This was a-okay read.

Stuff about mental health and things around was good, but it was too much show and less tell. Even its dual pov, just not enough telling. I couldn't get invested.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As a plus size woman, I love seeing more books featuring FMCs who aren’t just labeled as ‘curvy’ aka mid-size hourglass figures. And combine that with her size not being fetishized or ‘something she’s working on’ is so wonderful. The cover of this book is also so so so cute.

The mental health rep is also great. And board games! Something I haven’t seen be the focal point of a book before which also really drew me in.

Overall this book was sweet and cute. A dual POV, with a grumpy MMC and a sunshine FMC which is one of my favorite tropes. Some parts of the story fell flat for me, especially in the dreaded third act breakup because it was rooted in miscommunication which is my nemesis in rom-coms.

However! The rest of the story was lovely and it was such a fun read so I still recommend it. Especially if you like grumpy/sunshine and want to explore size rep and mental health rep in the world of board games, I think you’d really like this one.

I wanted to love this book so much. Really, I did. I just couldn’t. It felt like there was absolutely no chemistry between the two main characters and I didn’t find myself rooting for either of them. I just felt bored through out the book. Very little spice as well.

I really wanted to like this one more than I did. I liked the two main characters separately but their relationship felt really rushed and there wasn't enough development between them before they were confessing feelings.

Playing for Keeps follows Farren, a substitute teacher who loves playing board games and Sebastian, a contractor who lives and breathes his job while trying to get a promotion.
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed the focus on board games, the plus size rep, and mental health rep in this book. Their first meeting was really interesting and I did like how the dual POV really helped show each character’s emotions and where they were coming from.
Some of the plot points, like the third act break up, weren’t my favorite because I just saw them coming from a mile away. In a few parts, I felt the writing could have improved with some more consistent word choices and showing rather than telling.

However, I did enjoy this book and would recommend if you are looking for a grumpy/sunshine dual POV with plus size rep and mental health rep.

First of all, how cute is the cover of this book?! I am OBSESSED!

I absolutely adored this book! Sebastian and Farren were the true definition of grumpy/sunshine which happens to be one of my favorite tropes! Also the little meet cute that involves a croissant.. I loved it!

I also loved the fact that Farren is a plus sized fmc who is comfortable in her own skin and she loves herself just the way she is! I love seeing that representation! And Sebastian loved her just the way she is!

The only complaint I have is the third act breakup.. im never a huge fan because it always comes down to miscommunication which I hate! But other than that, this book is super cute and I absolutely loved it!

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Things I loved:
- Grumpy x Sunshine. It’s one of my favourite tropes, and boy does it deliver! Sebastian is your typical run-of-the-mill grump who doesn’t have time for a relationship and is a classic workaholic, Farren is a happy-go-lucky substitute teacher dripping with positivity. Add in a meet-cute over a stolen croissant and board games and hey presto, a recipe for romance.
- Board games. It’s your time to shine, nerd-dom! I mean, who doesn’t love a board game night?! And then Farren makes her own one and the rest is history…love!
- Farren. Can relate.

Could have been improved:
- Don’t love the argument in the third act break up. That seemed like a really dumb addition and made Sebastian look like a real douche canoe for no reason.
- Some of the cussing was unnecessary.


Overall, a just okay read, with some fun and cute moments.

Let me just start this review by saying I loved this book!!

Farren and Sebastian are such likable characters whose chemistry is so natural and easy. What I loved most about these characters is how normal they are. More other than not in romance books, the MMC is some dark brooding rich guy who is edges the lines of so douchey that I question whether or not her actually likes the FMC. This is not the case with Sebastian at all –– he’s a normal [super hot 🔥] guy who hates his job, has a complicated relationship with his parents, and loves a good croissant. He’s relatable to many and I think that is what made me like him so much.

As for Farren, she’s also such a relatable character who I loved from the first page. She’s a normal girl who loves board games, is constrained to a job she endures to make ends meet, but still finds happiness in little things like hanging out with her friends after work. As a college student with a ton on my plate, I found Farren’s life, struggles, and pockets of peace a mirror of what a normal young woman’s is exactly like. I am very picky with the portrayal of FMC’s and loathe the “not like other girl/pick me” vibe that is standard in most romance novels [though it is understandable since they are the main character and need to be outstanding!], but I found that Farren never had to go out of her way to express why she is different. Her character speaks for itself and it is easy to understand why her friends and Sebastian love her!

Another huge focal point of the book, which I loved, was the plus size representation and portrayal! I cannot emphasize how refreshing it was to read a love story where the FMC is found beautiful “despite” being plus sized, but loved because of who she is. Her size is not an issue that is looked down upon, but embraced and welcomed. In the beginning of the book, Farren describes the dating scene as a plus sized woman and the men who either fetishize her or only want her in secret, and I think it is such an accurate portrayal of what plus sized women go through. I loved seeing her be loved in such an open way.

