So my husband and I feel in love over Scrabble and crossword puzzles so I was beyond thrilled to find a romance with a plus size heroine who is into games!!! Representation is getting such a fun glow up in recent years and I cannot express my gratitude more to Tristen for writing this story. This book is a treasure and romance lovers will gobble it up! Purchase this one today!!

Sebastian and Farren are so much fun! I loved their meet cute and the grumpy sunshine pairing. I loved the body positive aspect of the book and how both characters helped each other deal with their respective traumas. I highly recommend this book!

I love love loved this book, from the dedication, I was already hooked. I loved seeing representation of bigger people falling in love, feeling confident and being the main character. This love story reminded me a lot of my own, so experiencig and remembering those feelings through this book was just a joy. I already looked to see if I could find any other books by this author, Tristen I’m waiting (somewhat patiently).

This book was such a good read from beginning to end, the story was good, but the characters better, Farren is a fat girl, that is proud of her body as it looks, she has with hypothyroidism, but everything about her and her body image is written like if she was a skinny character and it's good. Sebastian is a fit guy that likes her and that's it.

They have chemistry, they share problems, they get together and i am happy.

Bookstagram needs to discover Tristen Crone’s debut book, Playing for Keeps!!!!

Farren and Sebastian (Ian) might look like compete opposites, but they have more in common than meets the eye. Growing up, both main characters felt like outsiders in their own family. As adults, their unresolved insecurities have transferred over to their work and romantic lives.

Sebastian (Ian), follows a regimented schedule that focuses on climbing the corporate ladder. His strict routine of work, working out and binging Netflix, leaves little room for others, let alone fun. Farren, on the other hand, is a vibrant substitute teacher who gets recharged being in social settings. While her finances are struggling, weekly game nights at the local coffee shop fill her with enough energy to tackle the week ahead.

Their lives intersect one Friday night when the two argue over who gets the last coffee shop pastry. Unable to deny their instant attraction, Farren and Sebastian start seeing one another. Could this be the beginning of a great romance, or are they doomed to sabotage yet another relationship?

I loved the body positivity represented in this book!!!Farren is one of the few plus size protagonist I have read who not only accepts, but loves her curves. Despite being diagnosed with hypothyroidism, she does not try to hide her body with oversized, dark clothing.

I appreciated that Crone gave our plus size leading lady, a fit leading man. Sebastian is classically good looking and in great shape. He prides himself on his appearance and finds Farren utterly attractive. The two have off the chart chemistry from the very beginning.

This was such a great read. I can’t wait for 2024 when Crone releases her second book, I Think I Olive You. Special thanks to NetGalley and Lake Country Press for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

This book would have benefitted a lot from being split into at least two books. There are parts of the story that I thought went by too quickly, while some sections dragged. I know authors are usually not coming out with multiple books with just one lead person's life, but it should come back into fashion. It greatly helps certain plots.
The gaming angle is quite strong in this one, even stronger than some of the other books I have recently read with a similar theme. When I talk of games, I am specifically talking of the Tabletop variety. The conversations that take place between Farren and Sebastien as she introduces the concept to him are very realistic. I have seen several people underestimate what strategy games actually do. I have not played role-playing games or war games, so I cannot speak about them, but standard tabletop board games are a treasure trove for anyone even mildly inclined to take a stab at it.
In this story, Farren is a woman who works substitute teacher jobs without actually feeling fulfilled by the role. She waits for Friday evenings when she can meet up with her friends to play. It is on one such occasion that she runs into our male protagonist, who has his own demons. She challenges him to a game when they want the last baked treat available in the cafe. I actually really liked the author's approach to Farren's body positivity. The mention of the plus-sized leading lady is very spread out. The cover is probably the strongest indicator of her size. Otherwise, it does not come up as often as her own life goals.
The plot is simple - we have two people from different walks of life, with differing amounts of time on their hands, who end up clicking and wanting to help the other out of the rut they are in. They each have their pasts to deal with while deciding what to do with their current trajectories in life.
As I mentioned earlier, I was very invested in a few sections more than others.
I recommend this to fans of stories of this genre with a different setup. I would read another book by the author and am really liking the new inclusion of board gaming in this genre.
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I absolutely loved this book! I am so grateful to have been able to receive an earc of it and can't believe how much i loved Farren and Sebastians story. The plot was great and i loved how they met and how the entire book played out. It was so cute and funny. I thought this book was very well written and i loved all the gaming puns. The ending was great and im so happy it turned out the way it did for Farren because she deserved it! I definitely recommend this book and will be recommending to all my book friends!

