♡ Secret Relationship
♡ Star Pitcher x Umpire
♡ Queer Sports Romance

While baseball might not be my favorite (apologies for those who love it) this book had my interest. Gay sports romance will always have a special place in my heart and this book lived up to the hype for sure.

Two main characters with big dreams in the sports industry, Ivy working on being a famous official referee and June working on becoming a professional baseball pitcher, they fall for one another rather quickly. Working through things like the pressure and stress of being woman in typically male-dominated fields create some strain and problems with their relationship at times. Their romance is a bit messy sometimes, Ivy being the umpire for June’s team and doesn’t exactly start off on a great note, a dash of enemies to lovers at the beginning.

Having a point of view from a referee/umpire was a unique twist to this story. The references to the sports industry were nice too, how few women there are as referees or even how few women there are playing baseball at a more national level. While this was a rather rom-com worthy romance book I didn’t really care for all the fights between the main two characters. I’m sure it was just to create more tension and show how stubborn both characters were, but it just seemed a bit too juvenile at times; even if they’re seniors in high school snd it’s kinda expected in a YA novel at this point.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read with realistic and lovable characters. This book also dealt with things like family loss, one of the main characters dealing with a serious injury and ignoring it due to the pressure she was under to be the best. Both characters deal with major stress and grief in general, but it did end on a good note and things seemed to come together by the last chapter.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, and the author for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Spice Level: n/a
POV: Duel, First Person
Release Date: 30, April 2024
Rep: Lesbian (Main Character), Bisexual (Main Character), LGBTQIA+ (Main and Side Characters), BIPOC (Side Characters)

⚠️ Content Warnings:
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, and Cursing
Minor: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Cancer, Child death, Death of parent, and Medical content

Thank you to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for allowing me access to the book. I enjoyed getting to know the characters of the story and how it ended.

I think this month was just an off month for me with books, because I couldn't get fully into them like I normally do.

I still enjoyed this book overall, I just didn't love it.

I recently started getting into sapphic books this past year, so I was excited to read this. I think I'll come back to this book again and give it another shot, but for now it's a 3 star read.

Jennifer Dugan hit a home run with this one!

Ivy is has dreams of becoming a pro-ball referee while June is a pitching phenom, beguiled by a shoulder injury that doesn’t seem to be getting better. Their paths cross when Ivy ejects June from a game for unsportsmanlike conduct, and a bad attitude.

After butting heads initially, the two girls realize they have quite a bit in common. Both are trying to live up to their parents’ lofty expectations while dealing with grief. The two are in a balance act, entering into a clandestine romance despite the obvious conflict of interest at the heart of their relationship.

Ivy and June are sweet together but struggle to communicate. They both have huge dreams and grapple with how their relationship will impact their futures. The stakes feel high, and conflict genuine as their relationship eventually gets in the way of their plans for the future. Ivy is willing to give up a huge opportunity to umpire a big tournament allow June to shine, creating a rift between them. You can't help but root from them to be able to have it all, especially as girls in traditionally male-dominated past-time. Luckily this one has a happy ending - Jennifer manages to create another heartwarming teen romance!

Thanks to Net Galley and Putnam for the ARC.

Playing for Keeps managed to capture something that I don't think gets recognized a lot. It is amazing to be a woman who breaks barriers and works twice as hard to be in a field that is traditionally male but it's also ok to say I don't want to deal with that pressure.

June plays baseball and Ivy wants to be a ref. They are both dealing with odds stacked against them and family pressure. It is interesting to see them talk about it and I loved that they connected over their experiences with loss.

I found June a bit of a difficult character to like. I think it's because she can be a bit self-centered (like a lot of teenagers) and I was raised to be very much overly less sacrificing more like Ivy. I related more to Ivy and liked seeing her learn to communicate her needs.

🌶️ - Kissing only.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Playing for Keeps is sapphic, cute, and an easy to read, happy ending YA book. June and Ivy are likeable and relatable. Did I understand the sports parts? No. But that's okay, because I understood what it's like to be a teenage girl in love with another teenage girl. The book deals with grief and anxiety, and living in a world where expectations are unfairly placed on young people. It resonates strongly with the current trials of being a teenager, weaving in the loyalties of friendship and the complications of parents.

