I have loved all of Jennifer Dugan's books, and this was good but I didn't LOVE it.
I did have a good time reading this YA queer sports romance, but I feel that it's not marketed well? It's not really rivals to lovers at all?
However, I really enjoy reading coming of age stories. This story is saturated with grief and trials with both Ivy and June's stories. Both are grieving the loss of a loved one while navigating the next steps in their lives. It was good, but not amazing. I will continue to read Jennifer Dugan's books because I have thoroughly enjoyed reading her stories!

I normally love Jennifer Dugan books but this one did fall a little flat for me. I'm hoping that it was just a case of the wrong "mood read" and plan to read it again at a later time though so I would still recommend it!

Over all the story was interesting. I enjoyed the relatability of the characters in this one. It didn't fee like they were unbelievable or overly dramatized. Stories that handle anxiety, family pressure, and grief always fascinate me because of how we all deal with these things differently. Personally, I thought these subjects were displayed really well in this story, especially for the age demographic portrayed. I also really loved seeing an aspiring umpires perspective! That was a new one for me and I loved it!

So good! I loved the ethical dilemma behind this book. It was so good. And the romance and the issues inherent in it were so well done.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review of Playing for Keeps. I've read some of Jennifer's other novels so I was happy to see this one come up. I did enjoy this because of the back and forth banter of the two MCs. There were a lot of relatable parts including career aspiration challenges, grief, keeping the relationship under raps.

I love this author. This book was a DNF for me. It took way too long to get to any great interaction and then it was a played out type of experience with the two main characters.

Playing for Keeps is a Sapphic YA sports romance about a student umpire and a star baseball pitcher who fall for each other. Due to the conflict of interest of a sporting official and a star player trying to get ahead in the play-offs, the two two keep their relationship a secret. June, the pitcher, is also trying to hide a shoulder injury from her team so she can keep getting scouted by colleges.

This book really hit at a good time for me! I read it while recovering from my second hip surgery and wondering what the future looked like for me and my sport. June's injury and the pressure that she was under felt really genuine to me. I also liked Ivy and her efforts to try to break into the professional sports official world. I haven't read about anything like that in a book or sports romance, so it was cool to see! I liked June and Ivy together, although June could definitely be the worst. I could see why she was acting the way she was, and I'm glad that she was kind of aware of it too.

The ending seemed really abrupt to me in terms of what June decided for her future, but that's really my only critique. I would have liked more of a wind up (geddit) to her ultimate decision before the epilogue.

Overall, Playing for Keeps really hit for me (geddit) and I highly recommend it! 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 from me. Thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley for the eARC of this book, my thoughts are my own!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I’m a big fan of Jennifer Dugan’s work. Love at first set was one of the first sapphic books that I’ve read and I really enjoyed it. I’ve read several other of Dugan’s books as well and have enjoyed the variety of voices and age groups that she writes in. I’ve swooned in love at first set, and I’ve been too unsettled to sleep with Last Girl Standing (I’m also a bit of a weenie).

Growing up playing sports, I would have thought that I would have liked this one a hole lot more than I ended up liking it,

I realize that this is a book about baseball, but this book felt like it ran in circles a bit (pun very much intended), at least more than I’d like in a tropey sapphic fic.

And sort of a spoiler (but vague), this book just made me unnecessarily angry at the adults in the picture that allowed things to get so bad. Also felt a bit unrealistic, and short sighted, but if it helps the story 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Is this bad? No. Is it my favorite Jennifer Dugan title? Also no, but she’s quite prolific, so I look forward to the next one.

The perfect sapphic baseball romance!

I am still thinking about this book! It made me want to read from Jennifer Dugan's backlist!

These characters felt real to me facing real conflicts. I cheered for the couple - out loud sometimes.

It captured the heart of women playing in male dominated sports - which I really want to see women break into professional baseball!

As a huge baseball fan, this book filled me with joy!

Playing for keeps is a ya contemporary standalone novel that is by an autobuy author for me and that is by Jennifer Dugan! This is a f/f love story that I loved from the beginning of this book. I would say check out the trigger warrnings before reading this cause there was talked about loss of a family member to cancer and talks about being queer in a small town. If u love a good sport romance novel to read for the summertime or even fall time or any season really this is a good one! 4/5 stars and thank you to penguin teen for sending me an e-arc & physical arc to me to read and review all opioions are my own!(:

For a young adult book I was surprised to find I really enjoyed this book and felt connected to these characters when I think back to my younger self. This is a emotional and wonderful read that I highly recommend

Playing for Keeps was a good, sapphic novel that centered around strong women in sports! I loved the enemies to lovers theme but wish that the author had stretched this out a bit. It seemed like the two characters came together so quickly, whereas it could have been interesting to stretch out the drama a bit first. Overall though, it was an enjoyable YA novel that I could see younger readers enjoying!

"Playing for Keeps" by Jennifer Dugan is a delightful and engaging romance that skillfully combines sports and heartfelt drama. Its charming characters and well-crafted plot offer a refreshing and enjoyable read.

