I’m looking for a hot hookup with no strings attached. And I want my older brother’s best friend to step up to the plate…My dating history is lame. My experiences in bed? Even lamer. As the owner of a thriving business, I’m used to calling the shots. But one place I don’t always want to be in charge is in the bedroom.Enter Luke Rodgers. My brother’s best friend. Former major league baseball … Former major league baseball player. A guy who now hangs out on his farm, sweaty and shirtless, as he nurses a shoulder injury.
If the rumors are true, he also likes to work up a sweat behind closed doors. A total MVP in the sack.
Just the take charge guy I’m looking for.
With Luke and I, it’s game on. And it’s all good until Luke decides he wants forever, and he wants it with me.
I’m just not convinced I can trust Luke. Will he keep playing the field and break my heart? Or is he really ready to hang up his cleats for good?
SOUTHERN PLAYER is a full length, STANDALONE romance.
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After reading Southern Charmer a few months ago I was curious as to what the story was between Eli’s sister Grace and his best friend Luke and I finally got my answers in Southern Player. It’s not mandatory to read Southern Charmer first but if you do you’re going to get a lot more out of this story. Grace is a go getter businesswoman. She’s worked hard through college and got her MBA. She runs a fantastic coffee shop in the heart of Charleston and has her professional life on the fast track however there’s a lot lagging in her personal life. She’s always had a crush of her older brother’s best friend former professional ballplayer and all around player Luke. Luke’s ballplaying career ended due to injury so he’s returned home and is running his own organic farm. He’s always had his eye on Grace but felt that she was completely out of his league. How these two end up together is something that you need to read but let me warn you that it is hot! 5 alarm fire hot!!! Their story has all the feels and will have you wanting them to find their way to a HEA together. It’s written from dual POV and is going to set your reading device on ablaze! I completely recommend it.
Southern Playe.r is another phenomenal romance in Jessica Peterson’s latest series set in Charleston, SC. Our heroine Gracie is the owner of a successful coffee shop whose goal is to create community and give back to the community she loves. Luke is her brother’s best friend, a former pro baseball player who runs his own farm. They’ve both had crushes on each other for ages, but neither is secure enough to tell the other. Gracie asks Luke to be her hookup partner and help her check off items on her sexual bucket list, and off they go. There are miscommunications (mostly of the not-saying-how-they-feel variety), late-night chats, off-the-charts hot encounters, hilarious vegetable innuendo, tractor jokes, shirtless farmer sightings, and more. This book really has it all: heart and heat, delivered by a delicious hero and his smart, successful strong heroine, with a tremendously satisfying happily ever after.
Southern Player is the second book in the series. I loved it! I loved loved Luke, he was sexy, sweet and swoony. Pretty much the perfect guy! Gracie was sweet, I loved her. Luke and Gracie had amazing chemistry and scorching sexy scenes. They were so perfect together. I loved them together! Definitely recommend this!
simply want to gush about so many aspects of this book but can’t because I don’t want to give anything away! I will say having a novel (within a novel) relate to what is going on with the characters is simply fantastic! It strengthens my love for books and how they heal us in so many ways!
I have always admired Jessica’s ability to bring pop culture into her books but to create her own really adds more depth to this book and it helped me to see everything through the characters eyes!
I loved the flow of Luke and Gracies journey and how open they were with each other. In most books communication is where it all goes wrong but that wasn’t so much the case with this story and that’s what I LOVED about it! It was real and relatable. I felt that I could connect with the characters more so because of it.
This is definitely a 2019 must read!
I am giving this all the stars in all the universes!
I am still running into walls after finishing it because I keep going back to Luke and daydreaming about how this man is utterly real and still fictional and I’m too in love with him. I have zero clue about what to do with my GINORMOUS feelings for this man; this story.
For once in her life, Grace just wanted a healthy, sexy fling with the one guy she knew who wouldn’t want anything serious, Luke Rodgers. When she puts forward her proposal to him, she’s thrown for the biggest loop in the history of loops.
Luke Rodgers wants forever. With her.
Now, it’s up to her to decide if she’s ready to risk her heart for the love of a lifetime.
I am so in love with this story that I am actually unable to process what I’m writing or feeling or seeing.
I want to be best friends forever with Grace. She is such a force and an all round badass, I can’t believe she isn’t president of a country yet. I’ll definitely follow her into battle to fight by her side and see her rule nations.
