The story doesn't come together much, the plot is clumsy and a bit boring actually. Liked Ty at first but when Millie appears the story seems weird to keep reading on... I will give 2 stars only.

This was a middle of the road romance for me. I liked the premise; it was something you don't see too often in romance. Ty was in a failed marriage headed toward divorce when his wife creates a scandal at the school he coaches. Enter Millie, PR extraordinaire, there to help the college (and Ty). From here it sort of falls back into the typical contemporary romance chalk full of insta-love. As everyone knows, I cannot stand insta-love stories, but I really enjoyed Ty (Millie, not so much).

Ty and Millie were just wonderful. I loved seeing characters who weren't in their 20s in a unique story. It was romantic, sexy, and real. Can't wait to read more form this author!

I won't be surprised if the Hallmark Channel options “Play for Keeps.” It's story is a shoo-in with it theme of a second chance at love with sports and social media in the mix.

When new men's basketball coach Tyrell Ransom’s personal life was plastered all over social media, public relations guru Millie Jenkies must work double time for some serious damage control.

If you’re thinking that this is going to be one of those sports jock story, yes you're right. But it has twists that make it hard to put down once you start. Maggie Wells knows her craft and she threw in enough curve balls to make you say, “huh?” in one page then laugh out loud in the next page. As characters, Ty and Millie are so believable that there are times that I think they just live next door!

Play for Keeps is Rated T for Teens. Parental guidance is strongly advised due to some adult situations.

Men's basketball coach Ty Ransom is ready to start winning games .Then compromising photos of his soon-to-be-ex-wife with one of his players go viral.
PR guru Millie Jensen arrives to help save the day and his career. Will she be able to save his career and keep their chemistry out of the headlines?
This was my first Maggie Wells book and I recommend it.

Play for Keeps is a good book, I didnt love it or hate it. It was an entertaining read. I think what kept me from calling it a great read is that the hero starts out married and though he quickly divorces, the ex stays in the picture throughout the book. I just didnt think she merited that much space in the story. The heroine suffered in my eyes because she never really got fully fleshed out as a character. There is a satisfactory happy ending, but this second chance at love was just so so for me.

Solid story but moved a little slow at times. The characters were strong and well thought out, but the storyline dragged and was predictable.

Wonderful! Funny! Great to see an older female get the guy! I've really started picking up more books with sports characters and this was one of the best ones I've read! I enjoyed the writing style, the storyline, the complex characters and their issues. Loved it.

2 stars

Synopsis: Tyrell is the men's basketball coach who was hired to bring the college up to conference standards. Unfortunately, his star basketball player declared for the draft, and his wife declared for the star basketball player. Even though Ty is not the cause of the PR nightmare, he is the one that reporters are focused on.
Millie, who is the college athletic division Public Relations department, works on making sure that Ty doesn't do anything more damaging to the college, or his career.
When sparks fly between Millie and Ty, Ty heads to Nevada for a quickie divorce, and Millie tries to tempt Ty into a fling. When Ty returns, Millie knows that whatever they start has no future, and is determined to have everything on her terms.

What I liked: the premise. This had the potential to be really good: wronged husband, sparks have flown since Ty and Millie met when he first started working at the college, two strong willed main characters; it just fell flat. I liked the friendship between Millie and her besties, and that Millie is really good at her job, as is Ty. I also liked that there wasn't a big deal made about the fact that Millie and Ty don't have the same skin color, it's just two people who are attracted to one another.

What I didn't like: oh, boy. This was very insta-love, in spite of the fact that we are told that Ty and Millie had sparks from when they first met 2 years ago when Ty first started his job as coach. The fact was that they didn't do more than talk (thank goodness) until after Ty's wife was photographed in a compromising position with his player, so they didn't actually start getting to know one another until then. And then Millie wants to have sex with Ty before his divorce comes through, even though that is not what Ty wants. They did get to know one another over the phone while Ty was in Nevada, a little, but everything just happened so fast. Millie was so determined to not have a relationship that she couldn't see anything else. I also felt as though overcoming Millie's reluctance to actually have a relationship was enough of an obstacle for them to overcome as a couple without throwing in surprises.

