Okay, I love Lacie Waldon. From the Jump was a 5-star read for me. This book, however, fell short. Only Game in Town is listed as a romance, yet there is none. Instead, the story centers around a small town coming together as a family. While the story's premise is unique, every other chapter is a different character's POV leading to a lack of depth for the main characters. The book's ending was anticlimactic, and I felt no closure for any of the characters. I will, of course, still read Lacies' books in the future, but this one was for someone else.

I received this ARC in return for an honest review. Thank you, Netgalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for this book.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙂𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙏𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙇𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙤𝙣

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

𝘗𝘶𝘣 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦 3/21/23

Jess Reid is a free-spirited romance editor who loves her small town of Redford, GA, her dad, Ross, and who does her best to avoid her nemesis, Nikki. Carter Barclays is the reclusive and stodgy grandson of the town’s wealthy resident and benefactor, who just passed away. At Jasper’s funeral, the entire town gathers to pay their respects and are informed that Jasper has left the town ten million dollars - but actually, he left it to two residents…

To determine which two, Jasper has devised a series of challenges in which the residents would compete. Pie-eating, hiking, racing, nothing is off-limits. As Jess and Nikki face off against their neighbors, Jess finds herself falling for Carter even as she has every incentive to win the prize at the end.

This was a lovely romcom that definitely had me smiling! Think Stars Hollow meets a toned-down version of The Amazing Race🤗

*What I liked:* Jess’ attitude, the town residents, Ross, Carter, and Nikki (I actually think Nikki was my fave!). I also really enjoyed having more than our MC’s points of view!

*What I was meh about:* Jess’ quirkiness, the closed door romance aspect (I like my 🌶️🌶️🌶️ lol), and having Nikki crush on one person but not following through there.

So if you’re in the mood for a cute, heartwarming and quirky small town romance, make sure to pick this one up next month! Thank you so much to @netgalley, @putnambooks and @penguinbooks for this e-ARC!

The Only Game in Town is a lovely small town romance filled with a wonderful cast of characters! When Jasper, the richest man in town passes away, he stipulates in his will that there will be a competition among the townsfolk to win $10,000,000! Hilarity ensues, sworn enemies and rivals are paired together, and are those sparks that we see flying between hometown girl Jess and Carter, Jasper’s grandson? I was thoroughly charmed by this sweet romance and all of the Redfordonians who live on its pages.

I LOVE LACIE WALDON, but I was disappointed by the content of this novel and am therefore struggling to review this. One one hand, it was a lighthearted romance read with some fun small town action. Small town romances are not my favorites in the least, but I was willing to give it a chance because it's Lacie Waldon.

Her previous works are contemporary romance, heavy on the romance. I was expecting the same for The Only Game in Town, but instead the romance really took a back seat in favor of a character analysis of everyone in the town more fitting with Women's Fiction. This is not inherently a bad thing, but I feel like it was marketed the same as her other books. I was also very thrown off by the plethora of POVs we got in this book. I found myself not caring for many of the characters. I was really only expecting (and wanting) POVs from Jess and Carter.

I enjoyed this book! I have read Lacie’s other books and enjoyed them so I knew I’d like this one too.
I liked that the story was told through four point of view instead of just one or two. Made it a little more fun and different. It would have been better in first person instead of third person narration. But that’s a personal preference. The premise of the book was fun! Small town competition to win millions of dollars? Sign me up!
When I went into this book I was under the impression it was a romance and while it has romance in it, that is not the main premise. I was fine with it but can see how it could be disappointing to someone looking for a romance.

Overall, enjoyed and would recommend this book! As well as Lacie’s previous books.

This is a very cute and fun read centered on a small town that is in for the shock of a lifetime when their longtime benefactor dies and leave behind instructions for the town to hold a competition with teams he personally picked. The winning team wins 10 million dollars but the catch is that he has paired people that teams that are enemies! One main character, Jess, is teamed with her high school enemy, Nikki and they can only compete for the prize if they stay on this unlikely team! This book was a fun, fast and interesting read. I really enjoyed the relationships it highlighted as well as the refreshing, small town feel.

A sweet story about people figuring out belonging -- where they want to be and who they want to be -- mostly through the magic of small-town Redford and main heroine Jess. I know there are a lot of books out there about eccentric millionaires hosting scavenger hunts/contests. This isn't the kind that dwells into a lot of brain puzzles, just into the transformation of people to get to their HEA.

Fun and nice read between 2-3 stars our of 5.

Dnfed at 25%

I enjoyed the whole small town and game aspect of this story but for some reason the povs were annoying me. Even when the main character was talking about herself, it was still in like third person. I wasn’t liking how so many povs were in the book so far because it made it harder to know who was who. There may have been a reason why the dad and the bully’s POV were in the book but it didn’t
feel like it was going to be a romance story. Too much was happening but not enough for the story if that makes sense. I was really excited for this book because I love small town romance but sadly this one wasn’t it.

Well, this was the most heartwarming, hilarious, adorable small town story ever! These characters were vibrant, tenacious, competitive, supportive, prickly around the edges but with hearts of solid gold, fiercely loyal, and bursting with charm. I loved the multiple POVs and getting a more in-depth look at each character, their history, motivation for competing in the game, and their development.

