So I really did want to like this book but I just don’t think it was for me I read to about 20% and then DNF. So I am not a Swiftie and there was just too much Taylor x Travis adjacent content for me to really get into the rest of the story. Overall I think this could be a good read probably just not for me.

I don’t know what it is about Alexandria Bellefleur’s books but I always eat them up. She just has this way of writing characters that I love. The flirting always makes me giddy and smiley and the smut is always top tier. I’m also glad that she didn’t shy away from using texts and social media in this book. I always find it strange when you have a modern romance and they aren’t texting each other?! And like I said earlier, it’s even better when the flirting and banter is good. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys Bellefleur’s other books, or as a way to kick off the football season with a bang.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. This review is my honest opinion.

As a huge fan of Alexandria Bellefleur’s writing ever since I picked up The Fiancée Farce, I really, really wanted to like this book. The writing is still good, and the main relationship was fun to read about, but the premise felt uncomfortably like fanfiction of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s lives. The changes that make Lyric and Cash distinct from Swift and Kelce come across almost as overcorrection, and the many real-life pop culture and retail references just compound the fanfic feeling— not to mention the cheeky mentions of flight trackers and carbon credits, which feel out-out-touch when the real-world climate impact of the billionaire class is devastating.

The main relationship felt a bit half-baked— Rosaline starts off as almost a Christian Grey type figure towards Poppy, but that dynamic is quickly discarded without being addressed. I can get behind toxic yuri, but it needs to own its toxicity. An “I can fix her” plotline or a healthy relationship would’ve been a lot more satisfying than something in between the two. The split focus between the two relationships also leaves a lot of development to be desired.

All in all, the writing itself is good enough to have made this a bearable read, but I found myself going “Are you kidding me?” a little too often to rate this any higher.

My gratitude to Netgalley and Avon Books for sending me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really did like this book, and I knew that I was getting into prior to starting it, but it was a little hard to get over the parallels to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. It still was very well written and definitely differences but I kept thinking about it and honestly it was probably more a me thing.

This was such a fun and refreshing romance! I loved the unique twist on the whole Taylor/Travis artist–athlete love story, but told through the publicists’ perspective instead. The first chunk of the book (about 25%) sets the stage with the artist/athlete storyline, and while it’s technically “side character drama,” it actually builds a strong foundation for the main romance—and I really enjoyed that aspect.

Poppy and Rosaline completely stole my heart. Their chemistry was adorable, and watching Poppy work through her imposter syndrome and really grow into her own had me cheering her on the whole way. The writing was sharp and witty, and the social media posts at the start of chapters were such a clever touch—I found myself smiling every time I hit a new one.

The slow burn was delicious, and I loved how the intimate moments were handled. There’s one fully written scene that felt so earned, and then a few fade-to-black moments that fit the pacing perfectly.

I do have to say… my heart hurt for Cash during the inevitable third-act breakup. It stung seeing him not really get support from anyone at first, and I wanted to reach into the pages and scream at all the characters to believe him.

Overall, this was a sweet, smart, and modern romance that kept me smiling (and swooning). If you love witty banter, a thoughtful slow burn, and a romance that feels both fun and heartfelt, you’ll definitely want to pick this one up!

Easy read but not my cup of tea. Shocked because I love all of Alexandria Bellefluer's other books. I did enjoy the main characters separately but together just did not work for me. I do look forward to her next book though.


Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sending me an ARC of Playing for Keeps in exchange for an honest review.

Playing for Keeps is another fun read from Alexandria Bellefleur. Poppy is a newbie publicist for Cash, a NFL star with himbo energy, and Rosaline is an established publicist for Lyric, a high profile popstar. Poppy and Rosaline meet because of the budding romance between Cash and Lyric (this part of the story was essentially a Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce fanfic). The romance between Poppy and Rosaline starts out as no strings attached and quickly turns to committed, but the chemistry between these two characters was clear. The character growth in this story was more centered around Poppy and we get to connect with her through the single POV storytelling.

I read this from start to finish in single sitting and enjoyed it! Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager & NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this sapphic romance between two publicists whose people get involved in a relationship. I cared about each character, and appreciated how well the main characters communicated. There were very steamy scenes interspersed with tension when their jobs were at odds with each other. I enjoyed the Portland call-outs and loved the storyline of a pop star's relationship with a football player (very timely for Swifties!). I would definitely recommend Bellefleur's latest book, fans will LOVE it.

I love Taylor Swift just a much as the next girl, this was a literal carbon copy of her life, spot on lol. It was a little too much for me, however I did really enjoy Rosaline and Poppy, wish it was more centered around them.

Story was pretty cringe. The relationships felt underdeveloped which made connecting to the characters difficult. I liked the authors writing style, just prefer a better storyline than a knock off of T swift and T kelce.

One of my favorite reads of the year.
I loved the main couple but also cash and lyric- I wanted to know everything about both couples.

The toxic family dynamic Poppy had really hit home and was well written.

The spicy scenes were well written and didn’t feel out of character like I tend to see in a lot of books. The characters in bed fit with their personalities out of it.

