From USA Today bestselling author, L A Cotton comes an angsty YA/NA hate-to-love romance. Cocky football players, school rivalry, and the girls who get in their way. Get ready … The Raiders are back! Felicity Giles has a list.Lose her virginity.Meet her knight-in-shining-armor and fall in love.Have the best senior year a girl can have. The only problem? Her knight isn’t a saint, he’s a villain, … the best senior year a girl can have.
The only problem? Her knight isn’t a saint, he’s a villain, and she’s pretty sure he’ll destroy her before ever handing over a piece of his heart.
Jason Ford has a plan.
Win State and go down as one of the most successful Quarterbacks in Rixon Raider history.
Head off to college and pursue his dream of being drafted to the NFL.
Avoid the girl under his skin. Felicity Giles, his stepsister’s best friend and perpetual pain in his ass.
She’s annoying as hell.
Quirky.
She’s a game to him, nothing more.
Until his arch rival comes after him and the few people he cares about … and Felicity gets caught in the crossfire.
And suddenly hating her feels a whole lot like falling in love.
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This book takes off right where The Trouble With You ends. We pick up with Felicity and Jason after their night together in New York. They have the perfect love/hate relationship that is full of angst and secret longing. Jason doesn’t seem to know what to do with Felicity as she is brought into the group after Hailee and Cameron get together. Hailee is able to redeem Jason even after all of his horrible behaviors to both Hailee and herself. Felicity brings out the softer side of Jason that he is no longer familiar with, and these feelings definitely make him push back harder.
I love L.A.’s writing in her series. She does a great job in sucking the reader in to the series. It’s like living high school all over again without all of the awkwardness of having to navigate it myself. I get to experience the love, hate, angst, happy, and sad moments in a world that L.A.’s imagination has built. I can’t wait to read what’s coming in the third book.
I absolutely loved the first book on this series “The Trouble With You” , and I had very high hopes for Jason’s story… What can I say, redeemable assholes are a weakness of mine, and Jason was definitely an asshole
The minute I started this one, I was fully engrossed. I could totally get why Felicity chose Jason to pop her cherry 😉 He was hot, troubled, mean and oh so sexy. I really wanted them to be together…but… I also wanted Flick to stand up for herself a bit more. Jason stomped on her feelings again and again and again, and even though I love me some mean assholes… I don’t want the heroine to be some kind of a doormat.
Now I am not saying Flick was a doormat, but I am saying she was skating the line here… I guess I like my heroines a bit tougher, they should be able to stand up to those assholes…and for me, Flick was just a tad bit too sweet and forgiving, which is why I could not give this one 5 stars. That’s okay though because she didn’t change who she was for him… I think plenty of people will absolutely adore her.
Which actually brings me to the next book… I am guessing Asher won’t have things quite as easy as Jason, because his newly introduced love-interest, Mya, sure looked like a tough chick to me !! I have a feeling she might be my kind of heroine.
I can’t wait to read their story. I fell deeply in love with Asher in this book. He may not be such an asshole but he clearly has some other qualities that have already won me over.
I really love this author’s writing style and I hope there will be plenty more to come, I am definitely a fan !!
ARC provided in exchange for an honest review
This book had you from the beginning and kept you interested until the end. Felicity was trying think outside the box and have experiences her last year of High School. Jason was the jock you love and hate. This story has it all, a bucket list, rivalry, and friendship.
“I didn’t want to feel like this, to respond like this, but I couldn’t help it.”
Reading this book you just can’t help but fall in love with Felicity’s corkiness and Jason’s determination. This is a well written book about pushing your boundaries and self discovery. This is a book everyone needs to read.
Can one night change two lives? Will that change be good or bad even though that change as all big ones doesn’t come easy or without sacrifices. Add to this mix a little bit of angst, enemies to lovers trope and sport story and you will get all this perfection that was “The Game You Play” by wonderful L.A. Cotton.
“The Game You Play” is the second book in the Rixon Riders series and I needed that book soooo much especially after first one (“The trouble with you”) and its ending. Jason was always introduced as character really easy to hate but I had a suspicion that in second book he will have his chance in redeeming himself. So it was no surprise we all needed his story.