I was a little surprised at how quickly the main characters get together, but when things got rocky, I understood why the timeline happened the way it did. The reader really roots for June and Ivy to get back together as they each struggle through their own trials to finally rekindle their romance and support each other.

I was given this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review by NetGalley.

I have a handful of Jennifer Dugan books I scooped up secondhand but somehow have yet to read them so I jumped at the chance to read this one and now I’m so excited I already own a few others. June and Ivy were some fun, complex characters. I liked that they weren’t sports rivals and that their dynamic differed. One is pursuing baseball as a sole woman in baseball and the other wants to be a professional referee (another male dominated field). I really love that it’s badass woman against the patriarchy rather than women against women while still sort of preserving the enemies to lovers trope. However, I almost wish they were “enemies” longer? I don’t need everything to be a slow burn but the transition barely existed. It felt like: we forgot we were supposed to ruffle each others feathers and fell too fast. So I was a bit surprised by the pace and it threw me for a while as I settled into the narrative. I think this book deals really well with grief and processing grief even well beyond the grieving period and balancing the goals of the person you love and are rooting for with the goals you have yourself and your own aspirations

I think I’m just at a point in my reading journey where YA is pretty hit or miss for me. I’m also starting to suspect that this author’s writing style is not for me since I didn’t enjoy their adult romance either. I have another ARC from them on my shelf so I’ll give it one last shot.

As far as pros for this book go, the cover is stunning. I also found that the girls were written in a way that felt very true to how insufferable teens can be. It reminded me of I Kissed Shara Wheeler in that way, however I think Casey does a better job at examining the emotions/behaviors of teens.

Now for the cons, I think that the entire plot of this book failed for me because the girls got together far too quickly. It felt like June and Ivy only had three short conversations before they kissed and started dating. As a result the star crossed lovers element just didn’t work. You need to believe that these characters are meant to be together to justify them giving up their dreams. When you don’t believe the romance it all feels impulsive and illogical. I could have enjoyed that impulsiveness if the girls had not ended up together and decided to take their next steps in life. However, this is a YA romance so that’s just not gonna happen. Finally I think this book irked me so much because I could not get behind June as a character. Yes her mother was being overbearing but also girl you need a back up plan. Until you go pro reffing is like freelancing and you need to get a job with health insurance. Having known a bunch of pro hockey refs, all of whom have had other jobs, June not creating a back up plan irked me. Also what was that drop at the end that she enjoys reffing football the most. This girl has not discussed football at all, it would make 1000x more sense for her fave sport to be soccer.

Thank you to Netgally for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

This was a really cute story but a little short for my tastes. I think the actual final version is longer though. I really enjoyed the characters in this story. Ivy and June were really fun to get to know. one of my favorite parts was June making a joke about how they both have dead family members AND they're LGBTQIA+. I also enjoyed how Ivy didn't want to go to college and was actively fighting against it (though I'm a little mad that she actually agreed to go to community college in the end). Mia and Javonte were also really great characters and complemented the girls well.

Part of why the rating is a three though is because I'm not really a fan of insta-love which is kind of how this book felt. I'm not sure if that's just because the ARC was shorter than normal YA's or if it really was just insta-love. It felt like to me that it didn't take a lot for them to start dating. I really thought there'd be more conflict and more back and forth of will-they-won't-they? Instead, they seemed to agree pretty quickly that "yes we should date and hide it from everyone". WHICH IS TOTALLY FINE!!! I just thought that they'd have this whole conversation of "it's a terrible idea to date. let's be friends" and then over the course of the novel they're like "oh shit we're actually dating not just hanging out." I also couldn't get over the fact that Ivy ACTUALLY didn't do the showcase. I swore that at the last minute she'd be able to step-in but she didn't so that was disappointing. The fact that the "bad guy" was named Aiden didn't feel right either because my favorite author is Aiden Thomas and I love him (but this is just a me thing lol).

