Play For Me by Libby Hubscher (Review by Shay Tibbs)

WHAT an opening scene! Sports romance for the win, Libby wrote this grumpy/sunshine romance that I didn’t know I needed, and it was so wonderful. As a big baseball fan, I was thrilled to be able to read and review this title in time for baseball season, but unlike any title I’d read this one focused on Sophie, our main character, being an athletic trainer. When Sophie loses her job and her boyfriend all in one scene, so her best friend helps her find the perfect opportunity, to work at a boarding school in need of a trainer that also includes on-site housing. She soon finds herself rooming with three fellow teachers, one who seems to dislike her from the very start. Attractive grump, Jonas is the music teacher, whose prize students are not allowed to prioritize sports over their instrument for fear of injury. As the two roommates keep being pushed together, Hubscher gives us a delectable enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity relationship that is perfectly paced and full of adorable moments are they get to know each other better. Recently I’ve read a few books that touch on the tough topic of caring for an elderly parent and I love how Hubscher wrote the emotion and scenes around Sophie’s dad with such care. From the pressure we feel from our parents to that shift in responsibility as we grow older, for myself I know this is something I will be relating to in the future and I hope I deal with that change with as much grace and positivity as this character. Each of our main characters has a complicated relationship that provides room for growth as they realize it is not their failures that have brought them to this point in their lives, but their perseverance and determination. With their individual personal growth, they find strength in one another and use that motivation to love each other in ways that I found endearing. “But that’s the thing about getting what you want: the moment it’s in your hands, you have to make sure you don’t lose it.”