I used to just jump from one book to another, leaving myself with little to no time to process what the hell just happened in the previous book. Everything didn’t feel urgent, life didn’t feel like it was going at a super fast pace and so wasn’t trying to keep up with anything. I was going through my 2022 reads and I couldn’t help but reminisce on the past. My normal genres of romance are usually dark romance and fantasy, I only ever read light romance once in a blue moon. But I saw a college romance book that brought me to halt, its bright pink cover was annoying to look at and at the same time, captivating.
I’m almost done reading the shatter me series and like I said in our hive book club meeting, I will most definitely talk about it. I’m just giving it time to fully process in my system. I’m so excited as I type this: it is elevating and I can’t wait to talk about it, but first of, let’s talk about this lovely book-Tutoring the Player by Rebecca Jenshii.
Oh my God, after three years plus and I’m discovering there’s a book 2 I never knew about! Never have I felt so betrayed by the internet for not putting it up at my face somehow, tch.
The first book is called Tutoring the player and the other book is called Hating the Player. It’s a young adult series that talks about love on campus. Yes, university, college - campus. And I just realized there’s no actual way I would’ve known there was a part two, as the first book came early 2022 and I read the book mid 2022.
Now, let us begin with the plot. Someone play a song that fits storytime please.
Daisy has always been the girl who watches life happen from the sidelines. At Valley University, she’s found her safe haven in an actual treehouse - yes, a literal treehouse - where she retreats to observe the campus chaos below. She’s got her life mapped out perfectly: crush on Liam, the responsible, stable guy who represents everything safe and predictable she’s ever wanted. Good grades, quiet existence, zero drama. Then, Jordan guy crushes into her world. Literally slams the ground beside her.
Jordan is Valley’s golden hockey player, all tattoos and trouble, beer in one hand and a different girl on his arm every week. He’s the kind of guy who treats life like one big party between hockey practices, the exact opposite of everything Daisy thought she wanted. But when he approaches her about tutoring, something shifts.
Here’s the thing though - Jordan isn’t just randomly picking the quiet girl to help with his studies. There’s a scheme brewing, some kind of bet or dare that has him targeting sweet, innocent Daisy. He figures it’ll be easy enough: keep the wallflower distracted, win whatever game his teammates have going, everyone wins. Simple. Reminds you of After, yeah? Did you read or see After?
Except nothing about Daisy turns out to be simple. As they start their tutoring sessions, Jordan finds himself actually looking forward to them. Daisy, meanwhile, is experiencing something completely foreign - that electric spark she’s read about but never felt, especially not with safe, predictable Liam. Every time Jordan leans over her shoulder to look at textbooks, every casual touch, every moment his attention focuses entirely on her, she feels herself coming alive in ways that terrify and thrill her.
But Daisy’s still hung up on her fantasy of Liam, still convinced that the responsible choice is the right choice, even as Jordan makes her feel things she didn’t know were possible. She’s caught between who she thinks she should want and who actually sets her world on fire.
Jordan, meanwhile, is dealing with his own crisis. What started as keeping Daisy distracted for whatever scheme he’s part of becomes him being the one who’s completely distracted. He starts seeing past the quiet exterior to the sharp wit, the hidden strength, the way she challenges him without even trying. For a guy who’s never taken anything seriously except hockey, Daisy becomes the thing he can’t stop thinking about.
The tension builds as their sessions become less about studying and more about the undeniable chemistry crackling between them. But secrets have a way of surfacing, and when Daisy discovers that Jordan’s initial approach wasn’t genuine - that she was part of some game or bet - everything explodes.
And when she found out about the betrayal, it cut deep because Daisy finally opened herself up to someone, finally stepped out of her safe zone, only to discover it was all built on a lie. Jordan realizes he’s destroyed the best thing that ever happened to him, and now he has to grovel his way back into her life, prove that what developed between them became real, even if it didn’t start that way.
The story becomes Jordan’s desperate attempt to win back the girl who changed everything about how he sees himself, while Daisy has to decide if someone who started as a lie can become her truth. It’s messy and emotional and filled with the kind of passion that neither of them saw coming - the quiet girl finding her voice and the playboy discovering what he’s actually been playing for.
Honestly, it ended pretty well. I wonder what book 2 would be all about. Well, I won’t know till I read it, yeah? Yeah. Anyways, it’s a comfort book, quick to read too, give or take 3 hours max or less.
Thanks for reading.
Oh no-guys, there's book 3! So I missed book 2 and 3! Wake me up!