This debut book was so much fun to read. Tristen Crone is a very talented writer and her storytelling of Farren and Sebastian’s love story was full of witty banter, sexy and romantic dialogue, and the growth of these two characters was marvelous in every aspect of their story.

Farren and Tristan are an unlikely pair. The journey from getting stuck to finding a fabulous HEA is a treat to read. Thank you for the opportunity to read and enjoy the very special romance

Really enjoyed the book!
Love this!!!!


"Thank you so much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

This was overall an okay read. I don't think it was super memorable or something that I would want to read multiple times.
They were textbook grumpy x sunshine characters and I did really enjoy how they always met up with their friends for game night. I loved the plus size representation we get from Farren and how confident and sassy she is.
The things I didn't like... there was a lot of repetition in Sebastian's POV. It constantly talked about how much he was working and how he might not get to go to game night and how he hadn't been able to see Farren recently. It just seemed to drag in his parts and I was tempted to skip it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Country Press for providing a copy for an honest review.

Eh, I’m sad that I didn’t love this one. I love grumpy x sunshine. The other tropes involve opposites attract and a third act break up. This last one here is one of my least favorite. I feel like it ruins the entire relationship building, just to tear it down and then take them back if it was bad enough to split over in the first place. The game aspect seemed like it was going to be incorporated more but it was only briefly touched on. The characters were fun and likable enough but the spice just wasn’t there for me. There was plenty of angst for it.

Farren and Sebastian couldn’t be more opposite. She’s full of life and flits from place to place, always sure she leaves before anyone can hurt her. Sebastian is a work-a-holic running from parents that don’t seem to care what he does and a really bad breakup that included him getting fired from his last job so now he chases what he feels was stolen from him. When they collide in a coffee shop, unexpected sparks fly and sharing similar vulnerabilities may be just they both need.

This was cute and fun. Little spice, lots of emotional growth, fun gaming references. The only thing I’d say is that occasionally the dialogue would get too unrealistic BUT I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This book features the sunshine x grump trope (amazing) as well as an adorable meet cute. Though there were some hiccups in the plot (for me), it is clear the author knows how to write personal growth very well! Definitely enjoyed this one

“That was so bad.” That’s literally how I ended this book. I really could shred this book, but I’m going to account this to inexperience. The writing was very clunky which kicked me out of the story. The couple had no chemistry, and they appeared to trauma bond more than anything. There’s literally only one scene which had me cringing a bit. The meet-cute and third act breakup are both red flags, and I would RUN from this relationship if either faced me. It’s just a big no.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was such a breath of fresh air! I loved the opposites attract, grumpy sunshine couple and the nerdy aspect too. Farren and Sebastian are so cute! I adored this book

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Country Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I’ve been following Tristen on twitter for a while now and have been really looking forward to her debut “Playing for Keeps”. Then I received an ARC and put off reading it because I was afraid that it might not live up to my expectations. I need not to have worried—“Playing for Keeps” is a very promising debut and delivers one of the best romcom endings that I can remember in years.

Fallen is relatable to any of us who have ever been afraid to take risks out of fear of failure. I loved how Tristen kept Fallen’s character body-positive without glossing over some of the issues that many of us with larger bodies face. It was really wonderful as the novel progressed seeing her development as she began to go after the things that she wanted.

As hinted at in other reviews, the Third Act Breakup is a doozy (if you’ve ever been in a verbal fight with a disregulated ND person…be forewarned). Like, it’s not quite Marriage Story-level, but it approaches it. BUT, even if Sebastian has you wanting to throw the book across the room, his Grand Romantic Gesture to repair things really is an incredibly wonderful scene. Like, seriously, it was probably one of my favorite romcom scenes that I’ve read in years, and I read a fair number of romcoms.

I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more from Tristen in years to come.