I can’t even talk about Luke in my normal voice cause I think about him and my voice raises by 3 octaves. I am that excited and hyper up about him. While reading, I actually felt whatever Luke was feeling and at one point I was like wait did I fall in love with Grace or did Luke?!?!?! This man is so pure and so filthy and such a stupid amazing gentleman. I wanna name stars after him and buy him galaxies. This is definitely not normal but I own it.
This was one of the best stories I’ve read in a while and I have to say that I fell in love with each and every word as I was reading. We need more stories that are sex positive and celebrate women like this. Jessica Peterson is the MVP and it’s such a pleasure reading her craft.
I was super excited when I heard that Southern Player would be Luke and Gracie’s story.
I like the sibling’s best friend trope when done right, and I knew Jessica Peterson would not let me down. Sure enough it was sweet, steamy, and had characters you can relate to and love. Gracie especially was an awesome heroine.
There is great banter with lots of humor, and the evolution of Gracie and Luke’s relationship doesn’t feel too rushed. You will find yourself rooting for them from the very beginning.
Though this is the second in the series it can be read as a standalone.
Thank you to the author for providing an ARC for an honest review.
Gracie was so sweet, had been let down by a lot of men who didn’t know their head from a hole in the ground. She was educated, smart, sauvy, beautiful, knew where she was going. Had been let down too many times by people that didn’t live up to her expectations and didn’t care about hers. She’d had a crush on Luke, ever since she had met her brother’s best friend. She didn’t know he felt the same way about her.
Luke had such an attraction for his best friend’s little sister, that when he found out she was single, he wanted to make the most most of it. He suggested they just have a fling since that was all she thought he was capable of. He wanted much more than than that.
Grace had read her brother’s girl friend’s book and thought that she needed to try casual sex for a change. She decided that that Luke would fit the bill just fine. She asked him to fulfil her sexual fantasies as in the book of Lady Jane’s and he agreed hoping to make it into something more permanent.
Oh, the sexy times in this book are off the meter! They are soooo hot!! You can tell right from the start these two are meant to be together. No doubts at all! They are perfect together. This was such a great book! I live in SC, went to Charleston yesterday and this is such a perfect city for such a beautiful story! Love Luke and Gracie and glad they got their HEA!
This is a really well writen book with strong dialogue and strong emotions. I honestly loved everything about this story and the characters.
Gracie has the idea to spend time with Luke in the bedroom with no strings attached, Luke is not so unattached.
I’ve come to expect a great, well crafted story with sparkling, witty dialogue and believable characters for this author.
I had to think for awhile before I could review this book. It’s spectacular.
Gracie is Eli’s little sister…Luke’s best friend. She’s talented, successful…and proof positive that what the world THINKS we should want..out of it, as a partner, as a life…isn’t always what we want. Or what is best for us.
Luke broke me a bit. He lost one dream, sports. He channeled it into another dream – his farm. And for all of his success, he’s got that ‘lil tiny bit that all of us have. The ‘lil bit that says…this is above me. I’m not…enough.
Spoiler alert – you are enough. Yes, you, if you’re reading this.
Add the city itself as a character in the book, what it really means to be community…this book stayed with me.
Go forth and read!
Gracie really does love catching her man off guard, “Gracie nods. “Oh yeah. This is a—well, a sexual list, I guess.” I make a noise. Somewhere between a growl and a groan.” Luke will always make time for his girl, “baby, you callin’ for phone *** is never a bother. I always got time for that.” Luke appreciates his girl loving food, “she doesn’t even look up at me before leaning in for another bite. Then another. Look at this. My city girl devouring an eight-dollar dinner like it’s the best thing she ever ate. I love it. I do not love how it’s making me tent my effing pants.” I liked this book, I loved Luke
I just finished reading Southern Player and OMG was it good! Honestly this was so well written, the characters came to life so well and I fell even more in love with the characters I first met in Southern Charmer. Gracie and Luke have an amazing love story! ThisJessica Peterson is a book that you’ll read over and over again because you can’t get enough! You’ll laugh, cry, and smile till your cheeks hurt while reading this. Such a genuine love story and the sex is amazing too! Chemistry for days y’all! Get ready to get hot and bothered reading this and also get a toothache from all the sweetness! This series just keeps getting better!
Luke and Gracie – holy smokes were these two hot, hot, hot together!!! Gah, I just could not get through their story fast enough, even though I wanted to stay in their world a little longer. It was such a fantastic mix of sexy and sweet, with some serious dirty talking from Luke that I loved!! Plus his Aw yeahs, ya’lls, and baby girls……swoon!! This sexy farmer totally stole my heart! Gracie was pretty awesome herself, knowing what she wanted and not being afraid to go after it. Ahh, these two were absolutely perfect for one another!! Totally loved every minute of this story…..and getting to see our sexy hot chef Eli, was just a great bonus!