The chemistry between the two characters is palpable and I cannot wait for more of Tristen Crone’s future works! 10/10 <3

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of this book!

First off I would like to say I love the plus size rep in this novel. As a plus sized girl, there are not a lot of characters in books for us and I really was so excited about that in this one! I also love that this touches on some mental health topics on here as well, it's so important to bring up these things even in fiction. This books is my favorite trope filled dream, grumpy / sunshine! It's my sweet spot compared to other tropes. I loved every bit of it. I could picture this novel as a movie the entire time I was reading it. Farren and Sebastian have definitely made it to the top of my list for favorite romance characters, I loved every bit of them. I'd reread this in a heartbeat!

This book was OK. I liked the game-angle, I liked the title (love a pun) and cover, and the story kept me entertained.

But unfortunately I did not really *enjoy* it, it was just there.
There was a lot of description of things without really anything happening. The first few chapters showed the story from both Farren's and Sebastian's point of views and that was a bit confusing, especially when that trend did not continue. The amount of drama/trauma was just not engaging at all, the break-up was not up my alley, and I was really not feeling the romance.

One small detail is that for me it was a missed opportunity for the die not to fully change with each chapter. I liked the idea of the die as the chapter number, but too bad the illustration was not a real die, but an edited image. When I saw two 10s on there, I was a bit disappointed!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book! A romance novel about games is such a cool idea!

Review from my Instagram linked below

ARC review for
“Playing for Keeps” by @tristencrone

☕Just a Sip: (18+)We follow Farren who is afraid to put herself and her board game out into the world and Sebastian who is overworked and stuck in his ways. One baked good may bring them together and it could just be the small token for their game of life and love.

🫗The Whole Cup: Plus size rep. ✔️,metal health rep.✔️, grumpyXsunshine getting their happy ending ✔️This story felt so real, but still had those fantastical romcom movie moments. Farren and Sebastian needed to find each other at their lowest to blossom the way they did, together and as individuals. I truly adored Farren and will idolize her creativity until my last breath.

#amwriting #amreading #booksreviews #plussize #mentalhealth #representationmatters #lovestory #boardgames #grumpyxsunshine

I was really excited for this book because it has a lot of the representation I'd love to see more of in romance novels.
I'm not sure if it was the characters or writing style but I struggled to connect with the story. (I typically read spicier and first person dual pov. )
I did enjoy the aspects of Farren and Sebastians personality that made them seem more like real people but I also want my romantic heroes to be a little bigger than life and that was missing a bit for me.
. 5/5 spice
3/5 overae

Between 4 and 4.5

I really really really liked this book, that hit so close to home sometimes.

We follow Farran and Sebastian who have a not so meet cute at the coffee, fighting over a croissant.
I was very surprised how much Farran echoed in me. The loneliness, the feeling of failure, the "I'm lost". Everything was PAIN

Sebastian wasn't better and he broke my heart several time. He made me think of a hurt animal that bite because that's all he knows. PAIIIN

But it was also a book about hope, croissant, positivisme, croissant, board games, croissant and love. The kind that arrive unexpectedly and don't let you go.

Overall I am very happy that I was able to read it in advance thanks to NetGalley, but especially because now I already have a lots of passages to cover with sticky notes when my pre-order arrive

I love this new trend of board game books. Not very surprising considering I am a board game geek myself. So a romance with a board game theme? I am in for that! And I wasn’t disappointed.

Our main character Farren is stuck. She isn’t passionate about her job, she isn’t passionate about her life and she never really felt the need to have a long term relationship. Apart from all that Farren loves life! She is a bubbly personality, has quite some sass and is just an overall lovely lady.
In comes Sebastian, her complete opposite. Driven and focused on work and his goals, Sebastian doesn’t need a distraction. When the two meet at Farren”s weekly game night and the have a fall out over a delicious sounding croissant they strike up an unlikely friendship. Although I wouldn’t dare to call it a friendship, from the get go there are sparks flying around. But, I must admit it is a bit of a slow burn, because Farren en Sebastian are afraid to get hurt.

I loved most of the relationship development between Farren and Sebastian. They chemistry was jumping of the pages and as a reader you could clearly see these two fit perfectly together. My main complaint is about the spice. There is a lot of build up towards the sex scene. Farren and Sebastian dance around sex for quite some time. And actually that was lovely to see. In a world full of books were characters rip each other’s clothes of on the first page, I loved two adults who decide to wait till it feels absolutely right for them. But… the sex scene when it finally happened fell completely flat for me. Suddenly we have Sebastian dirty talking, which felt so out of character.( And don’t get me wrong I love some dirty talk, but not when it doesn’t fit the character.) It was quick, it wasn’t very sexy and it was a bit cringy. So much built up for such a cold shower.

I would highly recommend if you like grump meets sunshine and boardgames!

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC copy for a honest review.

