4.7
-
13,067 ratings
Kennedy
I’m the only woman on staff for the Windy City Warriors, and after years of putting up with a sexist lead doctor, I’m desperate to land my dream job with a new team next year. All I have to do is maintain my professional reputation for my final season in Chicago.
But a Las Vegas run-in with the team’s shortstop threatens it all, leaving me with a fuzzy memory and a ring on my left hand.
Now, not only am I legally bound to the most persistent man I’ve ever met, but thanks to Isaiah’s scheme to save my job, I have to pretend the whole thing was a planned elopement and not a drunken mistake.
Isaiah Rhodes is reckless, impulsive, and frustratingly charming. He’s also my brand-new husband.
They got the saying wrong. What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas… sometimes it follows you right back home.
Isaiah
As the shortstop for Chicago’s professional baseball team, I’ve had my fair share of fun. But that all ended the day Kennedy Kay became a single woman.
I’ve crushed on the team’s athletic trainer for years. I’ve flirted to no avail, so imagine my surprise when I woke up in Sin City with a ring on my finger and my favorite redhead in my bed.
We agree to stay married for one baseball season, just long enough to keep her job safe, but in my mind, I’m using our time together to prove to her I’m husband material.
Kennedy might be reluctant to join in on our game, but it’s one I refuse to lose.
So come on, wife… play along.
Kindle
$0.00
Available instantly
Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Paperback
$16.19
Ships from
Amazon.com
Payment
Secure transaction
ISBN-13
979-8329360318
Print length
382 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Independently published
Publication date
July 05, 2024
Dimensions
5.5 x 0.96 x 8.5 inches
Item weight
1.01 pounds
ASIN :
B0D8YMC2Q6
File size :
1660 KB
Text-to-speech :
Enabled
Screen reader :
Supported
Enhanced typesetting :
Enabled
X-Ray :
Not Enabled
Word wise :
Enabled
1
ISAIAH
Present Day
“There’s my guys.” I swing an arm over both Cody and Travis’s shoulders when I find them on the casino level of our hotel. “Where are we headed?”
“About time, Rhodes.” Travis, our catcher, shrugs out from under me. “You take longer to get ready than anyone I know, and your socks still don’t fucking match.”
I look down at my feet, where my pants hit right at my ankles. “They match to me.”
“We have a table waiting with bottle service at the club in Caesars Palace.” Cody gestures down the strip. “Let’s go.”
Our first baseman takes off with excited strides, the rest of the team following closely behind, with me bringing up the rear of the group.
We’ve been in Vegas for a few days now, and this is our final night here. Every year, before the season starts, the boys and I take a preseason trip as an excuse for some team bonding. It’s typically somewhere hot or tropical as a reward for surviving the Chicago winter, and though Las Vegas isn’t too hot this time of the year, the stuffy clubs and overpriced alcohol are keeping us all plenty warm.
Not that we’ve had to worry about the price of alcohol or pay for much of anything. As a professional baseball team, we’ve been gifted tables at clubs and endless booze each night we’ve been here.
Two years ago, my older brother Kai got picked up by the Windy City Warriors, finally putting us on the same team. He’s not with us in Vegas, opting to stay in Chicago with his son and soon-to-be fiancée, but I have the rest of my guys here and other than spending time with my family, there’s not much I enjoy more than hanging with my friends and throwing back a few drinks.
“Is tonight the night?” Travis slows his strides to walk in the back of the group with me.
“Is tonight the night for what?”
“Is tonight the night you talk to someone other than your teammates in the club?”
“Don’t really see the point in that. I’m on a team-bonding trip. I’m bonding with the team.”
“Yeah, we’re all on a team-bonding trip, yet you’re the only one of us who has gone home alone both nights here.”
“Not interested,” I say with a casual shrug. “And that’s not true. Lautner, the rookie from Oregon, hasn’t gone home with anyone either. Kid has got zero game.”
“Who the hell are you, and what have you done with Isaiah Rhodes? When have you ever not been interested? And since when did you stop being the life of the party? Last year in Miami, we had to promise a cop two tickets behind home plate just to keep him from arresting you. You started stripping naked right on Ocean Drive.”
