REYLO WORLD DOMINATION GO BRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Uh first of all though thanks NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is, like... I think I'd label it slice of life. Low stakes and... The characters are surprisingly... normal? Tbh my reference is skewed (currently on book 12 of Wheel Of Time and iykyk about Rand al'Thor) but I think I mean it's a super light read, the problems are small, and the characters way less of an unhealthy hot mess than I'm used to. Wheel Of Time is not really the ideal comparison so lets get another romcom Reylo book, The Love Hypothesis. Olive and Adam are way more hot messes than Farren and Sebastian.. It even kind of bothered me sometimes that, like, the narration /tells/ me the protagonists are lonely and guarded, but they don't exactly... Act like it?

Also, while the romance is cute, there's not really such a strong comedy element. Again can't help but compare with TLH, which made me tear up and my tummy ache from laughing. There's a witty joke here and there but it's not a hilarious book.

The spicy scenes are brief.

And to be honest, I think because of how "slice of life" it was, it felt like it took a little for Things To Actually Happen.

All in all it's a lovely book, a very light and quick read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Playing for Keeps by Tristen Crone!

I received an ARC and I’m leaving an honest review.

Actual rating: 2.25 stars, I think.

What I liked:
• fat female main character
• the focus on board games
• it was short so it was a relatively quick read

My inevitable rant:

I seem to only be (accidentally) reading fast paced books recently. In this one, in the span of three chapters they met and spent the night together playing games, a whole week went by in which they constantly texted each other, and then they had a date. Quite a lot of things to happen in such a short time, in my opinion. Especially since the beginning of a relationship is often the most important part. They seem to have shared a lot of information about their own lives, and shared emotional connections through texts, but we’re only told about it in a couple of sentences and don’t actually see any of it happen.

In general, most of the events are told to us, and not actually shown. Many conversations happens with different people in different situations, but we’re told about them as if they’re past events and we’re already moving on with the story.

Rooting for the main couple was already hard as we didn’t actually see them develop their relationship, but the third act break up made this even worse. He got insecure, so he blamed her for everything that is seemingly going wrong in his life, then threw her worries and insecurities back at her. If he’s such an asshole to her when he gets mad, then he doesn’t deserve her. No amount of groveling can make me change my mind.

Their first meeting also threw me off. Sebastian gets real grumpy about a croissant and starts demanding Farren that she gives hers to him, and then actually grabs her. In any other situation, the main character would have the wits to find that creepy and scary, especially since it's done by a stranger, but because we *know* he's the future love interest, Farren is not nice about it, but even invites him to play with her and her friends.

The way Corinne talks to and about Farren makes it seems as if she thinks that Farren is a terrible friend, but Corinne also spends her time diminishing Farren’s life and everything she is and does, only talking to her to complain about her own life and never even actually paying attention to Farren. I wouldn’t consider her a good friend either, and the supposed apology Farren received (which we've never seen but are just told happened off-page) was not enough to make me believe that she suddenly became a good friend. It was extremely frustrating.

Last, but not least, this book seems to have a recurring theme of starting chapters with long flashbacks. We end one chapter with something, then the next chapter is the other character's pov, but instead of continuing the story where it left off, we go back in time and we're told all that has happened to lead to the actual moment where the previous chapter ended, and then we finally continue the story. It does this in almost every chapter and sometimes it takes three to four pages to catch up with the actual events, only to go back to flashback-to-real-time in the next chapter, making the actual timeline messy, confusing and annoying.

If you love romances with angst and board games, this one is for you! Farren is a substitute teacher by day and board game enthusiast by night. Sebastian is a lonely corporate businessman working long hours to get his big break. The two form a hesitant flirtation after a fighting over a pastry one evening. Both are at crucial places in their careers where they feel unfulfilled but not sure where to go next.

I loved learning about different board games and the spunky personality of Farren. She added so much sunshine to Sebastian’s life. That is where my problems came up sadly. I thought Sebastian had a lot more emotional growth to do and wasn’t quite ready for Farren. The way he responded in the third act conflict cemented that. I would have loved to see him go to therapy or get some more support from more than just his colleague.

Overall, I liked the writing style and many of the plot points. I read this quickly and it was a fun read! I would read the next book this author writes.

(Thanks to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Playing for Keeps is a meet cute, opposites attract romance, and slow burn romance.

Farren puts on a good front, feigning confidence despite literally not fitting into society's narrow ideas of beauty and success. Inside, she's stuck, afraid to put herself and her ideas out there, especially the board game design she's kept a secret. She keeps things light and temporary-both at work as a substitute teacher and in her relationships.

