Play Along (Windy City Series Book 4)

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.

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.

“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 ⚾️ ʙᴀꜱᴇʙᴀʟʟ 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

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

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. 🤭

5/5

"I choose you, and I continue to choose you everyday after this one."

Play Along is the fourth book in the Windy City Series by Liz Tomforde and man oh man, I have no words on how much I loved this story!

Isaiah & Kennedy were everything and more than I could have expected! With every book, Liz seems to make them better and better each time.

Isaiah covers all the requirements for the perfect book boyfriend - sweet, sarcastic, sexy, sensitive and sincere. Oh man, did I feel all the feels from him!

And Kennedy is one of the coolest FMC's I've read! She's smart, witty, ambitious, strong, and becomes more confident throughout the book.

Thank you so much Liz for the ARC! It was one of the happiest days of 2024 for me to receive this and I am so excited to read Rio's story!

Highly recommend!

TROPES

💜Perfectionist FMC x Golden Retriever MMC ⚾️Stepbrother's rival 💜Drunken Marriage in Vegas ⚾️Boy obsessed

Writing this is a little difficult as words cannot describe how much I loved this series. I have a knack for accidentally spoiling parts of books so I’m just going to keep this short and sweet.

Liz has a knack for putting out banger after banger. Everything was working for this book. Isaiah being a golden retriever. Check! Workplace romance. Check! Humor. Check! Boy obsessed. Check! Spice. Double check. This series continues to be top notch for me and every book is better than the last. As Isaiah is legit the type of man I would personally be interested in and seek out he has a special place in my heart. The fact that he never gave up on Kennedy before they got together and the way he took care of her once they were together melted my heart and made me swoon.

If you have not already started this series, what are you waiting for!?! This is your sign!

Not gonna lie, I was a little worried about this one - but I should’ve known that Tomforde could take tropes I hate and still deliver a story I love. There’s a reason why all three of the other books in this series have made my Best of the Year list in the past, and that’s because she is an incredibly talented writer. The found family aspect in this series is so, so good, and I ADORED the steadfast, smitten hero. This is definitely a case of “he falls first,” since our hero knew from the moment that he met his girl. She takes a (much) longer time to come around, but the story shines once she lets love into her life. It’s sexy, swoony, and so sweet that my heart was full to bursting. The hero steals the show, but this was another complex, completely engaging read from the author. I never get tired of spending time with these characters, and Tomforde has created something truly special with this series. I loved it!

The story follows Kennedy, a woman who works in the male-dominated profession of sports medicine. While overqualified for her current position, she has to be careful to be seen as professional at all times… which means drunkenly marrying one of the players she works with is the worst thing she could’ve done. Especially when her new husband is Isaiah, the wild, ever-smiling flirt who has been professing his love for years. Kennedy has never taken Isaiah’s flirting seriously. First, because she was engaged to another man until recently. And second, because Isaiah is playful with everyone. But when Kennedy and Isaiah are forced to pretend that they intended to get married for real, Kennedy starts to see a different side of her new husband. He’s been a constant in her life for years, but Kennedy quickly realizes that she never knew Isaiah at all.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room - Isaiah has been a manhoe, even while flirting nonstop with Kennedy for years. It’s one of my least favorite tropes, and the reason I was so nervous to go into this. It's handled really well here though; Isaiah knew Kennedy was engaged and that he didn't stand a chance with her, so he never expected it to go beyond some one-sided flirting, even though he hammed it up. Once Kennedy became single? Completely different story. He hasn't even looked at another girl since then, and he was nothing but loving, loyal, and patient throughout. Probably more patient than me, actually, since Kennedy's refusal to see what was right in front of her was frustrating at times. She's got her own issues to work through, and I loved watching Isaiah uplift and support her in every way. There are some seriously great moments when he spins things in totally unexpected directions, and I loved that he took every opportunity to be SUCH a great man. Isaiah ended up being my favorite part of the book - his devotion to his wife was obvious, and I adored that from him. It's the kind of nuanced storyline that not every author can pull off, but Tomforde navigated the complexities with ease. Even with my initial hesitations, this was an EASY 5-star rating for me.

Audio note: The audio is awesome! Samantha Brentmoor is one of my favorites, and she showcased her skills here. Jacob Morgan's voice is never a hardship to listen to, and he also gives a stellar performance. The combination made for a fantastic experience. The runtime (12 hours) meant it was a full day binge, but I was completely hooked on the story - and binge it I did. It's a slowish burn that begins to sizzle along the way, so not recommended for the office. But it's so good in the format, and I'm happy that I got to experience it that way. Highly recommended.

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ SPICE: 🔥🔥🔥

Well, I didn’t think Kai Rhodes could ever be replaced from his top book boyfriend pedestal, but Isaiah Rhodes might have just knocked him off… or at least joined him up there.

This book was delightful and easily a favorite of mine. I will never get over loving the accidental marriage trope, and the vibes in this one were so good!

TROPES ✨ Accidental Marriage ✨ Workplace Romance ✨ Baseball Romance ✨ He Falls First ✨ Grumpy (her) / Sunshine (him) ✨ Found Family

Let me just say that the way Isaiah loved Kennedy brought a tear to my eye on more than one occasion. That man is an angel and absolutely no one can convince me otherwise. He has my entire heart and I will fight the world for him.

When Isaiah and Kennedy ran into each other in Vegas and accidentally got married, they find themselves having to pretend to be in love in order for Kennedy to keep her job with the Windy City Warriors. Isaiah has been in love with Kenny since the moment he met her, and is determined to get his wife to@fall in love with him if only she will play along.

Kennedy, oh Kennedy. My heart broke for her in parts because it was clear she didn’t know how to express or receive love and i felt all the feels as she slowly opened up to Isaiah.

Also Liz never disappoints with the side characters, and I will say it again, Monty is the best thing to ever walk this earth. I loved seeing everyone from the previous books and I need Rio to get his family ever after pronto.

3.75 ⭐️

Let me preface this by saying this was my first from this series and I’ll go back to read Kai’s at least. So, I’m going to assume my reaction might be skewed.

The brotherly love was top notch, and I loved Max too and want to read about how all the guys came to help out.

I enjoyed this book, it had such sweet moments and some made me emotional and I wasn’t sure why (Chapter 10). Easily fell in love with Isaiah but sometimes it was hard to fall in love with Kennedy since it took so long for her to realize that he wasn’t going anywhere. How many times do the other characters have to tell you that he’s been obsessed with you for months/years? Really frustrating.

Question? Where is the tattoo? Really wanted that to happen.

I will read about Rio, pretty sure he’s already met her. We’ll see.