SynopsisSmut sells. Michael Rourke learned this the hard way. Struggling to make ends meet as a mystery writer, he sold his soul - and his pride - as he pedaled sex and lust writing under the pen name Christoph Strong. No one knew he was the one behind the steamy stories on the bestsellers lists. And he planned to keep it that way. Until he met her. Monica Singer, an infamous blogger, is keen to discover the truth of his secret identity. During a chance meeting at a book convention, Michael and Monica form an instant connection. And soon, an innocent online friendship becomes something so much more. But as Michael starts to let his guard down, he doesn’t realize that the person he's learning to trust may be hiding secrets of her own. Secrets that could ultimately destroy everything. |
Buy Links
Review
I was just talking to a few friends the other day, and we all agreed that not every book has to be overly deep. It doesn’t have to pull you under and feel like you’re drowning in emotions. Sometimes, it’s nice to just have some fun. Word Play is that book. It has the sweet, it has the angst, it has the excitement, but more than anything, I just had a blast reading this book. It’s so creative and extremely different from anything else I’ve read lately. I found myself making notes and highlighting all over the place, which I normally don’t do. Simply put, I loved this book. I see many rereads of this one in the future.
Usually I’d give a little mini Erin-ified synopsis, but this will tell you what you need to know: “Smut sells. And I had rent to pay.” Christoph aka Michael is an erotica author, but not by choice so much. He was originally writing mystery, but those didn’t take off. Suddenly he’s thrust into the erotica genre, which of course, as fans, we know went BOOM! This is the story of a short time in his life where his identity is given away, and all of the craziness that ensues. It’s his life as an author and his relationship with another author, Betty aka Lauren. It’s the story of Michael trying to navigate through this intense and probably a bit overwhelming book world, plus falling in love.
Okay so here’s my official thought on this book: I think it should be a requirement for every blogger to read Word Play. It’s fun! You need to have a good humor about it all. Let yourself poke fun of the blogging world. We work our tails off, we do our best to support our favorite authors, but you know…it was sort of amazing to laugh about certain aspects. Blogging is exhausting sometimes, but when you see it from this side of things, it brings it all back to being just SO enjoyable. It made me giggle but also nod my head, because it’s so dead on. It’s our world. The bloggers, the authors, the signings, the fans, the “eek”-ing (or in this case, it’s “smeep” which is way cooler than Eeek so I may start using that), and the crazy drama that goes with all of that. You also see it from an author’s point of view (I don’t know if it’s entirely accurate but it sure seemed like it could be in my opinion), which is very intriguing as a fan.
On top of the indie book world extras and definitely the more important part of the entire book, I LOVE this love story. You’ve got the romance and tension. You’ve got the excitement and sexiness. There are so many will they/won’t they moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat. You’ll be cheering them on, knowing that they both want one another and you just cannot wait to get to THAT point where it finally all happens. The characters seem well-developed, definitely Michael more than Lauren although that’s to be expected since it’s centered on him mainly. I loved these characters together, as well as their interactions with friends/coworkers. I was enthralled with their lives from page one.
Overall, I adored this book. It’s a romance so of course it’s got the elements we all hope for, but the entire story just went above and beyond for me. I love that someone finally wrote about what we all live every day, and because of that, it’s definitely at the top of the most memorable books for me. Silver did a fantastic job writing this unique story, and I can’t wait for more.
<3 Erin
Usually I’d give a little mini Erin-ified synopsis, but this will tell you what you need to know: “Smut sells. And I had rent to pay.” Christoph aka Michael is an erotica author, but not by choice so much. He was originally writing mystery, but those didn’t take off. Suddenly he’s thrust into the erotica genre, which of course, as fans, we know went BOOM! This is the story of a short time in his life where his identity is given away, and all of the craziness that ensues. It’s his life as an author and his relationship with another author, Betty aka Lauren. It’s the story of Michael trying to navigate through this intense and probably a bit overwhelming book world, plus falling in love.
Okay so here’s my official thought on this book: I think it should be a requirement for every blogger to read Word Play. It’s fun! You need to have a good humor about it all. Let yourself poke fun of the blogging world. We work our tails off, we do our best to support our favorite authors, but you know…it was sort of amazing to laugh about certain aspects. Blogging is exhausting sometimes, but when you see it from this side of things, it brings it all back to being just SO enjoyable. It made me giggle but also nod my head, because it’s so dead on. It’s our world. The bloggers, the authors, the signings, the fans, the “eek”-ing (or in this case, it’s “smeep” which is way cooler than Eeek so I may start using that), and the crazy drama that goes with all of that. You also see it from an author’s point of view (I don’t know if it’s entirely accurate but it sure seemed like it could be in my opinion), which is very intriguing as a fan.
On top of the indie book world extras and definitely the more important part of the entire book, I LOVE this love story. You’ve got the romance and tension. You’ve got the excitement and sexiness. There are so many will they/won’t they moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat. You’ll be cheering them on, knowing that they both want one another and you just cannot wait to get to THAT point where it finally all happens. The characters seem well-developed, definitely Michael more than Lauren although that’s to be expected since it’s centered on him mainly. I loved these characters together, as well as their interactions with friends/coworkers. I was enthralled with their lives from page one.
Overall, I adored this book. It’s a romance so of course it’s got the elements we all hope for, but the entire story just went above and beyond for me. I love that someone finally wrote about what we all live every day, and because of that, it’s definitely at the top of the most memorable books for me. Silver did a fantastic job writing this unique story, and I can’t wait for more.
<3 Erin
Author Info
Amalie lives in the Midwest with her husband and two children. When she's not writing, she enjoys crosswords, Scrabble, and playing games with her kids.