When I first heard of this concept I was intrigued by the idea—two rival publicists forced together to protect their clients’ image when they start a whirlwind romance over a pick up line posted on the internet. I was hoping for silly lines in the press, Twitter interactions or text threads alluding to the happenings for their clients.

Overall I’d say this book was a little…disappointing? The lead up to the proposition was promising, and the steam was top notch. But there were definitely points where I thought the whole thing felt rushed and unfinished.

There was the fact that Poppy’s sobriety seemed brushed aside and forgotten or avoided only to be brought up as a reason to go no contact with her family. And it read like it was explained away once Rosaline knew about it, I didn’t love that.

I liked the concept of articles leading every chapter but sometimes the articles themselves felt repetitive, led the story a little too much and I wanted to skip reading them for that reason.

I really wanted to like this book. Bellefluer has been an auto-buy author for me for quite some time. Unfortunately this felt a little more like Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce-adjacent fanfiction pushed ahead for fan service. I don’t know who is reviewing this book at the publisher but it feels more like AI reviewed it than an actual editor.

Also, this is just a *thing* that bothered me— Lyric is 24 and Rosaline is 34 according to those articles at the beginning of some of the chapters. The story line of how she came to be her publicist does not match up mathematically age-wise. 16 to 23/24 does not equal a 10 year age gap no matter how you slice up the months. It’s a dumb thing to get stuck on and I know that. But dumb as it is I care about the math. And if this is the fan service towards swifties it feels like—they will care about the math. Those sorts of details matter in the grand scheme of things.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow and HarperCollins for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

5 freaking stars. zero notes. I loved absolutely everything about this story. Every new book I read by this author is better than the last! Poppy was so broken and vulnerable and Rosaline was.. she was perfect. I loved how we kinda got two love stories in one book with the celebrity romance and the main story. The relationship between the MCs and their best friends was so sweet and just seeing this entire story play out was just.. God, it was so good. Will reread several times. The chemistry between Poppy and Rosaline was palpable. Every conversation was just brimming with tension. So many moments with the way Rosaline talks to Poppy just had me swooning. Absolute perfection.

As always, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7831490239?book_show_action=false

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for sending me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a lover of fanfiction and someone who still reads 10+ year old fanfictions and enjoys them, the flow of this felt like one. I loved the banter and sexual chemistry (🥵) between the two FMC's but the third act breakup seemed abrupt and the ending felt rushed. That being said I did enjoy the book for the most part.

Alexandria Bellefleur has done it again. Playing for Keeps is great, and the author’s spiciest story yet. The characters take obvious inspiration from real life people, but Bellefleur breaths enough life into them to make them her own. A truly great read!

I've enjoyed every published work of Bellefleur so far. It was bound to happen sooner rather than later that one novels of hers wouldn't be to my liking. Playing for Keeps was it.

That said, it's not a deterrent for not recommending it. Others will love it.

I had no idea this book even existed until it showed up in my inbox on the same day The Life of A Showgirl was announced. I don't know if the publishers saw the announcement and decided to send out copies or if it was just a coincidence, but I don't care! I couldn't ignore fate when the new Alexandria Bellefleur book about the PR representatives of a Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce inspired couple came to me the same day T12 was announced.

Anyway, enough about my ramblings of fate and Taylor Swift. Let's get into the review.

Playing for Keeps follows Poppy Peterson, the publicist for Cash Curran, the NFL's star quarterback. Cash makes a public pass at Lyric Adair (record breaking pop star) on X, which Poppy believes is going to turn into a PR nightmare. Turns out, Lyric is interested, so her publicist, Rosaline, reaches out to Poppy to talk over how Cash and Lyric are going to handle their meeting. While working on containing the frenzy of this new, very public relationship, Poppy and Rosaline have sparks flying between them and start a little steamy affair of their own. What follows is a very spicy, sweet, drama filled story that you will not want to miss!

I have always really enjoyed Alexandria Bellefleur's books. Even if I don't particularly love the book, I still have such a good time because her writing is so engaging, and the steamy scenes is always top tier, and I usually skip the spicy scenes in books. Playing for Keeps is just as good as her other books. There's undeniable chemistry, fantastic dirty talk, wonderful and loving friendships, and the plot itself is so fun. I know there are going to be a lot of skeptical people because this book is very clearly inspired by a real life celebrity couple, but, trust me, this book is worth it!

Poppy is a very relatable character. There comes a time in your mid twenties where you have no idea what you are doing and when you feel like you need to compress yourself into all these boxes to fit others expectations. I really felt for her with her struggles with her job and family.

