Guess who’s back?! Back again?! Ms. Becka Mack with the next book featuring Jennie Beckett and Garrett Andersen! Whoop whoop! Yay! This book had brother’s best friend, best friend’s sister, friends with benefits, he’s a hockey player, she’s a dancer, more crazy, fun shenanigans, and of course Carter and Olivia appearing again as well as the other friends like Cara, Emmett, and Adam. With Becka’s magic touch to reel you in with her amazing hilarious banter, lovable characters that’ll have you smiling and wanting to joy in on the fun, this book/series was so amazing!

So the beginning didn’t waste any time jumping right into the story. Essentially the beginning picked up right after the ending of, “Consider Me”, following the big reveal at Carter and Olivia’s wedding reception. (*Fair warning, read “Consider Me”, as this is part of a series, and if you haven’t read the first book, there are some things you won’t get in, “Play With Me”). Anyways, it was amazing being back with Carter, Olivia, Adam, Cara, Emmett, Garrett, and Jennie. I cannot explain the nostalgia at being immersed back into the world of this series, and it just made me realize how much I missed the characters. I got a great understanding of how Garrett and Jennie’s personalities were more in this book. Becka wasn’t kidding when she said that Garrett was going to be awkward and it would make us laugh because, OMG! Haha the way that Garrett got flustered and reacted made me laugh! Not to mention seeing just how sassy and vivacious Jennie was made me love her more, and appreciate her boss queen qualities. I’m telling you, twenty pages into this book, and already I was smiling and laughing at the stuff that I read. 

Garrett might have been an awkward mess around Jennie, but OMG DON’T BE DECEIVED! Garrett Andersen was packing heat! Something about Garrett immediately made me laugh with his awkward jumbles and stumbling over his words, or the occasional shock/ surprise over the things Jennie said or did, but he was also able to switch to his sexy, confident, flirty side too. I mean, I knew I was going to love this book, but DANG! I was melting and heart rate accelerating with the way Garrett spoke to Jennie is such a hot manner! The spice in this book was immaculate with brother’s best friend trope, and with Garrett and Jennie going around having fun with their friends with benefit arrangement, it was sexy, steamy, and OMG THE DIRTY TALK AND DIRTINESS OF IT ALL YASSSSSS! I legitimately had to go back a couple times to reference how many spicy scenes there were because, I lost track how many times Jennie and Garrett couldn’t keep their hands off each other. In other words, I LOVED THE SPICE! I thought the last book was spicy, and in this one, Becka went up another level, and blew my mind!

As if I wasn’t in love with this book already, I really enjoyed the friendship dynamic that Garrett and Jennie had. I don’t think I’ve read a “friends with benefits” trope before, and the way Becka wrote how Garrett and Jennie’s went was unique and lighthearted. Between the fun, sexy times rolling around in bed, and multiple pleasurable times, Jennie and Garrett formed a deep connection that opened up to new possibilities. Jennie was use to being guarded and protecting herself as she was use to people only wanting to get to know her for the sake of trying to get to Carter so, that messed with her sense of feeling worthy/ special to others. With Garrett, he ensured that he let Jennie know that he appreciated, cared, and enjoyed being around her for just being herself. In addition, Garrett made sure that Jennie knew she could always talk to him about anything, becoming a part of her support system. I also liked that within the friends with benefits, Jennie was able to explore even more of her what she liked in the bedroom with Garrett, and Garrett made sure that Jennie was always comfortable and felt safe within the space of their intimacy. There was always a sense of support from Garrett that Jennie hadn’t experienced in a while that wasn’t her family, so she was opening herself more with Garrett along the course of the story. 

This book explored more than just the humor, lighthearted energy, and lovable characters, but also the vulnerabilities as well. Jennie was a confident, sassy, strong woman, but underneath all her Beckett bravado, she was just a girl hiding behind her walls to protect herself from getting hurt. I could relate on some levels to Jennie in wanting to avoid getting hurt again, but her fears and insecurities went deeper than I imagined. Jennie was multilayered character that wasn’t just one personality trait. Jennie was able to command presence , but also turn shy whenever Garrett was around. I liked seeing Jennie lower her guard down, and allow Garrett to fully get to know all about her from the good and bad parts of her life. With Garrett, Jennie was truly able to be free with someone like she never had before. Both Jennie and Garrett were able to bring out the best in each other, while also helping each other with their own personal demons. 

Again, I need to reiterate how much I love this series, and how much I cherish these characters so much. This book was so much fun and each of the characters were humorous (as always), endearing, caring, and just the right bond within the friend group was fantastic. Each character is different in their own way, like Carter being so over the top extra to Olivia being the pip squeak sassy queen we know and love to Cara’s mischief with Emmett to Adam being the single guy wanting to try his hand at dating. There were even some new characters introduced like Jaxon (new team player) and Emily (Jennie’s neighbor). With the new characters, it made room for potential new storylines as well as just adding on to the rooster of interesting, hilarious, character lineup. That being said, I just loved seeing when all the friends got together to hang out, and even seeing Jennie become friends with Emily was great. Great friend dynamics that illustrated the love and care everyone had for one another, in others words, the found family dynamics as well. 

Becka Mack has done it again, I fell in love with Garrett and Jennie. Between Garrett’s awkward moments, to him being so sexy and commanding with Jennie, to Jennie’s confidence but also revealing her insecurities, those two were much more than meets the eye. I also loved seeing the rest of the gang from the first book, I love the found family aspect of this series, and it just warmed my heart to see how close and loving everyone was with each other. Seeing Carter and Olivia again was amazing and Carter was still the dramatic, over the top, ostentatious man known to everyone haha. Jennie’s fears and insecurities were deep and she had a lot of growth in this book. What initially was just a friends with benefits agreement, lead to Jennie and Garrett finding love with each other, and becoming better versions of themselves. This book explored so many topics from expressing yourself, knowing and exploring your own intimacy as well as with your partner, to facing one’s fears, and understanding it’s ok to be scared sometimes. I cannot stress to you how much I loved this book, and this is one of those series I would highly recommend you read. It’s impossible not to fall in love with the story and characters. Do yourself a favor and read this book as well as the previous book.