The Keeper

Playing to Win #1

by Bella Matthews

Easton Hayes has been my knight in shining hockey skates since he saved my life.

This devastatingly handsome grump may be everyone’s favorite goalie, but to me, he’s my strength when demons haunt my dreams. And okay—so maybe he’s also the only man I’ve ever loved. But he doesn’t need to know that.

We’re friends.

It works for us.

At least, it did. Until I wake up with his ring on my finger and the hangover from hell. But what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas when he refuses to give me an annulment and follows me across the country instead.

Now our families are furious.

Our friends are playing matchmaker.

I’m getting goosebumps each time I hear the words “my wife.”

And I think my husband might be in love with me.

Genres: Sports Romance, Hockey, Sports, Romance, Friends To Lovers, Hockey Romance, Contemporary Romance

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 2023

Reviews

[Carrie Dozier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been five⭐️ But the “ it’s always been you” is bullshit when he continues to sleep around, and of course she stays a virgin🙄. He would even call her in the middle of the night because they shared a trauma together years before and she comforts him, but there is ANOTHER WOMAN in bed with him🤮
That ruins his “love” for Lindy for me….why couldn’t Easton stay celibate if he loves her so much…no excuse!
The rest of the book was great though so glad I stuck out the beginning! Loved catching up with the family and now second generation.
No OW drama🙌🏻
Virgin h🙄
Hockey player H
Ice skater h

[aanya ✧.* · Rating 2 out of 5]

can someone please tell me what college all these indie sports romance authors are getting their english literature degrees from so i can go there and burn the place down. extra star for pity.

[Sarah♡books · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5/5 ⭐️

🤍 Virgin heroine
🤍 It's always been you
🤍 Hockey Player
🤍 Best friends brother
🤍 Friends to lovers
🤍 Vegas wedding
🚩no cheating or sharing, no OW/OM

Didn't like this story at all 🫣

First of all I HATED that she was a virgin & never with a guy before while he was with mannyy women & called our heroine Lindy while they were still in bed with him 🥶👀🤡

there was literally no tension, no built up, just nothing.... 😬
They were married within 40 pages and I was getting bored really fast 🙄😒

Lindy and hero ( I don't even remember his name anymore 😂🤔) had no chemistry. It felt so dry and forced 👀

Anndddd to be honest I didn't get why she was SOOO freaking upset when she found out she married him... because he was her crush the wholleeeeee time wasn't he ???? 🤨🤐💩

Also because I didn't read the previous books before I felt like I missed out a lot and didn't really understand what was going on with the side character ☹️

Unfortunately it disappointed me & I hope the next book will be better !!

[Bella Matthews]

𝑨 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔. “𝑰𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”

“𝑰𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒅𝒐,” 𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒚, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.

Have you been waiting patiently for the second generation of Kroydon Hills? Easton Hayes and Madeline Kingston are kicking it off with 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐑, the first book in my new series, 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐖𝐈𝐍!

🏒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐒🏒
Best Friend’s Brother
Virgin Heroine
Vegas Wedding
Forced Proximity
Shared Trauma
Grumpy/Sunshine
Touch her & 💀
Found Family
Hockey Player/Figure Skater

🏒𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐑 is a best friend’s brother, angsty, sports romance.

🔗Grab your copy now:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9LPT4QF

[BookFox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh I hate the fact that he says it’s always been her and he’s been in love with her half his life yet he slept with women and even FaceTimed her with a woman in bed next to him. 🤮 hated how much family drama there was. Other than those two things it was a decent story

Dual pov
Virgin h
No ow/om drama
Epilogue a month later

[Samantha Gleason · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started cute. Then eh. Also the family line confused me. I even looked at a family tree and was still confused

[Rachael*Caribbean*girl*bibliophile]

Note to self because I almost read this 😭

Friends to lovers 😔
H had sex with OW over the years they were friends even though he has feelings for the h 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
She's a virgin

[Mia S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not average hockey story

Cute, super cute with spice! Now it did get confusing with the family dynamics as far as who adopted who and wasn’t sure if I started a step brother romance thing but with that aside it was really cute and not horrible on the drama so it was refreshing.

