Playing Dirty (Monkey Business Trio #1) by C.L. Parker

Playing Dirty (Monkey Business Trio #1)
by C.L. Parker
Publisher: Bantam
Release Date: May 12th 2015

Rate: Enjoyed it (3,5 stars)

Synopsis:

For fans of Bared to You and Beautiful Bastard comes the start of an irresistible new erotic romance series in which competition is the ultimate seduction.

Shaw Matthews plays to win, and he intends to snag a coveted partnership at San Diego's hottest sports agency by signing America's top athlete. Only one woman stands in his way: rival agent Cassidy Whalen. But eliminating the competition will be Shaw's pleasure when he concocts an ingenious plan to seduce Cassidy and show the beautiful ballbreaker who's the better man for the job. That is, until Cassidy turns the tables—and their steamy encounters start breaking all the rules. 

Cassidy has worked hard to make it in a man's cutthroat arena, and she isn't going down without a fight, not even against the six-two alpha hunk whose rock-hard body awakens desires she's never known before. As Cassidy shares night after night of unending passion with Shaw, the game begins to change. Now Cassidy stands to lose everything—unless a fiery contest of wills can become a winning proposition for two people who keep raising the stakes. 

Playing Dirty is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.

Playing Dirty was definitely an intense, sexy read. It had everything the synopsis promised and I was left wanting to read more!

So the story is pretty much well explained in the synopsis. We have two competitive similar people who'll do anything to win a partnership at a sports agency. They despise each other and while Cassidy is a strong woman who knows where she stands, Shaw is a conceited alpha male who knows his way into every single game. 

I have to confess that at first, when the story starts I felt kind of confuse. It starts with Cassidy having a seriously hot, sexy dream with Shaw. I was left a bit incredulous since they were suppose to hate each other right? And the chapter didn't give away that it was all a dream until the very last moment. And then, Shaw had something similar going through his head - That made me roll my eyes a bit and start saying "well, it starts." I get that the author was trying to build the sexual tension and unspoken attraction between the two main characters but it felt a bit too far-fetched for my liking.

Then the story progressed, with a good rhythm, always keeping the reader invested in the story and with those intense and sexy scenes we were promised in the synopsis. 

What I was not expecting and didn't like at all, was the ending. Don't get me wrong, I go all for books that leave you hanging, desperate for more (although it awakes my inner monster that tries to bribe authors). However, the ending in Playing Dirty felt as if someone was speaking and stopped mid-sentence. That's how it felt to me. Like I needed just a tiny little bit more.

Between that and the beginning were the reasons that made me rate the book the way I did. Because the characters are great and the relationship the author builds is a good one and it slowly progresses throughout the story. And despite at times I didn't truly like how the characters behaved, they ended up getting under your skin.

After re-reading my review I detected a bit of negativity from me, but seriously it was an enjoyable read. Not a mind-blowing one, but definitely a sexy read that will make me wait for the next book in the series. And my only advice is that if you like these type of reads, try it and see what happens. This  story might surprise you.

I received this ARC in exchange of an honest review. Thanks to Kesley at Penguin Random House for inviting me to read this book.

C. L. Parker is a romance author who writes stories that sizzle. She’s a small-town girl with big-city dreams and enough tenacity to see them come to fruition. Having been the outgoing sort for all her life—which translates to “she just wouldn’t shut the hell up”—it’s no wonder Parker eventually turned to writing as a way to let her voice, and those of the people living inside her head, be heard. She loves hard, laughs until it hurts, and lives like there’s no tomorrow. In her world, everything truly does happen for a reason.