“We were in Florida. It was hot. And I’m still the life of the party. I just don’t continue the party once we leave the bar anymore.”
Travis shoots me a pointed glance out of the corner of his eye, telling me he knows exactly why.
In fact, the entire team knows why.
There’s been only one woman who has held my interest and now that she’s no longer wearing another man’s engagement ring, spending my time with anyone else holds zero appeal. My teammates have also encouraged me to let go of that pipe dream because in their minds, it’s never going to happen. They believe that the one and only woman on our team staff would never try something with one of us, least of all me. Sure, I’ve given Kennedy Kay more shit than anyone else on the team, but that’s only because I made a promise to her that I would.
And I always keep my promises.
When we get to the next hotel over, the line to enter the club seems endless, wrapping and looping, bodies squeezed together in an attempt to get inside quicker, but thankfully Cody gets a phone call telling us to use the backdoor entrance, allowing us to skip the line altogether.
As we pass the waiting patrons, walking in the opposite direction, a hand reaches out to grab my bicep.
“Hey, I know you,” a feminine voice says. “You play baseball for Chicago. Number nineteen.”
I follow her hold on me to find a woman with light hair and glittery makeup.
“That’s me.”
Her hand trails down my arm. “Rhodes, right?”
“There are two Rhodeses playing for Chicago now, but yeah, I’m Isaiah.” I hold out my hand for hers to shake, being sure to use the one that would force her to stop touching me.
“Bridget. So, what brings you to Vegas?”
“Team-bonding trip.” I gesture to the guys halted around me.
Her eyes sparkle before motioning to the handful of other girls around her. “We’re here for my birthday.”
“Well then, happy birthday to you.” I wink at her because old habits die hard and I’m a fucking idiot and now she thinks I’m interested, judging by the smirk tilting on her mouth. “Do you guys have a table? We’d love to join you.”
“We do have a table.” I attempt my best disappointed tone, hoping not to hurt her feelings. “But it’s guys’ night.”
“It’s most definitely not guys’ night,” I hear Cody pipe up from somewhere behind me.
“You understand, right?” I continue as if no one heard him.
“Sure thing.” Bridget’s eyes flicker and I think it’s with embarrassment more so than disappointment.
“But hey,” I interrupt her thought process. “Find us inside and I’ll make sure the bartender puts all your drinks on my tab, yeah? Can’t have the birthday girl paying for all her own drinks, can we?”
Her shoulders straighten, a bit of confidence returning to her face. “No, we absolutely cannot.”
“Have fun, ladies, and happy birthday, Bridget.”
Her body sways in a flirty way. “Thanks, Isaiah. See you inside.”
Hands in my pockets, I continue to the back door as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Because nothing out of the ordinary did happen.
“First of all,” Cody says, continuing to walk with me. “How the hell can you turn someone down and manage to have her still drooling over you afterward? I need some of that Isaiah Rhodes charm.”
I scoff. “You pick up more people than I ever have.”
“She was beautiful, by the way.”
“You should go for it.”
“I just might.”
“And second off,” Travis cuts in. “You’re an idiot. Please for the love of God, let this go. Cody, if you don’t use your dick, does it fall off? Is Isaiah going to die a born-again virgin?”
“I couldn’t tell you. I use my dick plenty.” Cody stops in his tracks. “Wait, born-again virgin? Still? That was because of Kennedy back there?”
“You two can both fuck off.”
Travis laughs to himself.
“Isaiah, you have got to let that go. It’s been three years.”
“It hasn’t been three years.”
“You’ve been into that girl since the day she walked into the clubhouse for the first time.”
“Yeah, but I only realized she was single eight months ago, so technically I’m only eight months in on this whole thing.”
“Wow.” Cody nods. “Trav is right. You are an idiot.”
I smack him on the back of his head. “Remember last night when we were a few drinks in and I told you two that you guys were my best friends?” “Yeah?”
“I take it back. You both fucking suck.”
The back door to the club opens and the bouncer nods in Cody’s direction, allowing the team to start trickling their way in with the three of us bringing up the rear.
