Review: PLAYING THE FIELD by Emma Heatherington ***

Donegal lass Cara McCarthy has always been a tomboy type of girl, who wouldn't care how to spell Versace, let alone have any desire to wear it. On a career break in London, she lands a job as a cleaner which is right up her street just then. Her new boss is Sophia Brannigan the fashionista girlfriend of gorgeous Fulton FC Premiership star, Dylan Summers, and her new place of work is their luxurious home, Summer Manor. Cara is determined to stay in the background, but life has other plans. Before she can say 'Manolo', she finds herself plunged in at the deep end of high fashion and posh parties. With a friendly father figure in gardener Sam and a delightful new arrival called Lola, Cara's new life is set to be both fun and challenging. But as Sophia's hunger for celebrity grows, so does Cara s bond with Dylan Summers and soon everything she does at Summer Manor seems destined to land her deeper and deeper into trouble ...

I've been wanting to read this book ever since I saw the cover posted at Chick Lit Reviews a few months ago. The plot sounded quite interesting too, but sadly the book didn't quite live up to my expectations.

The novel tells the story of Cara ("Irish for friend"), who moves to London to escape her "shady past" and start afresh. She lives in a flat with her friend Natalie and her brother Liam. One day, she gets a job as a cleaner/housekeeper of a hot football star Dylan and his fame-crazy girlfriend Sophia. The latter is determined to become a star WAG and uses Cara on her way to stardom and Cara mostly puts up with it since she benefits from it too. On the other hand, Dylan is a very nice guy and not too keen on being in the spotlight. Sooo the inevitable happens - Dylan and Cara find out that they have a lot in common ... Can you guess what happens next? ;)

Yeah, that's pretty much it. There are a couple of minor twists and turns and so called scandals, but very little actually happens. However, despite the fact that this book is not particularly exciting, I still found it enjoyable and read it quite fast. It's nicely written and there are a few witty scenes and I mostly liked reading about the luxurious lifestyle Cara found herself in.

What I disliked most about the novel were the characters, who I found quite one dimensional. Maybe Cara, Liam and Natalie were better portrayed, but I found especially Sophia rather cartoon-like (she was always acting like a textbook bitch - boring) and I thought Dylan was underdeveloped too (he was like an angel among footballers and we only got to see his nice side). I'm afraid none of the characters impressed me and sadly I remained quite indifferent to them.

All in all, I'd recommed this if you're looking for a very simple and an enjoyable quick read with a pretty cover. :)

overall rating: 3/5
plot: 3/5 | writing: 3/5 | characters: 2/5 | cover: 4/5