After reading this I wish I had found myself an Aussie rugby player.
This is a very well written romance with a sweet story. Single mom unexpectedly meets a man on vacation. Being forced unexpectedly to live in the same house ends up causing them to work together on taking care of her son. Based on an attraction that was already there they quickly fall in love.
I had no idea the author was from Australia. She did a great job writing in an American style and tone. The story line was easy to follow. The main characters were flushed out, believable and easy to picture. They had just enough history and rough edges to not come across as too perfect. This made them easy to like and want to see things go well. Their dialogue and interactions were realistic. There were steamy parts but the story still had more romance than sex. I especially liked that the ending did not wrap up too quickly.
I recommend this for the average romance reader. As the author is hoping it would be a good American introduction to her Sydney Smoke series. ( )

Playing with Trouble is a steamy, sweet, slow-burn romance that will give you all the feels. Loved the role-reversal of Jane being the contractor and Cole the manny. Jane's son Finn was adorable and I loved the addition of Carl the Chameleon. Amy Andrews can always be counted on for a great story. ( )

No trouble at all
4 stars

I adore Amy Andrews’ writing. She manages to bring such depth and detail to her stories, characters and worlds, all while keeping a light airiness that makes her words so easy to devour. Added to that, she’s hella funny. She makes me laugh so often in her novels - which I absolutely love.

This particular book brings together two of her popular series’ - Sydney Smoke and Credence, Colorado. I’ve never read any of the Smoke books but have read each and every Credence stories. This story still stands alone even if characters from both series do pop up on occasion - especially the men of Credence, there to delight us with some bromantic banter, teasing and mocking.

With this love story we have big, brawny rugby player, Cole, recuperating in Colorado after a career ending accident back in Australia. He finds himself sharing his holiday home with Prickly Pants Jane and her 4 year old son, Finn.

I loved Cole. He was all laid-back Ozzie while also dealing with the uncertainty of his future and his unexpected feelings towards Jane and her son. He had enough layers to keep me happy - just enough sweet and just enough dirty.

Jane was something more of a grower for me. At first she was cold and standoffish towards Cole and I wasn’t really sure that I liked her. As she softened towards Cole, I softened towards her. I could understand why she had her walls up around Cole, but boy could I identify with her once she threw caution to the wind and acted on her instincts to make a move on Cole.

It took a while to get there, but that just built up anticipation before our couple finally do the deed. I got that delicious feeling in my tummy every time our pair kissed or had sex. It was a delight. I adored their chemistry.

Since this is a single parent story, Finn does have a very large role in it. He was a cutie and although it’s not my favourite trope, in this case, it worked well. Kudos also to Ms Andrews for not making Tad into a pantomime villain. I wouldn’t have minded, to be honest, but making him something of a good guy really did add dimension to burgeoning love story.

I really grappled between giving this 4 or 5 stars. As much as I enjoyed the story and our couple, I plumped for 4 as, because of the single parent trope, the ending had to be slightly slower to make it believable. It was still a super cute, romantic and funny read that I would definitely recommend. I’ll also be heading to find more of the Sydney Smoke books to pick up more hunky Australian rugby boys. ( )