Do stolen bases lead to stolen hearts? Tomboy Alex Prince is used to crushing her competitors, but crushing on one? That’s another story. Grant King is everything she could want in a boy; popular, handsome, funny and captain of the baseball team. Best of all, he seems to be into her. At least that’s what she thinks after their secret almost kiss on the first day of school. Too bad they’re about … school.
Too bad they’re about to become rivals . . .
Grant King is kicking himself for making his no-girlfriend pledge when he meets sassy transfer student, Alex Prince. Not only is she gorgeous, witty and full of confidence, she’s into baseball! She’s his dream girl. But she’s also the competition!
Their budding romance is thrown a curveball when Alex finds out her new high school doesn’t have a softball team. If she wants to play, she must compete for a coveted spot on the boys’ team, against her would-be crush, Grant King.
Love is a battlefield . . . or in their case, a baseball field.
Can these unlikely enemies fight their feelings while fighting for a spot on the team, or will they break all the rules for love?
A sweet stand-alone high school sports romance.
Check out all the books in The Trouble with Tomboy series for the full reading experience.
Playing the Enemy – by Maggie Dallen (Book 1)
Playing to Win – by Stephanie Street (Book 2)
Playing the Field – by Christina Benjamin (Book 3)
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Loved the book, the story was well written and the characters were intriguing. Once I started I could not get enough, from the start till the end I was engrossed I was even on the edge of my seat with twists and turns, lust and passion, strength. The story of love of sensation. Do yourself a favor and buy the book you want be disappointed.
Thank you for allowing me to review your book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Cute cute, I just love Christina Benjamin’s teenager novels and this is no exception. This whole series has been fun to read!
Alex and Grant have a lot of back and forth as they try to figure out if they’d rather be rivals or sweethearts.
Really enjoyed it!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
4-Stars for Playing the Field by Christina Benjamin!
The Trouble with Tomboys series is a 3 books series, each book written by a separate author but you would never know it because all 3 books work together & create a fun, flirty, clean series. Playing the Field by Christina Benjamin is book 3 in The Trouble with Tomboys. The book is an entertaining, fun read with humor and banter filled encounters its perfect for the YA genre. If you are looking for the perfect book in the YA genre, one-click Playing the Field by Christina Benjamin, & consider rounding out by crossing from baseball/softball to cover the other two sports with books 1 & 2 in The Trouble with Tomboys series.
While I did receive an advanced copy of the book from the author via BookSprout, I also purchased the book & am volantarily leaving my own opinion with this voluntary, unsolicited review.
Excellent, funny and entertaining
I’m a fan of Christina’s writing. At this stage I would read everything she releases. Every single time I take her book into my hands I’m reminded why I was never disappointed. These stories are moving, are entertaining, are clean and fast paced. They leave a lot to imagination and allow to conjure up my own events for the main characters. I started to enjoy endings that are not definite, they give me hope to one day read more from the same world. I love this writing style and capability to plot the story so that it’s entertaining and always touches sensitive topic. There is no room for boring, long descriptions or slow build up that ends abruptly. This book made me smile, made me laugh but I also shed some tears and was touched by the starring characters. I want more, I need more…
This is book three in The Trouble with Tomboys series. I have read other books by this author but I have not read the first two books in this series prior to reading this book. Meet Alex and Grant. Alex is a tomboy and finds herself crushing on Grant. Grant is everything, including being captain of the baseball team. However, her new school does not have a girls team so if she wants to play, she has to tryout for the boys team which makes Grant competition. Can these two work together as teammates or do they become rivals? What happens when the attraction to one another and those pesky feelings start clouding that rival line? Very entertaining story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
G-rated, girl-power, YA, sports romance
Playing the Field by Christina Benjamin is the third book in a trilogy, The Trouble with Tomboys. Each book is written by a different, but equally talented, young-adult author. These books can be read as standalone novels, with no cliffhangers. The whole series is suitable for all ages as they are all G-rated stories. The link between the three books is this: Hannah, Jordan, and Alex are three extremely talented “tomboys,” that is, girl athletes. They form a strong friendship with each other at a three-week summer sports camp and stay in touch with each other afterwards, creating the basis for a lifelong friendship.
