ARC Review – Playing With Her Heart (Caught Up In Us #3) by Lauren Blakely

We see a more of an erotic side to Ms. Blakely’s writing as she steps outside of the box and makes Playing With Her Heart edgy, sensual and more emotional with beautifully flawed characters that are perfect for each other. ~ Shey, Guilty Pleasures

Description:
When you’re acting the role of a lifetime, how can you know if love is real—or all just a part of the show?

Twenty-three year old rising theatre star Jill McCormick has built a life out of pretending. Pretending she’s happy, pretending her long-distance crushes add up to something real, pretending she’s not haunted by the dark secret that shattered her world six years ago. Cast in her first Broadway show, she desperately needs to keep her façade intact, but that’s before she comes face to face with her devastating new boss…

Hot-shot director Davis Milo knows the first rule of directing: never fall for your leading lady. Captivated by Jill’s raw talent, he fights his feelings, but watching Jill on-stage with another man is more than his jealous streak can take. Keeping things professional isn’t an option. He wants all of her.

Soon the ingénue and her director are staying late in the empty theatre, their private rehearsals spiraling into new, forbidden territory. Caught up between fiction and reality, Jill struggles to find the truth in all their staged kisses. But how can she be sure that what she feels is real, and not a part of the play? And when two people spend their lives pretending, what happens after the final curtain falls?

Review copy provided for an honest review

Lauren Blakely has done it again with her third book in the Caught Up In Us series, Playing With Her Heart and I have to say is now my favorite. Ms. Blakely has a unique contemporary writing style but in this book she steps outside of the box and made this one edgy, sensual and more emotional. She broached a tough subject that hit especially hard for me and had the tears flowing, however, she made it worth everyone and her delivery and acceptance of such was phenomenal.

From the moment we meet Jill in the first book Caught Up In Us I loved her, she is that best friend everyone wants, putting herself out there for everyone else, caring, supportive, fun and snarky. Then we are faced with the real truths that in the end Jill is a very good actress and sometimes times pretending isn’t fun anymore.

In steps Davis Milo, you could feel the power he commanded as a Director flow off the pages but not only that he carried such raw magnetism I could have sworn my Kindle was vibrating! From sweet nothings to downright dirty talking, Davis Milo is beyond words. Yet he can see through Jill and into the real person she is and not the person she tries to be and although he tries to fight the attraction he knows he’s lost to her.

The passion between Jill and Davis could be felt from the moment that they meet. The torment that Jill is going through on her own was written so well I felt like I was feeling it with her. The turmoil that Davis struggles with to protect himself was as if I could feel it in my own heart. Ms. Blakely knows how to write beautifully flawed characters that are perfect for each other even if it takes a while for them to get there.

It’s not been a secret that I have loved Ms. Blakely’s books but this one she really out did herself on. We are immersed into these lives that it’s as almost as if you can feel the tears that fall or the soft caress of lips. She makes you want to be that character to live in that moment in time with them and help them with their pain or celebrate their joys. This is what makes me want to read each and every day.

There has always been a bit of drama of course we can’t forget the humor that we have come to love about the books that Lauren Blakely has given us, yet in Playing With Her Heart I have to say we see a more of an erotic side to Ms. Blakely’s writing and I really liked seeing that side of her.