Overall impression: Millie did not seem like she was in her 40s; she was pretty immature in the fact that she ran away rather than talk about things. Told in 3rd person POV, alternating between Millie and Ty.

*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story, provided as an ARC by Netgalley,is about a has been sports figure turned coach Ty and his PR person Millie who has been engaged to clean up his reputation after the scandal created by his wife.While Millie displays some integrity with regards to entering into a relationship with Ty while still married ,I felt she was too indecisive in her personal life but was a kick-ass PR.Loved the witty banter between them and the way they called each other out on their assumptions.The author also deviated from the norm when she presented a romance for the not-so young age group and it was a welcome change, bad knees and all.The downside to this story was the obvious and admirable research the author placed in getting familiar with the sports, but it became too detailed, prompting disinterest in the less sports-minded reader like myself.Interesting read and I am definitely looking forward to reading the rest of this series.

I'm lowkey beating myself up for not reading this sooner because it was So Good. I finished it in one sitting because I just couldn't stop! This book is basically made for me: it has age gap (6 years) with an older heroine (YES), and it features older characters (both H/h are in their 40s).

Ty's marriage just imploded. His wife cheated on him with a (young) player on his team (Ty's a university basketball coach), it went viral and made him the laughing stock of the nation. I really, really feel bad for Ty because he's such a sweetheart. He just wants to do his job and be left alone, but unfortunately people are more interested in the sordid details of his wife's affair and his failed pro career. Millie is a PR director sent in to save the day and do damage control. She's smart and wise, and both Ty and I are in awe of her.

Millie is a tough nut. She's been burned before, and she's very comfortable with her single life and successful career, so she's really not looking for a relationship even though she likes Ty very much. Been there, done that, no, thanks. She kind of annoyed me a little because sometimes it seems like she's stringing Ty along, and I cheered when Ty called out on her BS. I also love her friendship with Kate and Avery.

I love Ty a lot. *adds another Ty to my fav hero list after KA's Ty Walker* Even after everything's that happened to him, he's still brave enough to take another chance on love and pursue Millie. He's such a good man, and he's so soft too. I love how he never stops trying, be it with Millie or with basketball. I also love that he apologizes easily; he got called out a few times by Millie re: things he unconsciously did, and he said sorry immediately.

I love Ty and Millie together, they're just meant to be. I'm a sucker for relationships where the hero and heroine flirt with and make each other laugh all the time. Their relationship is so easy, I'm a fan. They are also unafraid of confronting each other with their dissatisfactions, I love clear commmunication in a relationship.

Overall, it's an entertaining read. I'm hoping for an Avery book next, she deserves her own HEA.

There was a lot to like in Play for Keeps, my first--but definitely not my last!--book from Ms. Wells.

I loved the fact that Millie, the heroine, is over 40 and in shape but not tiny and waif-like. I liked her take-charge attitude, and adored her relationship with her two BFFs, Kate and Avery. I loved, loved, loved Ty as a hero, and applaud his determination not to start anything with Millie until things were legally and finally ended with his ex. Together the two of them have great chemistry, and there were a whole lot of quotes--between Ty and Millie as well as secondary characters--that I highlighted just because. Book one in the series ( Love Game ) went on my TBR before I was halfway done with this one, and I'll be stalking the series page regularly to find out when (surely it's not if...?) Avery's getting a book.

But...

Millie's attitude about relationships Drove. Me. Crazy. We do get an explanation for it--eventually--and it did become somewhat more understandable from that point on, but still. I wasn't 100% sure I wanted Ty to keep holding on at that point, especially with what happened next with his situation. The book ended well and I was happy for how it ended (though can you say abrupt? There had better be a whole lot of Ty and Millie showing up in the next series book, or I'm going to feel cheated) but I'm still not entirely convinced that events up to that point had really given Millie enough to work through her issues and hangups to really allow her to achieve an HEA with Ty.

Still, there was more to like than not with this one...let the stalking of the series page begin!

(Side note/complaint--since I hadn't read the first book in the series, the heroine's throwaway comment at maybe 60% that revealed that the hero is a POC came as a surprise--what is up with that cover? A tan and/or scruffy face aren't cutting it, people! This tendency is getting old...