I also like Rosaline and how she went about the relationship (for the most part). She was all in with Poppy and really liked her and wasnt afraid to show it. I love that about her character.

Now, let's get into what I didn't like about this book. I said this with Bellefleur's last book (which at the time of this review was Truly, Madly, Deeply) and i am saying it again here: having this book only in one POV is a mistake. Poppy is a great character, but only being in her head limits the story so much. We never get a very good read on Rosaline, which makes the romance shine less. I wanted to understand what makes her tic and see why Rosaline likes Poppy so much and see her with Lyric. We never get any of that and I think the book is lesser for it. If Poppy spent more time with Rosaline outside of Cash and Lyric and dealing with their mess, perhaps their relationship wouldn't feel so underdeveloped.

I also think having Rosaline's perspective would help the third act breakup make more sense because WHAT. It was so crazy and didn't make a whole lot of sense. I won't get into it since this book is still months away from release, but I just wanted to shake certain characters for being so dumb. Surely this wasn't the first time certain famous people had to deal with this stuff, so for it to be such a big deal baffled me. PLUS, after such a huge break in trust, everything gets resolved with one conversation, which they could have had in the first place. This is where having both perspectives could have really helped because then we could have maybe understand why the break in trust happened. As it is, I just couldn't get behind it because it was so insane to me. If third act breakups are deal breakers for you, sorry to say you might want to steer clear of this book.

HOWEVER, Alexandria Bellefleur is an auto-read author for me because her books are always so fun to read. Despite all the flaws, I will always read her books because the banter and spicy scenes in her books are top tier. She just gets it in a way that a lot of authors don't, and I will always devour her books when they come out. I really, really recommend you run and read this book when it comes out in January! I think it would be a fun time.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for sending me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

pre review: gonna do a full review tomorrow when I am not racing against the clock for bedtime but long story short: this was so, so fun and cute but we 👏 needed 👏 more 👏 groveling

WOW! This book couldn't have come at a better time. As a longtime Swiftie, the Taylor Swift references were so beautifully crafted. It was an amazing experience reading this novel the week of the announcement of her new album. The characters in this book came to life so beautifully. I was a bit worried going into it that I would be so focused on Cash and Lyric's story that I would miss Poppy and Rosaline's but I found myself wanting to know more about both characters so much. I wish I would've gotten more of a conclusion on Poppy's relationship with her family but as families are, sometimes you never get the closure you're looking for. Poppy's character development was so crucial to the story line and I loved seeing how she went from being an awkward publicist, unsure of herself to a woman who really took a situation by the reigns and guided Cash to a better public image. I wish I could've seen more of a character development from Rosaline but I don't feel like this was her book to grow in, but perhaps she'll get her moment in another book?? All in all, this book was such a fun and fast read! I haven't devoured a book so quickly in AGES and am so honored to be able to write a review for this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I wasn’t sure if I would like this after reading the prologue and chapter 1. I think the fact that the MC was 25, messed with me and that it started out with a press release(yes, I know it’s about PR) but it started slow(?) to me. Idk I can’t figure out why I didn’t get into it right away. But as soon as Rosalyn was introduced and of course we got to know more about Poppy, I was hooked. Their chemistry is amazing! Rosalyn appears on the outside as an ice queen, but she’s a big softie, especially when it comes to Poppy and Lyric.

I genuinely was so happy that Poppy’s alcoholism was talked about. As someone who struggled with alcohol early in their twenties, a lot of what she said and felt resonated with me. I don’t think there’s enough sober or at least people in recovery represented in novels, let alone sapphic novels.

While I don’t agree with the reasoning behind the third act break up(I really feel like the reasoning was out of character for Rosalyn) but I also understand a little bit due to her relationship with Lyric. I would’ve liked to see Rosalyn grovel a little more and show Poppy that it wouldn’t happen again.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. It took a spin on a certain singer/nfl player romance. It wasn’t about that though. We had 2 love stories in one that blended perfectly.

I LOVEDDDD THIS BOOK!! So cute. Rosaline and Poppy had such unexpected chemistry and so spicy and fun and I just love their vibe. I would totally read a sequel.

This is the first time I read a book by this author. First of all, I love this cover so much! It is the main reason why I requested this book (and because it’s sapphic obviously)! The chemistry between the characters was palpable and the witty dialogue kept me engaged. The story offered a good mix of humor and heartfelt moments. However, I felt that some of the pacing was a bit slow in the middle, which affected my overall reading experience. Regardless, it's a fun romance worth checking out.

