Between Playing for Keeps and The Devil She Knows, this is a blockbuster year for Alexandria Bellefleur. She definitely has a repeat reader in me!

This book is absolutely PERFECT for the Swifties who have been looking for a sporty, superstar romance - especially the sapphic ones like me who may struggle to find representation in the sports romance genre. While neither of our FMCs are the popstar or the athlete in question, it's exactly what I wanted a few years ago when I started binging football romances only to be let down every time. We get plenty of the secondary romance to feed that fangirlish desire for more, while also getting a wholly original couple of FMCs.

Definitely a fun, quick read. I'm absolutely in love with AB's dialogue, and I can't wait for her next release!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher (Avon) for this ARC!

Overall I liked this. It was cute and an easy read. The main characters (Poppy and Rosaline) had great chemistry and were a very believable couple. I liked the tweets/articles at the beginning of each chapter and thought the use of social media was great for a contemporary romance with celebrities at its center.

However, I feel like the main relationship was somewhat overshadowed by the secondary relationship. Poppy’s character growth could have been more developed along with the relationship between the love interests.

This was fun and cute!

Really enjoyed the sapphic romance here. Poppy and Rosaline have an opposites attract, grumpy x sunshine dynamic that always wins me over. The chemistry between them is developed over time as they are forced to spend time together due to their clients. It was nice to see their relationship blossom throughout the story and for their connection to be tested at the end. I found Poppy and Rosaline to be really cute and adorable, but also heartfelt. The steamy scenes were also quite hot. I really enjoyed their romance. Plus we get their clients' romance too which was a nice addition.

Bellefleur's writing is wonderful. It draws the reader in and flows nicely. I never wanted to put this book down. Though I do wish we had gotten Rosaline's POV.

If you're looking for something cute with a lot of heart, give this a try.

As someone who made Written in the Stars their entire personality when it came out, I always look forward to a new Alexandria Bellefleur Sapphic book. Sadly for me, Playing for Keeps was a pretty big disappointment. The main couple doesn’t seem like the main couple of the book, the articles and tweets at the beginning of almost every chapter have almost zero to do with Poppy and Rosaline, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the third act breakup (spoiler alert: Cash and Lyric are the reason).

The chemistry between Poppy and Rosaline is there, but there is zero build up. Most of their conversations revolve around Cash and Lyric, which made it hard to root for them as an actual couple. I really think this book would’ve greatly benefited from dual POV since, let’s be honest, Rosaline is the most interesting of the two.

My main issue with the book is that Cash and Lyric’s relationship takes up half of it. As someone who is not a fan of the real life T-squared relationship, this really took a lot of the excitement out of the book for me.

Overall, Playing for Keeps was a letdown for me.

I received an ARC from Avon and Harper Voyager through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 / 5 stars.

This book made want to drop everything and just read. I finished it in less than 24 hours. Rosaline is an absolute icon and I wish she was real.

This was ok - I liked all the main characters, which is always nice, but I didn’t find the main two women to have the most compelling chemistry. There were some jumps in the building relationships that felt choppy and rushed without much explanation. The family drama backstory felt like one I’d read before, and it also seemed a bit brushed over or rushed through without much clear resolution. I did enjoy the interspersed articles and tweets scattered through the narrative story. The “X” mentions and AI plot line felt too real modern world in a way that took me out of the story, unfortunately. Overall, the writing was not as moving as past Bellefleur novels that I have enjoyed, but I still mostly enjoyed this story and the main 4 characters!

I really enjoyed this book!! I’ve read a few titles by this author already and enjoyed those as well, so it was no surprise to add this to the list.

I’ve read quite a few celebrity trope pieces, but I never heard of two publicists getting together. That upfront made me extremely interested in reading this. Pair that with an Ice Queen like Rosaline and you’ve got a solid book. Poppy was very like-able, she was easy to get behind and want to support and the relationship between her and Cash was so sweet. It isn’t often you see a male and female friendship with your having to worry about them being anymore than that. I found that very refreshing. The relationship between Poppy and Rosaline happens fairly quickly, but I’m never going to complain about that. The spice was GREAT, I’ve come to expect good love scenes from this author and she certainly delivers, please keep it up!

Overall, I thought this was a fun read and I finished it in a little over 24 hrs. I’m very glad I was able to get the chance to read this. Congratulations on another great book!

