BOOK REVIEW: Play With Me

Kristen Proby’s unique brand of feel-good smuttiliciousness never ceases to make my heart beat a little bit faster and Play With Me just added its own beat to that particular arrhythmia. In the third book of the With Me in Seattle series, we meet Megan and Will. We were introduced to these characters at the end of Fight With Me and even from that short introduction we knew they would set those pages on fire.

Megan is a paediatric nurse and Jules’ old friend from college. Once upon a time she dreamed of becoming a singer but that dream was cut short when her singing partner left her behind to pursue his own singing career. She is now dedicated to her nursing job body and soul, loved by patients and colleagues alike, but with no one waiting for her at home at night.

Will is Jules’ football star brother. He lives the life of a bachelor, enjoying the perks of his success but dedicating his life to his career. When he meets Megan, he is immediately drawn to her, he wants her and he is not ashamed to communicate that to her. However, Megan is not like the groupies that normally throw themselves at him and his teammates. She rejects his advances, unequivocally showing her lack of interest in dating him. But rejection not being a flavour that Will has often had to taste, he pursues her relentlessly, wearing her reservations down and showing her that all her preconceptions about him are wrong. The more she tries pushing him away, the more he holds onto her and pampers her with loving attention.

A gently developing love story that is initially based on physical attraction alone quickly becomes a whole lot more than that. However, while Will dives into it with no life vest on, Megan stays reluctant to embrace her feelings for him, love not being an emotion she is too comfortable with. Her childhood was marred by a careless and loveless mother whose negligence caused Megan to grow up in foster care. This taught her that demonstrating love towards someone could only lead to vulnerability and ultimately heartache. So she holds onto her feelings for Will, guarding them fiercely and never verbalising them. She hopes that if she does not say those three little words, he would not end up abandoning her like every other person she has ever truly cared for.

“When I can say the words, when I can finally tell you how I feel, please don’t leave me.”

But the heart cannot be told what to feel and even the toughest of walls crack under the weight of a Montgomery man determined to show his woman that she is loved.

“Don’t you see what I feel for you? Can’t you feel it when I make love to you? The way I look at you? Jesus, Meg, you’re all I see. You’re all I want.”

Megan’s trust issues make it hard for her to show others that she loves them and while Will’s love for her is unconditional, genuine, pure, accepting, her doubts keep setting them back, never fully embracing the magic they found in each other. But Will is no ordinary man – he understands Megan and the reasons behind her behaviour, giving her space and time to become truly comfortable expressing her love for him. He is protective, supportive of everything she does and always in sync with her emotional state. He wears his heart on his sleeve proudly and for everyone to see.

“I knew that I’d fall in love eventually. That I’d end up meeting a nice girl and we’d get married and have a few kids and a good life together. But I had no idea that I could love someone so much that it absolutely consumes me.”

A beautiful lesson in patience, acceptance of another’s hesitations to show their emotions readily, and unconditional commitment to prove to that person they are loved. This book is the perfect combination of erotica and romance. The characters are carefully developed and they start getting under your skin from the very first page. This is not a particularly angsty story or one that required resolutions of complex inter-personal struggles. This is a book that will warm the heart first and foremost, while also making it race and skip a beat at times. The scorching hot love scenes alone will make this a very fulfilling reading experience, not to mention that Ms Proby has managed to create another perfect hero to ruin all men for us. This is a book you will inhale in one sitting and will leave you smiling long after you’ve finished it.

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With Me In Seattle - Recommended Reading Order

(standalone stories with interconnected characters)