I love Jennifer Dugan’s books!
Playing for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan was one of my most anticipated contemporary novel of the whole year and it didn't let me down!
I read this entire book in one day. And loved every single minute of it.
This was so adorable I absolutely could not stand it.
A fun, sweet and adorable sapphic YA romcom!

Thank You NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers & G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Summary in a sentence: Teenage baseball pitcher June’s world collides with teen umpire Ivy and their dreams become hopelessly complicated as they fall hard for each other.

⚾️🌈⚾️🌈


Did I just read the cute YA baseball sapphic romance of my dreams?! Yes, yes I did.

PLAYING FOR KEEPS is my first book by Jennifer Duggan but it definitely won’t be my last. I really enjoyed this. I felt it was very well-paced, funny, and had emotional depth everywhere it should have.

Both June and Ivy were VERY relatable, two characters I cheered for both as a couple and as individuals. When their wants and needs were at a juxtaposition, my heart ached for both of them. They felt like actual teens, doing things teens would do. These days, that’s so refreshing to see in YA.

The queer rep was wonderful! YA needs ALL the diverse books and I thought the diversity in PLAYING FOR KEEPS felt natural and awesome. I loved side characters like Mia and Javonte. I really can’t say enough good things about this one!

PLAYING FOR KEEPS is out now. Thank you to the publisher for the e-ARC.

I love sports romance and enemies to lovers so I was super hyped for this book! It was definitely by the book even though each play by play felt a little too instant love and a little too immature, even for high schoolers. I felt that some key elements were missing like school which felt like a huge plotline gap and some of their hangouts were just explained away instead of actually showing the audience. However, even with just these minor issues I still found myself rooting for June & Ivy. Their relationship displayed resilience through miscommunication and pure stubborn will and an acceptance of flaws within and beyond their control. They became each other's safe haven and that is a message I will back every single time. 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐ (content warnings: dead family members, cancer, etc)

I feel that this book was perfect for its target audience. It addressed concerns without being overbearing and I feel like it could help teenagers in many different situations feel seen. Both girls were going through different struggles and receiving different level of ignorance and support from their parents. As a teenager neglect is often justified because another part of your life is being focused on and I think that topic was done very well in this book. We were able to see how the girls navigated the neglect they were feeling while also justifying the behavior of their parents because of the love they were receiving for others things. I loved that they stood up for themselves in the end and that they had loving and supportive parents who wanted to change the way they were doing things to make sure their children were happy. I thought the aspect of young/first love was done so well. The fact that Ivy saw June in a way that nobody else ever had was beautiful. This book does YA well because it connects to people in that age group without treating them like children. Although I am not the target audience for this book I really enjoyed reading it and felt that the high school version of myself was seen in a way she hadn't been before.

Many thanks to Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. It seems like this month is all about the baseball books! That's not a complaint, as it's perfect timing for baseball season. I haven't gotten to Fenway yet this year, but I did finish this one while cuddled up with my cat this weekend.
This YA sapphic romance between high school senior girls, one who wants to grow up to be a professional referee a la Sarah Thomas and one who is the star pitcher for a baseball team, was such a great read. I really enjoyed the characters, and their successes as well as their frustrations and communication issues seemed age appropriate for teenagers. This is my first book by the author and I'm excited to read more of her work - and recommend this to my high school students. This read left me feeling optimistic, and I'm excited for others to get to read it after it's available everywhere on Tuesday. My school library will definitely be getting a copy!

Review posted to Goodreads on 4/28. Will be posted on Amazon on 4/30.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a very cute sports romance. I loved the dynamic between Ivy and June. I did feel like their relationship at the beginning was rushed a bit. However, I appreciated that this book also tackles some deeper topics, especially grief. I also really enjoyed the friendships that were shown throughout the book. Overall, this was very fun and enjoyable read.