*I was provided an ARC for my honest feedback.

Like all Bellefleur novels, Playing for Keeps has complex female protagonists navigating love while being hilarious and sexy, and this one is the hottest yet. Even though I knew they'd eventually get together, watching Rosaline and Poppy move from rivals to friends to lovers to...is an absolute delight. OF COURSE they think they're being casual. OF COURSE they catch feelings. And even though I knew what was coming, I couldn't help but smack my forehead when they were being idiots, and smile and kick my feet when they got out of their own way. I quite literally read it in one sitting. As always, Bellefleur has given us another delicious sapphic romance that you can't put down.

I love Bellefleur’s books and this one is no exception…but I do have some things to say about it.

I was so ready to give this book 5 stars until about 80-85% in. I was willing to look past the fact that it wasn’t a dual perspective (even though it felt like I was missing half the story). I loved the chemistry between the two main characters, I loved the other plots going on, I was into it.

And then the third act breakup came. I kept thinking to myself “if there is a third act break up, it better be well deserved” and this one was NOT. Not to spoil too much, but it felt VERY out of character for the person who initiated the break up to do so - and the reasoning felt like a cop out. And then they had zero problem getting back together after such a sudden break up. Personally I would have a lot of trouble trusting that person again. It just felt so rushed and did not make sense.

Anyway, regardless, it’s a fun and sexy read and I did eat it up in less than 24 hours.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for the ARC!!

“She’s the best thing to happen to me since I met you”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

Another book devoured in a day! This book was a fun four star read.

This sapphic romance centers around the publicists of a pop star and an NFL quarterback who end up falling in love. Watching Rosaline and Poppy fall in love while supporting their clients was heart warming. Rosaline has more of the black cat energy, while poppy strikes me as a bit of a golden retriever. I will say those sapphic scenes were hot.🥵🥵🥵

The few things I didn’t like in this book were the conflict in the end that led to the third act break up. I won’t spoil it for y’all but I just felt that it didn’t need to happen. I also don’t genuinely enjoy 3rd act breakups so take that with a grain of salt.

You’ll like this book if you like :
- Popstar x football player romances
- Single POV
- Texts on page
- Third Act Breakups
- Sapphic Romances
- Bisexual Representation
-
Thank you to Avon publishing, the author , and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

* Review posted to Goodreads, Storygraph & Fable. Will be posted to Instagram by end of day 8.18.25*

I liked this... but I also think that Bellefluer should've just written about Cash and Lyric because honestly I was way more invested in their story than Poppy and Rosaline.

And it's not that I didn't like them together, I thought they were all well and good but it felt like so much went in to the progression of Lyric and Cash's relationship in the background that it almost felt like the attention was split completely between the two instead of them remaining the side characters they were meant to be.

And I'll be honest, that third act made me sadder for Cash than Poppy 😅 I was angry at Rosaline for sure but the emotions I was feeling were mainly for that man because he loved Lyric so much and so loudly and the fact that everyone instantly believed the worst of him was absolutely awful.

And also, I feel like we still don't know much about Poppy and Rosaline...? We learn of Poppy's addiction and of the problems they both have with their respective parents but that's quite literally it. It made for a great lack of depth in their relationship.

In all, this is a quick and easy read and the multimedia aspect of it was something I really enjoyed but I truly think the book should've just been focused on Lyric and Cash (but I see how that gets dicey considering just how similar their love story is to a certain popstar and her guy on the Chiefs)

This was the most fun I’ve had reading a book in a while! Coming off of the New Heights x Taylor Swift podcast, I got this book and enjoyed every page! It was sexy and heartwarming and queer. What more could i ask for?

The way I devoured this book….
Playing for Keeps is a sapphic romance following two publicists - one of a pop star and the other a football star. I know, I know, this words immediately lead our thoughts to one place. Taylor Swift. Going into the book, I was slightly worried it would be a little too Watpad fanfic-ish, HOWEVER, I should have trusted Alexandria Bellefleur from the start. The characters (the MCs as well as the side characters) are very much original characters, well thought out, flawed but still so dang lovable. The plot was a little slow at times, and I did wish there was more story to it, but the smut in this novel was top tier. I’m talking fanning myself, panting, needing to take a cold shower after top tier. Overall, a fantastic novel and I cannot wait to have it on my shelf!!