So as I mentioned earlier the main characters of this book are Jason and Felicity. As it seems the both have their future planed. Jason grew up to think that he invincible. He live and breathe football and try to live up to his father expectations, father with whom he has a lot of personal issues. His plans for future are win the State, go to college and finally become big star of the NFL. So such big plans means he doesn’t have time for anything more especially complications in form of a girlfriend. So he acts like and arrogant, cocky, animal party man. On the other hand we have Felicity with her mapped out life. Life that was plan for he by her parents: finish high school, college and business degree with the steady job same as her parents did. But there is one problem, Felicity doesn’t want more and more to follow her parent path so she decides to make her senior year memorable and makes list of all things to do before graduation.
So what will happen with such precise plans after one crazy night in New York? Do they have place for unexpected feelings like love in their strict planned lives?
If you want to know answer for these question and much, much more you will have to read this book that I highly recommend it to you while waiting for the third one that will be focuses on our beloved Asher. For me he is the most loveable character in probably all the books.
So if you’re looking for a history with a mix of angst, bantering and hate to love relationship you just have to read “The Game You Play” as soon as possible. One friendly advice read first book before. You will thank me later.
The Game You Play is the second book in this interconnecting series and featured Flick and Jason ‘s story. If you haven’t read the first book, it will be fine as this could be read as a stand alone. But since this is the story of book one’s FMC bestfriend, I think it will be best to read it too for great reading experience.
The story started with the last scene from the first book, when Hailee (Flicks BFF) caught her doing the deed with her hated stepbrother and star QB, Jason. It is safe to say that it was awkward between these two BFFs, but they are trying to get past it. Flick and Jason are doing a great job pretending nothing happened, or so it seems.
The sexual tension between Jason and Flick is so thick and ready to consume them in its intensity. The hate-to-love vibe they have is strong even when they tried to shake off the attraction they felt. For Jason, he can’t afford a distraction with everything riding on him winning the State and promise of NFL. For Flick, she can’t afford a broken heart by falling for the football royalty.
Flick and Jason are leagues apart, from two different world, and shouldn’t have met if it wasn’t for her BFF. But since her list to start their senior year differently by pushing their boundaries, she had inadvertantly set her path to getting what she didn’t wish for: falling madly in love with her bestfriend’s stepbrother.
I fell in love with this story much like I did with the first book. I guess it’s because I could relate with Flick’s personality more. I loved how their love story came together and that even the mighty falls. And boy, did Jason fell hard *swoon*
The friendship goals in this book is something to strive for. You can feel their love and the “ride or die” loyalty, always coming through for each other. I have a mighty need to read the next book, Asher’s. I love all the Raider boys, but there is just something with the jokester in a group that makes me take a good hard look. I bet Asher’s story will be an emotionally crazy ride. Can’t wait!!!
Amount of sex 2.5 / 5
How explicit are the sex scenes 2.5 / 5
Story 5 / 5
Overall: 5 / 5
The Game You Play is the second book in the Rixon Raiders series written by author L.A. Cotton. Each book in the series tells the story of a different couple. Even though this is true, I do suggest that you read the books in order. It will give you a better foundation to appreciate and understand the backstories, which continue throughout the series.
The Game You Play tells the story of Jason Ford and Felicity Giles. Felicity is best friends with Jason’s step-sister and to say they don’t get along, is a huge understatement. Jason was not a very nice guy in the first book, The Trouble with You. So, I started reading this book with mixed feelings about him. You see, Felicity is a sweet character, and the thought of them together gave me mixed feelings. But, as I read, things started to make sense, and I also fell for Jason. Their story reminded me of magnets, as they pushed and pulled each other throughout the book.
The Game You Play was full of angst, drama, and lots of twists. I was fully absorbed in the book, needing to find out what happened next. And I cannot wait for the third book in the series, The Harder You Fall, which is expected to be published January 7th!
I definitely recommend adding this series to your TBR list!
Voluntarily Reviewed an Advanced Copy
LA Cotton blew me away with this one. The characters have a lot to overcome, and watching their walls fall made me so happy. They both deserve their HEA.
