{"id":77933,"date":"2025-02-07T09:00:46","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T14:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=77933"},"modified":"2025-02-12T13:46:30","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T18:46:30","slug":"new-release-playing-games-dickson-university-2-by-max-monroe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=77933","title":{"rendered":"New Release & ARC Review: Playing Games (Dickson University, #2) by Max Monroe"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Playing Games (Dickson University, #2)<\/strong>
\nby Max Monroe<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Released – 7 February 2025<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Available Now!
\nAmazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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\r\n <\/div><\/div><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dickson University\u2019s star quarterback and campus golden boy is used to winning on and off the field\u2026until he meets the one woman who changes the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Blake Boden is the ultimate distraction\u2014annoyingly handsome, enigmatic, and confident enough to make my teeth grind.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s the kind of guy who could charm anyone with a single smile, and somehow, I\u2019ve become his latest challenge.<\/p>\n

Only, I don\u2019t do challenges\u2014and I don\u2019t do love. Emotions?\u00a0Just chemical reactions.<\/span>\u00a0Distractions?\u00a0Not on my agenda.<\/span><\/p>\n

But he has a stubborn streak that won\u2019t leave me alone, and I have a dissertation due at the end of the semester on computer-assisted research that I could put to the test a little more.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll analyze his charm, track my reactions, and prove once and for all that attraction is nothing but science\u2026and love is a mere figment of the imagination.<\/p>\n

Hypothesis: Time with Blake Boden is purely scientific.
\nConclusion: He\u2019s not just breaking my rules\u2014he\u2019s rewriting them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Find\u00a0Playing Games\u00a0<\/em>on GOODREADS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

4.5 stars!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have wanted to get my hands on\u00a0Playing Games\u00a0<\/em>since the moment we see Lexi, who we met in Scoring the Billioniare<\/a><\/em>, as an adult. I loved her as a child and I couldn’t wait to see who she was now as a twenty-five year old woman. She is a neurodivergent genius who is getting her second PhD at Dickson University. Blake is the twenty-one year out star quarterback who, from the moment he met Lexi, has been obsessed with her.\u00a0 He is used to getting the girls he wants and Lexi is the first and only one to turn him down. However, Blake is friends with some of Lexi’s friends who she has grown up with so he runs into her all the time. The more time Lexi spends around Blake, the more intrigued she becomes, wanting to know what it is about Blake that makes girls go crazy. And Blake refuses to back down. He knows if she just give him a chance, he could make her his.<\/p>\n

I adore Lexi.\u00a0 She is so smart and is confident in who she is.\u00a0 She doesn’t want to waste time on relationships and feelings because she feels things differently and she wants different things.\u00a0 She has been happy by herself and likes to be in control. But Blake changes everything.<\/p>\n

For someone who thrives on control, losing it is terrifying, even if it’s to something that feels good.
\n<\/em>And Blake? Well, he makes me feel good.
\n<\/em>Too good.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I loved Blake. I loved his determination, his fun personality, and the fact that he is a total sweetheart.\u00a0 Even moment he spends with her puts a smile on my face.\u00a0 He truly liked her for who she was. He understood her and gave her space when she needed it but was also there for her when she didn’t know she needed him. He teaches her to step out of her comfort zone and shows her that taking at love could be worth it.<\/p>\n

I don’t know when it happened, but somehow, someway, Blake went from thorn in my side to my newest hyperfixation.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These two are great together and bring us a bunch of my favorite tropes. It’s a reverse grumpy\/sunshine book where Lexi is the one who is grumpy and Blake is the beam of sunshine. He is all smiles and positivity. I love secret relationships and these two bring heat to the pages but don’t want anyone to find out. The sneaking around is fun especially with their intense chemistry. As I commented before, Blake was the one that falls first which is so refreshing. I love that he was all in from the start. And Blake and Lexi couldn’t be more opposite but they complement each other so well.<\/p>\n

I also have to mention all the cameos we get from the previous Max Monroe books.\u00a0 These characters have such a special place in my heart and seeing them again was wonderful. I can’t wait for more from the Dickson University<\/em><\/a> series.\u00a0 I really need Ace and Julia’s book!<\/p>\n

*ARC generously provided by the author*<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dickson University<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \"\"\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Learning Curve (#1)<\/strong> – (Finn & Scottie)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy: Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Playing Game (#2)\u00a0<\/strong>– (Blake & Lexi)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy: Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fifteen-Minute Rule (#3) <\/strong>– (Ace & Julia)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy: Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Audio<\/a><\/p>\n

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About Max Monroe<\/b><\/h4>\n

A duo of romance authors team up under the <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>USA Today<\/span><\/i> Bestselling pseudonym Max Monroe to bring you sexy, laugh-out-loud reads.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Max Monroe is the <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>USA Today<\/span><\/i> Bestselling author of more than ten contemporary romance titles. Favorite writing partners and long time friends, Max and Monroe strive to live and write all the fun, sexy swoon so often missing from their Facebook newsfeed. Sarcastic by nature, their two writing souls feel like they\u2019ve found their other half. This is their most favorite adventure thus far. \u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

Stay up to date with Max Monroe by joining their MAILING LIST<\/a> today!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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WEBSITE<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0BOOKBUB<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0AMAZON<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0FACEBOOK<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0INSTAGRAM<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Check out our Max Monroe Author Spotlight<\/a> for more amazing reads!!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Playing Games (Dickson University, #2) by Max Monroe   Released – 7 February 2025   Available Now! Amazon\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback   Blurb Dickson University\u2019s star quarterback and campus golden boy is used to winning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[290,65,911,9,58,29],"tags":[59,1576,448,344,48],"class_list":["post-77933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-news","category-lol-funny","category-no-strings","category-romance","category-sports-star","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-dickson-university","tag-max-monroe","tag-new-release","tag-review"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Playing-Games.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-kgZ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}