Playing Her Secret Crush by Casey Griffin

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Title: Playing Her Secret Crush
Author: Casey Griffin
Published by: Entangled: Crush
Release Date: July 2, 2018
Format: eARC
Pages: 250
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Release Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound
My rating:

Blurb:

All her life, Katie has been chosen last for everything: the last picked on the playground, the last picked by her absent father, and definitely the last picked by boys—even her secret crush, Alex, friend-zoned her. This senior year, Katie is determined to come first.

But then Alex asks her to help him find a date?!

Alex has been living life in the fast lane, but he's ready to slow down—with a girlfriend. The last person on earth he’d consider? The girl his brother developed serious feelings for before he died: Katie. The only way Alex is going to get over Katie is by falling for someone new. And who better to help him find his new crush than the girl he can’t stop thinking about?

What can possibly go wrong?

My Review:

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4.5 stars — Okay, I had NO IDEA that this was going to feature nerdiness and gaming!!  While I’m not a gamer of ANY TYPE whatsoever, I really loved having another nerdy little book to read!!  The elements of the game that Ms. Griffin added to the book were so real and rich and really added to the story…

I was super pleasantly surprised by this book!  Not that I had low expectations or anything, I guess I just didn’t have ANY expectations, and I enjoyed myself so much!  1) I love a good friends to lovers trope.  2) I adore nerdiness.  3) Some secondary diversity, yay!  4) Dude, both characters went through so much development in this story.  5) I’m sure I have more, but enough with the numbers already.

I was SOOOOOO worried that I was going to get frustrated with the back and forth, as I had in my previous friends to lovers read…not to mention my heart immediately started aching with the introduction of Lexi, and I was so worried about the direction the book was going to take.  BUT THEN something magical happened.  The ups and downs of Alex and Katie’s journey to each other made sense for them, and totally worked out on a timeline I could appreciate.  This is not to say that I didn’t grow frustrated with them, or that I didn’t groan at some choices…but I expect a bit of that.  I was just worried it was going to be too much, you know?

Alex was hella damaged yo.  Seeing him struggling with his grief by ignoring it just broke my heart.  And knowing what his brother meant while Alex kept sticking to his misinterpretation was HARD!!!  But the thing I appreciated about Alex’s struggles, and his “playboy” ways, is that it all had a purpose.  And you could tell that even Alex didn’t really feel like it was him, but that he was trying to live up to a promise to his brother.  Still…that boy was stubborn.  But I think that’s what made his turnaround so satisfying — I felt it…I saw him starting to figure things out.  I believed it when he did finally.

And Katie’s struggles with learning to love herself and pick herself first was equally as important!  I sometimes find that one character’s story overshadows another, but I didn’t really feel that in this one.  I FELT for Katie feeling like she was always picked last and looked over.  My heart hurt for her as she struggled to figure out how to change that.  I cheered for her when she finally figured out that it wasn’t about her outer appearance!  Her journey was truly satisfying, and took the right amount of time to believe that her growth was realistic.

The two of them together were both ridiculously adorable and frustrating!  But I actually understood each of their reluctance to admit their feelings for the other.  It didn’t feel unreasonable, even as it made me want to smack them.  I loved the way they cared for one another.  I loved the butterflies I got when they had their moments…AND THAT KISS!!  Or rather kisses!  Their love story was truly adorable.

I had a few moments where I was worried about how the story was going to play out, and sometimes I still wasn’t super happy (uh concussion??), but in the end Ms. Griffin always brought back consequences so that I was appeased.

This book had a secondary cast whose appearances really added to the story.  I adored Penny and Trevor, and their little motley crew.  I loved the moments Katie had with her Mom.  Ben was even kind of adorable, even if he wasn’t right for Katie.  But MOSTLY I was super impressed with Lexi.  The story with Lexi was so much richer than I was expecting, and I LOVED how it played out.  I knew exactly what was happening practically from the first meeting, and I was just so impressed to have that element in the story.  I thought it was very well done, and really added.  I would love to see her story!

So yeah, like I said, this one was a super pleasant surprise!  It was fun, had a great balance of light and heavy, and I always love me a good nerdy book.