Overworked Sebastian abhors anything that gets in the way of his goals, including procuring the perfect pastry. The two meet when Sebastian accuses her of stealing his pastry in an amusing and awkward café incident. When Farren gets in the way of his coffee order with her huge personality she turns out to be even more than he bargained for

PROS:
Super cute and I really love how vulnerable the characters are.
Excellent groveling done by the MMC
Body positivity and chronic illness representation
Mental health representation

CONS:
3rd act breakup sucks

This was a solid debut from Tristen Crone. It took me a bit to get into the story, and I felt like there were a few too many elements to the plot. However, I liked the main characters and the plus sized representation was excellent. Fat girls will always deserve to be loved and Farren found a man to absolute worship her. I’m looking forward to reading what comes next from Crone.

As I mentioned earlier, this book is about two people with a pretty significant amount of emotional baggage who manage to fall in love due to a chance encounter at a café while fighting over who gets the last dessert croissant by playing to win a board game. Farren is a fat white woman who is currently substitute teaching, but also is loosely working on her passion project of designing a board game surrounding pitching books. It sounds like it would be a good time. Her emotional baggage comes from feeling invisible to her family and she has a difficult time letting people in and comes across as a little flighty. Then we have Sebastian, who sometimes goes by Ian. Sebastian is working this horrifically awful job where all he does is work, basically, and it's not even like he's passionate about it. But for some reason, he has intrinsically linked his self-worth to his job, which is really never a good idea. Anyway, the two meet at this coffee shop and things go from there.

The Good: For the most part, I really enjoyed the characterization of Farren and Sebastian. I wouldn't say that I fully came to understand them, but I did feel like they were people you could actually encounter. I largely liked the writing in this one too and the way the games were rolled into the book, plus the way each of their workplaces were weaved in as well felt well done and well-rounded.

The Bad: The third act conflict in this one was pretty much unforgivable to me? I don't know if I'm just in a mood where I'm not very forgiving or what, but they both very much used their words to hurt in a way that I would have a really hard time coming back from without something changing. Like therapy. For multiple years. I don't know. I just struggled with the way the book resolved this one. I also felt like there were other conflicts that were started but not satisfactorily resolved and I don't mean with a pretty bow, I just mean, they literally were insufficiently addressed for my tastes.

All that to say, at the end of the day, I would say this book was a good time and you should feel free to pick it up if it appeals! I will definitely keep my eye out for more from Crone because I really appreciate her ability to make a pun.

This was an anticipated read for me. I was so excited for this story. Sebastain and Farren's grump/sunshine romance had potential. It started okay, then it seemed to drag before becoming okay again. There were also the family issues our main characters were dealing with until they finally confronted them. Then around the 75% mark of the book, Sebastian loses his damn mind and his character becomes ridiculous. Wait though, he has to have his epiphany and realize that he had a good thing in the first place. I really wanted to love this one but it was just okay.

🤍Book Review🤍
📖Playing For Keeps By Tristen Crone📖
Rating ⭐️⭐️.5
Spice🌶️

My Thoughts~ okay so the premise of the book was cute at first but sadly this book fell short for me. These two characters supposedly fall in love with almost no time spent together because of this the connection didn’t feel genuine. The characters themselves just weren’t for me. They both needed major character development in order for me to like them.
There was so much trauma that, I felt was the only reason they really were together because of trauma bonding.
The story was super slow and I found myself having a super hard time getting through it. If it wasn’t for the fact I really hate DNF-ing a book I probably would have. I do naturally have a hard time with Third person pov so maybe that had something to do with my feelings about the book.
There were a couple cute moments here or there, I liked the board game aspect that was cute. the spice was probably about 2 scenes that were rushed and not at all what it could have been.

What a bummer. I was hooked by the blurb about a plus-sized heroine with the grumpy/sunshine going on and the game's angle but I ended up DNF this book.
The passing was off and clunky.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book received from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

So my husband and I feel in love over Scrabble and crossword puzzles so I was beyond thrilled to find a romance with a plus size heroine who is into games!!! Representation is getting such a fun glow up in recent years and I cannot express my gratitude more to Tristen for writing this story. This book is a treasure and romance lovers will gobble it up! Purchase this one today!!

Sebastian and Farren are so much fun! I loved their meet cute and the grumpy sunshine pairing. I loved the body positive aspect of the book and how both characters helped each other deal with their respective traumas. I highly recommend this book!