There were a few editing mistakes but fairly minor and I expect will get cleared up by publishing - it didn’t take me out of the moment or anything.

I loved that this book had some of my favorite tropes! Forced proximity, secret relationship and found family! I loved that this was a sapphic romance. I haven’t read very many of those before!

Thank you to Alexandria Bellefleur, NetGalley, & Avon and Harper Voyager for providing me with this ARC! I love books written by Alexandria Bellefleur so this was a dream to receive this ARC! I LOVE sapphic romance books, and this one did not disappoint!!

I definitely am not a Swiftie myself but very much enjoyed the parallels and the story itself!! The book was well written and kept my interest through the entire book! I read this book so fast, truly appreciate being able to have access to it!

Thank you for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to Alexandria Bellefleur, Avon and Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Love, love, love this book, especially the 9-1-1 references but also obviously the Taylor Swoft references and also also obviously the romance! Unfortunately cannot rate this 5 stars until the Thanksgiving date is not impossible.

Edit: Alexandria Bellefleur responded to my messages and assured me that a proofreader already let her know of the mistake 💜💜💜

3.5 ⭐️

Though I don't think there's really any spoilers... I'm doing the dots
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Thank you Netgalley and Avon for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review; lets jump in.

I love the sibling-esque banter between Cash & Poppy (I'm not totally sold on his name, but whatever). Having opposite sex characters being strictly friends I feel is a rare thing, and i appreciate the representation.

This is very heavy on the current affairs of Pop-Star & NFL player. I'm not a swifty by any means, and I also do not route for his team--However, I feel the balance was there between the couples in this book. That being said, this was not MY favorite AB book. The characters were decent, the trauma was there (my god her parents are assholes and very relatable) but I would've like more of a back and forth between Rosaline chapters, and Poppy chapters. Only really having Rosaline's perspective of things when it's getting spicy kinda left me hanging. It was short, sweet-ish, and pretty much to the point. I did not get the feels of "missing these characters" once I was finished.

If you're ever wondering what it could be like to be behind the scenes of Hollywood agents, or to have Parents who are passive-aggressive assholes, or if you want to read a bit into why AI sucks--along with a sapphic love story. This ones for you.

The premise: Poppy and Rosaline work as publicists for their celebrity clients, a football player and a pop star, respectively. When their clients get involved, sparks fly.

I’d reccomend if you like: sapphic, celebrity-adjacent, taylor swift, single POV

The pop star, Lyric, was very Taylor Swift-coded, which didn’t personally work for me, as I dislike fiction that veers to close to real life things. It makes me feel like I’m reading fan fiction about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. The main saving grace is that the story is centered on the publicists.

The idea of a Portland NFL team is pretty amusing. Some of the shout-outs to Portland things were funny to spot.

The romance takes a little while to get going, but once it does, it really heats up. Personally, I love it when they start as friends-with-benefits and then develop feelings so that worked for me.

There is a lot of secondary media in this book: tweets, articles, etc. That mostly worked for me.

The pacing was a bit off—too fast in some places, too slow in others.

While there were things that I enjoyed here, I overall didn’t click with it.

Wow this book is SPICY , Fun and Dramatic .
That A list dream couple social media swoons about. Look behind them. At the ones keeping it all together and building steamy chemistry of their own. can they hold it together when scandal rips through the people their job/Life it is to protect? Find out Jan 2026

Playing for Keeps is an electric, inventive, and fresh romance that further cemented Alexandria Bellefleur in my top five favorite authors of all time. I absolutely loved this double romance book. Bellefleur seamlessly combined these two love stories in the perfect way, without ever letting the secondary story of Lyric and Cash overshadow Poppy and Rosaline. When I originally heard about the concept for this book, I was slightly worried that I wouldn't fall head over heels for this book because I'm not a Swiftie, but this book was well crafted and full of so much love (like all Bellefleur books) that I couldn't help but root for both of these couples to succeed. I'm going to be thinking about this one for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book! I enjoyed the authors Written In the Stars series, but haven’t liked her one offs since then much, so was pleasantly surprised with this book! I really enjoyed the characters, pacing, and romance. I read it in 24 hours and had so much fun! I’d recommend this book if you enjoy a mostly light sapphic romance!

“Playing for Keeps” by Alexandria Bellefleur is a contemporary sapphic romance featuring Poppy and Rosaline, who are both publicists. Also featured in the story are their clients, Cash (a football player) and Lyric (a singer), who also have a romance unfolding. So this is definitely reminiscent of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s relationship. But only adjacent to the main story (the book doesn’t include their POV) and primarily focuses on Poppy and Rosaline. The romance falls into the enemies-to-lovers trope. However, it doesn’t take long to fall into the lovers category. I found the contemporary relatability to be interesting and fun, and that Poppy and Rosaline had good chemistry and were fun to root for. Unfortunately, my biggest issue with the book is something most people probably looked over (SPOILER ALERT), but I could not get over the fact that Rosaline refused to let them kiss. And they didn’t until long after regularly hooking up and having feelings! I feel like the idea of that was so ridiculous that it took me out of the story a bit. Otherwise, this is a fun, romantic, easy read!