[Alex E. · Rating 1 out of 5]

"it has always been you but because you were forbidden/or I thought I wasnt good enough, I slept around FOR 8+ YEARS and I often video called you with the occasional hookup sleeping beside me".

I can't with these stories. And it would have been ok if the female lead was not a fucking virgin!!!!!

I understand the not touching and hooking up with ow, when they were 15 (she) and 19 (he) but what about when she turned 18 or the next 5 years??? And the fact that everybody knew that they had feelings for each other so it wasn't a shock when they got together.

And they got together because he fucking got jealous, watching her dancing with someone else.

The female lead has an inch of a backbone but in the end when he reassured her that no one else measured up to her, she caved in and agreed not to annul the wedding and remain his wife.

So basically it is ok for the male lead to sleep around because the other women may have his body but the female lead has his heart.... Practically this is what the story was about and for me this type of character does not scream "keeper"

He was actually pushing her to tell him why she was mad when he video called her with the ow next to him, because he wanted to make her admit her feelings.... Seriously?

After a while whatever they said made me cringe, with all the undying love and you were the one and all that jazz.

And it sad because I like this author and her writing style. But this book definitely did not work for me.

[Lori Kays · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you were to take out all the filler drama this is how the book would go;

Oh, Hi best friend who I've loved my whole life! Looks like we got drunk and married last night. Best friend: Yeah, that's crazy! I love you too, glad we got married. The end.

I don't know what in the vapid hell that was. The heroine was beyond juvenile, the family is a nightmare, the plot felt weak and contrived. This was supposed to be her best friend who she's known for ever, but she's so surprised he knows things about her. Also, he went from "the girl I can never have" to "heeeey wifey" in like 3.8 seconds 😂 This is the guy she's been in love with half her life and yet she says she wants him to woo her? Whaaaat? Girl, get over yourself. I think part of the problem is that I've not read any of the books in the original series, so I don't really give AF about all these characters and their annoying side bar conversations. This is like "great value" Rina Kent. Even if I had read the first book, there was still nothing there. Like cotton candy, no substances, just straight sugar. With a random accident thrown in 90% of the way in that resulted in a lost spleen of all things! 😂 The way the doctor is like "We did everything we could be we lost...the spleen" 😂😂🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ What is this nonsense! 😂

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5⭐️
3/5🌶️

Holy sh*t I LOVED this book. There’s not a single thing that I would change. I loved the main characters, side characters, the banter, the spice, EVERYTHING. I wasn’t expecting to devour this book the way that I did. Perfect start to a new series!

The Keeper follows Easton & Lindy who have known each other since they were kids. Easton is Lindy’s best friend’s older brother who is a star goalie in the NHL. Easton & Lindy have always had a strong connection but even more so after having been through a very traumatic event together a few years back. Well when they find themselves in Las Vegas one weekend with all of their friends celebrating Lindy’s birthday, one thing leads to another & they wake up married after their drunken night out. But what happens when only one of them remembers exactly what happened the night before…

I loved both Easton& Lindy! He was the perfect mix of gentleman & bad boy hockey player. While Lindy was never afraid to stick up for herself & fight for what she wanted. It was obvious how strong their connection was.

I loved the friend group in this book & I can’t wait to read Everly’s story coming next!

Tropes:
- Sports Romance
- Hockey Player x Figure Skater
- Best Friend’s Brother
- Grumpy x Sunshine
- Vegas Marriage
- Forced Proximity
- Found Family
- Shared Trauma
- Virgin FMC

[Fifi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This thing was confusing as hell. I swear it sounded like incest at a few points because turned out everyone was family. There’s so much history behind all the characters that it should have been made clear who each character was beforehand. Like a brief summary or some shit. I was going bong eyed tryna figure out if one these fuckers were family or friends and who the fuck was kissing who. Just a fucking mess really.

