Playing for Keeps

by Alexandria Bellefleur

Lambda Literary Award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur returns with a steamy Sapphic rom-com about two rival publicists who are forced to work together when their mega-famous clients—a popstar and a quarterback—begin to date.

Poppy Peterson’s life is finally back on track and she’s thriving as the publicist of the NFL’s most promising quarterback (and her childhood best friend), Cash Curran. So, she doesn’t appreciate when he makes an impulsive and public pass at America’s popstar darling, Lyric Adair. When Lyric’s notorious publicist Rosaline Sinclair reaches out, Poppy is ready to face her wrath, but instead learns that Lyric is equally interested.

As Cash and Lyric embark on their ill-advised whirlwind romance, Poppy and Rosaline are forced together, each determined to protect their own client from the other. Poppy is frustrated by Rosaline’s cool demeanor, while at the same time, as a legend in the industry, she’s determined to impress her. But, no matter what she does, she can’t shake the feeling that Rosaline doesn’t like her.

That is until one steamy night, when the two women contend with their unexpected feelings and begin a messy romance of their own. But with paparazzi, tabloids, and stalker fans nipping at their heels, Poppy and Rosaline’s loyalties will be tested in ways they could never expect.

A high energy, Sapphic, and deeply sexy romance, Playing for Keeps has everything listeners expect from Alexandria Bellefleur and more!



workplace romance forced proximity secret relationship found family hurt/comfort

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Lesbian, Queer, Adult, Contemporary, Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

Expected publication January 6, 2026

About the author

Alexandria Bellefleur is a bestselling and award-winning author of swoony contemporary romance often featuring loveable grumps and the sunshine characters who bring them to their knees. A Pacific Northwesterner at heart, Alexandria has a weakness for good coffee, Pike IPA, and Voodoo Doughnuts. Her special skills include finding the best Pad Thai in every city she visits, remembering faces but not names, falling asleep in movie theaters, and keeping cool while reading smutty books in public. Her debut novel, Written in the Stars, was a 2021 Lambda Literary Award winner and a 2020 winner of The Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romantic Fiction.

Reviews

[Gabby]

thanks to the publishers for the ARC, I got about 100 pages into this one and decided to temporarily DNF it. this feels soooooo inspired by taylor swift and travis kelce it's kind of taking me out of it lol. might come back to it in the future!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

alexandria bellefleur wrote poppy peterson in honor of evan buckley and rosaline sinclair as the fitzwilliam darcy in this essay i will…

“poppy. no one calls me penelope” connected across the space time continuum fr

Only Alexandria Bellefleur could hand me a romance novel during these unprecedented times and leave me feeling hopeful despite it all. Bellefleur’s latest, Playing for Keeps, is a romance novel of epic pop culture references, twitter exchanges, meta curveballs, and of course an unconventional sapphic romance between two clashing publicists. As newbie publicist to an up and coming NFL star, Poppy Peterson attempts to have it all with celebrated publicist Rosaline Sinclair, while a powerful popstar and a football himbo engage in a poorly timed but nevertheless endearing romance. Playing for Keeps does not wait around to kick off this delightfully chaotic narrative, and in Bellefleur's signature style it's a witty and highly engaging romp through the trials of PR and modern fame. Bellefleur continues to play it close to home in the Pacific North West, a setting plentiful in queer romance and culture (complete with easter eggs to her former novels). The Alexandria Bellefleur Cinematic Universe—the ABCU as it were—is a dynasty entirely of its own and watching it flourish continues to be a joy for readers everywhere. Playing for Keeps marks a new shift for Bellefleur, unequivocally displaying her power in subverting the space between fiction and reality, with marvelous results.


Read my review

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing the advance review copy.

Bookstagram | Blog

[SJARR ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this story!
This was such an endearing and interesting sapphic romance, that I think tons of readers would enjoy.

