Playin' Hard

by Whitney D. Grandison

Overview

Readers of YA contemporary romance, sports romance, enemies-to-lovers stories, and those looking for Black love will be drawn to this title. It’s perfect for fans of Talia Hibbert’s Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute.

DeAndre may be the king of the court but after one class debate Cree becomes the queen of his heart.

If there’s one thing Cree Jacobs can’t stand about Moorehead High, it’s definitely the Ballers Club—an exclusive clique of boys who dominate the school’s sports teams. The boys are arrogant, flashy, and just way too overrated for Cree’s taste.

Don’t tell that to DeAndre Parker, the unofficial leader of the group. Laidback, good looking, a prodigy on the court, and the son of a retired NBA champion, DeAndre knows his potential and that almost everyone at Moorehead would do anything to get close to him—except for Cree Jacobs.

Typically these two would never cross paths or acknowledge each other, but one heated debate with Cree in class sets DeAndre off, igniting a need within him: no one can resist the Club. Determined to get Cree under his spell, DeAndre begins trying to change her opinion of him as the two strike a friendship that sparks into something more.

"10 Things I Hate About You meets Love & Basketball for Gen Z." —SLJ

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781998854325
Publisher:	Wattpad Webtoon Studios, Inc.
Publication date:	04/08/2025
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

A lover of words, Whitney D. Grandison has been writing since as far back as she can remember. Outside of writing, she is a lover of Asian dramas, all things John Hughes, and horror films. Whitney currently lives in Akron, Ohio, with her cats.Visit Whitney’s website, www.whitneydgrandison.com, and follow her on Instagram, @wheadee.

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2025

Gr 10 Up—Shakespearean classic The Taming of the Shrew finds its latest modern interpretation in the will-they-won't-they dynamic between fiery, independent Cree and lothario Deandre. After a classroom discussion ignites into the two teens debating the meaning of love, they are rapidly pulled into each other's inner circles. Cree distrusts Deandre, a member of their high school's "Baller's Club," an exclusive group of athletes and serial daters (to put it lightly), but cannot seem to avoid his charms. Deandre is attracted to Cree's intelligence and pride but has vowed to forever focus on basketball over women. At over 400 pages, their inevitable declarations of love feel hard-fought, especially when Cree is so consistently appealing, while Deandre is irksome for many chapters before his soft underbelly is revealed. Grandison, no stranger to YA romance, keeps the pace moving with the help of alternating POVs. The book may need to be put in the hands of a real fan of slowburns, but it should appeal to many readers of the genre. The protagonists are Black. VERDICT 10 Things I Hate About You meets Love & Basketball for Gen Z.—Alexandra Quay

School Library Journal

2025-01-18
Cree Jacobs never thought she’d be friends with a member of the Ballers Club, until she got to know DeAndre Parker.

Seventeen-year-old Cree isn’t impressed by the Ballers Club, a group of four boys who have looks, style, and athletic prowess and run the hallways of Moorehead High in Akron, Ohio. They’re known for wooing girls—and then dumping them. Cree doesn’t understand their appeal until she encounters DeAndre, a former NBA player’s son who doesn’t believe in love or happily ever after but seems different from the other Ballers. After an Honors English class discussion in which they disagree about what love is, the two become friends—but can they resist turning their friendship into something more? This teen romance is narrated in DeAndre’s and Cree’s alternating first-person perspectives. The story centers on a group of boys who have “wealth, status, and a sprinkle of tattoos” and who frequent a strip club, and a girl who speaks her mind and is called afeminazi by the boy she later falls for. The stilted dialogue is at times cringey (“I’m not aimin’ to win a Pulitzer, but I’m a real dude, and you, you’re a real chick, so let’s get together and write something real”), and the story leans into the misguided narrative that the right girl can make a wandering boy settle down. Main characters are Black.

Tired gender stereotypes make this romance feel outdated.(Romance. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews