TL;DR: The Dating Playbook was my first book by Farrah Rochon and it won’t be my last. It’s funny, sexy, and smart but it also tackles some big issues like learning disorders and mental health. I loved the rep, the romance was fantastic and the girl-boss friendships between Taylor, Samiah and London were fantastic! The banter was also incredible and I loved TayJar together—even though their ship name could do with a bit of work, lol! Overall, this was a fun and satisfying romance to read and I’m looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

Taylor is a badass personal trainer who is working tirelessly to get her fitness consulting company, Taylor’d Conditioning, off the ground. She’s uncompromising and persistent, hard-working and passionate about helping her clients but also realistically, making a living and finding success. I have to admit that my feelings about Taylor went up and down. There were moments when the volatility of her thoughts irritated me but she did a lot of growing up throughout the story and I loved how she would constantly reflect and take responsibility for herself. Looking past that minor thing, she’s honestly so relatable and easy to root for. Coming from a family of successful overachievers she has always felt deeply conscious of how different she is from them. This makes her feel very insecure and she tends to project that onto others, especially her family; however, it has underlying roots that are eventually tackled! This addresses the diagnosis of a learning disorder in an adult and I really appreciated how it was so sensitively handled! While it took some time for Taylor to accept the underlying reasons for her dislike of school and learning, once she does, it is growth all the way to the end!

In contrast, Jamar was a professional athlete who was injured at the height of his career in the NFL. Much like Taylor, he’s going through a pivotal moment in his life and he sought her out after deciding to intensify his training to return to the sport. Also like Taylor, he’s facing some internal demons that are addressed really well by the author. Since losing his best friend in high school, he’s been dealing with survivor’s guilt and on top of that, since his injury, he has been inundated with hateful and hurtful remarks from sports fans. This made me so angry at people because WHY ARE HUMANS? But I digress! I really sympathised with Jamar and rooted for him to find his happiness. He had a lot to unpack and address with his mental health and Rochon explores that aspect really well. I loved that this story focused just as much on their personal growth as it did on their romance without detracting from it either.

Taylor and Jamar supported each other through everything in this book and I LOVED it! They were so loving, accepting and supportive and my heart felt like it grew ten times bigger reading about them. Even when they weren’t trying to be they were so darn cute and their banter was absolutely the best. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times I found myself laughing out loud in public while reading this! They were so real and happily drama-free although that’s not to say they didn’t have their ups and downs but overall, they were the kind of low-angst low-drama couple who were so comforting to read about.

Have you read The Dating Playbook or is it on your TBR?

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