Poppy is the publicist for famous football player, Cash. Rosaline is the publicist for famous musical artist, Lyric.
When Cash and Lyric start dating, Poppy and Rosaline must work together to navigate the challenges of representing their clients in their new relationship.
From the start, the two women aren’t exactly fond of each other. Rosaline is known for being intense, scary and cold- and Poppy is quite intimidated by her.
Eventually tensions rise, and feelings develop as the two women start spending more time together.
Shared red carpet and sporting events become something bigger- and they find themselves becoming increasingly infatuated with each other.
When problems arise with their clients, they must decide who and what is most important to them, and if their relationship can endure the conflict.

This was such a fun read! I hardly wanted to put it down.

The romance in it was great. I think Poppy and Rosaline are so cute together!
They have somewhat of a grumpy x sunshine dynamic, and it really comes through in a beautiful “opposites attract” kind of way.
I also really enjoyed that we get to see two romance stories play out here, since we are following Cash and Lyric as well.
It feels like reading two stories in one, which is quite unique.

I felt deeply sorry for Poppy throughout this entire story.
From her challenges with addiction, to her experience growing up with older parents who were “already done being parents” by the time she was born, she really did endure so much. These sorts of things add some heaviness to the story- but they also add realness and relatability.
Poppy truly came through as a very real person with real struggles- and I felt very connected to her for that. I think a lot of other readers would too.

The writing is fantastic, and very smooth.
It feels mature, while not being complicated or confusing.
I do think it would have been extra great if it was dual point-of-view, so that we could get some insight into both women’s individual thoughts and feelings, but honestly it is still fabulous the way it is.

Bravo to this author! This is my first book of hers, but it certainly won’t be my last!

Huge thank you to HarperCollins Publishing and author Alexandria Bellefleur for providing me with the eARC of “Playing for Keeps”, in exchange for my honest review!
Publication date: January 6th, 2026

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️ 3🌶

This is my first book by this author, she's been on my tbr list for her other books. This tale takes place in the current era, it's very Taylor Swift/ Travis Kelce coded side characters. The main FMCs Rosaline and Poppy, are the PR agents for the 2 superstars. they have to learn to work together to navigate this supercouple romance. This story unfolds like you're watching it on TMZ, there are a bunch of tweets, IG posts, sports and awards show commentary. I've found that an interesting and unique way to tell the views and move the plot along. I found myself really enjoying the journey on this one.

This has a bit of everything related to the music/entertainment industry and sports. There is spice but it's relative to the story. I'm used to a bit spicier reads, so I rated this lower for me but others may disagree.

Some tropes or issues are forced proximity, cheating, adversaries (kinda) to lovers, found family, addiction, ice queen.

I can't wait to dive into this author's back catalog.

I want to thank Avon & Harper voyage for the E-ARC, and the chance to review this story.

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)]

A fun sapphic romance that definitely feels a little Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce inspired, except the romance is between the publicists of two celebrity clients! When a NFL quarterback and a pop star begin dating, their respective publicists must work together to craft the right narrative and protect their clients. Poppy works for her best friend Cash and is good at what she does, but is intimidated by the infamous Rosaline Sinclair, representing singer Lyric Adair. Sparks may be flying between their clients, but Poppy and Rosaline quickly become intimately entangled as well. But mixing work and pleasure can get messy...

This was fun, very sexy, and different sort of take on a celebrity romance where it's celebrity adjacent people. Very enjoyable read and the audio narration is great! I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

[fatma · Rating 2 out of 5]

this did not work for me at all. the fake articles and tweets at the beginning of almost every chapter were annoying to read (the internet lingo was cringy), the banter was forced, the jokes didnt land, the romance was super rushed (rosaline and poppy have like 3 basic interactions and then poppy is like "omg im developing feelings"), and the third act was just absurd. alas, this was a big flop.

[cate]

what in the tayvis

[𑣲 amy ᯓ★ · Rating 1 out of 5]

well i wrote a better review but it didn’t save so I’m keeping this short. i did not finish this. I read to 60% and the dialogue was so bad and the plot was so unrealistic and it was all glorified porn. this was really bad.

thank you to netgalley for providing me with a free arc in exchange for my honest review!

[Larareads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge thank you to Edelweiss, the publisher and Alexandria Bellefleur for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Publishing date: January 6th, 2026

I LOVED this story!!!

