiah's story, whilst also getting extremely excited for London's!

The amount of girl power in this book - *chef’s kiss*. This series focuses around a group of three girls who all met by finding out they were dating the same guy and then taking their revenge. This was actually the first book I’d read in the series which didn’t hinder my enjoyment at all, but I LOVED the backstory connecting the girls. 10/10. This book focuses on Taylor, a fitness guru who is known for her military style workouts. Our hunky football player is obsessed with her badass style and recruits her to be his personal trainer - but we all know where this is going don’t we…

I loved that Taylor was almost the tougher one - although she certainly had her own troubles - and Jamar the more vulnerable, it made for some great storylines. I just loved the overall girl power message across the whole book. Taylor was a badass.

Deffo one to pick up!!

In book two of the series our focus is Taylor, our fitness guru, who has always felt herself a little out of the league her friends are in. However, when Jamar (better known as Diesel Dixon) turns up to one of her fitness boot-camps some strange events are in store.
After an excruciating injury and painful surgeries, Jamal’s career with the Chicago Bears was cut short. For reasons he hasn’t shared with anyone, Jamal is desperate to get back into the NFL. He wants Taylor to train him and get him back in condition. His only stipulation is that nobody can know what they’re doing.
So, the elaborate foil is set up. Fake dating…of course we can see the attraction a mile off and the book focuses on showing us many cute moments while these two work out how they feel.
Obvious, yes. Good fun, yes. Romantic, yes. Thanks NetGalley for the reading equivalent of a much-loved slice of cake! Looking forward to seeing London become the focus in the next book.

This was both a good and disappointing book. I loved the romance and the connection the two main characters had, I loved the friendships, and I loved the family dynamics and representation of learning disabilities. What upset me was how performative the GirlGang friendship seemed due to a rather superficial connection the three had with each other. I also disliked how much this book seemed to throw around neo liberal ideologies like they’re casual fun. I love capitalism/toxic fitness culture of unnecessary food curation/guilt towards institutions that profit off celebrity labour…it all threw off the entire vibe of the book. My mind wandered towards the wrongness of those things being so casually mentioned instead of enjoying the beautiful and budding romance.
But considering this is fiction, I did like the book a lot overall and was happy with how the leads didn’t fall in love after an eight week stint and instead reinforced their commitment to each other. I look forward to seeing cameos of them in the next book of the series!

Overall this was a super cute but also very well rounded read sports romance with a heavy focus of the sport and sports nutrition which I kinda enjoyed. I really enjoyed the friendship between the girls and the unique way they met. The relationship between Taylor and Jamar was so cute and they were so supportive and vulnerable with each other not to mention their banter. I also enjoyed the female freindships in this Thank you to Netgalley and Headline Eternal for the opportunity to read and review this title

First of all thank you to Forever at Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the E-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️

This story follows Taylor; her personal training business is not doing well and she is really struggling to make ends meet, she needs new clients and she needs them fast. Enter Jamar, Jamar stumbles upon Taylor’s workout class and enlists her to be his trainer and help him return to the NFL. It’s too good an offer for Taylor to refuse. The only caveat for Jamar is that he doesn’t want anyone to know so the only way to cover their backs is a fake relationship.

I am a sucker for fake dating it is one of those tropes that I simply cannot resist. And just like all fake relationships, this starts feeling a little too real…

I loved the representation of mental health and learning disabilities especially getting a diagnosis in adulthood as opposed to early on in life. It was really refreshing to read about Taylor’s struggle and coping with it as an adult who wanted to go to college but had so much anxiety about it. The conversation of black stereotypes in sports was also very interesting and thought provoking as I’ve never seen this mentioned in books at all.

Even though I do like sports romances this was at times very heavy on the sports/nutrition side, I wish we got more scenes outside that. Even though this was technically a rom-com, there wasn’t enough steam and tension as opposed to other romcoms. I still really enjoyed it though and liked the focus on the friendships - those girls would literally do anything for one another. They are so kind, nurturing and supportive of each other from the small things like finding Samiah a hobby to the big things like wanting to give Taylor a loan.

Overall this was a cute but also very well rounded read. I really enjoyed the friendship between the girls and the unique way they met. The relationship between Taylor and Jamar was so cute and they were so supportive and vulnerable with each other not to mention their banter.

Fake dating is a trope I will read again and again and never get bored of it.

Taylor needs to find a way to expand her business and pay the bills, she needs new customers and fast.

When Jamar stumbled upon a pop up fitness class by Taylor he is sure she is the answer to his problem. As an ex football player who only got to play for one season, he is determined to go back and play again, his old injury is as good as ever, he just need a personal trainer to push him and help him be in his best physical condition.

Taylor knows that an endorsement from a football player will definitely help her bussiness even if they can only train in secret. This creates a problem when people notice them together, the only answer is to pretend they are dating.

The time they spend together while working out was so wonderful. Especially when they had to pretend to be a couple, which came easier than it should.

Their attraction was undeniable from the start and it was amazing to see them be truly together. One of the things I truly enjoyed was the personal growth that was evident in both characters.

The female friendship has a big role in this book, as it did in the first book of the series, it is one of my favourite things to read about. I can't wait to see London get her happy ending next.


* I received an ARC and this is my honest opinion.

3.5/5 Rating

This was a great rom com with loads of laugh out loud moments. I didn’t realise this is actually the second book of a series but is still readable as a stand-alone. Main character is Taylor, a struggling personal trainer hired by Jamar who wants the training to be kept away from the public. So they end up fake dating. Would recommend since this is a good fun read.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.