Felicity has a list that she wants to complete by senior year. This list helps her step out of her comfort zone. She is tied down my expectations and just wants to let loose. She is still her reserved self, but now she has a goal that motivates most of her actions.
Jason was so much more than I was expecting. It was so nice to see him actually care about someone other than himself even if he has his own protective way of showing it. Jason is still his broody, jerk self, but now there is an extra layer there.
As always this group of friends has been one of my favorites. They make me want to be apart of their dynamic so that I can witness all the banter and crazy pranks that take place. However this book had me so torn. I absolutely loved Jason and Felicity together, but my heart ached for Asher. He just wants to love someone, and he hasn’t found his match yet. I can’t wait for his book because he is such a great guy and deserves to find love.
-An Arc was generously provided in exchange for an honest review.-
This story is everything!!
I laughed, I cried and I damn nearly threw my kindle at the wall on multiple occasions.
Cotton really knows how to mess with a girls emotions.
If you read the first book in this series then you are in for a treat. The Game You play is most definitely your next addiction.
This is some of my favourite tropes all rolled into one amazing story. It is Football romance, Hate to Love and Best Friends Brother. Wow.
The second book in the Rixon Raiders series follows the passion, the hate and the damn near explosive lust between Jason and Felicity, two of my favourite characters from the whole series.
Jason Ford won my heart from the first page and never let go all the way through the book.
Angst
Enemies to Lovers
Bully Romance
School Rivalry
Cocky Football Players
This is book two in the Rixon Raiders Series. This novel focuses on Cocky quarterback Jason Ford and unique Felicity Giles, Jason’s stepsister bestfriend.
All the same characters are back in this book as the story progresses. Jason is the quarterback of Rixon High. He is cocky, arrogant and has the weight of being looked upon as the “god” of football by the team, school, the town and everyone around. The expectations of everyone and himself weigh heavily on him. He finds himself attracted to the strange best friend of his stepsister much to his dismay. Tender hearted and sassy Felicity is tormented by her feelings for Jason and Jason himself. The two go back and forth with their feelings and find themselves in the middle of a years long school rivalry.
L.A. Cotton has created a captivating series that has me hooked. The story is engrossing and moves forward at a the perfect pace. I’m anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.
This series has become one of my top favorite ones, Jason and Felicity, they have been getting at each other, their back and forth animosity, Jason always hurting Felicity, all the angst between them and the chemistry they can’t deny, all the drama surrounding them, the twists and the angst will grab you and hold you until you are done. This is a perfect read for enemies to lovers trope lovers, I absolutely recommend reading the first one, and I can’t wait for more from the author, a top favorite 2019 read!
An Angst & Angry Boy Needs To Become A Man!! 3.5 Stars
The Game You Play: A Rixon Raiders Novel #2
I wasn’t a fan of this book because I couldn’t stand Jason!! After everything he said & did I couldn’t just forgive, forget & move on! I don’t understand the mindset of Felicity that she could?!
This has a good storyline, it’s intense, witty, gripping, heartfelt etc Rixon & it’s School comes alive in its pages. The football scenes bring the scents, sounds & excitement to life wonderfully The cast of characters are full, well fleshed out & believable – unfortunately for some!
I’ve come to the conclusion I’m not a fan of ‘Bully Romance’! It makes me want to be violent I really hope Asher is more like Cam than Jason, because I thought Jason was pretty horrible & even ‘after’ I just don’t think it was enough!!
Debbie, 1970, UK
Well be prepared this book is full of angst. Jason is a grade A jerk (wanted to say something else her but will keep it clean). Felicity is the “weird” girl who is trying to make it through senior year. When she makes a bucket list she didn’t expect Jason to be the one who crosses off some of those goals. Is it a match made in heaven or headed for disaster.
I couldn’t wait to read this book after reading book #1. I knew it would be interesting to see these two opposites together. Ms. Cotton didn’t disappoint on the angst department. There was something happening each chapter that made you get whiplash. I did love that we got to see the vulnerable side of Jason.