Haven't read so many sapphic books this year so when I was accepted to be an ARC reader for this one I was sooo fucking excited and it 100% didn't disappoint!!! It was such a fun read that I actually couldn't put it down and read it in less than 6 hours.

The romance was great! Poppy and Rosaline are so cute together! They have a
grumpy × sunshine dynamic and they still were so cute and in love with each other the whole story. We also get to see Cash and Lyric's love story so it was great to see two stories in one!!!

I am a 3rd POV hater especially in a romance book, but with this one it really worked and the writing is beautiful and mature and I'm honestly glad that it was written in this way!!! It works sooo well with this story!

The only thing that maybe could have added more to this story is if the book was in dual POV or there were at least a couple of chapters from Rosaline's POV so that we could see more of Roz's thoughts and feelings, but it is still fabulous the way it is.

[Ann Ziegelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this!!! Alexandria Bellefleur does chemistry so well. I also really enjoyed the side story of Cash & Lyric. I personally would have loved this book to be Dual POV, because I really wanted Rosaline’s perspective and inner monologue! However, I still loved the story so much.

[Blaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I think I could be really good at loving you, if you’d let me.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sending me an ARC of Playing for Keeps in exchange for an honest review.

Playing for Keeps is transparently based on the idea “what if Taylor Swift’s and Travis Kelce’s publicists began a relationship at the same time their clients did.” I’ve really enjoyed Ms. Bellefleur’s previous novels, so I went into this one with high expectations. Unfortunately, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed.

For a book about Poppy and Rosaline, Playing for Keeps revolves too much around Lyric (Taylor) and Cash (Travis). Sure, they are the reason Poppy and Rosaline meet, and why they have to start regularly interacting. But so much time was spent on those two secondary characters that Poppy and Rosaline didn’t get the depth I think Ms. Bellefleur usually gives her characters. The third act drama was much more about Lyric and Cash than Poppy and Rosaline (it was also completely absurd; there’s no way these people in 2025 would not have immediately suspected exactly what was actually happening). Finally, I didn’t love how the whole relationship seems to happen to Poppy, like she’s a bystander, with Rosaline making every move. It was a strange choice given the story is told from Poppy’s perspective.

Playing for Keeps isn’t a bad book. I liked Poppy and Rosaline as characters. The story was funny and sweet and steamy in places. I would just say it’s not up to high standards set by Ms. Bellefleur’s previous novels.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one - a fun, escapist love story (x2)!

We have Poppy, publicist to football player Cash. Cash sends a tweet to mega popstar Poppy, asking for a date. Said date is managed by Lyric's well-known, longtime publicist, Rosaline. Poppy has a history of making bad decisions, causing her to second guess her career choices, and often feels tossed aside by her family--her friendship with Cash is paramount in her life. Rosaline, meanwhile, feels incredibly protective of Lyric, who has a history of tumultuous relationships.

Lyric and Cash give off a smoldering Taylor/Travis vibe, but the true stars are Rosaline and Poppy, who start off as friends with benefits, but slowly build up trust as they work through their clients' own very public relationship.

There's not always a ton of in-depth character development, but we get plenty of laughs and lots of sexual tension. The story is LGBTQIA positive and makes it easy to root for all the characters. Poppy and Rosaline's story (and Cash and Lyric's) is interspersed with social media snippets to move the tale along and keep everything light. This is a fun, sexy romance with a celebrity twist!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Avon in return for an unbiased review. Look for PLAYING FOR KEEPS on 01/06/2026!

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75⭐️ rounded up

Before I dive into my review, I would just like to say I absolutely LOVED the Written in the Stars series and The Fiancée Farce by this author… but this will be the second new release I did not vibe with at all and didn’t feel like her writing, so it may be time soon to “retire” her from my favorites :/

Now, I am a Swiftie. HOWEVER I feel like the author totally lost the plot with this book. What was SUPPOSED to be a side plot of Lyric and Cash, I felt like they were the MAIN plot and kept forgetting the characters on the cover who I was supposed to be caring about were Poppy and Rosaline.

Which - They had their cute and a couple spicy moments, sure. But I really didn’t see them as a couple - especially a long lasting couple. Poopy really annoyed me most of the book, she was so negative, so self deprecating with herself and her relationships with Cash and Rosaline, it was hard to see any growth and really root for her. Rosaline was okay but I feel like everything was very surface level and didn’t get any of the extreme chemistry with these two.

