Playing Defense (Cate Cameron)

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains adult language, swoon-worthy kisses, and sexy hockey players. It may cause you to watch a hockey game…or ten. 

Sixteen-year-old Claudia Waring has never kissed a boy. Never been popular. Never been to a hockey game. All that’s about to change. Assigned to tutor Chris Winslow, a prank-loving, gorgeous hockey player, Claudia’s perfectly planned life immediately veers off course. And she kind of likes it. But as fun as Chris is, she knows she’ll never fit in his world. 

After his latest prank lands him in hot water, Chris has to get serious about school or lose hockey. Not an easy thing for someone as carefree as the defenseman. The biggest problem, though, is how much he wants to help his cute, buttoned-up tutor loosen up a little. But while confidence has never been a problem for him, around Claudia, Chris is all nerves. Why would a girl as smart as her ever fall for a jock like him?

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First and foremost I want to say that this was my second buddy read of this month with Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much. I love buddy reading with her 😀 – although we always share our thoughts about the books we’re reading, even if it’s not the same book ;-).

Entangled Crush books never fail to put a smile on my face. I’m a fan of these books to be honest, the romance is just the cutest thing, and Playing Defense was no exception.

The writing was good, it flowed well, and these two characters read like their age, and that’s always a plus. The plot is nothing that hasn’t been done well: popular jock and timid smart girl. Right? But the execution was a bit different from what I’ve seen before. Both characters were great and go through a good transformation during this book, mainly Claudia.

I really liked Chris, I felt that he was a breath of fresh air. He wasn’t academically smart, but he was smart – he just didn’t care. He had a carefree spirit and was fun and nice. He made a good contrast with academic-focused Claudia, who always wondered what it would be like to do some stuff, but never felt brave enough to do them. I really liked how they balanced each other out, Claudia helped Chris to focus more on school and to actually try to do stuff, while Chris loosened up Claudia a bit, and taught her how to have fun.

Their romance was beyond wonderful. I really liked reading confident Chris succumbing to anything – ANYTHING – that Claudia wanted. He was like a puppy in love, and it was so adorable.

The problems they faced made me seriously sad. I just wanted them to be ok again, because they were so cute and awesome together. And YES, AWESOME was a highly used world on this book and now I can’t think of it without associating it with the book.

Either way, if you’re looking for a cute YA romance, with great characters and a bit of hockey, give this book a chance.