“We’re just looking out for you.” Cody swings his arm over my shoulders. “You’ve been shooting your shot for years and look how well that’s worked out.”
I wasn’t shooting my shot. Sure, maybe I’ve shamelessly flirted with the girl for the past three years, but none of it was serious. She had a fiancé. But now…now she doesn’t. Now I’m dead serious about my intentions, but she thinks I’m still joking around.
Call me ridiculous. Call me superstitious, but that day I met her three years ago felt like fate. What I typically consider the worst day of the year had a bright light for once.
That same date on the calendar is only minutes away, and still, in the eighteen years since I lost my mom, there was only one time I genuinely smiled on that date, and it was the morning that Kennedy Kay came barging into the women’s bathroom and subsequently my life.
I shuffle forward, following my teammates into the club, having to project my voice over the pounding base. “Don’t you guys believe in fate?”
“For fuck’s sake, Rhodes.” Travis shakes his head at me. “Did you really just scream ‘don’t you guys believe in fate’ in the middle of a goddamn nightclub? Please for the love of God, go get laid.”
Cody can’t help but laugh as the bouncer closes the back door behind us. “I’ll start believing in fate the moment Kennedy decides to voluntarily spend time with you outside of work.”
Travis chimes in. “Forget spending time with him. At this point, I’d consider it fate if Kennedy so much as said a single word to him outside of work.”
Walking backward, I face my buddies as I continue to follow our group to the private table of the busy club. “You have no faith. One day, you’ll see.” I throw my hands wide. “It’s meant to be!”
Without looking, I barrel into someone behind me, stepping right on their foot. I stumble but catch my balance and even over the music, I can hear their low hiss in pain.
“Oh shit.” I turn just in time to grab their upper arms, keeping them from toppling over. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking.”
“Clearly.”
The woman’s hair curtains her face as she babies her injured foot by hobbling on one single high heel in agony.
That hair.
Even in the darkness of the club, I know that hair. The shade is one I’ve memorized. Auburn as Cody first taught me.
Kennedy Kay Auburn as I refer to it now.
“Kenny?”
I watch her body instantly stiffen before her brown eyes cautiously lift to look at me. “Isaiah?”
“Hi.”
Her shocked expression does nothing to stop my eyes from wandering the length of her.
Read more
Liz Tomforde
Liz Tomforde writes sports romance novels that depict realistic and healthy relationships. Her books offer a mix of witty banter and real-life struggles. Her heroes are alpha yet vulnerable, and her heroines are strong.
Born and raised in Northern California, Liz is the youngest of five children. She loves all things romance, traveling, dogs, and hockey.
When she's not traveling or writing, Liz can be found reading a good book or taking her Golden Retriever, Luke, on a hike in her hometown in Sonoma County, CA.
For more information, please visit liztomforde.com. You can find Liz on Instagram @liztomforde.author
Read more
Customer reviews
4.7 out of 5
13,067 global ratings
Taylor Alexander
5
5⭐️
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2024
Verified Purchase
Don’t even get me started on Isaiah and Kennedy! Isaiah is Kai‘s brother and is also a pro baseball player. Kennedy whisperer on as a athletic trainer even though she’s qualified to be a head doctor. When the current doctor found out, she was a woman he demoted her position. From day one Isaiah has been obsessed with her with the hugest crush and has had no problem showing it, but has always hit on her jokingly because Kennedy was engaged. Engagement was broken and she was no longer wearing her ring. I’ll piss her off, and he started pursuing her for real. Running into each other is the last thing either of them expected but when Isaiah sees how uncomfortable she is being at her step sisters bachelorette party (who is getting married to Kennedys ex fiancé) he whisks her out of there and begs her to have one drink with him. After actually having fun and letting lose, something Kennedy doesn’t really do, too many drinks were had and they end up getting married on the Vegas strip. Waking up and planning to get an annulment they decide to stay married so Kennedy can keep her job and it gives Isaiah the opportunity to show her how good they could be together. From Isaiah having color blindness, to him calling everyone and checking in every time there’s a storm, to being the best uncle and brother and friend and literally the best man in the entire world, i can honestly say I’m completely obsessed with him! I love how we got to see Kennedy come out of her shell and it was beyond sweet how she trusted no one but Isaiah to touch her and teach her. To see her hugging people on her own at the end made me want to cry of joy. The spice was SO good too and the chemistry was off the charts! I also didn’t think i could him and Kai’s relationship more then i already did but that retirement speech omggg i cried like a baby. I love how he was himself around Kennedy and let her see his not happy parts. He’s the jokester but he has bad days too. And the back story of their mom and how little Max was born on the day she died and how he met Kenny and how that happened to get married on that same day! The whole book was behind sweet and spicy and everything i look for in a romance book. 10/10 no notes.
