Escape Dating Fatigue with The Passion found in Play Me

Do you ever look at your dating life and think: "Is this it? Is my soulmate just a glitch in my life’s algorithm?"

Is the reason we keep swiping right on 'possibilities' is because we're terrified to look left at the person who always orders our coffee and knows exactly why we need that extra shot of espresso?

If you’re a sucker for the BFF-to-Lovers trope, or you’re caught in this trope in real life, you need to head on over to Amazon and click on the book Play Me right now. 

This book is the necessary reminder that sometimes, the greatest love story is the one you’ve been ignoring for years. 

It’s got the heartbreak of an overheard phone call, and the tension filled angst of a friends-to-lovers twist and the passion of love realised.

This is Lana’s story, and let me tell you, her story is a welcome escape for any one who has been trying to navigate the seemingly barren wasteland of the modern dating landscape where the only thing blooming is an existential crisis. 

If you’ve spent too many nights navigating the murky waters of dating apps and crowded club floors, and have developed a serious case of "dating fatigue", this is your permission slip to pause, take a breather and read about someone else’s disastrous romance for a change.

 It all started with an airport goodbye, which, let's be honest, is already damned cinematic if I do say so myself.

Her ride-or-die, Dre, is jetting off to NYC for two months and suddenly, Lana feels all adrift. 

That's when the big question—the one we all avoid like a high-waisted jean—hits: Do I actually love him?.

It’s like doomscrolling on IG or the neverending loops of The YouTube shorts when you should be getting your beauty sleep in. 

You know what you should be doing (confessing your undying love), but you’re stuck in the endless scroll of denial.

Because here's the truth about being single with a secret crush that Lana is finding out for herself: You end up on a club night, dressed in your finest midnight-blue bodycon, and all you want is to be home, maybe FaceTime-ing with the only man whose company you actually enjoy. 

Instead, you’re forced to entertain a handsome-but-boring stranger who hits you with the most Neanderthal of pickup lines: “So, do you come here often?”.

 Seriously, girls.

 I laughed so hard when Lana ran to the restroom just to text Dre about it.

I wondered if she even realised that she was finding all kinds of ‘legitimate reasons’ like "too tall" and "too boring" to reject any and all suitors because they're not him.

So then, the plot thickens!

 Dre comes back and says he has "exciting news" that he wants to share in person to see her reaction.

 Lana, fueled by her friends’ near constant provocations, her own desires and a moment of mimosa fuelled courage at brunch, decides to finally go for it when she next sees him.

Which just so happens to be that Friday night.

BUT! 

Then the soul-crushing twist: He looks her dead in her eyes and tells her that he is planning on proposing to the woman he loves and if that wasn’t enough…he follows that up, by saying he "doesn't want to be just friends anymore”. 

I swear my heart stopped. 

The devastation! The humiliation! 

All that self-protection, shattered in five seconds.

It could all turn out to be massive, painful, romantic miscommunication… or the end of the way their friendship used to be. 

So let me ask you this, is a four-minute miscommunication worth two months of pining? Over a decade of love and friendship?

This story is not about grand gestures, but about the terrifying, vulnerable choice to stop playing it safe.

Would you risk losing a best friend for a shot at a soulmate? 

What would you do if that moment was snatched away from you before you even had a chance?

That’s what Lana has to figure out, but all is not as it seems and Lana may be much closer to getting her dreams fulfilled than the beginning of the evening would have made her believe.

This book is required reading for:

• Anyone who has ever had a "What are we?" moment with their best friend.

• Anyone who thinks they need to search for a "Prince Charming" when their "Dre" is right there.

• Anyone who just needs a guaranteed happily-ever-after to restore their faith in the cosmos and their wardrobe budget.

It’s the perfect antidote to dating fatigue. 

Go get it, read it, and then maybe—just maybe—text your own best friend something slightly terrifying and wonderfully honest.

xoxo, A.