Playing by the Rules

Miami Piranhas, Book 3

By: Beth Bolden

Narrated by: 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

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!

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!

Rules, what rules?

This has been my favorite of the series. Davis is the new quarterback coach of the up and coming Piranhas. He was hired by Asa Dawson to help his quarterback find his place on the team. Pax is beaten down. He was treated like crap and his confidence has been crushed. What occurs next is this electrifying push and pull between Davis and Pax.
There chemistry is built on a rock solid friendship. This friendship is based on their mutual understanding and love of the game. They dance around each other both figuratively and literally until all hell breaks loose. When that happens it’s Pax’s teammates who intervene and put everything back on track.
Both Davis and Pax had demons that they needed to slay. As both worked through their respective struggles they realized they were better together. The ending was exciting and I truly am looking forward to Asa Dawson’s story.

Dary Stark provides a strong performance

Beth Bolden has been building up a relationship between Davis and Pax since the beginning with all the other MCs very closely watching their interactions which led to me really looking forward to this story. And thankfully she does not disappoint! All the UST is well worth it and has been building since the prequel novella. If there’s ever a couple who were “meant to be” it’s Pax and Davis. They just get each other. Sparks flew from the moment they met and oh how they tried to fight it but when it’s meant to be, it’s simply meant to be. Such an awesome read. Super excited for the Christmas novella where it’ll be Coach’s turn to find his HEA. Beth Bolden did this couple proud. Darcy Stark provides a strong performance with his accent work and it was always easy to know who was speaking. He also did a great job showing the emotions that Pax and Davis were feeling, as well as Davis' despair over the Tom Taylor situation. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this audiobook.

Forbidden Romance in Sports- All the feels!

I have read Playing by the Rules many times, as well as the rest of the Piranhas and Riptide books, and was a little worried about listening to it. Sometimes listening to a book I love throws me off because it doesn't sound how I expected! This was fun to listen to and if anything added to my experience when re-reading it (again...). I love this story of a (slight) age-gap coach/player situation that is grounded in a very real and strong friendship.

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.