~mini spoiler~ also hated the third act breakup/conflict… why are we using AI in romance novels… and why are we using them to create issues? I also didn’t like how cash and lyric’s third act breakup reason( again, NOT THE MAIN CHARACTERS HERE) became Rosaline and Poppy’s third act breakup reason.

Overall, I was really looking forward to this release but it did not do it for me. If you haven’t read anything by this author I would definitely steer clear from this one, especially if you’re not a Taylor swift fan!

*Thank you to Netgalley, Avon, and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review*

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started off kind of slow and it took me until the first spicy scene (about 25% in) to really get into it but, I'm so glad I stuck with it because I absolutely loved everything about this book from then until the end! I couldn't put it down! I hope to see more of these characters in the future because they're all so loveable!!! 4.5/5 stars overall and 13/5 stars for spice!! 🥵

thank you Netgalley for the ARC!!

[Lucy Bexley]

Playing for Keeps tells the story of two publicists (Rosaline and Poppy) brought together when their clients begin a romantic relationship with strong echoes of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

Bellefleur has such a fun writing style. IT’s playful and funny with a lot of winks to her readers. Many chapters open with gossip site articles or tweets and I think this works well for a main character who is a publicist—her days driven by the actions of her client.

The first two acts of this book were so good—really strong chemistry between Poppy and Rosaline if a little insta-love. And the sex is so sexy—especially the dialogue during these scenes. AB is so good at writing sexy banter in her books and it really shines in Playing for Keeps.

[emerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5
I was really going to try and start this review by saying something positive, but I can’t really think of anything I actively enjoyed in this book. Overall, it was very mediocre to me. I read it in one day and very quickly to boot, but at some point I was reading it to just get through it and that’s never a great sign.

I think that first and foremost, this book fails at developing the romance plot. We get more time with both the developments and the little moments in Cash and Lyric’s relationship than we do with the main chracters because they spend the entire novel either having sex or talking about their clients. I also thought the way the dynamic was developed from fwb into something that was supposed to be romantic wasn’t particularly smooth, and because we got so little time with the two of them outside of work and the bedroom, I struggled all the way to the end to see what made specifically the two of them made for each other. It seemed like large, important growth happened off page and we were left scrambling to catch up.

As characters, I also felt like we were missing depth to both women. Rosaline was weirdly too perfect and surface level despite knowledge of her history. And Poppy was weirdly static in the novel. Even her little family plot felt entirely shoehorned into the end with no buildup and no resolution.
This third act breakup was also one of my least favorites to date, both for the actual tool used to cause it and for the fact that it was actually Cash and Lyric’s breakup. There could have been a really interesting plot about the two of them figuring out if they can be together when their clients weren’t. Instead a ridiculous plot and resolution were both forced into the last 15%.

Cash and Lyric were fine and sweet, and they had about the same amount of depth as the main characters, but honestly the breakup motives were an affront to them too.

This entire book is very heavily dependent on mock journalistic articles and is full of time-locked references to technology, social media, and streaming platforms, which is going to date this book very quickly. I, personally, think it becomes a disservice when used to this degree.

Definitely not making it to my favorites list at any point, but maybe someone who will enjoy the heavily Taylor Swift/whatever-that-football-player’s-name-is inspired couple will love it.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Nev · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve either loved or really enjoyed everything I’ve read from Alexandria Bellefleur. So I was excited to read this book even though I wasn’t too enthused about the side romance being very obviously inspired by Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. The story of Poppy and Rosaline being celebrity publicists who end up falling for each other alongside their clients was somewhat interesting. But overall it didn’t fully work for me.

Poppy and Rosaline were both extremely strong characters. I enjoyed getting to learn about their backstories, especially Poppy’s strained relationship with her family and her prior problems with alcohol. The chemistry between the two women was excellent, especially in the steamy scenes. I also liked getting to see the glimpses of their professional lives working together. And it was fun seeing the tweets and articles about people shipping them.