Sometimes you finish a book and just love it. No words needed. I live for high school drama, sports rivalry, nerdy girls who fall in love with assholes like Jason Ford but said jerks make you swoon, nonetheless. The Game You Play ticked all those boxes. The writing keeps you flipping every page faster than the page before. The characters are infuriating but hey, I’m not completely bald so they weren’t that bad. I really appreciated the low steam level in this book which is so rare nowadays. Less is sometimes more, right. This story doesn’t stand out, it’s simple but that’s what I enjoyed about it the most (and watching Jason shed his frosty armour). Do I recommend it? Most definitely. Will I read the next installment? Hell yes! I’m so pumped up for Asher’s book. Seriously, that guy will be the death of me.
FINAL RATING: 4+
After the ending in book one I couldn’t wait to get into this one, for none other than Jason Ford. Although he comes across as a total ass in book one and I didn’t like him at all, I knew he could be redeemed!
We start with Hailee giving Felicity a hard time about sleeping with Jason, who’s been Hailee’s tormentor for years and trying to deny the feelings she has for him.
As we progress, Felicity and Jason have moments between them that they hide from everyone. I loved Jason in these moments, he was sweet and caring and Felicity always brought a calmness to his world that he had never experienced before. Felicity knew he was a player but is taken in by his sexy ways.
Jason keeps her at arms length all while being the superstar he is. I really felt for Jason, he had everything on his shoulders along with the towns expectations of him with seeing the Raiders to state victory. Jason’s biggest problem was that football was his life and nothing would get in his way.
Felicity, I loved her character, she’s had a sheltered life due to overprotective parents who only want the best for her, so for her senior year she makes a list of things she wants to achieve. The list empowers her and I liked how she went after things for herself. I would have liked her to stand up to Jason and made him work a bit more for it, I felt he had most of the power between them.
Although this is book two in the Rixon Raiders series, it can be read as a standalone but I would read book one before this as their is a common story between them, plus Cam and Hailee have all the feels that you don’t want to miss out on. I’m loving this series and can’t wait for Asher!
*An ARC received for an honest review*
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Overall Ratings;u2063
First Sex Scene – 47%
POV – Duel
Hero –
Heroine –
Story –
Angst –
Steam –
Chemistry –
Another fantastic chapter in the Rixon Raiders series. It’s finally time for Jase to step up and see who he should be. Not without the help from his friends and of course the girl that triggered him to see life outside of football.
Could I love another story from L A Cotton more than The Trouble With You.. it’s hard to believe but yet again she has delivered a story that quite literally blows you away!! I honestly don’t know how she does it time and time again.. gets you engrossed and makes you fall in love with her characters.. yup even the bad boys !! And Jason Ford is bad boy of epic proportions.. all he wants is to play football, win state and have the girls fall at his feet when he needs them to for what he needs them to !
That is.. until crazy overall wearing Flick captures his eye and becomes all he can think about.. even when he doesn’t want to.
With Jason’s reputation it’s never going to run smoothly and it’s sure not going to be pretty.. plenty of angst and lots of moments where you want to slap him right upside the head.
The culmination of the eagles’ and raiders’ rivalry puts Jason in front line position to lose his place in the play offs and only one thing could stop that happening… but omg wasn’t expecting that !!
One thing LA Cotton always does though without apology is give her bad boys a heart.. and while it might take a while to uncover QB1’s it most definitely is there.
Catching up with characters from previous stories is always a bonus and love Haillee and Cam just as much
.. now I cant wait for Asher’s story !!
This is the second book in the Rixon Raiders series.
Jason, a grumpy cat par excellence, and Felicity, his step sisters best friend.
There were times in between while I wanted to yell at Jase, shake him, hit him, and than I wanted to cuddle him so he would open up a bit.
Felicity is a tough girl, in my eyes.
I totally loved this book. Gives you more details to the story nearing the end. Some things you think you know, but then turns out you didn’t. LA Cotton’s writing captures me from the first to the last page! Keeps me on the edge, guessing the whole time.
I kindly received an arc for an honest review
The writing is so freakin’ good! I took it slow and savored every single page! I absolutely LOVED The Trouble With You, and L. A. Cotton brought her A game with Jason and Felicity’s story. Enemies to lovers at it’s finest! 5 Raiders for the WIN stars!