[Judy Portelles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Keeper is the second generation of the Kingstons and I been waiting for this one.

I am obsessed with Lindy and Easton. Their love and bound for one another is so beautiful. Easton is so protective of her and I love the way he takes care of her.

Tropes in this book…
✔️Best Friend's Brother
✔️Virgin Heroine
✔️Vegas Wedding
✔️Forced Proximity
✔️Shared Trauma
✔️Grumpy/Sunshine
✔️Touch her & die
✔️Found Family
✔️Hockey Player/Figure Skater

I absolutely love the Kingston family and it’s so nice to see them again in this series. I am so excited for the next book, can’t wait for Everly’s story.

[staci ❥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

easton and madeline are adorable. i love them.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get it here:
Amazon US * Amazon UK

[Sidney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly really wanted to enjoy this book and I tried, but it just didn't happen for me...

First of all, I always struggle with the books that have a HUGE family tree that the reader is just expected to learn right away and remember every single family member when they're mentioned on a random page in a random chapter. I did not enjoy that and I don't think the massive family tree and mentioning every last family member throughout the story was necessary in this book.

Second, I felt like there was no real plotline in this book. It was basically: they got married and then like nothing else happened, other than her not wanting to talk to her family members who were upset she got married on a whim in Vegas (who had the right to be upset about her actions btw). Like, her making up with and talking with her family members made up almost 85% of the book. Also, she was all mad that her family didn't let her have freedoms, but the readers never really saw that and she never expressed her displeasure in the situation prior to them being upset at her for getting married without telling any of them.

Also, the relationship between Lindy and Easton was weird... it was set up to be good, but just failed. Him being her savior was a great start, but then it's like eight years later and he hooks up with random girls all the time and calls her while he is still in bed with them, while she remains innocent. Then all the sudden they decide to confess their feelings to one another and decide to get married because they are intoxicated. Then, he immediately starts calling her "wife", which is really weird when she doesn't remember having married him and wants an annulment, but he tells her no and doesn't even give her space to process what happened and try to remember the events of their evening in Vegas. I really disliked the way he called her "wife" throughout the entire book, it was weird to be honest.

And then when I thought it might get better, the author hit us with the most cliche cliche and it was just not good and felt unnecessary and rushed and like it was trying to be the climax of the story, but it was not and just really fell short.

Finally, the epilogue was also not good and written kind of weirdly. It didn't make a whole lot of sense and should have just been left out of the book or written better, it was far too short and rushed to be good.

Overall, after this book, I will not continue with the rest of the series.

[Jamie Engel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why did I wait this long to read this series. I absolutely loved this one and devoured this.

The Keeper follows Easton and Lindy who have known each other since they were kids. Easton is Lindy’s best friend’s older brother who happens to be a star goalie in the NHL. Easton and Lindy have always had a strong connection but even more so after having been through a very traumatic event together a few years back. They find themselves in Las Vegas one weekend with all of their friends celebrating her birthday. One thing leads to another and they wake up married to one another after their drunken night out.

I absolutely LOVED Easton. He was so swoony!!! The way he handled the whole marriage thing I was a puddle. Loved the way he was so supportive of Lindy while she is dealing with the backfire from her family of their marriage. Literally top tier book boyfriend material!!
This was such a great friends to lovers book. I loved seeing Lindy working through her feelings for Easton. And when she has that ah-ha moment!!!!
I cannot wait to continue the series!

Overall: 4.5
Spice: 2.5


Tropes:
- Hockey Romance
- Figure Skater FMC
- Best Friend’s Brother
- Grumpy x Sunshine
- Vegas Wedding
- Forced Proximity
- Found Family
- Virgin FMC

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easton Hayes and Lindy Kingston have a close bond but Easton believes he is the only one who sees their relationship as more than friends. A weekend in Vegas has Easton changes his toon though and he couldn't be more elated.