Read more
ReneeM
5
brilliant addition to this fantastic series!
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2024
Verified Purchase
Play Along by Liz Tomforde -Windy City Series Book 4-
5/5⭐️ 3/3🌶️ 3/3🦋
•Blurb• Swipe for published blurb.
•My Thoughts• WHAT MAGIC IS THIS?! I’m going to be honest, I was skeptical that Isaiah would be able to hold my attention like Ryan and Kai but good gracious, he did. He was so endearing and cute but still so attractive. He made me LAUGH and I loved learning more about the pieces of his past that formed him. Kennedy, our FMC, burrowed her way into my heart and her growth was so beautiful. This book is “he falls first and hard” at its very best and I live, laugh, loved it! (IYKYK😆) A sports romance with heart, tension, spice and characters that find a permanent space in your heart. Highly recommend!
If you haven’t read this series, you really need to, each book has so much depth and I love them! I actually had to remind myself that these characters aren’t real as I cried real tears during so many moments.
Read more
Kristen
5
⚾️ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝔸𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘⚾️
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2024
Verified Purchase
“𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙢𝙚?”
📖 ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴀʟᴏɴɢ ✍🏼 ʟɪᴢ ᴛᴏᴍꜰᴏʀᴅᴇ
𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦: 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 🔹 ᴍɪʟᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🔹 ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴍᴏᴠᴇ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️♾️ 🔹 ᴄᴀᴜɢʜᴛ ᴜᴘ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ♾️ 🔹 ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴀʟᴏɴɢ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ♾️♾️♾️ 🔹 ʀᴇᴡɪɴᴅ ɪᴛ ʙᴀᴄᴋ 4.24.25
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙮 𝙖𝙢 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙡𝙮?
𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦 ⚾️ ʀᴇᴠᴇʀꜱᴇ ɢʀᴜᴍᴘʏ x ꜱᴜɴꜱʜɪɴᴇ ⚾️ ʜᴇ ꜰᴀʟʟꜱ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ⚾️ ꜱᴘᴏɴᴛᴀɴᴇᴏᴜꜱ/ᴀʀʀᴀɴɢᴇᴅ ᴍᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ ⚾️ ʙᴀꜱ ᴇʙᴀʟʟ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ
📖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 📖 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ♾️
It’s official. Isaiah has become my #1 Windy Boy.
Liz’s writing consistently gets better and better. With each book I fall more in love with her characters.
Kenny is such a self made woman, even coming from wealth— she has made her own name for herself. She has achieved becoming a doctor, and applied for a position to be second doctor for The Windy City Warriors. But being a woman in a male dominated industry has its drawbacks. And it’s made Kennedy’s professional career take a hit. She loves the job she’s been assigned to, but it’s not the job she’s capable of.
Isaiah is a pure heart of gold. I love him immensely. Isaiah is the guy who wants to always make others smile, even when he doesn’t want to himself. But there’s one thing he’s known for certain, is that he’s head over heels for Kennedy Kay.
And after a drunken night in Vegas, they end up married. After word gets out about their marriage, they decide to stay married so that Kennedy doesn’t lose her job.
I love how we see how even though this isn’t ideal (well for Kenny at least 🤣) how they both help each other grow and evolve as individuals. Isaiah is perfect. He falls first, hard. I’d even say from day one.
This story was perfection. I cried. There were so many heart touching moments.