I love love loved this book, from the dedication, I was already hooked. I loved seeing representation of bigger people falling in love, feeling confident and being the main character. This love story reminded me a lot of my own, so experiencig and remembering those feelings through this book was just a joy. I already looked to see if I could find any other books by this author, Tristen I’m waiting (somewhat patiently).

This book was such a good read from beginning to end, the story was good, but the characters better, Farren is a fat girl, that is proud of her body as it looks, she has with hypothyroidism, but everything about her and her body image is written like if she was a skinny character and it's good. Sebastian is a fit guy that likes her and that's it.

They have chemistry, they share problems, they get together and i am happy.

Bookstagram needs to discover Tristen Crone’s debut book, Playing for Keeps!!!!

Farren and Sebastian (Ian) might look like compete opposites, but they have more in common than meets the eye. Growing up, both main characters felt like outsiders in their own family. As adults, their unresolved insecurities have transferred over to their work and romantic lives.

Sebastian (Ian), follows a regimented schedule that focuses on climbing the corporate ladder. His strict routine of work, working out and binging Netflix, leaves little room for others, let alone fun. Farren, on the other hand, is a vibrant substitute teacher who gets recharged being in social settings. While her finances are struggling, weekly game nights at the local coffee shop fill her with enough energy to tackle the week ahead.

Their lives intersect one Friday night when the two argue over who gets the last coffee shop pastry. Unable to deny their instant attraction, Farren and Sebastian start seeing one another. Could this be the beginning of a great romance, or are they doomed to sabotage yet another relationship?

I loved the body positivity represented in this book!!!Farren is one of the few plus size protagonist I have read who not only accepts, but loves her curves. Despite being diagnosed with hypothyroidism, she does not try to hide her body with oversized, dark clothing.

I appreciated that Crone gave our plus size leading lady, a fit leading man. Sebastian is classically good looking and in great shape. He prides himself on his appearance and finds Farren utterly attractive. The two have off the chart chemistry from the very beginning.

This was such a great read. I can’t wait for 2024 when Crone releases her second book, I Think I Olive You. Special thanks to NetGalley and Lake Country Press for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

This book would have benefitted a lot from being split into at least two books. There are parts of the story that I thought went by too quickly, while some sections dragged. I know authors are usually not coming out with multiple books with just one lead person's life, but it should come back into fashion. It greatly helps certain plots.
The gaming angle is quite strong in this one, even stronger than some of the other books I have recently read with a similar theme. When I talk of games, I am specifically talking of the Tabletop variety. The conversations that take place between Farren and Sebastien as she introduces the concept to him are very realistic. I have seen several people underestimate what strategy games actually do. I have not played role-playing games or war games, so I cannot speak about them, but standard tabletop board games are a treasure trove for anyone even mildly inclined to take a stab at it.
In this story, Farren is a woman who works substitute teacher jobs without actually feeling fulfilled by the role. She waits for Friday evenings when she can meet up with her friends to play. It is on one such occasion that she runs into our male protagonist, who has his own demons. She challenges him to a game when they want the last baked treat available in the cafe. I actually really liked the author's approach to Farren's body positivity. The mention of the plus-sized leading lady is very spread out. The cover is probably the strongest indicator of her size. Otherwise, it does not come up as often as her own life goals.
The plot is simple - we have two people from different walks of life, with differing amounts of time on their hands, who end up clicking and wanting to help the other out of the rut they are in. They each have their pasts to deal with while deciding what to do with their current trajectories in life.
As I mentioned earlier, I was very invested in a few sections more than others.
I recommend this to fans of stories of this genre with a different setup. I would read another book by the author and am really liking the new inclusion of board gaming in this genre.
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I absolutely loved this book! I am so grateful to have been able to receive an earc of it and can't believe how much i loved Farren and Sebastians story. The plot was great and i loved how they met and how the entire book played out. It was so cute and funny. I thought this book was very well written and i loved all the gaming puns. The ending was great and im so happy it turned out the way it did for Farren because she deserved it! I definitely recommend this book and will be recommending to all my book friends!

This was a great romance read, with a wonderful woman MC and a not-too-irritating grumpy guy MC. I'm realizing that the grumpy/sunshine pairing that's SO popular these days just really doesn't work for me, but the way this book employed that dynamic was fun enough. Loved the board game content too.

I have already recommended this book to my book pal! I loved it and throughly enjoyed it!

Thank you so much for allowing me to read it!

Playing For Keeps is such a cute and slightly steamy rom-com. I loved seeing Farren become confident in herself throughout the book; we love a woman who stands by her boundaries and knows her worth!
Thank you to Net Galley & Lake Country Press for the ARC