I could totally picture this taking place in Stars Hollow and Luanne and Sally reminded me so much of Babette and Miss Patty.

A beautiful and tender story about community, friendship, family that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face and hug your heart!

Having read LaCie’s other two books, this one was definitely different than those and not what I expected going in. While I always love when an author branches out to other things, this one was a bit of a miss for me. Maybe it was because I was expecting a rom com based off of the cover, but it was a little too quirky for my liking.

<i>Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I’m sorry to say this one just didn’t do it for me. I’ve read and enjoyed [author:Lacie Waldon]’s previous romance publications and found them to be entertaining and sexy. So I was super excited to receive this arc; unfortunately [book:The Only Game in Town] didn’t live up to its premise.

Jess is an editor of (mostly unread) romance novels, living in the small town of Redford, Georgia. She went off to New York after receiving an anonymous scholarship that allowed her a full ride to college, but missed came back because she loves the town’s quirky character and all the quirky characters who populate the town. Now, her best friend is her single father, Ross, who was just 16 when she was born and raised her after her mother decided to split. She meets Carter Barclay when he comes in to town from Atlanta for his grandfather Jasper’s funeral. Despite developing a close relationship with Jasper when he was cut off by his uberwealthy, morally compromised parents, Carter has never found time to visit Jasper’s hometown. Now, he finds himself pulled away from his demanding job when Jasper intervenes from beyond the grave by way of a huge, town-wide competition for a $10 million inheritance.

I could see where Waldon was going from the jump (heh), and while I adored this premise, I was less thrilled with its execution. Jess is somehow the least quirky of a town full of truly odd people, and she’s the kind of adult who carries a neon green change purse and sometimes wears a tutu in public. This is all fine, but like the rest of the town, Jess’ arrested development is pretty much her only notable trait. Carter, the very picture of a workaholic, the kind of guy who six of the same shirt and they’re all white. He’s an outsider and expects to be put off by all this <i>oddness</i> but he’s immediately drawn to Jess because she… refuses to stand up for herself when she’s bullied by her high school nemeses?

Actually, I revise my earlier statement. Nikki (who was too awful to be believed for the first half of this book) turned out to be the only character with a real inner life and who demonstrated growth throughout. In that sense, it’s good we got POV chapters from her and also Ross, but it shouldn’t have been necessary (and the subplot between them gave me the icks).

The people of Redford all seem to be feuding with one another over petty grievances, but I did enjoy Jasper‘s pairing people in order to repair their relationships. Their willingness to believe the worst from Carter, not to mention Jess (whose only secondary trait is that she loves Redford!) read as cruel. I almost wish Waldon had written this premise as a horror novel – not that I would read it, since horror is very much <i>not</i> my speed – but I can imagine it as something very dark and very, very funny.

[book:The Only Game In Town] by [author:Lacie Waldon]
⭐️ ⭐️.5 stars rounded down for failing to live up to its premise
🌶️ Cracks open the door a bit but didn’t bring much heat
🥧⛰️🚗 Contests for a dead rich guy’s money that were more weird than meaningful

This is a cute book but not at all what I was expecting. It felt very different from Waldron’s two other books. I really enjoyed the town game and the heart behind it but it’s one of those books labeled romance where the romance definitely felt secondary to the story. We get lots of povs and I adore Ross, Nicki grew on me and I loved their weird little relationship. Jess was a ray of sunshine but I felt pretty meh about Carter. Overall, while not heavy on the romance (and what little there is is closed door fyi) this is a cute quirky small town story.

The premise of this was fun and adventurous, but I had a hard time buying into it and feeling invested in the characters.

I was immediately pulled in by the synopsis for The Only Game in Town and really enjoyed the ride this book goes on! Told in multiple perspectives, this book follows a town-wide competition for $10 million. There’s Jess, the eccentric and original book editor; Carter, a financial advisor and grandson of the resident who set up the game in his will; Ross, Jess’s dad; and misunderstood bad girl Nikki. The community in this town was just wonderful. The games were a lot of fun, and I loved what the competition did to build the relationships, both romantic and platonic. I wouldn’t call this a romance—there’s a romance plot, but this is the town’s story and Jess’ journey. I loved the development in Nikki’s character and the quirkiness of the challenges for this competition. I wish this was a movie cause there are so many moments I would just love to see on screen. I do think the end of the competition was a little anti-climatic and I wanted a bigger moment to close out the story. But the community flies off the pages, you can feel the love they have. It’s emotional and heartwarming and sweet and just a very kind novel.

The Only Game In Town follows a whole group of people from the small town of Radford, Georgia, as they embark on a silly journey to try to win $10 million from the estate of one of the town eccentric millionaires who recently passed. While this book is marketed as a romance, and there is definitely a romantic subplot, I think the journey of a town working together is much more central to the plot.

I really enjoy Lacie Waldron’s writing style, and the way she constructs her books. At first, I was a little skeptical of the multiple POVs, but as the story went on and we got to know the four main characters more, I flund myself looking forward to the different characters perspectives.