However… the background Singer x Football Player romance felt like it was overtaking the book at some points. Obviously that relationship is why Poppy and Rosaline meet in the first place, but why was the third act conflict all about them instead of being focused on the main couple? And that conflict was so ridiculous in the first place.

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I did enjoy the main romance, the friendship between Poppy and Cash, and Poppy’s personal journey with her family. But the overwhelming presence of the side romance and the lackluster third act held me back from being able to fully get into the book. I think this might work better for readers who are going to get invested in the celebrity storyline alongside Poppy and Rosaline.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Kaitlynn L · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️.⭐️

This novel follows two publicists, Poppy Peterson who represents Cash Curran, and Rosaline Sinclair who represents Lyric Adair, and how they have to work together because of their clients blossoming relationship. With the two publicists being forced to be together so often, what could possibly happen?

Things that I loved: I personally loved the amount of smut there is in this novel and how it just “happened” after tension was built. I also love how Rosaline reminds me of a black cat, while Poppy reminds me of a golden retriever in a way. I also appreciated how the side characters intertwined with the novel’s main characters and how it impacted their love story as well.

Things that I did not love: I understand that Rosaline and Poppy was only introduced because of their clients, however, it felt like Cash and Lyric’s love story overshadowed Rosaline and Poppy’s story more in some parts. At some parts, the story just felt like it was being rushed.

Overall, I did genuinely enjoy this novel, it’s a fun and cute read. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read it for the vibes and smut (trust me the audiobook for it was AMAZING), who wants a touch-her-you-die type of girlfriend, and something more cozy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Alexandria Bellefleur and HarperAudio Adult for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Playing for Keeps by Alexandria Bellefleur

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Listen, if Alexandria Bellefleur writes it I’m going to read it and if Lauren Sweet is narrating it I’m going to listen to it. The premise had me hooked from the beginning and I’m preeeeeettttttty sure I know where the inspiration comes from. We have a famous quarterback who publicly flirts with a famous singer. Sound familiar?

“Cash’s being able to live authentically and be a visible role model to young queer athletes was infinitely more important than appealing to a few dads chads and brads who were pissy that their favorite quarterback was bisexual and not afraid to say it with his whole chest.”

“Is the opposite of love hate, or is it indifference?”

But I digress because the story isn’t really about them, they are side characters. It’s a sapphic romance centering around these two celebrities publicists. Equally juicy in my opinion!

Rosalind and Poppy have very close relationships with their clients and would to anything to protect them. It starts off as a hookup but through every crisis and PR disaster averted they start to fall in love while also dealing with family drama and all the nonsense that goes with extreme celebrity fandom.

While I wasn’t as emotionally invested in this couple as I have been in Bellefleurs previous books I enjoyed this and would recommend this book for sapphic romance lovers and Swifties!

[𝘼𝙨𝙝𝙡𝙚𝙚✌️📚🦄 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poppy + Rosaline

-sapphic romance
-forced proximity
-workplace(ish) romance
-pr nightmares
-taylor/travis coded

this was actually such a cute concept!! we've been getting a lot of taylor/travis inspired romances lately, but not only is this one sapphic but its from the pov of both of their pr reps falling in love?? oh yeah!! sign me tf up!! haha they were so cute!!

[-ˋˏ ༻ Persie ༺ ˎˊ- (TheSapphicStorybook) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A slightly disappointing ⭐⭐ out of 5 star read for me.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

I really wanted to love Playing for Keeps, but it didn’t fully work for me.

This honestly felt very wattpad fanfic to me, and it was hard not to notice that Lyric and Cash felt clearly based on real people (Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce.) They were technically side characters, but they were given almost as much page time as Rosaline and Poppy, which pulled focus from the main romance. The third-act conflict was the biggest miss for me. It felt unbelievable, unrealistic, and revolved way too much around Cash and Lyric instead of the MAIN COUPLE we’re supposed to be invested in.

Things I did like:

The representation of recovery from alcoholism was handled with care. (Speaking as someone who’s had their own struggles, I really appreciated this.)

Lots of queer rep! Rosaline is a lesbian, Poppy and Cash are both bi.

Things that didn’t work for me:

Poppy’s family subplot was left hanging—I wanted a real resolution there.

