The Only Game In Town by Lacie Waldon is set in Redford, Georgia. Everyone knows everyone and everyone comes with a story. It's a small town that never changes. Or at least not until the towns eccentric benefactor Jasper Wilhelm suddenly dies and leaves the town an unforgettable challenge.

The town has been issued a massive, high-stakes game by Jasper where the winning duo will take home his entire fortune. In fact, he's already paired everyone up! Freelance writer Jess Reid finds herself paired up with her high school nemesis Nikki. There is also an out of towner joining in on the competition: Carter Barclay, Jasper's grandson. Everyone is immediate suspicious of Carter, especially Jess.

At the core of this story is a heartfelt look at small town life and the relationships that are formed. This competition tests these relationships. Some characters find themselves opposing others who they normally would be best friends with. Other characters find themselves healing old wounds. In the case of Jess and Carter, they end up spending alot of time together, challenging each other, and growing closer. Carter also starts to see what is so special about Redford and why his grandfather never wanted to leave. I really enjoyed watching all of the characters going through the competition and how they wound up rooting for their hometown girl to bring everything home.

The synopsis gives a hint at a romance between Jess and Carter and while they do grow closer, it is not the focus of the story. There is so much more going on. It is all easily connected and demonstrated how even if they were in competition of the people of Redford, Georgia always have each others backs. Although it was relatively easy to connect all the events of the book, the fact that there were four points of view through out did feel like overkill. Honestly the only points of view, I thought the book needed were Jess and Carter.

The Only Game in Town feels like a big hug and celebration of small towns and tight knit communities. In the background, there is always the temptation to do whatever it takes to win the competition which kept things adventurous. Yet overall it is all positive vibes making it a comfy cozy read to be enjoyed by all.

The Only Game in Town was quite a fun read. In the small town of Redford an older man (Jasper) dies and leaves a game for the town to compete to win $10 mil (in a pair). The pairs are all people who have previously had a fall out or didn't get along ever. It was very obvious Jasper picked these pairings on purpose to help people mend things and I was here for it. Kooky old rich men who die and leave wild games are always a win for me in books. His grandson Carter is also part of the game, and him and Jess start a connection. It was sweet and they suited each other well. I loved the town, and it's people so much, it would be such a delightful to visit. I love how everything worked out in the end, including who won the game and how everything went down. My only complaint is that Jess's dad has a secret, it comes out and it's super vague and other than saying that's why Jess needs to win the money, nothing much else is done with it.

This was definitely an interesting one - I liked that the trope here was a bit different than your usual enemies/rivals to lovers. Really liked that we got the POV from both the main characters and a couple of the side characters as well. There have been several times while reading books that I've wish that I could read what other characters were thinking or feeling so I absolutely loved that this book gave me exactly that. Really added more to the story/love story overall.

I have to start by saying that I absolutely ADORE Lacie Waldon and will read ANYTHING she writes. When I saw this book was announced I was so beyond excited and immediately requested a copy to read and review. The Only Game in Town was a fun ride in an adorable small town with a nice little dash of romance to round it out.

Jess Reid is an adorable character and I really fell in love with her. She's a little quirky and will do anything for those she loves - including competing in a wild game with her frenemie, Nikki, to win a life-changing amount of money. This book started off really strong and I developed attachments to the characters early on. The plot did start to slow down for me a bit in the middle and I could have done with a little more on the romance side. I did like that Nikki's perspective was thrown in and despite her hard exterior, she really was quite lovable overall. I honestly wouldn't have minded more to her story. The side characters were equally as lovable as the main characters and this whole book really had a heart-warming vibe.

It was a bit of a slow burn, which I don't always mind, but I think the pacing could have been picked up a little bit. I overall really enjoyed this book. It was cute and fun - just wasn't my favorite out of all of Lacie Waldon's books. It's definitely worth a read and will leave you smiling though.

What a fun book! I'll ready anything Lacie Waldon writes! She writes book with humor and heart and real feelings. I loved the characters, the competative attitude and the romance in this book!

3.5 stars,
The competition storyline was cute and fun! At times though I had a hard time keeping up with where the story was going. If we would’ve only had Jess and Carson’s POV I think I would’ve liked it a lot more.