This book is really plot heavy, and while the characters are lovable, their individual growth is not central to the story. I did really love Nikki’s arc throughout, and I wish we got more of her individual character background.

Great read for anyone looking for something light!

After the first 25-30% of this book, I was annoyed that this book is portrayed as a romance novel when it really isn’t. By the end, I didn’t care that much. I loved the main character, Jess (except for when she temporarily gets upset after finding out the truth about her scholarship- it doesn’t make sense!). I enjoyed the bit of romance there was and I enjoyed the chemistry between Jess and Carter. Initially, I wasn’t sure if I enjoyed the added POV chapters with Jess’s dad and her nemesis/bully/teammate, but in the end I really enjoyed those as well. It was fairly unique and I think really ended up adding something to the story. I do feel like the description of the book implies that the two main characters are going to be paired up for the competition, and wish it hadn’t. I also feel like the story could be paired down a little towards the beginning. I felt like the several mentions of Ross’s cancer without any detail seemed a bit odd, like more detail was purposely left out to make things easier for the author. Lastly, I enjoyed the ending and actually found it a pleasant surprise.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group (Putnam) for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

I really enjoyed The Layover, so I was looking forward to this one. This book was not really what I expected, but I still enjoyed it.

After the richest man in the small town of Redford dies, it’s revealed at his funeral that $10 million dollars of his fortune will be given to the duo who wins a series of challenges. I assumed the main characters would be paired up for the game and have to lean on each other through all the challenges and obstacles causing them to grow close and fall in love. But everyone is actually paired up with their nemesis in the town. Our main character Jess, a quirky book editor, is paired up with her high school bully (and current bully) Nikki.

Speaking of Jess and Nikki, the book starts with our main characters meeting at the local bar. Jess is being bullied by Nikki and her minions, but is saved by the stranger in town, Carter (grandson of dead rich guy). Obviously that made me like him right away and I did really like his character throughout the book.

However, I don’t think I’d characterize this book as romance. There’s definitely romance in it, but a lot of the focus is on the small town residents and their relationships with each other. The game is definitely the focus of the book (probably should have figured that out from the title) and the romance is just the side story, which is fine, but just a heads up if you’re looking for a romance book. There was also a big focus on Jess and her relationship with her dad, Ross. He seemed like an amazing dad and I get why the author made him sick so Jess would have extra motivation to win the game, but I think too much time was spent on that and not enough on the romance. Give me all the romance!

Overall, I still enjoyed the book and I really liked the epilogue, so I would recommend it if you’re looking for something light and fun.

What a fun adventurous book! This book is done in multiple points of views between the various main characters. I loved being able to hear and feel what they were all feeling throughout the book. The plot of hook is such a fun unique idea. I feel like I am back in Stars Hollow with an episode of Gilmore Girls. This story takes places in Redford, Georgia. One of the towns billionaires has passed away and at his funeral he has left 10 million for the town. However, it comes with a catch. He has teamed the town up into pairs and they must compete in various games to win the prize. Jasper has paired the duos up with their arch enemies/rivals. The games are entertaining and include things like pie eating contest, hike up a mountain, racing in Barbie Jeep’s and more. Loved the side story of Jess and Carter. These two are so different but so similar. It was great watching their characters develop. I loved learning the backstories of various townspeople as they embarked on this crazy adventure to win the prize. Many thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

In a small Southern town, a secretly altruistic millionaire, Jasper, has died and left his fortune for the town he loves. He's devised a competition, the winner of which will receive 10 million, to be shared with a teammate. The catch? Jasper has already set the teams. Enemies have been paired across the town, coerced into working together for their a chance at the prize. For instance, our main character, Jess, has been set up with her arch enemy Nikki, the mean girl who has been taunting her for her whole life. Then there's Carter, Jasper's grandson, who expected the money to be left to him in order to continue their benevolence. Instead, he's been thrust into this game with a virtual stranger.

Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to win, but will anyone get to the end, or will the teams fall apart before the prize can be won?

Was this story a little outrageous? Yes. Outside the realm of possibility? Maybe a bit. Full of ridiculous antics and laugh-out-loud moments? Definitely. I had a lot of fun reading this story, and would definitely recommend it to those looking for a sweet, enjoyable, humorous love story; the love between our love interests, the love of citizens for their neighbors and friends, the love of a wealthy benefactor for his town and family.

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC. I have chosen to review this book voluntarily, and all views are my own.

Absolutely loved this new one from Lacie Waldon. I have enjoyed her other books, but especially like how this was told in multiple perspectives and makes you fall in love with all of the characters, even those we never get to see inside their head.

Where From the Jump made me want to get inside Deiss’ head, I appreciated The Only Game in Town brings you the perspective from both main characters and more. I thought there was a good balance between Jess, Carter, and other perspectives and it felt like I was reading a movie, with a wonderful supporting cast. If this were optioned as a movie, I would definitely go to the theaters to see it. Can’t wait to see what else Waldon puts out since they just keep getting better!

Very thankful to have received an eARC!