Very cute. Started wildly strong - Ivy’s internal monologuing about being a referee was adorable, and I was invested in her and her weird dream immediately. This is in general contemporary YA romance with all the fluffiness that implies, but there was enough emotional depth and also enough real-life-type detail that the story always felt just grounded enough. (I laughed out loud at “I’m so bored I’m about to download a solitaire app, when I remember Insta exists.”) That all said, I don’t think Dugan quiiiiite nails the landing. (I don’t know baseball well enough for a truly appropriate metaphor haha.) June’s arc takes over - the external conflict, the relationship conflict, June’s journey, and even Ivy’s emotional storyline ends up being focused on her relationship with June - and Ivy’s individual storyline never really recovers. From those fantastic first pages I was really invested in Ivy’s ref quest, and I wish it hadn’t gotten short shrift in favor of June’s well-written but unoriginal perfectionist-teen-sports-star-under-pressure arc. That said I did appreciate the very natural way Ivy’s reffing and June’s baseball pitching were incorporated into the story - this never felt like a Very Special Message about women in sports, it felt like a story about two regular teenage girls with regular interests/hobbies/skills (and friends, and family, and college looming overhead…). Kind of conflicted over the rating, but going with four stars - the beginning was just that strong!

Thank you @PenguinTeen for the #gifted ARC and thank you @PRHAudio for my #gifted listening copy of Playing For Keeps! ! #PRHAInfluencer #PRHAudioPartner #PenguinTeenPartner #PlayingforKeeps

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐧
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬: 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐲 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟑𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

This was my first book by Jennifer Dugan and after reading this book, I can’t wait to read more by this author. I really enjoyed this YA book and thought it was so heartfelt. Playing for Keeps was a sweet sapphic sports romance featuring a June and Ivy. This is an enemies to lovers with a hint of forbidden love mixed in. I found this book to be perfect for the intended YA audience. What I enjoyed most about this book is that there was more to this book than just the rom-com plot. Each character was dealing with some form of grief and I loved how the author wove that into the plot so beautifully and perfectly.

🎧I alternated between the physical book and the audiobook, narrated by both Daisy Guevara and Bailey Carr. This was my first time listening to both of these narrators, and I really enjoyed my time listening to them bring Ivy and June to life. I thought they did an excellent job and would highly recommend the audio format!

⚾️Young Adult
⚾️Sapphic Romance
⚾️Sports Romance
⚾️Enemies to Lovers
⚾️Forbidden Love
⚾️Pitcher x Umpire
⚾️Dual POV

Posted on Goodreads on April 26, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around April 30, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on April 30, 2024
**-will post on designated date

This book was so damn cute. Cute. Cute. Cute. I loved every single second of it. I'll recommend this to everyone I know.

4.3 rounded down to 4/5.

"Playing for Keeps" by Jennifer Dugan is a delightful YA sapphic romance that hits all the right emotional notes while delivering a captivating story of love, friendship, and pursuing one's dreams.

At the heart of the novel are June and Ivy, two dynamic characters whose initial clash as baseball pitcher and student umpire evolves into a deep and meaningful connection. Dugan masterfully navigates their relationship, portraying their journey from enemies to friends to something more with authenticity and warmth.

While the romance between Ivy and June develops quickly, the emotional depth of their connection shines through, making their bond feel genuine and heartfelt. Ivy's selflessness and June's vulnerability add layers to their characters, making them relatable and endearing to readers.

Dugan skillfully tackles themes of grief, mental health, and the challenges faced by athletes, grounding the story in real-world issues while maintaining a lighthearted and engaging tone. The exploration of the rules prohibiting players and umpires from dating adds tension and complexity to the plot, highlighting the sacrifices and risks the characters must navigate in pursuit of their dreams.

Although the pacing may feel slow at times, Dugan's adept storytelling keeps readers invested in the characters' journey, rooting for them every step of the way. The inclusion of sports lingo is seamlessly woven into the narrative, ensuring that even readers unfamiliar with baseball can easily follow along.

Overall, "Playing for Keeps" is a winning combination of heart, humor, and romance that will leave readers swooning. Jennifer Dugan delivers a home run with this heartfelt and engaging tale that celebrates love in all its forms.

As a general rule, I try not to DNF any ARC that I read because I want to give them a fair shot, but boy was I close with this one.

I understand that this was YA but it was infuriatingly childish. The main characters were horrible to each other, selfish, and allowed their shared traumas to make them into terrible people.

I was not rooting for anyone during this because they both made me angry. This was miscommunication at its worst.