REYLO WORLD DOMINATION GO BRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Uh first of all though thanks NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is, like... I think I'd label it slice of life. Low stakes and... The characters are surprisingly... normal? Tbh my reference is skewed (currently on book 12 of Wheel Of Time and iykyk about Rand al'Thor) but I think I mean it's a super light read, the problems are small, and the characters way less of an unhealthy hot mess than I'm used to. Wheel Of Time is not really the ideal comparison so lets get another romcom Reylo book, The Love Hypothesis. Olive and Adam are way more hot messes than Farren and Sebastian.. It even kind of bothered me sometimes that, like, the narration /tells/ me the protagonists are lonely and guarded, but they don't exactly... Act like it?

Also, while the romance is cute, there's not really such a strong comedy element. Again can't help but compare with TLH, which made me tear up and my tummy ache from laughing. There's a witty joke here and there but it's not a hilarious book.

The spicy scenes are brief.

And to be honest, I think because of how "slice of life" it was, it felt like it took a little for Things To Actually Happen.

All in all it's a lovely book, a very light and quick read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Playing for Keeps by Tristen Crone!

I received an ARC and I’m leaving an honest review.

Actual rating: 2.25 stars, I think.

What I liked:
• fat female main character
• the focus on board games
• it was short so it was a relatively quick read

My inevitable rant:

I seem to only be (accidentally) reading fast paced books recently. In this one, in the span of three chapters they met and spent the night together playing games, a whole week went by in which they constantly texted each other, and then they had a date. Quite a lot of things to happen in such a short time, in my opinion. Especially since the beginning of a relationship is often the most important part. They seem to have shared a lot of information about their own lives, and shared emotional connections through texts, but we’re only told about it in a couple of sentences and don’t actually see any of it happen.

In general, most of the events are told to us, and not actually shown. Many conversations happens with different people in different situations, but we’re told about them as if they’re past events and we’re already moving on with the story.

Rooting for the main couple was already hard as we didn’t actually see them develop their relationship, but the third act break up made this even worse. He got insecure, so he blamed her for everything that is seemingly going wrong in his life, then threw her worries and insecurities back at her. If he’s such an asshole to her when he gets mad, then he doesn’t deserve her. No amount of groveling can make me change my mind.

Their first meeting also threw me off. Sebastian gets real grumpy about a croissant and starts demanding Farren that she gives hers to him, and then actually grabs her. In any other situation, the main character would have the wits to find that creepy and scary, especially since it's done by a stranger, but because we *know* he's the future love interest, Farren is not nice about it, but even invites him to play with her and her friends.

The way Corinne talks to and about Farren makes it seems as if she thinks that Farren is a terrible friend, but Corinne also spends her time diminishing Farren’s life and everything she is and does, only talking to her to complain about her own life and never even actually paying attention to Farren. I wouldn’t consider her a good friend either, and the supposed apology Farren received (which we've never seen but are just told happened off-page) was not enough to make me believe that she suddenly became a good friend. It was extremely frustrating.

Last, but not least, this book seems to have a recurring theme of starting chapters with long flashbacks. We end one chapter with something, then the next chapter is the other character's pov, but instead of continuing the story where it left off, we go back in time and we're told all that has happened to lead to the actual moment where the previous chapter ended, and then we finally continue the story. It does this in almost every chapter and sometimes it takes three to four pages to catch up with the actual events, only to go back to flashback-to-real-time in the next chapter, making the actual timeline messy, confusing and annoying.

If you love romances with angst and board games, this one is for you! Farren is a substitute teacher by day and board game enthusiast by night. Sebastian is a lonely corporate businessman working long hours to get his big break. The two form a hesitant flirtation after a fighting over a pastry one evening. Both are at crucial places in their careers where they feel unfulfilled but not sure where to go next.

I loved learning about different board games and the spunky personality of Farren. She added so much sunshine to Sebastian’s life. That is where my problems came up sadly. I thought Sebastian had a lot more emotional growth to do and wasn’t quite ready for Farren. The way he responded in the third act conflict cemented that. I would have loved to see him go to therapy or get some more support from more than just his colleague.

Overall, I liked the writing style and many of the plot points. I read this quickly and it was a fun read! I would read the next book this author writes.

(Thanks to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Playing for Keeps is a meet cute, opposites attract romance, and slow burn romance.

