REVIEW: Brutal Play by Alison Rhymes

OUR REVIEW:

Warning: there may be spoilers about Broken Play in this review so read at your own risk...also read Broken Play first.

After getting to know Noah in Broken Play, I not only warmed up to him, I actually liked him. The same cannot be said about Lorelai. At the end of June and Drew's story, I really, really did not care for Lorelai at all, for exactly the reasons no one would care for her: she not only participated in cheating with a married man (who she knew was married), she then tried to destroy June and Drew's fragile new start. So you can imagine how much work Alison Rhymes was going to have to do to redeem this character for me. Let me tell you, not only did she redeem Lorelai, she made me feel for her and root for her. WTH. 

As noted earlier, I liked Noah and appreciated all that he'd done to help June and Drew reclaim their marriage. He seemed to have restraint and foresight and was a genuinely good person. So when he stepped in to put a stop to Lorelai's destructo mode, I was definitely appreciative and on Team Noah. He was repelled by her behavior and yet he wasn't so hardcore that he threw her out with the trash. He took her home, with what I think was an intention to get to the bottom of what the hell was going on with her; somehow, though, he got sidetracked and went on a mission to punish her for all of her wrongs---not only with Drew and June, but with him as well. Y'all he was harsh. Cruel, even. And I found myself not liking him for a good part of the first half of the novel. Quicker than you can turn a page, Noah was now the one who needed to redeem himself while Lorelai seemed more deserving of my sympathy. Crazy. He became the villain and Lorelai the hero, especially once her backstory is revealed. And just when he reached the height of dickishness, he learns what we've come to know and suddenly the Noah we all wanted to like makes an appearance again. Like Lorelai, it took some work for me to trust him again but he did the work, put in the time, and proved that he could be the man we wanted him to be. Thank god.

Even more so than with Broken Play, Brutal Play had my emotions all over the place, which meant that I only put this book down when I absolutely had to get a few hours of sleep so that I could function in my classroom the next day. The second this novel hit my kindle I was all in and it seems like I blinked and I was over half way through it and the midnight hour was upon me. Love it when that happens and am eager to read what Alison Rhymes writes next. 

𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 by Alison Rhymes is LIVE! This is an enemies to lovers, second chance romance that you won't want to miss! One-click yours today!

 

Read FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

One-Click here: https://mybook.to/brutalplay

𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 (Book 1): https://amzn.to/3g3udij

Add Brutal Play to your TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61850104-brutal-play

About the book:
Mistress. 

Whore.  

Lorelai has been called every name in the book. Except for the ones she’s always dreamed of.  

My love.  

Mine.  

Noah Anders is the only man to have ever owned her heart. But it’s her soul he wants.  

Theirs is a battle of wills, tempers, ego, friendship, and loyalty.  

He wants retribution.  

She just wants to survive.  

Find more books by Alison Rhymes here: https://alisonrhymes.com/