I thought this was a pretty good read. The writing flowed well, and even though I didn’t read the first one in this series, I didn’t feel lost. Luke and Gracie have great chemistry, and I thought they made a good couple. I did have my issues with Gracie. It seemed like she was putting all the bad times she had before on the guys. Now, she was becoming “selfish” because she deserved it. No one made her change who she was to suit the guys she was with, that was all her. It seemed like she was punishing Luke because of her choices. Luke was a great guy, but he had some major insecurities when it came to his relationship with Gracie. I’m not sure that I’ve read a former professional athlete as self conscious as Luke was. The ending was very sweet though, and I was happy to see these characters get their HEA.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.
This was by far my most favorite Jessica Peterson book yet. It literally had all of my favorite things in a romance novel. It had some seriously HOT scenes, made me laugh out loud SO MANY TIMES and had characters that I want to meet in person. Seriously, my real life totally got in the way of me finishing this book!
This is the second book in the Charleston Heat series and in it we become familiar with Grace and Luke’s history. You know best friend’s little sister, who’s been off limits is suddenly single… Then there was Grace’s Bucket List of the more adult nature. What’s going to happen when the player is looking for a relationship when the normally committed heroine is just looking for a fling long enough to complete her list? Enter a tractor and Luke’s hilarious moms! OMG. The produce double-entendres. I’m telling you laughs, swoons and the wish to escape your reality.
This a lovely romance a true friends to lovers book. Gracie is disillusioned with the guys she has previously dated feeling she couldn’t show her true self and the failings in those relationships was her doing. Luke and Gracie come together with the understanding she wants to explore herself, but with feelings running high it’s not long before hearts are on the line. Characters from but one overlap which brings a good feel.to the story. Great read.
Gracie and Luke were just fire. I floved their banter, their energy and their paths of discovery.
Gracie is smart, caring, determined and looking for the right guy in the all wrong the places. Luke is retired ball player who found the farming is his calling. Did I mention Luke’s best friend is Gracie’s brother? They’ve been stealing glances for years!
I loved getting more of past characters in this book.
This book doesn’t disappoint. Whether or not you are foodie, you can appreciate all the cuisine and Charleston as a backdrop.
I can’t wait to see what Jessica has in store for us next.
HOT STEAMY SOUTHERN HEAT WITH DELICIOUS FLAIR AND ONE AMAZING PLOT! Southern Player is scrumptious! Rich in passion and personality and the characters easily won my heart from the moment we meet them. The story was a seductive slow burn that was intense and heartfelt and wholly fun and all around sexy. I couldn’t get enough and I want MORE!
Even though this is the second book in the series, it can definitely be read as a standalone. Luke and Gracie cast a spell on me and had me reading their story straight through in one sitting. Theirs is a story that goes beyond the brother’s best friend/little sister genre. Both light hearted banter and really open and honest discussions between the two made for an impressively penned novel. I loved, loved the real insecurities that they both had and shared with each other. It’s those insecurities of one of them that threatens their happily ever after. I loved seeing them build each other up and realizing their own value as the person they are, not as what they think they should do/be/give up for others. Of course, the sexy, dirty talking, muscle bound hotness of Luke and the way he helped Gracie bring out her inner vixen was so arousing. There were some amazing highs, a few lows and some tears, both from Gracie and Luke and myself as well. I’m looking forward to the next book in this standalone series.
Luke and Graces story is so cute! I adored their love story, learning how to open up to someone else and show your true self, no matter how scary. This story also shows us that sometimes we have to get out of our own heads and overcome our own insecurities to see what we really deserve in life. Also, Luke’s moms are the best! I’d definitely recommend this book!
Southern Charmer was such an amazing book, I wasn’t sure that Southern Player could top it. But then I got to know Luke and Gracie and I immediately fell in love with these characters.
Luke is so much swoon. He’s so sweet and such a gentleman, I really couldn’t handle how much I loved him. Gracie is one of the most amazing characters I’ve ever read: smart, accomplished, and not afraid to ask for what she wants so that she can have everything in life.
This series is phenomenal. As soon as one book ends, I’m desperate for the next! I can’t wait to see what comes next!
*this is my voluntary review of an advanced reader copy*