Rating: 4 stars / B

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I just never liked Ty or Millie enough to root for them. Disappointing, but true.

Yes, Ty did right by Millie. He waited until he was divorced to really get involved with her. He also really tried to make Millie the center of his world. But at the end of the day, he pulled away from her just as much as she pulled away from him. Millie, on the other hand, seemed like she never knew what she wanted; sometimes she wanted a relationship with Ty but just as much she didn't want a relationship with him. The whole book was like a giant game of chicken and it didn't settle well with me.

A lot of the back and forth of the book came from the fact that Ty was married when the book began, though he quickly followed through on a divorce. However, even when the divorce is complete his wife (ex-wife) never truly left the picture. So there was always Ty, Millie, and Mari all mixed up together, as opposed to just Ty and Millie. After the ink dries on the divorce papers Mari still is with Ty and Millie, tainting their feelings about one another, becoming a frequent topic of conversation, and in the end, the big dark moment comes courtesy of Mari. There is an internal struggle that fuels the dark moment as well, but the event that spurs those internal conflicts is all Mari-driven.

I wanted to like this one. Maggie Wells is a new-to-me-author that I've heard great things about. Play for Keeps, sadly though, only earns 2.5 stars from me.

He’s a sexy basketball coach who used to be a player and the next big thing. Unfortunately, an injury put an end to his meteoric rise. Mostly all he has to show for his short career as a player is a cheating, snake of a wife who was only in it for the fame. His wife leaves him for his student, a star athlete who quits school to enter the NBA draft. The heroine of the story is the University’s PR guru who has mutual lusting for said coach. While his ex-wife post pictures to social media to further drag him through the mud, he and the guru begin a damage control media tour. That’s when the romance really begins, everything before this point is prologue.

This is a very entertaining read and sexy for sure. My only warning is that this feels more like a HFN, instead of a HEA, especially because we know the ex is a train wreck who is sure to employ copious amounts of blackmail and manipulation before all is said and done.

I received an ARC of this book, from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book was OK. Kind of light and fluffy but the couple was very likeable.

This book started off okay with a lot of drama that explains everything and sets the story up nicely. Ty and Millie were great and that kiss was OFF THE CHARTS. But after a while Millie and her games became tiresome and the story kind of lost me. Also, there was A LOT of detail about PR and collegiate basketball which, no offense, was kind of boring. Otherwise it was a decent read.

This is the second book in the series and you have Ty Ransom going through a break up with his much younger wife. She left him for not only a younger man but one of his former players, who had just been drafted in the NBA. Now Millie shows up at his house first wanting to do damage control, and second to make sure he is still alive. There is an attraction between the two of them but she tells him he is still married. As the story goes along you get a look into both of their lives and how their past have shaped their future. For she is fearful of a relationship and believes she cannot give him what he would want a family for having cancer when she was younger and though she is a survivor she also built a wall around her for protection. It is up to Ty to try and break through that if possible but he will definitely need all of the tools he can get his hands on. At times Millie is a bit much, but I keep going back to one little at the beginning of the book, she was raised by a Marine Corps Master Sargent, this is where she gets her toughness from. It just is, it is also her way of coming up with her crazy rules that even she knows are only to protect her from getting close and to always have an exit plan. There is nothing wrong with for if you are in a fight she is someone you want in your corner, but don’t make her your enemy. I actually got her and I’m a guy. Other than it being the off season for basketball this was a good book, and you got to know Avery the wacky professor who actually was funny at times. Overall a good book with a few different twists towards the end to keep it going.

I’ve never read anything by this author before but this book jumped out to me from the blurb. Is a really great book and I did enjoy reading this book too. I especially enjoyed the characters and how they took you on a journey throughout the story. They have great romance and even better interactions between them and the story really flowed through the pages for me. I will be keeping a look out for future books by this author and I would wholeheartedly recommend this book

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

This was an engaging story line from when Ty finds out hisi wife left him for one of the players that Ty coaches at Wolcott. Millie comes to his rescue to keep him from making a worse mess after making some negative comments.

While they are both attracted to each other, they don't want to get involved while Ty is getting his divorce in Reno. I was a little disappointed when Millie changed her stance on no sex until his divorce is complete to ready to take him up to her hotel room.