Giving Taylor/Travis vibes, but really… what about their publicists? What happens when THEY get thrown together when their clients start dating? A beautiful sapphic romance!

If you look at the dates I read it, you’ll see it was the perfect week to discover this book. It took me to New Heights with every page 😉 Some pages even had me giggling like a Showgirl… er, I mean schoolgirl. This should be on everybody’s Wish List.
(Ok, I’ll stop now 😂)

Will also add this disclaimer… while I like a lot of Taylor Swift’s music, I’m not a super fan. You don’t need to be a Swiftie to like this book. It’s for everyone! 😁

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Playing for Keeps to come out January 6, 2026.

Playing for Keeps by Alexandria Bellefleur – ★★★★☆
This was such a fun grumpy x sunshine, opposites attract sapphic romance. The chemistry between the main characters was so good—every conversation was packed with tension and slow-burn yearning. I also loved that we got to see two relationships develop, not just one.
I really connected with all the characters, but I wasn’t a fan of the third act breakup. It felt unnecessary and kind of took me out of the story, which is why I knocked off a star. Otherwise, this would’ve been a solid five stars!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC of Playing for Keeps.

This is not my first Alexandria Bellefleur romance. I have enjoyed her previous work – specifically the Written in the Stars series and The Fiancée Farce – and as soon as you tell me she has a new novel, I’m like “say less.” Overall, I enjoy her sapphic romances the most and was really looking forward to reading this ARC, but I found Playing for Keeps to be a bit of a fumble rather than a touchdown.

If you are a fan of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship, this book might be for you. I’m aware of the real-life relationship that was inspiration for this book, but I’m not all that invested in it and was hoping that the supporting characters – Cash and Lyric – who are clearly based on Taylor and Travis would have remained on the sidelines and the characters that are prominently featured on the cover – Poppy and Rosaline - would be left to shine on their own. This was not the case.

One of the ways Bellefleur pulls focus from Poppy and Rosaline is through the use of social media posts, interviews, album reviews, and internet items about Cash and Lyric. Yes, some of those posts/internet items are about Poppy and Rosaline, but most of the posts connect back to Cash and Lyric.

I’ve seen quite a few author’s incorporate the use of social media posts – Reddit, Twitter (X), YouTube comments, etc. – in their novels as of late. Throughout 2025 alone, I have read 4 ARCs – including this one – that use these social media posts to help tell the story. Sometimes the author successfully incorporates social media into their storylines, but Bellefleur misses the mark here by overusing this narrative device. Here’s an example:

In the ARC that I read, Bellefleur begins Chapter 15 with a myriad of posts, including text messages between the characters. This goes on and on. Page upon page of texting, album reviews, online articles, Tweets, album reviews, tracking Lyric’s whereabouts, and ending with a timeline of Cash and Lyric’s relationship.

To say I was frustrated reading this section would be an understatement. And from this chapter on, any time I saw more online posts incorporated into the novel, I rolled my eyes.

Bellefleur uses text messaging in most of her previous romance novels, so this was nothing new. However, she deftly and minimally includes text messages to give context about the characters (primarily the ones falling in love with one another) and show how the MCs relationship is developing as well as indicating the passage of time.

In Playing for Keeps, text messages were used in a similar way, but the addition of online posts was overkill to say the least and it drew my attention away from the story rather than adding more context. More than anything, I wanted to skim these sections, but I kept reading everything because I wanted to read the novel in its entirety rather than skimming any sections that I wasn’t fully engaged in.

Beyond the fact that Poppy and Rosaline’s storyline/romance was too enmeshed with Cash and Lyric’s, there is also the limitations of telling this story through one POV rather than two. Poppy (and the myriad of online posts) tells this story, and while I didn’t mind Poppy’s narration, I also wanted to read chapters from Rosaline’s POV. Having Rosaline as another narrator would have strengthened the story, and it is the books where Bellefleur uses a dual-POV that I find myself most engaged because I have a clearer picture of what both FMCs are going through as they navigate their love story.