This was a great romance read, with a wonderful woman MC and a not-too-irritating grumpy guy MC. I'm realizing that the grumpy/sunshine pairing that's SO popular these days just really doesn't work for me, but the way this book employed that dynamic was fun enough. Loved the board game content too.

I have already recommended this book to my book pal! I loved it and throughly enjoyed it!

Thank you so much for allowing me to read it!

Playing For Keeps is such a cute and slightly steamy rom-com. I loved seeing Farren become confident in herself throughout the book; we love a woman who stands by her boundaries and knows her worth!
Thank you to Net Galley & Lake Country Press for the ARC

The moment I found out the FMC was plus size I was so excited to read this. As a plus size gal myself, I love seeing this pop up more and more. It did not disappoint! I enjoyed Farren and her heart and how relatable she felt about certain things, and her family. I was a bit weary Sebastian but became pleasantly surprised. The chemistry they had together was so enjoyable to read. They both had things they were dealing with alone, but were safe spaces for each other. A lot of growing together, working on themselves and self reflection. I really loved that. I loved this book so much, I laughed, and I felt emotions at moments. Check CW if you have any. Highly recommend.

Thank you to the Netgalley and the publisher, Lake Country Press and Review, for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy. This honest review was based off my experience reading this eARC, which in no way biased me. All opinions are my own.

Honestly, I had a really difficult time getting invested in not only the story, but the characters.

This had a really interesting premise, but in my opinion the execution fell flat.

Pros:
Grumpy/Sunshine, but we get the POV of both so can really see the thoughts behind the grump
Farren's self-love and body acceptance!
The games and game night talk
Sebastian was so much more than I expected

Cons:
I hate the third act plot device chosen

Very middle of the road romance. The characters didn't feel super fleshed out and it had Insta love which is not something i gravitate towards. I loved that there was a Plus Size FMC but other than that it did not stand out in anyway from other Romance books. I just finished it and it does not have much staying power for me

I was enjoying this so so much in the first half, but in the second half, most of my enjoyment fizzled out. I'm landing on a 3 star average.

I had such high hopes for this, and at first, I was loving this! The boardgames were very present in the story, the meet cute really showed their grumpier than grumpy and sunshine personalities, and I found their backstories and emotional depth touching and, if not directly relatable, I empathized with them.

In the second half, I felt like everything started to drag a little, and I found myself getting somewhat bored. There was less boardgame content, but also I felt like their personal issues were very drawn out and repetitive, and then the third-act break-up happened, and everything went down hill for me.

The story already hinges on Farren giving Sebastian a lot of grace and assuming the best from him, which had been fine up until then even if I didn't always understand it. But in the third-act conflict, he was so mean and degrading to her, and I honestly lost all or most of my sympathy for him. It was just really shitty, and I'm not sure the resolution received the attention it deserved.

Farren is stranded; she enjoys her career but is uninspired by it, and she is constantly concerned about her future. Sebastian is dedicated and focused at work, but he is dissatisfied since he has nothing to look forward to in his life. After an incident with a croissant, the two meet at Farrens' weekly gaming night and form an unexpected friendship that quickly grows into something more. The two trust in each other and begin to get serious, but as life and work interfere, Sebastian finds it difficult to let Farren in.
Farren and Sebastian were wonderful together; they met when they were both down and out, but as they got to know one other, they began to blossom and grow. The plot should be improved; for example, one of the elements is games, notably Farren's own game, but we don't receive much information or dig into it. I believe the book emphasised Farren and Sebastian's personal progress, but some details were lost and put on the backburner as a result. I would have liked a little more spice as well; the build-up was there, but the actual sequence was merely okay. Regardless of this, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Farren and Sebastian; they were both incredibly sympathetic, and I appreciated the portrayal of plus size and mental health.

