{"id":81737,"date":"2026-01-13T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T13:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=81737"},"modified":"2026-03-26T20:55:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T00:55:58","slug":"arc-review-try-me-by-adriana-locke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=81737","title":{"rendered":"ARC Review: Try Me (Play Me, #2) by Adriana Locke"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0\u00a0Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\r\n <\/div><\/div><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cTry me.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Drake Bennett said when I declared on my live podcast that\u00a0no man could make me fall in love<\/span>. The former pro football star turned sportscaster didn\u2019t just laugh\u2014he challenged my entire brand.<\/p>\n

Gianna Knows Things<\/span>\u00a0is built on the idea that love is a choice. Drake says it\u2019s a feeling\u2014a magical, uncontrollable, world-shifting experience.<\/p>\n

I call BS. He says I\u2019m scared.<\/p>\n

The audacity.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

So, we make a bet. Six weeks of dating<\/span>\u00a0\u2026 in front of millions of listeners. If I don\u2019t fall for him, I win. If I do \u2026 don\u2019t worry. Not going to happen.<\/p>\n

I expected\u00a0spicy nights and viral ratings<\/span>. What I didn\u2019t expect was thoughtful surprises, spontaneous affection, and moments that make my heart do strange things.<\/p>\n

Drake isn\u2019t who I thought he was, and I can\u2019t tell what scares me more: that\u00a0he\u2019s been playing me all along or that I\u2019m wrong about love<\/span>. Either way, someone\u2019s about to get hurt\u2014and I hope it\u2019s not me.<\/p>\n

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Add to Goodreads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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

4 stars<\/b><\/p>\n

This is such a great read! A banter and chemistry-filled love story with the most gorgeous romance, Drake and Gianna are a fantastic couple, and this book is lots of fun.<\/p>\n

Gianna is a popular podcaster who has developed her brand around her belief that love is a choice, that men are mostly untrustworthy, and that relationships are disposable, and her confidence and filterless advice have built her a huge following. Her colleague, Drake, is a former NFL player who has his own sports podcast, and he believes in chemistry, connection and true love. Things take a fun twist when Drake bets Gianna live on air that he can change her mind about love, and he proposes to date her for six weeks. Gianna is quick to agree, happy for the chance to have a quick fling with her gorgeous colleague, and for Drake, it\u2019s a chance to finally get her to see him as more than a coworker, convinced that being with a genuinely good guy will make her see love\u2014and him\u2014differently.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great set-up and lots of fun, and I loved Gianna and Drake together. They have this fantastic flirty\/teasing relationship, and with Drake determined to make the most of his chance with the woman he\u2019s wanted for so long, he pulls out all the stops in his quest to romance her. He\u2019s the nicest guy and an absolute sweetheart, and everything he does challenges Gianna\u2019s long-held beliefs in the best of ways.<\/p>\n

This is a well-paced story with great banter and, much to Gianna\u2019s surprise, an easy and natural romance that is sweet, fun and steamy and beautifully heartfelt. They do have some challenges to overcome but they are honest with each other and their relationship is functional and develops beautifully. The character growth is really well done, and I loved watching these two come together.<\/p>\n

Such a great read \u2013 4 stars.<\/p>\n

An Advanced Reader Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Play Me<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Play Me (#1)<\/strong> (Grey & Astrid)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy: \u00a0Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Try Me (#2)<\/strong> (Drake & Gianna)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0\u00a0Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Show Me (#3)<\/strong> (Brooks & Audrey)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Make Me (#4)<\/strong> (Hartley & Mira)
\nTo be released 24 April
\nPre-order:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Meet Adriana<\/b><\/h4>\n

\"\"USA Today and Amazon Charts Bestselling author, Adriana Locke, writes contemporary romances about the two things she knows best\u2014big families and small towns. Her stories are about ordinary people finding extraordinary love with the perfect combination of heart, heat, and humor.<\/p>\n

She loves connecting with readers, fall weather, football, reading alpha heroes, everything pumpkin, and pretending to garden.<\/p>\n

Hailing from a tiny town in the Midwest, Adriana spends her free time with her high school sweetheart (who she married over twenty years ago) and their four sons (who truly are her best work). Her kitchen may be a perpetual disaster, and if all else fails, there is always pizza.<\/p>\n

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Website\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Goodreads\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Amazon\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Facebook Group<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Instagram\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 \u00a0TikTok\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bookbub<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Pinterest\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0 \u00a0Youtube\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0 \u00a0Verve<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Buy:\u00a0\u00a0Amazon Blurb \u201cTry me.\u201d That\u2019s what Drake Bennett said when I declared on my live podcast that\u00a0no man could make me fall in love. The former pro football star turned sportscaster didn\u2019t just laugh\u2014he challenged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,29],"tags":[763,59,48],"class_list":["post-81737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-adriana-locke","tag-arc","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\/10\/Try-Me.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-lgl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81737","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81737"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82524,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81737\/revisions\/82524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/80836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}