Playing Dirty by Susan Andersen

Enjoyable but not as good as the first two
4 stars

Back in high school, Cade Gallari slept with “fat girl” Ava Spencer to win a bet and proceeded to break her heart, dent her confidence and make her vow to hate him forever. Now, 13 years later, Cade, hotter than ever, is back and about to make an offer Ava can’t refuse.

Now a documentary film producer, Cade needs Ava to work closely with him on his newest project and if she manages to forgive him at the same time then he’ll be happy. But he won’t be completely satisfied until Ava gives him another chance and he’s not above playing dirty to get what he really wants.


This is the third book in the Sisterhood Diaries trilogy after Cutting Loose and Bending the Rules and I probably would suggest that you read the books in order for everything to make sense.

This book was a long time coming and I was so excited to receive it and read it. Perhaps my high expectations were part of the reason that I failed to be completely blown away by this novel.

It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination and Susan Andersen’s wit, style of writing and humour are there in spades. Both Cade and Ava were lovely characters and had the kind of ‘hate turning to love’ storyline that I really enjoy. They had good chemistry and I was really happy for them and rooting for them on their path to the happily ever after.

I would have liked to see a little bit more interaction between Ava, Jane and Poppy (especially as the scenes when they were together were so sweet!) and perhaps a few more scenes with Jase and Dev but that’s probably just personal preference and didn’t necessarily distract from the actual love story. The baddie wasn’t scary (and I’m a total wimp) and was dispatched so easily that there really hadn’t been much danger.

Overall, if you like Susan Andersen and are reading the Sisterhood trilogy then this isn’t a book you’d want to miss. I wasn’t sure how to rate this one as although it’s not nearly as good as the first two in the series, it’s still much better than other books I’ve read so I’ve stuck with 4 stars and Susan Andersen continues to be one of my favourite authors.