The third-act breakup was meh and wholly tied to Cash and Lyric’s relationship. It was so easy to figure out what really happened in this situation, and the whole thing was silly. Honestly, I just didn’t feel any emotional pull during these scenes, which is problematic because I want to feel something about these breakups knowing full well that the characters will eventually get an HEA. Of course, the characters do get their HEA, but I didn’t care all that much about it. *shrug*

Overall, Playing for Keeps would have been better had the focus solely been on Poppy and Rosaline’s relationship. Sure, Poppy and Rosaline met because of their clients, but this romance novel didn’t need to spend so much time in Cash and Lyric’s orbit. It’s also one of those novels that if you’re invested or interested in the real-life relationship that inspired this story, you’re going to enjoy the book much more than I did.

lesbians with shades of tayvis? sign me the f up!

thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for a review!

i absolutely ate this up! it was cute, it was funny, it was timely and it was HOT!

alexandria always has me in a chokehold with her books and this was exactly what i needed to push me more out of this book slump i’m currently in.

i loved how similar this was to tayvis and their relationship. cash was a golden retriever absolutely whipped and smitten by lyric — where have we seen that before? hehe. i’m a sucker for a man who is disgustingly obsessed with his girl. they were so cute, they almost overshadowed the main couple! i’d love a book with just them.

my girls poppy and rosaline were hot af. wow. i love me a praise kink. add in emotional talks and you win me over!

if you normally love alexandria’s books and love pop culture references and fully formed WLW relationships, you’re going to LOVE this!

There's a lot I really like about this book. The use of articles, tweets, etc is a really refreshing way to break up the slower parts of the story while also progressing certain plot points.

As well, I think the relationships between Cash and Poppy, and Rosaline and Lyric were adorable. It was great to have two pairs of best friends centered at this story, who would do anything for one another.

In terms of the main romance storyline, it was both incredibly sweet and also super spicy. I loved the way that Rosaline and Poppy acted with one another, they had really great banter and were both clearly very into each other.

My only real complaint is that the third act breakup in this one kind of annoyed me. I didn't think it was totally necessary and there was definitely some rash decisions made by characters towards the end. I wasn't a huge fan of this. I could see it coming from awhile off, but I didn't like the execution and the rushed way things happened.

Despite the ending, however, the book is still cute overall and a nice quick sapphic read. 4.2/5 stars

This book had a solid foundation but fell short of its potential. Poppy's backstory is crucial to her character, yet it felt rushed and underexplored, leaving me wanting a deeper understanding of how it shaped her.

The romance between Cash and Lyric took center stage which created a compelling subplot that often overshadowed the main relationship involving Poppy and Rosaline. Because of that it left me feeling more invested in Cash and Lyric's journey than the primary romance. While the main characters' love story has its moments, it feels somewhat eclipsed by the depth and development found in the subplot, making for an uneven romantic experience overall.

While the book was entertaining for the most part, it didn't leave a lasting impression, and I wouldn't choose to revisit it. I appreciate the opportunity to read this through Netgalley, Avon Books, and Harper US in exchange for an honest review.

Should you read it? If you want. Will it change your life? no.

I could not have been given this ARC at a better time. Playing for Keeps by Alexandria Bellefleur is the story of two publicists, one for a chart-topping female pop singer, and one for a star football player on a newly expanded Portland team. As pop star Lyric is wooed by footballer Cash in a public attempt to get her attention, their two publicists are forced to come together to ensure parties are protected in what would enviably become a heavily publicized relationship.

The publicists, Rosaline and Poppy, start off both on the offensive. Rosaline's reputation is that of a no nonsense, cutthroat protector of her client. Poppy is determined to not let the big leagues to get the better of her. The women get to work with NDAs, ground rules, and strict expectations.

What happens next is a story of two women, each with their own personal challenges, that learn from their clients and each other about loyalty, self-worth, and understanding that family is what you make it. It delves into both the careers and personal lives of the MCs and their friends/clients in a mature but casual way that allows the story to progress easily without feeling forced.

Alexandria's writing is so easy to read and hard to put down. She keeps the pace moving and I just love her dialogue. The conversations just come across so naturally, with appropriate pauses and "cut offs". I eventually had to stop highlighting my favorite lines because it was getting out of hand in the best way. Great read y'all, can't wait for pub day!

Also, can we talk about this cover! It's is everything. the colors are dynamic without being covered in pink and flowers, the women are more detailed, with height difference, unique features, and flirty stances. Excellent execution.

Thank you to @avonbooks & @netgalley for the ARC.