Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and Netgalley for the advanced copy to review!

Wow wow wow. This book was amazing. I've read one of Laci Waldon's books in the past and thought it was pretty good, so I didn't have crazy high expectations for this book. I was just thinking that I would enjoy it and move on. I did not expect to be so drawn into the plot and the characters!

This felt like a truly unique book to me. The concept of a town competing in a game to win a fortune was a refreshing take on a traditional romance book. The romance genre of the book is what initially drew me in, but the plot of the game is what kept me coming back to devour the book. The characters also were nuanced and felt real-- they had layers to their personalities beyond just their quirks.

Overall, I was so impressed with this book. It really blew me away by how much I enjoyed it. I can't wait to see what Waldon does next!

3.5 Stars Overall

While this book is in the romance genre, it's so much more than that. Told from multiple points of view, it's more a book about the charm of a small town, of finding comfort in home, that building a family isn't only by blood, and that wasting time on petty feuds accomplishes nothing.

The romance is actually secondary in this one, and for me, it works. Jess Reid grew up in Redford with just her dad, who is also her best friend. When the town benefactor, Jasper Wilhelm, dies suddenly, he leaves one final request for the Redford - everyone is paired up and two lucky townspeople can compete to win 5 million dollars each.

In town for the funeral, and forced to take part in the competition, is Jasper's grandson, Carter Barclay, a buttoned-up financial advisor. Jess is everything Carter isn't used to. She's open and honest and lots of fun. Carter is guarded, and careful and unsure of what healthy relationships should look like. Lots of great, quirky characters and some really fun moments.

I didn’t love this one. I didn’t hate it. But I also wasn’t drawn to it. I first read The Layover last year & truly loved it, especially considering it was a debut novel, so I was excited to get my hands on this one.

The synopsis is so fun & the whole story gave me the vibe of Gilmore Girls/Stars Hollow. A beloved (and wealthy) member of the small town, Jasper, has passed away & is leaving $10 million to two lucky residents. Before he passed, he arranged for that money to be given to the winner of a series of town-wide games. Jasper paired residents up with their enemies, so hijinks are sure to ensue.

There are two primary story lines here…Jess and her enemy Nikki & Jess and Carter (Jasper’s nephew). We see a new friendship formed and the beginning of a relationship. Where it fell a little flat for me was lack of dialogue. There was some, but most of the pages were full of long paragraphs and descriptions. It’s the class “show, don’t tell” struggle. There was a lot of telling here & not a lot of showing. It kept me from fully connecting to the characters and their connections.

Overall, not a bad book, but it wasn’t memorable. I did love the small town aspect. The whole story line felt like it could’ve been an episode on Gilmore Girls. It just struggled to come to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book will be released March 21, 2023!

So cute!!! Love this romance energy. The game was so much fun, the main characters were adorable together and just the small town family aspect is amazing. I do wish they went a drop deeper with some of the characters and also wish they committed a drop more to the spice but overall pretty good.

DNF at 55% - I really wanted to love this book. I've loved Lacie's other books and had high hopes for this one, but I wasn't a fan of the 4 POV, and it felt to me a little like this book couldn't decide if it was about the town or about Jess and Carter...

Thank you to Netgalley for my complimentary e-arc of this book. All opinions here are my own.

Having read Lacie Waldon's previous books, I thought I knew what I was going into with this one. And while it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be, it turned out to be even better! Told from multiple points-of-view, this romance is as much between two people as it is between people and their town.

Jess lives in small town in Georgia, editing books. She's close to her father, Ross, who was just a teenager when she was born and raised her alone. Her best friend Liz moved away some time ago, leaving her to deal with frequent run-ins with her enemy Nikki, who lives to harass her. When the town's philanthropist Jasper Wilhelm dies, his grandson Carter comes to town for the funeral. Having regrets about never coming to visit Jasper despite how close they were - they secretly funded a lot of charity and financial assistance in the town together. Jess and Carter meet at the town's bar, where Carter saves Jess from another unpleasant encounter with Nikki and her posse of mean girls. They're instantly attracted to each other but quickly learn that they're about to become competitors for Jasper's money. That's right! The old man left his money to the town in the form of a 10 million dollar prize to be won by teams of two people made up by the town's citizens - and Carter. Money he thought would already be going to him to continue his grandfather's secret gifting missions. Now forced to compete for the money as well as try to prove to the town that he's not being set-up to win, Carter is having a hard time staying away from his opponents, Jess and Nikki, who is in this for her own reasons. As the competition gets more and more high stakes, so does the tension between them.

With a full cast of characters and multiple points-of-view, the people and their relationships are really at the heart of this story. Jess and her father. Jess and Nikki. Nikki and Jess's father. Jess and Carter. Carter and Bryce. Carter and his parents. Carter and Jasper. Plus the relationships and friendships all around town. Not to mention the heart and humor along the way.

I really wanted to love "The Only Game in Town" by Lacie Waldon, but this was a DNF for me.