2.75⭐️ rounded up

Before I dive into my review, I would just like to say I absolutely LOVED the Written in the Stars series and The Fiancée Farce by this author… but this will be the second new release I did not vibe with at all and didn’t feel like her writing, so it may be time soon to “retire” her from my favorites :/

Now, I am a Swiftie. HOWEVER I feel like the author totally lost the plot with this book. What was SUPPOSED to be a side plot of Lyric and Cash, I felt like they were the MAIN plot and kept forgetting the characters on the cover who I was supposed to be caring about were Poppy and Rosaline.

Which - They had their cute and a couple spicy moments, sure. But I really didn’t see them as a couple - especially a long lasting couple. Poopy really annoyed me most of the book, she was so negative, so self deprecating with herself and her relationships with Cash and Rosaline, it was hard to see any growth and really root for her. Rosaline was okay but I feel like everything was very surface level and didn’t get any of the extreme chemistry with these two.

also hated the third act breakup/conflict… why are we using AI in romance novels… and why are we using them to create issues? I also didn’t like how cash and lyric’s third act breakup reason( again, NOT THE MAIN CHARACTERS HERE) became Rosaline and Poppy’s third act breakup reason.

Overall, I was really looking forward to this release but it did not do it for me. If you haven’t read anything by this author I would definitely steer clear from this one, especially if you’re not a Taylor swift fan!

This was a fun and quick read. I really liked Poppy as a character and enjoyed the witty banter between her and Rosaline. This would be a fun beach read but not my favorite from this author. I also wished the book was a bit longer and there were more scenes with Poppy and Rosaline together. It would have been interesting to get to know Rosaline a bit more and better understand how her past has impacted her.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early.

Playing for Keeps follows Poppy, the publicist for quarterback who begins dating a pop star, as she falls for the publicist of the pop star.

This book was fun! I really liked the banter between all the characters, especially Poppy and Rosaline, and love the friendship bond between Poppy and Cash. The book was also surprisingly spicy, in the most enjoyable way but also held such emotional depth between our love interests. I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed Cash and Lyric's romance, especially at the start.

I would have loved to see a chapter or two from Rosaline's point of view as I didn't feel like we got to know her enough and I didn't enjoy the plot involving the third act breakup but the book was still very fun to read and I loved Rosaline from Poppy's point of view.

Thank you again to Avon and NetGalley for the chance to read this early.

wow. this was really just taylor swift and travis kelce fanfic. while the romance is supposed to revolve around the popstar and football player’s publicists, the story really did focus on lyric and cash. we only got poppy’s pov, and I think the story would have really benefitted from rosaline’s inner thoughts. poppy’s familial troubles felt really half baked, and were resolved much too quickly. that being said, the book was easy to whip through and was relatively sexy and fun. a great airport read, but not memorable. thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this earc in exchange for an honest review :)

First I would like to thank netgalley, the author, and the publishers for allowing me to read this ARC!

I would like to warn you, that there will be spoilers within this review but it follows past Alexandria book format so if you have read any of her past books, this should be pretty similar!

This book is basically knock off Travis Kelce ( Cash Curran aka Poppy’s bff) & Taylor Swift (Lyric aka Rosaline’s bff) relationship as the secondary love with their publicists (Poppy & Rosaline) relationship as the main. It follows a grumpy/sunshine trope but the grump isn’t even really grumpy lol, but man they both have issues that cause like a last 30 pages of the book break up. It’s pretty modern with references to Deuxmoi, deepfakes of AI, and slang. There’s fake articles, tweets, etc so if that’s not your thing, this might not be the book for you. Overall I enjoyed it! I mean I read it within less than a day and I thought it was cute, as I’m a big Taylor Swift fan lol.

The cover art is uggo though, it’s better than what I can do as I have no artistic bone in my body nor is it my job but someone got paid I’m assuming pretty well for it as it is their job so this will be my hill to die on, it’s uggo and needs to go.

2.5 ⭐️

wow. this was almost worst than the taylor and travis hallmark movie??? i can’t believe how insanely big the fanfic of it all has gotten and why anyone thinks it’s okay…
this is SUPPOSED to be about the publicists of walmart taylor and travis but instead their plotline rivals the main love interests’ and is a full replica of their romantic frenzy a couple years back (aka eras tour + football games).
these 2.5 measly stars are for the minimal focus on the romance that i truly would’ve enjoyed if they were publicists to ANYONE other than caricatures of this entire pop culture phenomenon and the worst part?

-spoilers - the third act conflict is AI 😭😭 we have truly lost the plot what are these romcoms lately

i normally adore bellefleur’s books and while this one might’ve been a miss for me, im still beyond excited for her next release 🤞🏼😫