The push and pull between Felicity and Jason goes on for a majority of the book, and it is intense! Felicity wants a boy she shouldn’t. Jason wants Felicity but keeps pushing her away because he can’t afford the distraction. He can’t ignore his feelings and the pull she has on him.
I enjoyed the characters growth, and seeing them finally make decisions for themselves and doing what they want. Felicity and Jason have a lot of passion and it was brought to life wonderfully through the writing. I love the growing relationship between Hailee and Jason. We also get sweet moments between Hailee and Cameron, and who doesn’t love sweet and flirty Asher?!
This book is filled with angst, solid friendships, and I was rooting for Felicity and Jason the entire way. I didn’t want it to end. Their story had so many obstacles to overcome, and I loved their journey! The Game You Play is definitely on my list for my top reads of 2019!
I’m really bad at organizing. I tried multiple times to remember what I signed up for, but I still get surprised by emails I wasn’t expecting. This introduced me to a new author LA Cotton.
Apparently, I signed up for a second book in the series. Although this is a standalone, I still think it is best to read this in order they are released to get more feels on the plot. It also has a little bit of spoiler from the first book. Being me, I really don’t mind since it didn’t really tell me exactly how it happened, just what happened. I’m being torn between liking and hating the story. It’s kind of the typical Enemies to Lovers story but not really. I find the story a little too fast-paced. But I would say that it still has the overall “feels” to it. There were still moments that I felt it – the passion and the angst. It was just that there were some points that I felt for it to be a little lacking with the connection of the two characters. I also like that not everything was just laid out. The mystery on some of the things that happens actually does explain how and why everything played out the way it did.
I didn’t like Felicity very much. Although he’s not really a push over, I can’t really feel the “sass” Jason is referring to from her. She’s one of those heroines whose logic flew out the window the moment he saw Jason. I mean, come on! Make him grovel! I felt like she just keeps on accepting him with open arms even if her mind tells her no. But I do like what she was able to do with her life and the way that she has transformed. Jason, on the other hand, is something else. I wouldn’t go as far as add him on my BBF, but he kinda proved himself in few occasion. I like how he handled things and made sacrifices that he needs to do.
It would be a little shocking that I would still be giving this a 4 star, despite the above review. But I was able to feel some of the heartbreaking scenes and connect with them a little. It was worthy to be read till the end and that’s good enough for me.
The Game You Play is a fantastic blend of sweet, sexy romance and the kind of angst, emotion and playful banter that readers have come to crave from this author. A fabulously executed, lighthearted pleasure to read, I positively devoured this book and loved every single word of it.
Jason Ford is cocky, arrogant and a troublemaker, but he is also the golden boy of football at Rixon. Football is the most important thing in his life. He doesn’t have time for anything else. He doesn’t do commitments. He doesn’t fall in love. He only cares about winning State, going to UPenn and ultimately being drafted into the NFL. And everything is going as planned until she interferes, and he doesn’t like it one bit. She is a distraction and definitely one he doesn’t need.
Felicity Giles is kind and quirky with her whole life already mapped out for her. She is to follow in her parent’s footsteps by graduating high school, going to college at UPenn and getting her business degree. But that’s not what she really wants to do. She wants to explore her options and find something she’s passionate about. But in the meantime, it’s her senior year and she wants to make the most of it, so she puts together a bucket list of all that she wants to do before she graduates. And falling in love with the quarterback was definitely not part of the plan.
I loved Jason and Felicity’s story! Their chemistry was fiery hot and absolutely burned up the pages. I loved seeing how their love-hate relationship slowly blossomed into a sweet and beautiful romance. These are two characters that I was happy to go on this journey with. It wasn’t always easy for them, but together they were able to conquer it all.
Once again, this author delivered a story that I loved and couldn’t have stopped reading if I tried. I devoured The Game You Play in a day, smiling and loving it the whole way through. It was sexy, sweet and an absolute delight to read. Please do yourself a favor and make sure not to pass this one up! It is well worth the time and the money spent.