Alex Prince is a junior in high school. She is the youngest child and only girl in her family. Her father is a former professional baseball player and current college baseball coach. Her oldest brother plays pro ball, and her two other older brothers play college ball and will undoubtedly go pro as well after graduating. Like the rest of her family, Alex has plenty of athletic talent but, as a girl, has far less opportunity for a future as a pro ball player. As a girl, she has had to play softball rather than baseball, but she is an extremely talented shortstop, one of the most demanding defensive positions in both softball and baseball.
Alex is appalled to discover, when her family moves to a new town due to her father’s work, that the local high school has no girls’ softball team. She not only desperately wants to play, she absolutely must play this year as well as her senior year in order to have a chance for a college athletic scholarship. Her only recourse is to try out for the boys’ baseball team.
Grant King is greatly regretting his recent no-dating pledge on the day he meets gorgeous, witty, transfer student, Alex Prince. He’s never fallen for anyone so hard and fast in his life. Until he discovers a major barrier to the two of them ever getting together. She isn’t simply a fan of baseball, as he initially assumes. No, she actually has the nerve to try out for his team. Worse than that, she plays the same position as he does, and they are in direct competition for starting shortstop. He desperately needs a scholarship to get into college. If Alex wins a spot on his team, it will not only cut down on his playing time and exposure to scouts, Grant is convinced it will make their team a laughing stock.
I really like YA novels where the heroine is a sports star. There are just enough authentically written scenes of Alex playing baseball to be quite entertaining, but not so many as to be boring for those of us who are not super-fans of baseball. I also especially prefer it when the hero and heroine play together on the same sports team, which is the case here.
The entire romantic conflict of this novel lies in the fact that, if Grant gets what he wants, Alex can’t get what she wants, and vice versa. That clever twist automatically turns this story into a classic trope, “enemies to lovers,” which is always a fun ride for romance fans.
I really enjoyed getting to know Alex’s family, which is filled with positive, loving relationships. Grant’s background is much darker, and provides some familiar territory in YA novels, highly dysfunctional parents.
This story is G-rated in that there is no more than a little kissing at the very end of the book, and neither the hero nor the heroine drink or smoke. However there is some drunkenness portrayed on the part of some of their teammates.
I am delighted to report that there is no romantic triangle in this novel!
I would have really appreciated it if the author had created an epilogue far enough in the future for readers to learn if both Grant and Alex got athletic scholarships for college and, especially, if they were able to attend the same college. Most authors of YA romance tend to offer that kind of satisfying, HEA epilogue.
I rate this novel as follows:
Heroine: 5 stars
Hero: 4 stars
Romance Plot: 4 stars
Baseball Plot: 5 stars
Tomboy Trio Plot: 5 stars
Subcharacters: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
Overall: 4.5 rounded to 5 stars
Note: I received an ARC of this book from Booksprout and have voluntarily chosen to write a review.
I myself grew up as a Tomboy and I really liked reading the book. The inner struggles and such that one of the main characters went through were very real. I really enjoyed the feisty parts and then how the sports team came together as a team. There is a lot more than just a fun story in this book!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
What a sensational young adult romantic story with so much heart and laughter. Alex is a softball player and transfers to a new school with no softball team. So what’s a softball player to do? Join the boys baseball team. Grant is popular, handsome, and a talented baseball player. Sparks fly and tensions run high when not only is there attraction to contend with but also a competition for a starting position. Christina Benjamin creates fantastic stories about young adults overcoming adversity and insecurities and heartache born from the hurtful mistakes of those that are supposed to love and protect you but overcoming one’s own fears of failure and unworthiness. Playing the Field is witty banter, laughter, heartache, bullies, pranks, secrets, fear, insecurities, healing, faith, friendship, passionate kisses, and love. I really loved this book and can’t wait to read more from Christina Benjamin. This is a captivating, laugh out loud must read that readers won’t want to put down and characters they will fall in love with.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.