Book Review: Your Play To Call by Rachel LaBerge
Want to know if Your Play To Call by Rachel LaBerge is worth the read? Here’s my full review to help you decide
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Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my thoughts or opinions on the book.
Your Play To Call Info
Author: Rachel LaBerge
Rating: 4/5
Where to buy Your Play To Call
Your Play To Call Summary
Global superstar Willow already has ten best-selling albums and sells out stadiums across the world, so how can she say no to playing the Super Bowl half-time show? She has to keep it a secret until the moment she takes the stage, but it’s still a dream come true. When that secret proves to be the breaking point of her relationship, and Tripp Owens, the impulsive Super Bowl MVP, rescues her from the media, Willow retreats from the public eye.
At thirty years old, Tripp Owens has topped off his best football season by leading the Seattle Serpents to a Super Bowl victory. It’s shocking, then, when he finds himself unexpectedly drafted to the brand new Upstate Cosmos in the latest NFL expansion.
Months after that fateful Super Bowl game, everything has changed. Tripp is settling into his new team and new city, while Willow is hiding out, trying to convince her label a fresh musical direction is the best move for her career.
Once again, Willow and Tripp cross paths, but sparks flying between them wasn’t in either of their plans. Ultimately, they have to decide if they want to play it safe, or if one of them will call an audible and change the play.
Your Play To Call Review
I had no expectations going into reading Your Play To Call by Rachel LaBerge. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this book. The only thing I could clearly remember when choosing this book to sign up for the ARC was that the main characters are both in their 30s.
This interested me because it is hard for me to find romantic novels where the main characters are both in their 30s and it’s important for me because of representation.
Your Play To Call appears to draw inspiration from Taylor Swift and her current romance with her current beau, Travis Kelce. Despite my initial concern that the story might resemble fan fiction about Taylor’s love life, the author skillfully balances this influence, creating characters who feel authentic and independent.
The plot in all honesty whilst fun to read was very generic but that’s not where the strengths of this book lie. I would say the strength of Your Play To Call by Rachel LaBerge is in the healthy relationships and boundaries that most of the characters have between and with each other.
It was so refreshing to read that these characters who are in their 30s act like their age where it made sense to have skepticism in getting into a new relationship after a disastrous previous one and that you would want to take it extremely slow.
Aside from that, I loved how the characters, especially Willow, had healthy boundaries not only in terms of romantic relationships but also relationships with food. I liked reading that whilst Willow has a banging body, she worked hard for it by eating healthily and exercising and it’s not that she was just born with it. I have read far too many books where the female characters just naturally had a hot body, that’s great to read sometimes but when it’s the case with every book, you can get frustrated.
Not only that, I enjoyed reading how the characters, especially the main characters, had good open communication to avoid any useless miscommunication because I am so done with that trope especially when the solution is so simple.
For example, when Tripp was jealous that Willow was talking to another man and looked like she had fun talking to him and Tripp was being an ass which was uncharacteristic of him, Willow called him out and he took the criticism well and promised to be better which he did. He walked the talk.
And it’s not just that, there were many instances in the book where both Tripp and Willow just talked, be it regarding their insecurities, the future of their careers, or just about anything. It’s so nice to read a book that didn’t have unnecessary drama and the characters acted like mature adults.
Another aspect I liked about this book was there was no catty female character trope. I was worried because early on we get to know that Tripp has a friend with benefits with a woman named Bailey (I think, I genuinely forgot her name) and again I feared that Bailey would be used for some sort of unnecessary drama for Willow but to my surprise after Tripp talked to her how he currently likes someone and would like their arrangement to end and Bailey took it in stride and was genuinely happy for him.
You would say okay Ezza, if Bailey’s scenes were over and done so quickly why include them, in my opinion, the author included them to show that healthy friendships can happen between men and women and also it would be weird if Tripp never had any romantic nor sexual relationships before Willow.
Last but not least, I also enjoyed seeing positive representation of therapy portrayed in this book. I am a big believer that everybody should go for therapy if they could afford it and seeing Tripp say that he talks to a therapist regarding his anxiety was nice because I too have anxiety and I too just started talking to a professional and it has improved my life so much.
Overall, I recommend this book for anybody interested in reading a romance inspired by Taylor Swift as well as a romance novel that has healthy boundaries and communications.
More books by Rachel LaBerge
A Love Letter to Those Who Left Me Behind
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