Marie's Review: Play for Me by Libby Hubscher

 

 

About the Book

When her new job takes her to a New England boarding school, she’s surprised to find her roommates are all men – including a very handsome one who plays by his own rules.

Sophie Doyle has her dream job as the head athletic trainer for her favorite baseball team (go Red Sox!), a handsome boyfriend, and easy access to the finest cannoli in Boston. When she loses all three and the World Series to boot, she’s forced to apply for the open trainer position at an arts-focused boarding school in New Hampshire. The only available room is a glorified closet in an apartment with three guys: Jonas Voss, the aloof and attractive orchestra teacher, and his two rambunctious roommates.

Sophie knows that training a bunch of privileged high school kids whose idea of a play is A Chorus Line instead of a walk-off homer is going to be a big change from the pro athletes she’s used to. She wasn’t expecting that these students would have big-time talent and even bigger-time problems. Sophie has troubles of her own—Jonas is a full-fledged grump who clearly doesn’t want her near him or the precious piano he never plays.

With sunny optimism, Sophie sets out to win over Jonas and help the kids she’s growing attached to. But when her relationship with Jonas moves to the major leagues and plans change at the end of the season, they have to choose whether they are playing for keeps.

Marie's Thoughts

Let me start by saying that I very much enjoyed this book. It had just enough hokey-ness and cheese to make it fun and light-hearted, not taking itself too seriously. Which, I loved. The premise of the story is a familiar one – girl meets boy, he treats her badly because he has feelings for her and those feelings confuse him, girl reads it as he hates her and tries everything she can to win him over only to find herself falling in love with him. Then he professes his love with some grandiose gesture that we all can only dream of being real life. We’ve all read those books before. But this one is… different somehow.

Perhaps it’s the two main characters. Sophie, a natural tomboy, if you will, who lives and breathes baseball only to find herself fired from her dream job and transplanted into an unfamiliar job and housing situation with some very interesting roommates. And Jonas. A hopeless musician with a cold shoulder and an air of dark mystery to him that makes him attractive from the get-go. Their personalities clash horribly and it’s almost cringey when they’re together. But then something that seems like magic happens between them and it captivates you. You start cheering for them. Get angry when they come close to admitting feelings and screw it up. Laugh when one of them does something stupid. And that moment when it all comes together… *chefs kiss* perfection. 

Like I said, it’s cheesy and hokey. Its opposites attract in a strange way. But it’s beautiful. And wholesome. Warm. It isn’t a perfect book, but it leaves you feeling satisfied. Fulfilled. Happy. And to me, THAT is what a good book should do. 

FTC Disclaimer: We received a complimentary copy of the book generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.