Review: Playing For Love by Dana Burkey

Title: Playing for Love
Author: Dana Burkey
Published by: Createspace Independent
                       Publishing Platform
Published on: November 1st 2015
Format: ARC pdf
Ratings: 3.5 stars

Summary:
"For years now, Fiona has been known by everyone at school as "Ross Mealing's little sister." But now, as she begins her sophomore year of high school, she is determined to be known by a new title: "Jordan Peterson's girlfriend." The only problem with that plan? Jordan happens to be best friends with her brother, and after this year will be moving on to college. Hoping to act like the girls Jordan has dated in the past, Fiona joins the soccer team and does her best to make Jordan see her as more than just his best friends little sister. Will Fiona's plan work in the end? Find out now in this sweet YA contemporary romance!"

My thoughts: 
*I received an ARC from the author of this book in exchange for an honest review.* (Thank you, Dana Burkey)

3.5 stars.
I really, really liked this book. It was a little different from the books I usually read. Normally I tend to stay away from books which consist both high school and romance. I have nothing against this genre, more like I enjoy them immensely because whenever I think about high school my thoughts are filled with bulky books and classrooms and the time I spent studying and the time I spent invested in my school library or training for sports. Was there ever time for romance and lets be real, every guy I knew were lets just say were boys. And who I am kidding, in high school I was busy studying so that I could get into a good college. So, whenever I come across books such as these, I am filled with joy.

Playing For Love is a very simple and easy read. It's about Fiona, a teen who has a crush on Jordan, her older brother's best friend. She joins the school's soccer team to attract Jordan's attention. Now the summary is a little mundane, even I agree but there is more to it than that meets the eye.
The book is written in journal form-Fiona's Diary- which I enjoyed reading a lot. Her thoughts are clear and straight forward. Sometimes the narration was a little girl-y. As in I could actually hear that tiny distinct voice of a sixteen year old girl in love in my head. And I could relate to when it came to the sports part. She was always in a predicament to leave or not to leave the soccer team. I could understand that. The constant fear that you are not good enough always keeps coming back. At first she was afraid of soccer but eventually she fell in love with the sports.
Going into this book, I was sure that this book was going to be one of those cheesy chick lit where the girl is in high school and has a crush and goes after him and has an epiphany and realizes that there is time for true love and moves on. And believe me I was expecting exactly this. But the author proved me wrong. This is different. A lot. And thank god I was proven wrong.
Now not only was the main character written flawlessly but I enjoyed reading about the side characters as well. Her best friends Cora and Beth are the kind of friends every body needs in their life.
It's a very light read for relaxing. It will be money well spent on. And this book is great for those who love a cute, easy to read and relate YA romance, then this book is for you.