Farren puts on a good front, feigning confidence despite literally not fitting into society's narrow ideas of beauty and success. Inside, she's stuck, afraid to put herself and her ideas out there, especially the board game design she's kept a secret. She keeps things light and temporary-both at work as a substitute teacher and in her relationships.

Overworked Sebastian abhors anything that gets in the way of his goals, including procuring the perfect pastry. The two meet when Sebastian accuses her of stealing his pastry in an amusing and awkward café incident. When Farren gets in the way of his coffee order with her huge personality she turns out to be even more than he bargained for

PROS:
Super cute and I really love how vulnerable the characters are.
Excellent groveling done by the MMC
Body positivity and chronic illness representation
Mental health representation

CONS:
3rd act breakup sucks

This was a solid debut from Tristen Crone. It took me a bit to get into the story, and I felt like there were a few too many elements to the plot. However, I liked the main characters and the plus sized representation was excellent. Fat girls will always deserve to be loved and Farren found a man to absolute worship her. I’m looking forward to reading what comes next from Crone.

As I mentioned earlier, this book is about two people with a pretty significant amount of emotional baggage who manage to fall in love due to a chance encounter at a café while fighting over who gets the last dessert croissant by playing to win a board game. Farren is a fat white woman who is currently substitute teaching, but also is loosely working on her passion project of designing a board game surrounding pitching books. It sounds like it would be a good time. Her emotional baggage comes from feeling invisible to her family and she has a difficult time letting people in and comes across as a little flighty. Then we have Sebastian, who sometimes goes by Ian. Sebastian is working this horrifically awful job where all he does is work, basically, and it's not even like he's passionate about it. But for some reason, he has intrinsically linked his self-worth to his job, which is really never a good idea. Anyway, the two meet at this coffee shop and things go from there.

The Good: For the most part, I really enjoyed the characterization of Farren and Sebastian. I wouldn't say that I fully came to understand them, but I did feel like they were people you could actually encounter. I largely liked the writing in this one too and the way the games were rolled into the book, plus the way each of their workplaces were weaved in as well felt well done and well-rounded.

The Bad: The third act conflict in this one was pretty much unforgivable to me? I don't know if I'm just in a mood where I'm not very forgiving or what, but they both very much used their words to hurt in a way that I would have a really hard time coming back from without something changing. Like therapy. For multiple years. I don't know. I just struggled with the way the book resolved this one. I also felt like there were other conflicts that were started but not satisfactorily resolved and I don't mean with a pretty bow, I just mean, they literally were insufficiently addressed for my tastes.

All that to say, at the end of the day, I would say this book was a good time and you should feel free to pick it up if it appeals! I will definitely keep my eye out for more from Crone because I really appreciate her ability to make a pun.

This was an anticipated read for me. I was so excited for this story. Sebastain and Farren's grump/sunshine romance had potential. It started okay, then it seemed to drag before becoming okay again. There were also the family issues our main characters were dealing with until they finally confronted them. Then around the 75% mark of the book, Sebastian loses his damn mind and his character becomes ridiculous. Wait though, he has to have his epiphany and realize that he had a good thing in the first place. I really wanted to love this one but it was just okay.

🤍Book Review🤍
📖Playing For Keeps By Tristen Crone📖
Rating ⭐️⭐️.5
Spice🌶️

My Thoughts~ okay so the premise of the book was cute at first but sadly this book fell short for me. These two characters supposedly fall in love with almost no time spent together because of this the connection didn’t feel genuine. The characters themselves just weren’t for me. They both needed major character development in order for me to like them.
There was so much trauma that, I felt was the only reason they really were together because of trauma bonding.
The story was super slow and I found myself having a super hard time getting through it. If it wasn’t for the fact I really hate DNF-ing a book I probably would have. I do naturally have a hard time with Third person pov so maybe that had something to do with my feelings about the book.
There were a couple cute moments here or there, I liked the board game aspect that was cute. the spice was probably about 2 scenes that were rushed and not at all what it could have been.

What a bummer. I was hooked by the blurb about a plus-sized heroine with the grumpy/sunshine going on and the game's angle but I ended up DNF this book.
The passing was off and clunky.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book received from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.