And I can’t wait to get Rio’s book!
But I am begging 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗪𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞
Read more
Samantha Vo
5
MY NEW FAVORITE BOOK
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2024
Verified Purchase
so grateful for the author and team for the early arc!
it’s official! liz tomforde never disappoints bc this is my FAVORITE book and couple by her!!!
kennedyisaiah are such opposites with perfectionist planner x easy-going sunshine but they are so perfect for each other! the way they love each other makes me wanna cry. also the way isaiah obsesses and loves kennedy is everything! i appreciate how careful he is with her boundaries and how attentive he is to her especially with making sure she eats
liz tomforde created a beautiful love story starting with marriage of convenience where we got to not just see isaiah and kennedy’s love grow but also see how they made each other grow as individuals. this marriage started off fake but it’s the realest love i’ve ever seen
yellow by katherine ho
i also love that the side characters didn’t take a backseat in this one like all the characters are back from the previous books! the family is all here and i couldn’t stop smiling (also crying) MY FOUND FAMILY
imperfect for you by ariana grande (kennedy’s song)
i love getting to know more about kennedy in this one especially with her struggles with intimacy and touch. it was interesting to learn more about what her family background and upbringing was like and how that shaped her character. i also love seeing kennedy's character growth throughout the book. she has become one of my favorite fmcs
i also love that we got to see a more vulnerable side of isaiah too! he’s actually more layered than what he portrayed in the previous books like we got to learn more about his trauma. also learning more about isaiah just made me love him more especially when you find out why isaiah would always make sure kennedy is fed
also isaiah is such a lover boy with his love languages of physical touch and words of affirmation. the way all his friends knows about kennedy before they even met her bc he’s always talking about her years before they get together!!
isaiah’s songs gold rush by taylor swift fake smile by ariana grande notice me by pnbrock
the ending made my heart so full like I love this family so much. i can’t wait for rio’s book even though it's the last book. Buttt i have a theory that someone might get his own book maybe spinoff mayhaps hehe
i live laugh love kennedyisaiah
Read more
Monica
5
Happy Accident
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2024
Verified Purchase
5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Kennedy Kay Auburn & Isaiah My Wife Rhodes will live rent free in my mind for eternity. They quickly became my favorite couple ever. I was mad at Kenny at the beginning, how can someone be so mean especially to Isaiah. He’s perfect and everything about him is. The vulnerability in him, the kindness, the sweetness, and the hotness of this man was so gooooood. He is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. His traumas are so deep and his struggles are so real, he does what he can to keep it to himself so he’s not bothering other. He takes care of everyone but who takes care of him??? My girl Kenny will 🥲. If you knew him from Caught Up, you actually don’t, he’s nothing like you think he is, he’s better. Kennedy is in denial but my girl quickly melts for him, I love that puts him first, that she lets him become her world.
Favorite quotes:
“She’s so pretty and sometimes a little mean. It’s a lethal combination for me.”
“On this day, where everything feels like a sign, I don’t hesitate when I say, “My future wife.””
““That color kind of looks like your hair and Trav once told me your hair was red. I know it’s not just red. It’s auburn. Kennedy Kay Auburn, in fact.””
““And this…this looks so f’ing good on you, Ken. What color is it? White?”
“Yellow.”
“My favorite color.” “
I will forever recommend Play Along. Yes read them all but this one is going to be THE BOOK. BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR SURE. Swooon. I honestly can’t get over it. I was in a book hangover, only to be broken by This one and put in another. Thank you so much Liz for the opportunity to get the ARC AND for writing the best books ever💓 Also; I may or may not be listening next after I re do Caught up. 🤭
Read more
4.2
-
100,022
$8.39
4.3
-
155,575
$6.33
4.6
-
140,302
$13.49
4.3
-
88,556
$9.59
4.4
-
94,890
$11.66
4.3
-
154,085
$2.99
4.3
-
143,196
$9.47
4.1
-
80,003
$13.48
4.3
-
54,062
$14.99
4.4
-
59,745
$16.19
4.2
-
107,613
$8.99
4.4
-
94,673
$8.53