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Dedication: To all the big girls who were told to hate their softness. You are beautiful and your stories are just as worthy.
FMC: Farren- a sweet and sunshine tabletop game lover who is a substitute teacher looking for her next dose of happy. She meets with her small friend group weekly to play board games at a local coffee shop where she stumbles into Sebastian and they both turn each other’s lives upside down. She injects his life with smiles and sunshine, and he injects hers with drive and the perfect partner to spar against (in games and in volleying ideas).
MMC: Sebastian- a work obsessed, introverted grump who doesn’t have any friends or family. After having an exceptionally terrible day at work, he decides to go to a local coffee shop to get one of their new pastries and bumps into Farren who then proceeds to order the last pastry (the one he really wanted!), his grumpy attitude takes over and he all but demands she gives it to him. Luckily, Farren is all about games and offers to play him for it and if he wins the game, he gets the pastry.
POV: 3rd person, dual POV
HEA: yes
spice: a couple very well done open-door spicy scenes sprinkled throughout the book. Sebastian’s dirty talk was so good and he gave off hot soft dom vibes
TWs: difficult family relationships (uninterested parents), manipulation (not MCs), pretty mild book
standalone: yes
final thoughts: SO CUTE. I was so taken with this book from start to finish and loved all the nerdy little references. I love a curvy FMC who is unapologetically big, doesn’t try to diet, it’s not her main character trait, and her partner doesn’t fetishize it… why is that so hard to find? LOOK NO FURTHER because this hit the mark for me. The only thing that kept this from being a 5 star was the 3rd act breakup which was ehh but the groveling (that didn’t come fast enough to satiate my needs LOL) was well done and exactly what Farren needed.

read this book if you love

🔀 opposites attract
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 found family
🫡 big MMC
😠 grumpy/sunshine
💓 slowburn
🤩 curvy FMC
🎮 nerdy FMC

I’m not too sure how I feel about this book- on the one hand, it was a nice lighthearted romance. On the other, there are two very emotionally wounded main characters that really should both be in extensive therapy before trying to be in a relationship together. I felt really bad for Farren and how both Sebastian and her best friend spoke to her. I didn’t feel either one of them gave very good apologies- I thought Sebastian gave a good apology if the things he said weren’t as mean as they were. I definitely think he should’ve done a lot more apologizing. I also wish we’d gotten more of Chris and the rest of the gaming group in the book!

This book was absolutely stunning from start to finish. The cover is also absolutely gorgeous! Farren is such an intriguing character and her search for something really hit me hard. So seeing her story concluded to something amazing was so nice. Our other main character Sebastian was really something but I liked him a lot. He is such a workaholic but he knows it. And how the two of them interact and learned from each other was just amazing to read about. Definitely on of my fave read of the month!
Thanks to netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Farren & Sebastian are my favorite type of grumpy x sunshine trope. He's a broody man, drowning in spreadsheets and work, living in a new place and hoping for a promotion. She's a bubbly, commitment-phobe whose prone to flit from job-to-job while trying to remain optimistic and maintain the self-confidence she's worked so hard on, especially as being a curvy woman.

When Farren & Sebastian meet it's exactly what you're picturing. Well maybe not EXACTLY, but they do get into an argument over the last scone. Rather than half a full-blown fight in the middle of her favorite café, Farren challenges him into a game. Whoever wins gets to have the scone. What starts off as a not so meet-cute turns into something more...

If you're looking for a very sweet romance I highly recommend this book!