The weekend is nigh and it is time to shake it like it’s a polaroid picture. I have to tell you that I have a game plan that includes finding my underwear, which are in one of 7 boxes called “clothes” still packed in my bedroom and taking part in the Kidney Walk in LA.

If you aren’t planning to have a crazy weekend like mine I am here to recommend a good pick me up for you, a sure pleaser to get you through. Playing Games is actually the second book in the Games series by Jessica Clare (a pseudonym for Jill Myles) and as much as I liked Wicked Games, Playing Games really kicked it’s butt. The characters, Dean and Abby do end up in The World Race but the two books don’t rely so heavily on a continuous story that you need to read them in order or create a reason as to why you wouldn’t be able to read this book as a stand alone. That said, I did really adore Abby in Wicked Games and Jill Myles ability to create the tension and skullduggery of a reality show is so impressive that the book really is a very good read. Just not as good as Playing Games.

Jill Myles Games series is built on the concept of reality shows like Survivor, The Amazing Race–and the newest book she has written would be like Dancing with the Stars. I found Wicked Games for free on Amazon and the second I read the synopsis I was sold. Playing Games starts off with Katy trying to win a spot for her obnoxious, ambitious brother on Endurance Island. Her ingenuity and spark gets them both on World Race and she is about 25% happy to be there. She becomes even less enthused when the “talent”, rock star Liam Brogan, moody and stand-offish, ruffles her already ruffledness right up. Her selfish brother makes a horrible situation dire when he flips teams and Katy finds she is now teamed with her nemesis.

The story has a great pace. There is really a lot of places that a book like this one could go wrong but Jill Myles really sticks all the right pieces in all the right places. Liam is like a fine wine, he just gets better with time. Katy is one of those heroines you love to read about. She is strong, capable, you understand what she does and why and you know she will get it right in the end. Through all the ups and all the downs you can’t help but really think that Liam and Katy work as a team because they work. But you also start to wonder if they work because they make a good team and that just keeps you guessing along the way.

The secondary characters in this book are strong. You see what Dean and Abby are like when they aren’t on Endurance Island and it’s nice to see that they aren’t that different from who they were there. Brody is so unlikable that you can’t stand any interaction he and Katy have but you know it’s family so it’s gotta happen. Sort of like Thanksgiving and Family Reunions. They are terrible but you live through them. The other pairs and Tesla fill out the group to balance it all just like they do it on TV and I’ll be damned if Jill Myles doesn’t watch a little too much reality TV. I’d say that self help groups are an option but I love what you are doing a little too much for me to want you to stop. I’d really like to see you do something like the Eco-challenge. I know that wasn’t really a team thing but I think you, being the creative kinda girl you are, could talk it over with your muse and work it all out.

The only part of this book I did find disappointing was that I did find that there could have been just a little bit more interaction with the other teams. I thought it might have been a neat idea if you saw the reason that some of the pairs were on it together like you do on the show. Sometimes you hear the son and mother say things like, “My mother just battled with breast cancer and she is 2 years in remission.” Or the Barbies saying one of them is getting married and this was the last thing they were going to do before the other tied the knot. It would have just filled out the other teams a little but I’m really picking at it now. It’s really good. It just could have been an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny better.

I have not read Ice Games yet. I did buy it and it is on my Kindle and it is on my list of September books to read. I would be very surprised if it was any less than the other two Games books. I will leave a review on my Goodreads letting my Games freak fly.

Jill Myles can be found on the internet at her website, Goodreads page, on her Amazon author page, blog, on Twitter, and Facebook. If you aren’t happy with all those forms of finding Jill Myles you can try looking for her on the Two Evils Rollergirls Roster. I’m not saying she is there… just giving you a place other than Google to search.

There are a few books coming out in the coming months:
The Scarecrow King – Late September 2013
The Wrong Billionaire’s Bed – October 16, 2013 (Jessica Clare)
Bedroom Games – Early November 2013 (Jessica Clare)
The Expert’s Guide to Driving a Man Wild – January 2014 (Jessica Clare)

Jill Myles also writes under the pseudonym Jessica Sims. Check her out and read on like there just aren’t enough books to go around and tomorrow might not come.

Please leave your comments and questions below. I have no issues with you leaving links to your own blogs and reviews to this book in comments so long as you indicate in someway that that is what you are doing because links alone may be mistaken as spam. I enjoy reading other people’s reviews and blogs and believe that writers, readers and bloggers need to stick together. When I have enough links I will make a post recommending blogs featuring writers, reviewers and bloggers who support All The Things In Between. Thanks.