Playing by the Rules

Miami Piranhas, Book 3

De: Beth Bolden

Narrado por: Darcy Stark

Ex-quarterback Davis Abernathy knows he’s on his last chance.

If he strikes out as Paxton Kelly’s coach, nobody else is going to call him. Not to get back on the field, and not to stand on the sidelines.

He’s got a lot to teach Pax, and as a second-year quarterback, Pax has a lot to learn. But Davis doesn’t anticipate the irresistible way they’ll be drawn together from their first meeting. He never could have predicted such a fierce and uncontrollable yearning—or that Pax would feel the same.

It should be easy to remember rules aren’t meant to be broken, and certain lines aren’t meant to be crossed, but the only thing that’s easy is falling totally, completely in love with Pax.

As Davis falls harder, Pax succeeding becomes just as important—and maybe more so—than resurrecting his own career. If he messes this up, his last chance isn’t all he’ll be sacrificing.

What he should be is focused on being the perfect mentor. But what he wants is Pax in his bed, Pax in his life, and more impossibly, to win Pax’s heart forever.

©2022 Beth Bolden (P)2023 Beth Bolden

Absolutely amazing

Listening to this book was amazing. The narrator did an amazing job with this book. It's such an easy book to listen too

an absolute favorite gets even better

Darcy Stark took my favorite book of this series and made it even better! Playing by the Rules is a swoony story full of yearning with two of the sweetest men in the NFL.

Davis and Pax are both struggling. Davis was dumped and bad mouthed by his former team and Pax is lost, trying to find his footing after a brutal first season. Davis is given a second chance and a fresh start when Piranha's new head coach, Asa Dawson, hires him to be Pax's new quarterback coach and mentor.

From the moment they meet, David and Pax yearn for each other but they both want this career second chance and try their best to ignore what's between them, but their feelings for each other only grow stronger the more time they spend working together.

This story is a delightful juxtaposition of an instalove and slow burn and Darcy Stark does an incredible job of bringing all their emotions to life. One of the things I appreciate most with his performances is his consistency in character voices. Sometimes in series, the narrator forgets what they made a particular character sound like in the previous book, but not this one! His Alabama and Texas accents are fantastic and it's always clear which character is speaking.

Overall, the story is such a beautiful, achingly sweet arc from the pain of falling for the wrong person that's really the only person to their hard earned HEA and I enjoyed every minute of narration.

The only voice that didn't work for me was the dance instructor. I couldn't quite place the accent, it sounded Russian? but I always imagined American or maybe Spanish based on the characters name and the style of dance she taught. Regardless, that accent felt a little OTT and grated on me a bit. She's a minor character with a big personality, so I can see why the narrator made the choice to go big with her. it just personally wasn't my favorite, but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the story enough to bring the rating down from the 5 stars I give it.

This is truly one of the best sports romances I've read (Beth Bolden clearly knows the sport and gives that side of it equal depth to the romance, which I adore) with two of the most loveable characters. Davis and Pax are true soulmates and their story is absolute perfection. 12/10 recommend this audiobook!

I loved it

Davis and Paxton are great together and I really enjoyed the narrators voice I felt bad for what happened to Davis but was happy he met Paxton and helped Paxton become a better player they had great chemistry and I loved that the others pushed them to give into their feelings

Series keeps getting better

This is an awesome book and an excellent series. I absolutely love the football teams that the author devises! The characters are my friends and I will revisit them frequently!

Even better hearing this story!

Darcy Stark brings these characters to life and makes this story even better hearing it. Beth Bolden is fantastic and everyone should have her books in their library!

All the emotions in one book!

Pax and Davis...man, do these two make you experience all the feels on their way to their HEA! The longing and desperation between these two without actually being able to do anything about it makes your heart hurt just a little bit. While I loved the angst between these two, I was so happy when they were finally able to find their way to each other without continuing to hurt one another. There were times where I really hated how much Davis and Pax had to overcome to be able to be together, not just their coach/player dynamic but their own personal issues they needed to address but ultimately, it made their relationship that much sweeter. There were lots of glimpses of other couples in this book, which I loved, and it was great to see all those characters still in love and building their lives together. As with every book in this series, I loved getting to see more of Asa and learn more about his backstory and I absolutely cannot wait until his book comes out! I am so excited to finally see Asa find his HEA and live as his true self! Wonderful writing and characters and all the feels you expect from Beth Bolden! Darcy Stark did an amazing job with the narration again! I love having the same author for an entire series and it is even more enjoyable when they are as good as Darcy!

Loved it❤️

I love this series, the couples are quite unique and varied. Davis and Pax are the focus, in Playing by the Rules, and it’s a really beautifully told forbidden relationship romance.
Davis is the Piranhas new quarterback coach and Pax is the team’s second year QB, which make everything wonderfully complicated. The narration is really engaging and I loved the epic levels of pining and the tension of their inconvenient connection. I also love seeing how close this team is, how the Piranhas show up for each other. The team’s role in Davis and Pax’s happy ending was pretty perfect. Great listen, absolutely love this series.

Unlikely Friendship

Davis Abernathy had his whole career destroyed by lies. His former football team through him away like a used tissue.
Paxton Kelly head quarterback for the Miami Piranhas. He's had a horrible rookie season as they try to rebuild a whole NFL Football team. They hire Davis as a coach for the quarterback back.
Davis and Pax have an undeniable connection for more thank just football. Davis suggests Pax takes dance lessons to have better foot work on thr field an he becomes his partner. Being able to touch each other on the dance class ignites the chemistry that they tried so long to deny. Can they be more than Coach and. Player? How will the league take it? Or will this cause Davis his chance for redemption?
age gap lots.of hot m/m action. Take a ride you will not regret it..

Another great Piranhas story!

This is a fantastic series and this book is no exception. The narration only adds to the story with his use of tone, inflection and just the human factor acting out the story makes it even better.

Lines are crossed

Being coach and player, Davis and Paxton have a professional line between them which should not be crossed.
But, there is an undeniable connection between them and sizzling chemistry that is hard to ignore.

With soulful pining and a bit of angst, these characters take you on a bit of an emotional journey in this much anticipated book of this series.
The addition of the past characters enriched this plot and the author also weaves in some lovely extra curricular scenes into the story as well. The football aspect was just perfectly balanced too.

Mr Starks narration was smooth and he brings the characters to life splendidly. A fantastic listen.