This is a cute, wholesome, small-town romance with a HEA ending, which proved to be the a perfect palate cleanser to all the dark, heavy books I usually read.

I’m so disappointed. I loved Lacie Waldron’s first two books but this one really fell felt. It’s advertised as a romance but it’s far from it. The whole premise was weird and cheesy.

This book gave me Emily Henry or Tessa Bailey vibes <3
I really enjoyed this book and I thought it was super cute!
The characters definitely had amazing chemistry
If you like romance novels you will love this book!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me this book in exchange for my honest review!!

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Thank you!

Thank you to Putnam and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was ok. I’m not a fan of instant love but when I read it, I like to get their pov only to understand it more but there were lots of pov and the competition/game so you didnt get that.

This book didn’t work for me at the time but maybe at another time

i was slightly disappointed with this book because it felt like the author didn't have much of a direction. there were too many pov's added and it felt like i had whiplash from trying to keep the characters straight and not let the mc fade into the background. it was and okay read, but it had the potential to be better.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This is a quaint small-town romance. A long-time resident of Redford, Georgia passes away and leaves $10 million dollars, but sets up a competition to determine which two people will receive the money. It was his final way of trying to help repair old wounds between other Redford residents and bring the community back together. However, he also includes his grandson, from Atlanta, in the competition.

It has some funny moments, some sweet moments, and I suppose it does have an HEA/ HFN at the end. That being said, this was not the romance book I was expecting. Perhaps if the author would have left things with just the dual POV between MCs Jess and Carter it could have worked. However, they also threw in chapters from the POV of Jess's dad and her partner in the competition. These felt unnecessary to me.

While this story was cute, and I enjoyed the silly premise of it all, it was not what I was hoping for. However, I have enjoyed Lacie Waldon's books in the past and will certainly read her next book. I just hope it is marketed correctly.

Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam. Im not even gonna lie I almost quit this book because someone called a 43 year old and I felt it in my heart lol. This was a easy read even though I felt at times that MFC was overshowed by the side characters. I enjoyed the whole town vibe competing for a prize and really enjoyed the ending

This book is good, not great, but good. I could not feel the chemistry between the characters so it became difficult to root for them as the story went on. I think that if the banter was more fun and the story more relatable I would have enjoyed this book more.

I love Lacie Waldron books and this one did not disappoint. Her writing just lures me in and wanting to know what’s going to happen next.

I was disappointed with this book. I expected more from Lacie Waldon because I absolutely love her previous books. But this book wasn't it. I wasn't vibe with it like I usually do with Lacie Waldon previous titles. Just from the premise of the book, you can already tell that it's going to be tricky read. It doesn't have a lot of romance elements involve. It's more about discovering yourself while competing for a lifetime chance.

I really enjoy Lacie's books! This one had such a fun premise and I loved the small town setting as well as all the feel good, heartfelt vibes. Thank you Putnam and Netgalley for my copy.

A fun read with some heavy topics. A scavenger hunt set up by Carter’s grandpa where he chose the teams (enemies, anyone?) on purpose to help establish relationships between different groups. Also, a way for Carter to meet Jess, who ultimately end up falling for one another. I loved the idea of a scavenger hunt that was planned down to the nitty gritty, what a fun premise for a book plot point. One negative - dislikes the multiple POV beyond our main character. I get the idea of it, but it was too many switches for my brain to comprehend! Overall, enjoyed the book as a whole - thanks for the opportunity to read!

I really enjoyed stepping into Redford, and the wily group of inhabitants banding together to save their town...even if it was originally for a chance to win $10 million! It's a closed door romance with the sweetest grumpy/sunshine pairing in our MCs. I want to go hiking and fly down a hill in a Barbie Jeep, or eat some cupcakes from Evangeline's. Lacie Waldon, the absolute gem that she is, slayed it again!

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. I wanted to like this one more than I did. I love the world building of the small southern town, but so much of the plot was wildly unbelievable. I also think I just wanted more romance!! It seemed almost secondary to the plot so this definitely felt like less of a romance than her other books. Still, I will read anything Lacie Waldon writes because they always feel like warm hugs!