Lacie Waldon's character descriptions come to life in this novel, I can feel the Southern-esq style throughout the different characters Point-of-views. Overall, I think this is what made it so hard for me to get into.

This was the perfect small town romance read! I loved that Jess really got Carter to open up and experience the wonderful things their small town had to offer. The games added a lot of funny moments for all of the characters. Redford seems to be the type of town you get sucked into and never want to leave! Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

The Only Game in Town by Lacie Waldon

A big thank you to @netgalley, @putnambooks, and @allaboutthat_lace for the opportunity to read this #eARC in exchange for my #honestreview! This will be published March 21 and is available for preorder now. 💕

Redford, Georgia is a small town that is big on community. Jess has called Redford home her whole life, through the good and the bad despite never fully feeling she belongs. When Carter visits Redford, it’s to attend the funeral of his beloved grandfather, Jasper, and for the reading of his will. Things take an exciting turn when, during the reading of Jasper’s will, the estate lawyer announces there will be a contest among the residents of the town and Carter to compete in pairs of two to win his fortune of $10 million. Will the town of Redford learn to work together or will the pressure be too much for these pairings? Let the games begin!

This was so good! I have to admit the premise didn’t have me fully sold immediately but Waldon did it so well! I also absolutely loved that the FMC, Jess, was an author so there were a few nods to narrative form and a kind of breaking of the fourth wall to address the conflict for the MC before the resolution. A very cute romance filled with good feels, solid pop culture references (Golden Girls, and T.Swift, and Barbie - oh my!) and a small town vibe. This is exactly what I am looking for in a closed door contemporary romance! Romcom lovers should run to this one!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 - 4.5/5

This book was cute, if a little predictable. No spoilers here, but I think the only plot point that truly surprised was a big one involving her dad, and I didn’t really get the resolution I wanted at the end of the book.

The main couple was really cute together, and I liked both of them separately and as a couple. I didn’t mind their alternating POVs. But the occasional jumps into supporting characters’ points of view were somewhat jarring and didn’t feel like they really added to the main plot. That space could have been devoted to the main characters and let that story have a bit more depth.

Oooh! This was so oddly 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘐𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘯 features the small town of Redford with its quirky residents and an eccentric millionaire who's devised the ultimate game to leave his fortune behind for his fellow Redfordians, if only they can survive their pairings from hell and reach the end unscathed.

- ~ -

"𝘐𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯?"

Redford is a somewhat idyllic small-town with wild residents and their wilder histories but it cares well for its people. There's rivalry like nothing else but they're all family at the end of the day.

Jess is a book editor who's swept up by a world of words and Carter's lost in a world of numbers, together these two opposites, on opposing sides of the game are brought closer by the chaotic competition.

I want to clarify that the synopsis might lead us to believe that the main characters are paired together but they aren't which is good because being the competition adds
another dimension of tension to the plot.

The story is told through quadruple POVs and some perspectives are more humorous than others but see...

*minor spoilers ahead*

The POVs are of Jess, Carter, Jess's father - Ross and Jess's childhood nemesis - Nikki. The Jess and Carter paring is all well and good but Nikki and Ross don't make any sense because Nikki has some strong feelings for Ross which he doesn't reciprocate and while the age gap isn't that big, it's still wierd for a father to be attracted to a girl his daughter's age but that is not the end game so that's good but I'm still confused as to why their POVs were there in the first place!
With all things said and done if Nikki would have been anyone but Jess's agemate I would've shipped the hell outta her and Ross.

But I will say though, this was definitely my favourite from the author. While I missed that this book wasn't set in some place across the globe like the author's others, I think Redford and its people warrant it's a whole universe. The fact that it's written in third person also adds more character and details to the plot which I liked.

- ~ -

Overall: A sweet concoction of unlikely friendships and alliances put up against betrayals and the temptation to do all it takes to win creates for a well developed plot that keeps the readers on their toes.

3.93 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘶𝘵𝘯𝘢𝘮 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

After the death of one of the wealthiest men in town, a small town in Georgia competes for his fortune and all of the teams were picked by him before he died. Jess and Carter are paired up much to their dismay. While this book was marketed as a romance, it was more about the community and the race. It was a fun read!

This was a charming book about a small town. While it says it is a romance, that is actually only a small part. The majority of the book is about the town and the different personalities living in it. I did enjoy the “game” part of the book as I found it to be quite unique. Overall, it was a little juvenile and a little too quirky for my taste. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a sucker for small-town stories, having spent my entire life living in one, so this book sounded right up my alley. That, plus the adorable cover, drew me right in.

It started off strong; I loved the first few chapters and the banter between Carter and Jess. I didn’t even mind that the plot was a little far fetched, because the story was cute. But it quickly went off the rails for me.

It is billed as a romance, but there’s very little romance. Instead, there are multiple competing stories and characters that make this one a little chaotic. It was difficult for me to care about and get invested in so many characters, all with their own interests and agendas. I wish Waldon had just focused on Jess and Carter and let them tell the story.