Lindy wakes up in Vegas with a bubbly Easton by her side and a wedding ring on her finger. Lindy wants an annulment, but Easton is not giving in. Easton does everything in his power to woo his reluctant bride, will he succeed.

This was fun, had some tabloid headlines that were fun to read as the relationship between Easton and Lindy grows. Great chemistry and Easton was my favorite. He was adorable and so protective of Lindy. Highly entertaining.

[Laura Reads Too Much · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been 4 series and 12 books since we first met Madeline and over a decade in book time, and although that many books may sound a lot - I could easily read double that and still not get enough!

Madeline comes from a big family who all interconnect with the 4 series and I truly think that's amazing itself! And Easton is part of it.
If you've read the previous book Haven, you will know there is history between the two - traumatic history! And so there is an extra bond between the two, doesn't mean they'll admit how much they want each other though 🤦🏻‍♀️

Drunken escapades, a Vegas wedding, denial then acceptance, family face-offs, true friendships and a soul-deep connection, what more could you want from the first next-gen book?!

Really enjoyed it!







*I voluntarily received an arc and this is my honest review. 4/4.5 stars

[Megan Lindsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Genuinely one of the worst books i’ve ever read. It’s what i get for choosing a book off of a facebook ad but nevertheless, it took them 2 minutes to get together, side characters were BORING but also they made no sense. Like pls do not advertise this as a stand-alone because clearly you had to read her other series to even know wtf is going on. Like all her siblings and friends and their significance i’m like uhhhhh no. They barely even spent time together and the entire issue of the book was people hated her because she had a shotgun wedding in vegas like what??? ending sucked epilogue predictable boooo i don’t like this book

[Brittani · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You’ve been mine since the day I chose your life over mine, baby. All mine. Always mine. Even if you didn’t know it yet.”

✨Vegas Wedding
✨Best Friend’s Brother
✨Touch her, You die
✨Shared Trauma
✨Found Family

Here we are, the second generation of the Kingstons and I am here for it!! When I tell you I lost sleep from reading this ARC, it was well worth it. If it wasn’t for my job getting in the way, I would’ve completed this book in a matter of hours. 🤣

In this book, we have Madeline (Lindy) and Easton—friends who refuse to admit their feelings for each other. That is until Lindy wakes up the morning after her birthday party in Vegas with a wedding ring on her finger. Now, Easton already gave off alpha-male vibes when we first met him. But now? Being married to Lindy? Oh, it’s a whole new level and I’m loving it. He refused to give Lindy an annulment until she finally realized and remembered why they even got married in the first place. He made it well known to anyone and everyone that she was his wife, including gifting her a jersey with his last name so she could wear it to his hockey games. He constantly showed her love and protection. He stood up to her brothers/family, and he stayed by her side through every little thing. If that doesn’t scream alpha-male to you, I don’t know what will. He’s extremely protective of her, which is understandably due to their shared trauma, and it’s the sweetest thing watching Easton take care of Lindy.

I’m obsessed with the Kingston family, no matter how crazy and over-protective they are. Lindy is the baby of the family, and so her siblings tends to treat her like one sometimes, even though she’s 23. As annoyed as Lindy was with her family being that way, it was amazing to see her big family and many siblings come to protect her.
But I think I loved the found family aspect even more. I was so happy to see that all the girls—Lindy, Everly, Grace, Brynlee, and Kenzie—are still so close. The way they look out for one another and want the best for each other is so beautiful. The girls were playing matchmaker with Lindy and Easton and showed proof how strong their friendship is and how supportive they are of their best friend finally giving in to her feelings for Easton.

Overall, I thought this was an amazing read. Easiest 5 stars I’ve read in a while. Everything about this book was perfect: the pace was quick, but not too fast, the story was easy to read and makes you forget you’re reading, and the banter and chemistry between Easton and Lindy was so much fun and scorching hot!! This book makes me super excited for the remaining books in the Playing to Win series, and I can’t wait to see what happens with Everly, Grace, and Brynlee!