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.
Instead of shrinking beneath his usually intimidating stare, Farren issues a challenge back: take a second away from his phone calendar with its down-to-the-minute scheduling and play her for it—live a little. If Sebastian wins the board game battle he gets to keep his precious croissant, if she wins he has to join their game night next week.

Farren and Sebastian's story was interesting from the start. While it was a typical romantic format I wasn't able to guess all the pieces coming in the story which is always a big win. As a person who works in corporate America it was hard reading Sebastian's struggles with work knowing people who've been through that, but it was also difficult to accept some of his problems as making the most sense. I liked seeing Farren's character coming to terms with what she wants to do, but I wish we'd seen more of how she made that happen and what it looks like. The romance was there and the tension was so good, but I hate it when they break apart immediately after getting together.

Playing for Keeps is sunshine grumpy and opposites attract romance novel. Farren and Sebastian meet after Farren buys the last pastry that both she and Sebastian wanted. She offers him the opportunity to win it over a game. This leads to them building a friendship.

At times the story felt like it lagged and I found it hard to finish the story.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours. All opinions are my own

Playing for Keeps by Tristen Crone is a cute sunshine x grumpy and opposites attract romance novel. At the start of the book I was really struggling to get into the book however a few chapters in I was addicted and could not get enough of Farren and Sebastian. I love how realistic Farrens PO is in the book and how everyone has their ideal views of beauty and success, meaning that Farren was afraid to put herself out there. This book is relatable and shows the struggles that real people have and can relate to the characters in the book.

Sebastian on the other hand is a very driven guy and sounds miserable with having to work and having nothing that he can look forward to in his life. The duo are absolutely adorable together and there was a good build up throughout the book. I felt that at points there could have been more but overall I really enjoyed reading this book, and I am so glad that I continued to read and push through the first couple of chapters.

Thank you for allowing me to read an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good meet cute and this one was a great start to the book! It gave me immediate insight on both of the characters. From the start, I really liked Farren and Sebastian. They both had a lot of qualities that I want for myself and really brought out the best in each other. They did have a bit of an instalove sort of connection so I really would have liked to see them have a slow connection and not so fast. They do slow things down as the book goes along, which I appreciated. I didn’t love the side characters and was actually annoyed by Corinne and her personality and actions. I don’t know if this was to make us understand Farren, but it honestly just distracted me from other main things in the book. I really loved Sebastian’s panic over how much he liked Farren, because it showed how into her he really was. It was super cute! There was some drag in the writing when there was just a lot of description and telling, but this didn’t throw me off too much. I did not like the third act breakup aspect of this book, as it didn't seem to translate well. The lack of communication between two characters who seemed to understand each other so much before felt off and immature for both of them. They felt close to each other but refused to talk about stuff that could’ve prevented their future conflict. It seemed to alter Sebastian's character, which was disappointing because he was great up until then. I wanted to see more growth and groveling but overall, I'm glad they ended up together. Also, this book is in third person, which is not usually my cup of tea, but it was good.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Country Press for an eARC of this book.

In her debut novel, Playing For Keeps, author Tristen Crone offers up a love story much like the the honey lemon twice-baked croissant at the heart of her characters meet-cute: fluffy and sweet, with a hint of zest and crunch to keep things interesting. Now that I’ve made myself hungry, let’s dive in.

The story follows Farren, a boardgame and tabletop game enthusiast and substitute teacher, and Sebastian, a man a little too married to his work. When the two get into it over the last of the aforementioned honey lemon twice-baked croissants, Farren proposes a deal: if Sebastian beats her at a board game, the croissant is his, if he loses, he has to come back to the café the next week for board game night with her friends.

After that the two fall into an easy friendship built on the back of mutual attraction, but what stops them from fully committing to giving this relationship a go is their respective personal baggage, giving us lots of that sweet, sweet angst. As well developed as that side of things is, I found myself wishing the book was just a touch longer, if that meant we could explore a bit more of their relationship as a pair, watching it grow and blossom. The story was there, it was clear what was going on, but I would have liked a little extra time just to linger in their world.

Really, the highlight of the novel is watching Farren and Sebastian work to overcome their individual damage, with the support of a caring - if occasionally misguided - partner. The two are stuck in that all-too-relatable late 20s/early 30s place of questioning why and how you ended up where you did, and considering how that makes you feel. It’s a scary enough place to be but luckily they aren’t there alone.

Playing For Keeps is out June 27, 2023. Special thank you to NetGalley and Lake Country Press for the advance copy for review purposes.

This book was generally just “fine”. I could see the book’s potential, but it lacked in development. Within the story, there were several mini conflicts, but their resolutions/conclusions were just kind of glossed over or not ever really reached. Both MCs felt alone in the world, abandoned by their parents, and just generally shit on by the world at large, which just resulted in a lot of “whoa is me” attitude from both MCs which just made the book sort of hard to read. I liked their little meet cute, but I struggled to believe that Sebastian and Farren had any chemistry, and it was just…hard to get through.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours. All opinions are my own