Play Along by Liz Tomforde: Book Summary

Last Updated: September 3, 2026

Table of Contents

Play Along Summary: Accidental Vows, Real Feelings

What happens when a brilliant doctor who has been denied her rightful career meets a golden retriever of a baseball star hiding profound pain?

You get a drunken Las Vegas wedding that neither of them planned.

Play Along by Liz Tomforde takes two people trapped by others’ expectations—Kennedy Kay’s sexist boss and Isaiah Rhodes’s grief—and locks them into a fake marriage.

But this arrangement quickly becomes the most honest relationship either has ever had.

Play Along summary covers the full story, from that first clubhouse encounter to the final, intentional “I do.” No commentary or critique. Just what happens and who these people become.

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TL;DR

A sports doctor trapped in a demotion and a professional baseball player grieving his mother wake up married in Las Vegas.

To save her job, they fake the relationship.

What starts as an arrangement to defy her toxic family and his loneliness turns into a real bond.

She learns how to accept affection. He finds someone who stays.

The marriage that began with tequila ends with a genuine choice.

Play Along Summary: Full Story Breakdown

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Three years before the wedding, Kennedy Kay interviews for a team physician position with the Windy City Warriors.

Dr. Fredrick, the department head, tells her the job is now an entry-level athletic trainer role. His reason? She is a woman.

Isaiah Rhodes hears the entire exchange while hiding in a clubhouse restroom. The date marks the anniversary of his mother’s death, and he is struggling.

He notices Kennedy immediately—her precision, her frustration, her refusal to cry in front of Fredrick.

For three years, Kennedy remains professionally distant. Isaiah flirts constantly. She assumes he is just a charming athlete. He is actually serious.

Then the team travels to Las Vegas. Kennedy is also there, suffering through her stepsister Mallory’s bachelorette party.

Mallory is marrying Connor Danforth, Kennedy’s ex-fiancé.

Kennedy had endured eight years with Connor as a business arrangement between their wealthy New York families. He belittled her constantly.

Isaiah finds her at a club, miserable and surrounded by people who do not see her. He buys her comfortable shoes. He gives her his jacket.

They drink tequila and talk honestly. Late that night, fueled by rebellion and alcohol, Kennedy proposes they get married to spite her ex.

They wake up legally wed.

Then a photo leaks to the Chicago Tribune.

Fraternization between staff and players violates team policy. Kennedy faces termination. Isaiah improvises a story for the owner: they have secretly loved each other for years. The elopement was planned.

The lie saves her job.

Kennedy needs to last the season because she is a finalist for a lead doctor position in San Francisco. So they move in together and “play along” with the marriage.

She confesses to Isaiah that her upbringing was emotionally barren. Nannies raised her. Her mother remained absent. She never learned how to give or receive physical affection.

Isaiah, who suffers severe anxiety during storms due to trauma from the car accident that killed his mother, offers to help. He proposes intimacy “lessons.”

The lessons begin with simple touch and escalate into genuine physical connection. Their fake marriage becomes a real relationship. Kennedy starts shedding the “cold” label others gave her. Isaiah stops hiding his pain behind humor.

The conflict arrives when San Francisco offers Kennedy the job. Isaiah panics—not because he wants her to stay, but because he fears she will stay only out of obligation.

He has divorce papers drafted. He tells her he will support any decision. He will even request a trade to follow her. But the choice is hers.

Kennedy spends a weekend alone. She realizes San Francisco is not the dream. The life she actually wants includes Isaiah, her friends, and a career where she is valued.

She meets with Reese Remington, the new team owner.

Reese reveals that the entire team filed formal complaints against Dr. Fredrick. He is fired. Reese offers Kennedy the newly created Head of Health and Wellness position.

Kennedy finds Isaiah at the clubhouse. She hands him the divorce papers—signed only on the line that reads “I love you.” She stays.

The epilogue jumps two years forward.

They hold a second wedding ceremony in Las Vegas. This time, they are surrounded by everyone they love.

This time, every word is intentional.

Read the Full Chapter-by-Chapter Breakdown of Play Along by Liz Tomforde

Books Similar to Play Along

Mile High by Liz Tomforde — The first Windy City book follows hockey player Zanders and flight attendant Stevie, establishing the found-family dynamics that continue throughout the series.

