Plays Well with Others (2026)

In the second book in the How to Date series, Lauren Blakely brings her quirky, hilarious voice to a sexy American football romance about friends becoming lovers through a fake-dating arrangement. At the glittering breakup party Rachel Dumont throws for herself, she plans to celebrate being free and single again. Instead, after drinking too much champagne, she blurts out to her best male friend that she would really like to get back on the dating scene. Rachel does not expect Carter Hendrix to volunteer himself. With his sinful brown eyes and irresistible body, saying yes would hardly be a hardship, although she does not want him to feel obliged to help simply because her failed, loveless marriage left her in a sex desert. Carter, a charming and confident professional American football star, owes five public dates to his dating-app sponsor, so he and Rachel make a deal to help each other. Soon, their public dating lessons become very private ones, progressing from flirtatious banter and lingering looks to intense hours of physical intimacy. The problem is that learning to date again begins to feel like the real thing. Can Rachel and Carter's friendship survive their late-night bedroom sessions, especially now that she is longing for her best friend and her feelings are anything but fake? This English-language standalone romance features sports romance, friends to lovers, fake dating, romantic comedy and spicy romance.