In the end, it was cute but not for me. I wasn’t invested in the competition, and hated the “enemies paired together” vibe. I wish the book had kept the cute energy from the first few chapters.

I appreciated the chance to review this book, even if it didn’t end up being my cup of tea. 2.5 stars.

Another cute read from Waldon.
A ton of money is at stake for a small eccentric Georgia town.
The matchups have already been Made but who will still together.
This doesn’t often happen for me, but I liked Nikki the best. Her put downs were vile but I do if myself liking her chuff and tenacity.
For this book I was rooting more for the villain, sort of, anyway.

The Only Game In Town features Jess and Carter. Carter’s grandfather, the town eccentric, has died and left a stipulation in his will that there will be a contest. The winning pair of the contest will win his whole fortune. Much to people’s horror, he picked the teams before he died. Chaos ensues in this fun book about a small town community.
I loved Jess from go. She faces a lot of issues but she does try her hardest to stay upbeat. Carter has a very mysterious vibe about him. It is nice for this book to have a dual POV(sometimes quadruple POV) so you can get the book from different angles. The residents of Redford are brought to life. Jess’ old high school classmate and now teammate, Nikki, has her own POV. I initially disliked it because Nikki is not the nicest but it has it’s purposes.
The Only Game in Town is the first of Lacie Waldon’s books that I have read. I really loved how she brought everyone to life and really brought the reader into the story. I will be picking up her other books.
I would recommend this book if you enjoy a nice, light closed door romance that really leans on a hometown feel.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lacie Waldon, and Putnam for the e-ARC. This review is my own opinion.

📖The Only Game In Town
By Lacie Waldron

ARC REVIEW
PUBLISH DATE 3-21 ⭐️

🚣🏻‍♀️ grumpy-sunshine / friends to lovers
🚣🏻‍♀️ small town
🚣🏻‍♀️ no spice
🚣🏻‍♀️ full of competition
🚣🏻‍♀️ 4 points of view

If you are looking for a book with no spice, small town vibes and a little friendly competition- this is the book for you.

I have adored Lacie’s other two books so much- but this one fell flat for me, though I did enjoy the storyline. The characters did not pull me in at all. The mmc was blah and the fmc wasn’t exciting to follow either. I felt like The Layover & From The Jump both being 5⭐️ reads for me, that this would fill my expectations too. If this book would have had more “romance” to it I would have easily given a 4⭐️

Carter (MMC) and Jess (FMC) are in a competition with the rest of the town, in efforts to WIN 10 million from Jasper who recently passed. Carter comes from Atlanta to compete along with the rest of the residents in this small town, but he is the only one that is not a resident, which automatically set him up with a red flag.

Nikki (fmc2) gets paired with Jess in the competition, which is hard, because they have had a rough relationship of not getting along in the past. Nikki also has the hots for Jessi’s dad, Ross (mmc2) which is super awkward.

Each day, there is a new competition that the two person teams have to complete, to be able to go through to the next round. There are several L O L moments and the games Jasper chose for them to play were very cute.

Who will be the ultimate winning team to split the $10 million, and what will they do with their winnings? You must read to find out. I loved how this town came together in support for one another!

Thank you to Penguin Book Putnam @putnambooks, @netgalley & Lacie Waldron for this eArc for my honest review.

The Only Game in Town is a romance, but it's also the story of the small town of Redford, Georgia. When the town's wealthy benefactor Jasper Wilhelm dies, the people of Redford learn that he has planned a game for the town people for the chance to win a ten million dollar inheritance. The story is told from four different viewpoints: Jess, a spunky editor; Ross, her father; Nikki, the one girl in town Jess doesn't 'get along with; and Carter, the grandson of Jasper Wilhelm. The romance between Jess and Carter is fun and adorable, but the story of the town took center stage for me. It was a heartwarming and satisfying story. Closed door romance, but plenty of innuendo. Would recommend for readers who enjoy small town stories with plenty of fun and games along the way! Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the ARC; all opinions are my own.

If you're looking for something sweet, small-towny, and low-stakes to read, this is the book for you. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different townsperson, so you really get a sense of this community. The townspeople have their regular feuds and gripes against each other. When they are forced to play on teams to win money, comedy and romance ensue. This book has a very Gilmore Girls vibe to it. You know from the moment that the two main characters meet that they are going to fall in love. You also know that the purpose of the book isn't really the scavenger hunt or who is going to win, but that the town figures out a way to rebuild their community center and find community in each other.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

The Only Game in Town is marketed as a romance, but rather its a story about a community. The romance is NOT the main focus of the plot. Therefore, the love story between Jess and Carter is superficial, lacking any ounce of chemistry. The hi-jinx of the race dominates the story, and its community pairings of participants.

I would've enjoyed this story if told only from Jess and Carter's POV. I have previously enjoyed Waldon's novels, and will pick-up future books penned by her. This one did not live up to the hype.

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the complimentary copy.