As always, thank you a million times to Bella Matthews for the ARC of this wonderful book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[BarbarAzza Brioscina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contando che è lo spin off di una serie e che mi mancano i pezzi , alla fine la lettura perfetta per la spiaggia . Se contiamo che venivo da due porcherie .....

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you @valentine_pr_ and for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

omg when i read haven by bella matthews last month i was DYING to read about easton and madeline and let me tell you the wait was ABSOLUTELY worth it!!! easton was so obsessed with her within the first few chapters and when i tell you when the vegas wedding happened i was SCREAMING!!! this book was so good and i absolutely adored it and i’ll be running to get my copy from amazon

[Mika · Rating 2 out of 5]

I needed just a bad romance novel during finals week to relieve some stress. This wasn't that bad, I just didn't enjoy it that much. There is so much backstory with their families that I did not know because I didn't read any of their books.

Also it was supposed to be best friends to lovers, but once they got drunk married in Vegas, that was gone and they were just in a relationship. Like there wasn't that slow burn aspect you normally get with a best friends to lovers. I've also read better books of couples getting drunk married in Vegas (Jasper Vale by Devney Perry). Yup, that's all I have to say.

[Mishari Zambrano · Rating 2 out of 5]

my goodness I wanted this to be better than it was. I wanted an easy darker hockey romance with a man who keeps yelling "that's my wife!" but instead, I got a not really well-thought-out mess. Just because you put of list of characters at the start and try to explain how they are all connected but it doesn't make it any less confusing. There were so many typos and weird grammatical issues and everyone was a cousin of someone. However it did have lots of a man-obsessed yelling "MY WIFE" which in the end, is what I was looking for I guess...

[Jen ♥]

Self-note:

- virgin h (23)
- vegas wedding
- she's been crushing on him for years (idk if mutual)
- 5 year age difference
- nhl player x figure skater

[LaToya (Readingbythebayou) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this first glimpse into the 2nd Gen of the Kingston family. Being the youngest of nine siblings Lindy has been sheltered all of her life. She's always had a major crush on star hockey player Easton Hayes. She and Easton have bonded over a traumatic event that happened when they were younger. While in Vegas celebrating her birthday she wakes up to find out that she's married to Easton. She tells him she wants to get an annulment but he refuses until she remembers. Realizing that Easton is the man she's always wanted she decides to give their marriage a chance. I adore books with strong familial bonds and this family is tight! I loved seeing Lindy assert her independence and Easton supporting her was everything. Easton and Lindy's story was a great read full of amazing secondary characters. Easton is definitely a new favorite book boyfriend and I'm so happy Lindy decided he was a Keeper! 😉

"Don't settle for the one you can live with, wait for the one you can't live without."

"I realized standing up for myself today wasn't me running away from my family. It was me running toward my life. And I want that life to include you."

[Luise · Rating 1 out of 5]

That book was terrible.
I see that it is part of a series (which I definitely will not read) but there were too many people in this book where I had no clue why they were here. (It said you could read it as a standalone)
And there are too many horrible nicknames + how many times can you call each other wife and husband.

[Becky🥀 · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You’ve been mine since the day I chose your life over mine, baby. All mine. Always mine. Even if you didn’t know it yet.”


“In my dreams, you always save me, E. And you save me in my reality too. You always do.”


Easton is the perfect definition of “if he wanted to he would” I absolutely love him. He’s perfect. So perfect that my heart nearly exploded.

[Jenifer Briggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars ; cute, low angst, brothers best friend, Vegas wedding romance. There's a lot of "my wife" being said here, and although the romance was cute, I was just hoping for a little more. The last 10% got me good though! Definitely looking forward to the next installment in this series.

**full RTC

**I received an ARC of this book and these are my honest opinions **