Playing for keeps was cute, it is also very YA. Being high school seniors is a defining trait of who these girls are. And that put a disconnect between me and them. I love Dugan’s writing style and I sucked me in, and I got halfway through before I realized I did not care for this book. It’s cute AF, and a fabulous HIGH SCHOOL sport romance.

A super solid novel from Jennifer Dugan - there is less angst that some of her previous books but I loved the sports centered theme and I think the characters are her most fleshed out yet. I continue to enjoy her YA books over the adult titles but I keep reading them because Dugan knows how to hook a reader and tug on some heart strings

now, this might be an unpopular opinion for this book. i honestly haven’t heard much about it which makes me think it kind of isn’t but this book just wasn’t it for me. from the insta-love, playing as rivals (when, how would be if ones a player and ones the referee of the sports). to the, their biggest personality traits comes from the dead family member card (which like, please. understand, i get it. i truly do.) but it was tough to care about these teens when i heard more about these family members that we have no reason to feel connected to.

i’m sorry, i really don’t have words for this one other than, i was bored, and honestly irritated the whole way through. i saw another review say it felt like a 1st draft and i would completely agree. the pacing was far off. they were already dating 10% into the book, and broken up for 30% of it, wallowing after each other. the characters were flat beyond their two main traits: (1) being a women trying to break into men-dominated sports and (2) having the hots for each other. maybe its a fault for the book being short (although for a book that’s in the 300 page length, there should have been more development) but i needed more before i could believe them saying ‘i love yous’.

and as they mention, these characters had main character syndrome. and that is not a good thing. they both honestly made decisions like there was no one else around them and it made it feel like i was pulling my teeth reading their stories. honestly, i would’ve been WAY happier reading about the side characters! their best friends had far more character outside of their love lives, and we barely see them!

basically, you get the gist that this was not the sports romance story for me. and truly what a shame since i usually eat those up!

This sapphic sports romance features two young women who are trailblazing in their respective arenas. This story is very timely and realistically looks at the challenges women face in the sports world, and the expectations placed on them by coaches, peers, and their families.

Both Ivy and June are high school students planning for their futures after graduation. June is laser focused on being recruited by a top college baseball team, while Ivy plans to work her way to a position as an umpire in the NFL.

I found more connection with Ivy than with June. She is feeling pressure from her family to go to college and focus on a career rather than umpiring. Ivy feels like her parents expect her to take over the life her older brother had planned before he died. Ivy struggles with fighting for her dreams while not disappointing her parents, plus the risk to her potential career if her relationship with June is discovered. Ivy continually puts June’s needs ahead of her own, risking her future and ultimately their relationship when resentment builds between them.

June also has a lot that she is battling, though most of her battles are internal. She feels that she has to live up to her late mother’s dreams for her and that not getting recruited to a great college baseball team would be letting both of her parents down. She pushes herself so hard, risking her health and relationship with Ivy, all because she thinks everyone needs her to win.

There is a lot of miscommunication happening between the characters and their friends and families. Fear keeps both Ivy and June from making decisions that would alleviate the stress.

Thankfully both Ivy and June have amazing best friends who have their backs and support them throughout the whole experience.

Disclaimer: I received a DRC through Net Galley on behalf of the publisher for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was fine 🤷🏻‍♀️ I was honestly quite bored throughout half of it and almost dnf’d a few times but I was curious enough to keep going and I did like the ending so I’m glad I stuck with it! I think my main issue is how fast Ivy & June’s relationship progressed, like it might’ve made more sense if they had been friends or even known each other before meeting but it was literally like they met, they were attracted to each other but they didn’t like each other, then all of a sudden the next time they were alone, they were getting together and I just never fully felt the chemistry between them 🤷🏻‍♀️ I did really like how the story dived into how grief makes people do things that people don’t understand and how hard it is to live up to expectations that you didn’t choose for yourself! That aspect was done really well and I’d recommend the book just for that but the romance just really fell flat for me personally!

I loved this sapphic romance! the sports element was fun and I loved the chemistry. I really enjoyed this.

3.5/5 Stars

Star pitcher June has recently been injured, although she tries to keep it hidden in order to be recruited at the college level. Ivy has dreams of officiating at a professional level, and the first time she meets June, she throws her out of the game. As they spend more time together, they realize their chemistry is undeniable. Unfortunately, umpires and players can not date, so they must keep their growing attraction a secret.

I was so excited when I heard this was a sapphic, rivals-to-lovers romance, and although this was a cute read, with fun characters, I don't think I would categorize it as rival-to-lovers in any way. They essentially talk maybe three times and decide that they like each other instead, which is FINE, but advertise it as essentially insta-love. They could have played so much more into the will-they-won't-they of the relationship since it was against the league rules. This also incorporates the miscommunication trope between Ivy, June and both of their families, which I am not the biggest fan of. This was a heavier book then I anticipated, I did think that it was going to be a cute fluffy contemporary. I think there was more of a focus on the family loss and drama, rather then the romance as a whole. I think I would have preferred more of the romance aspect, as I feel like a lot of the connection wasn't shown to us. I did like both Ivy and June though, and thought they were cute together.