Review: The Player and the Pixie by Penny Reid and LH Cosway

Now a USA TODAY BESTSELLER

How can someone so smokin’ hot be so bad in bed? I mean, Sean Cassidy is absolute rubbish. RUBBISH. He is the epitome of walking, talking false advertising and I want a refund! Plus he’s an arsehole. So… what is wrong with me that I can’t stop thinking about him?

THE PIXIE
Lucy Fitzpatrick doesn’t like rugby.
As the little sister of Ireland’s most infamous rugby player, Lucy can’t seem to escape the championship-sized shadow cast by her big brother, or her mother’s frequent attempts to micromanage her future. Her rainbow hair is as free-spirited as her quest for inner peace, yet overbearing expectations keep bringing her down. And when she’s down, her compulsive little problem lands her in seriously big trouble.

THE PLAYER
Sean Cassidy is a cold-hearted brute… or so he’s been told. Frequently. By everyone.
His blonde locks, baby blues, and rock hard bod make ladies the world over drool with desire. As the rugby world’s second most infamous player, he should be basking in his success. But Sean has never been content settling for second place, and his frequent confrontations with Lucy’s big brother leave him cold. And when he’s cold, his compulsive little problem lands him in the lap of Lucy Fitzpatrick.

THE PLAN
Sean has a problem only Lucy can solve. Lucy has a problem only Sean can fix. The solution seems obvious: you scratch my back, and I’ll bail you out of jail. But when their business arrangement unexpectedly leaves Sean scorching hot and Lucy on the precipice of inner peace, can they convince the world—and Lucy’s big brother in particular—that this is the real deal?

Either way, both the Player and the Pixie are about to teach each other some pretty monumental lessons about family, life, but most importantly, love.

4,5 “playful” stars

Well the authors wrote “Please, write a review! If you liked this book and, more importantly perhaps, if you didn’t like it (…) reviews force us to move towards a true meritocracy.”

Unfortunately (or fortunately) for them I did like it. Very much!

I ordered this book because:

• I love Penny Reid. She makes me laugh every time;
• I loved “Six of Heart” by L.H Cosway and still have to read her other books;
• I wanted something to have these Ladies sign as I will meet them at RARE London!
• I was in the mood for a sportsromance.

All valid reasons right?

What I did not expect (or maybe did I secretly hope for) was to have such insufferable snobbish rugby player make me melt like a puddle confronted with his deep insecurities. Someone mean and disdainful should not make for a loveable hero surely…

Lucy told that “you big burly men are all little boys when it comes down to it” and she was right.

Sean’s meanness was a coping mechanism or rather a defense mechanism coming from very long ago when he was a little kid.

Be unkind so people won’t befriend you and you won’t be rejected either.

There’s few things I love more than imperfect or broken heroes. On that I share LH Cosway’s thoughts that “imperfect people are the most interesting kind. They tell the best stories.”

Honestly how fun would it be if upon his extremely good look Sean Cassidy was charming, the golden boy everyone would love and…it would be meh!

Now give me a hot rugby player with perfect globes as butt, golden locks, insufferable to other players and with a slight problem in the sack and I say: “Where do I put my name on?”

You see Sean Cassidy has always been somewhat jealous of his team captain Ronan Fitzpatrick. Childish much? Yes but we’ve already established that men are like little boys.

So when he thinks of riling up Ronan going out with his pixie of a sister the idea seems irresistible. Only….Sean has a slight problem for all his reputation of a womanizer: he can’t keep it up. Oh he can lift it up all right but for all his stamina on the field under the sheets it’s rather Speedy Gonzales than wonder lover.

Lucy Fitzpatrick with her rainbow hair is stunned by this discovery. As the Lady has a big heart she is ready to teach him some moves. It’s a real sacrifice she’ll do for the greater good of humanity: sleeping with the gorgeous male just to teach him how to last and pleasure his partner. I tell you the Lady is a saint. OK a saint with an unhealthy addiction when things get too strenuous with her mother. One that could put shame on her family. Something that Sean seems to understand.

So as the cover say it’s you scratch my back and I’ll help you.

Only things are not so easy of course!

-first because there is this rivalry between Sean and Ronan. Think Montaigu and Capulet if you want but if Ronan discovers that his little sister is scratching more than his rival’s back things could get nasty. They are big burly rugby players for God’s sake! They don’t caress they punch!

-second because Sean has really a bad rep. Snobbish, mean, spoiled… the first “blackmailing date” ends with water thrown at Sean. Not very promising and still a long way to go in the hope of making this big oaf more amenable!

-third because insufferable as he is and different as they may be there is this little silly thing called “heart” that seems to have its own voice and determined to make it more than an itch to scratch.

This all gave for a very enjoyable read. The one where you don’t have too much angst nor too much sweetness. It was just the right balance between sexy and fun, light and introspective. Predictable as the plot may have been it was very well executed as these authors know their job. They just know all the tricks to deliver a highly entertaining read.

Recommend it? Hell yes!

Now I’m going to hunt these authors at RARE and have them sign this wonderful book. And a selfie! I want a selfie. Please, pretty please with a cherry on top 😊

Have you read this book? Loved it?

Thanks for reading!