The Right Move by Liz Tomforde — Book two in the series features basketball star Ryan and Indy in a fake-dating arrangement with forced proximity, mirroring the pretend-to-real romance structure.

Caught Up by Liz Tomforde — Kai and Miller’s story in book three provides essential backstory for the Rhodes brothers’ relationship and the Warriors’ support network.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne — A workplace contemporary romance with high professional tension and a male lead whose playful exterior conceals genuine devotion, paralleling Isaiah’s characterization.

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace — A sports romance with a Type-A female lead and a supportive male protagonist, combining domestic intimacy with steam in a similar tonal balance.

Pucking Around by Emily Rath — Centers on the medical staff of a professional hockey team, echoing Kennedy’s struggle for professional respect in a male-dominated sports environment.

Characters In This Book

Character	Role
Isaiah Rhodes	Star shortstop for the Windy City Warriors who uses humor to mask childhood trauma and storm-related anxiety.
Kennedy Kay (Dr. Rhodes)	Highly specialized sports medicine doctor who is demoted to athletic trainer due to sexism.
Kai Rhodes	Isaiah’s older brother and the team’s ace pitcher who retires to focus on his family.
Miller Montgomery	Kennedy’s best friend and Kai’s fiancée, a pastry chef who helps Kennedy navigate her emotions.
Monty (Emmett Montgomery)	The Warriors’ field manager who is a surrogate father to the Rhodes brothers.
Dr. Fredrick	The sexist former Head of Health and Wellness who suppressed Kennedy’s career.
Reese Remington	Granddaughter of the team owner who takes over the organization and champions women in sports.
Dean Cartwright	Kennedy’s stepbrother and Isaiah’s former high school rival who eventually supports Kennedy’s independence.
Connor Danforth	Kennedy’s ex-fiancé, a billionaire heir who cheated with her stepsister and belittled her.
Cody and Travis	Isaiah’s best friends and teammates who provide comic relief and emotional support.
Arthur Remington	The retiring team owner.

What Drives the Story

Theme	How the Book Presents It
Fake Marriage	A drunken Vegas wedding forces two people into a staged relationship to protect her job, which turns real over months of shared living.
Misogyny in Professional Sports	Kennedy is denied a doctor position solely because she is a woman, and her male boss actively suppresses her career until the entire team files complaints against him.
Childhood Trauma and Healing	Isaiah’s mother died in a car accident during a storm, leaving him with severe weather-related anxiety that Kennedy helps him manage through medical knowledge and presence.
Autonomy and the Power of Choice	Kennedy has never made a major life decision independently due to her controlling family, making her final choice to stay in Chicago the book’s central resolution.
Found Family vs. Biological Family	The Warriors organization provides unconditional support that Kennedy and Isaiah never received from their biological relatives.
Emotional Neglect	Kennedy was raised by nannies without physical affection, leaving her unable to initiate or accept touch until Isaiah offers patient guidance.

FAQ

Is Play Along part of a series?

Play Along is the fourth book in Liz Tomforde’s Windy City series, following Mile High, The Right Move, and Caught Up. Each book focuses on a different couple within the same professional sports world.

Does Play Along have a happy ending?

The book ends with a happily-ever-after epilogue set two years after the main events, showing Isaiah and Kennedy’s second wedding in Las Vegas with their full found family present.

What genre is Play Along?

Play Along is a contemporary sports romance novel featuring baseball, with tropes including fake marriage, marriage of convenience, and slow-burn intimacy development.

Who are the main characters in Play Along?

The dual-perspective narrative follows Isaiah Rhodes, the Warriors’ star shortstop with hidden trauma, and Kennedy Kay, a sports medicine doctor whose career is suppressed by a sexist superior.

What triggers appear in Play Along?

The story contains depictions of sexism and workplace discrimination, discussions of parental death and childhood trauma, storm-related anxiety and panic attacks, and emotional neglect from family.

Can Play Along be read as a standalone?

Play Along can be read independently as its central romance is self-contained, though readers will gain deeper context about the supporting characters by reading the previous Windy City books.