I liked Millie at first but then she got so weird with these games that she was trying to get Ty to play that I really started to dislike her. I loved when Avery really let her have it and made Millie look at what she was really like ad it was not good!

I have not read any previous book so maybe this is answered in that but there really was not a good description of what Ty looked like, there were mentions of his getting a little gray in his hair, he was in good physical shape, and had amber colored eyes but I don't remember any mention of the color of his hair! There is a confusing comment about how he was tan under his beard and then Millie made a comment about how she never thought to wonder if an African American would tan. What is confusing is that the cover of the book looks like a Caucasian man so was that just an idle comment out of the blue or was it about Ty?

There is also two times that Millie mentions her ex-husband, and the first time she talks about John and the second time, she mentions David.

I really liked Millie at the end when she would not let Ty go when he thought with all the problems he was going through in his life. I hope that in future books we will know more about this situation as it really is a potential disaster with Mari expecting Ty's baby. It is not your perfect HEA but more realistic situation.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary Jo – ☆☆☆☆
Millie has had a thing for Ty Ransom since he became the head basketball coach at Wolcott. She just couldn't act on it with him being a married man. When rumors of his wife's extramarital affairs began to surface, she quietly cataloged. As the PR person for the athletic department, her job is to manage flow of information coming from the University about its coaches and players and to turn any bad press into good press.

As Ty slowly gets his feet back under him after his painful and public breakup, he realizes that he's not all that devastated about the end of his marriage. He'd known for a while that his marriage was on life support, had a feeling that Mari was seeing other guys, he just didn't realize it was one of his players and that she was documenting it on social media.

Millie wants Ty, and Ty wants Millie. The problem is that Millie has set an end date on their relationship without consulting him. Ty doesn't understand why Millie is dead set on keeping this casual, especially since this is anything but casual to him.

I enjoyed this story, the way that the characters knew each other, had established a friendship before the romance began. I also enjoyed reading about older characters, people who have experienced the good and bad that life has thrown at them and are still willing to give love a chance.


Sarah – ☆☆☆
I loved the first book in this series but this one doesn’t work quite as well for me. I think the difference is Millie and Kate. I loved the fiercely competitive coach and I struggled to like the character whose fashion and beauty obsession makes her blur into every other chick-lit heroine. Millie is tough and she is a survivor, but she is too girly for me and she’d be more convincing as a 25 year old than she is as a 45 year old.

Ty is wonderful but I struggled with parts of his story. I hate the way his ex-wife is villainised as a gold-digger while he gets sympathy for choosing a much younger trophy wife and not a life partner. After the uplifting feminist messages in the first book, I was dismayed by the slut-shaming undertones in this second story.

Ty and Millie are fun together and there are some sweet moments here. For me, there were too many mind games and too much miscommunication for two middle aged adult professionals. I also missed the sport and the competition that I loved in the first book.

Finally, why is there a white guy on the cover? Ty was black when he was first introduced in Love Game – and I’m pretty sure he stays that way.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆☆
This is the second book in the series – and is an excellent follow on to Love Games, but would be good as a standalone too. We did find out quite a lot about the two leads in the first book, but there is enough here to give us a fantastic romance.

Millie is a mystery wrapped up in an animal-print enigma, but Ty is a man who is prepared to go the distance. There has been chemistry since the first time they met, but with him being married, neither would act upon it. However, now that divorce is in his future, there is a chance that they may just explore what makes each other tick. Millie's past has made her wary (understatement of the year!) but it is very difficult not to love her along with Ty. I love it when she, Kate, and Avery get together – they are just really great fun friends.

Ty has a lot to deal with in this installment, from betrayal to hope. There is such great attention to detail in the book, and of things that both matter and will stick with me for a long time. For example, him counting down how many times he can rely on his knees in a jump... little sob from me at that point. He is such a totally caring, reliable, and centred man, that he has to win the day (and the lady).

There is a lot going on in the book. It is funny, sad, moving, and sexy, along with a good dose of college sports issues and politics thrown in. I definitely recommend this book to you as a fabulous read. Thank you, Ms. Wells, and I look forward to the next installment!