Ruthless Player by R.C. Stephens

Ruthless Player is the second book in the Westfall U Series. It’s a sweet enemies to lovers slow-burn romance that will have you excited to see how their relationship pans out.

Cole is the fun-loving (hockey) player that doesn’t do relationships, and Holland is the studious pre-med student with a no-nonsense attitude. They’re sort of forced to be friends given that their best friends are head over heels for each other, and they tolerate one another at best in the beginning. Then one night at a party things become more, but they’ve both dedicated themselves to the notion that relationships aren’t for them, and nothing comes of it. Over the next months they grow closer and even become actual friends. This story follows their relationship as it goes from two characters that didn’t necessarily seem made for each other to much more.

Cole’s transformation in this book is by far my favorite aspect of it. He starts out as the knuckleheaded jock that is never ever serious about any girl and seems sort of wishy washy with what he wants out of life to a genuinely stand-up character. I loved seeing how he grew from college boy to grown man. I think in general the theme of this book could be summed up as change and personal growth. It was endearing to see how both Cole and Holland grew so much and really owned who they were becoming.

Overall, I really liked this story, but the pacing seemed a bit off. Like we go from 0-60 pretty quickly at the start and then sort of fizzle out for a while before the chemistry between the two main characters and the plotline start picking up again. It’s a slow burn for sure, but rest assured you’ll be happy with the outcome.

Sweet and emotional, Ruthless Player is a great college sports romance read that will leave you believing in fate or even just the power of change and growth. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

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