Ada’s Book Review's Reviews > The Player's Club

✨ I received this book as an ARC for my honest review✨

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Let me set the record straight and say that the cover art for this book is a bit misleading. While Mac is a hockey player, hockey scenes are very limited. The same can be said about Elodie, who is a reporter for a gossip collum. Elodie is a reporter tasked with digging up dirt on the controversial hockey player Mac and then finds herself in a relationship with him while keeping the truth hidden from Mac and her employer.

The book has so much potential, and I was really excited about what it could be, but it felt a bit rushed and stayed pretty surface-level. I really wanted to see more depth in Mac and Elodie’s relationship—it started off feeling like Insta-lust or Insta-love, and I think it could’ve used more development. I wasn’t thrilled about Elodie being in a relationship with someone else while having thoughts about Mac, but I do appreciate that she ended things with Todd before moving forward with him. I liked that they had these cute little dates and took turns doing things the other person enjoyed, but I wish we had seen more of these moments to really watch their relationship grow.

The book includes BDSM elements, but since Elodie is new to this world, I felt there wasn’t enough introduction beyond just mentioning a safe word. I would have liked more time spent in The Scarlet Rope, as it seemed like it was meant to be a significant part of the story but didn’t quite live up to that potential. The BDSM scenes we did get between Mac and Elodie were really well done—intensely hot, yet also sweet and caring. They had great chemistry, and those scenes were definitely a highlight

Overall, the storyline was quite predictable, and the resolution felt a bit too easy. There were also several plot threads that seemed left unexplored or forgotten. Despite this, the book served as a nice palate cleanser. It had its highs and lows for me, but the positives outweighed the negatives. Plus, with Brady's and Hannah's story coming up next, I’m definitely looking forward to reading that one.