The pacing was off. We completely glazed thru the 4 day awards show trip, which had a dress shopping trip that we weren't shown, it was just mentioned in passing later. Those are important moments that would’ve deepened the story but instead felt rushed through. Other than the (decent) spice, what real moments did we have between Rosaline and Poppy that showed them falling for each other?

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

🌶️🌶️/5 Spice)

The spice was there, it wasn't bad. It was very mid to me.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

I'll be completely honest, I disliked so much about this book, that I had to stew on my review for a while, because it bothered me so much how the main couple felt underdeveloped and scenes where we could have gotten to see their relationship unfold, were briefly recounted instead of shown to us. It felt like there were multiple missed opportunities for us to learn about Poppy and Rosaline and care about them as characters and make us want to root for them.

For me, the weird pacing, sidelined main couple, and messy third act kept this from being a favorite or even a book I would recommend. I will say, I have read multiple other books by Alexandria Bellefleur and LOVED them! This one just didn't hit with me. I'm giving this ⭐⭐ out of 5 stars.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

I received an ARC from the NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[abi]

Omg yes, the cover and description recently dropped for this one!! It looks so good, I’m very excited!

[Shae Bentley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

[Andrea (looselfeftlesbian) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I wasn’t sure if I would like this after reading the prologue and chapter 1. I think the fact that the MC was 25, messed with me and that it started out with a press release(yes, I know it’s about PR) but it started slow(?) to me. Idk I can’t figure out why I didn’t get into it right away. But as soon as Rosalyn was introduced and of course we got to know more about Poppy, I was hooked. Their chemistry is amazing! Rosalyn appears on the outside as an ice queen, but she’s a big softie, especially when it comes to Poppy and Lyric.

I genuinely was so happy that Poppy’s alcoholism was talked about. As someone who struggled with alcohol early in their twenties, a lot of what she said and felt resonated with me. I don’t think there’s enough sober or at least people in recovery represented in novels, let alone sapphic novels.

While I don’t agree with the reasoning behind the third act break up(I really feel like the reasoning was out of character for Rosalyn) but I also understand a little bit due to her relationship with Lyric. I would’ve liked to see Rosalyn grovel a little more and show Poppy that it wouldn’t happen again.

[Rikki Ziegelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Bellefleur’s books and this one is no exception…but I do have some things to say about it.

I was so ready to give this book 5 stars until about 80-85% in. I was willing to look past the fact that it wasn’t a dual perspective (even though it felt like I was missing half the story). I loved the chemistry between the two main characters, I loved the other plots going on, I was into it.

And then the third act breakup came. I kept thinking to myself “if there is a third act break up, it better be well deserved” and this one was NOT. Not to spoil too much, but it felt VERY out of character for the person who initiated the break up to do so - and the reasoning felt like a cop out. And then they had zero problem getting back together after such a sudden break up. Personally I would have a lot of trouble trusting that person again. It just felt so rushed and did not make sense.

Anyway, regardless, it’s a fun and sexy read and I did eat it up in less than 24 hours.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for the ARC!!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Playing for Keeps is everything I want from a sapphic romance: heartfelt, hilarious, emotionally rich, and deliciously spicy. Alexandria Bellefleur delivers a story that feels both escapist and deeply grounded, with a romance that crackles from the first page and never lets go. The chemistry is undeniable, the banter is sharp, and the emotional beats land exactly where they should.

There’s a very fun, very intentional Taylor-and-Travis coded energy running through this book.

This is a spicy sapphic romance that made me laugh out loud, grin like a fool, and absolutely tear up when I least expected it. Bellefleur balances heat and heart so effortlessly, crafting characters who feel real, messy, and achingly lovable. If you’re looking for a queer romance that delivers joy, steam, and emotional payoff in equal measure, Playing for Keeps is an absolute must-read. 💖🔥📚

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.75 stars

Ultimately, I did really like this story but I felt like I was missing half of it? I wish this had been dual POV because Rosaline’s point of view could have added a lot to the story telling and I would’ve loved to get inside her head. A lot of the big relationship moments were instigated by Rosaline so it felt like a loss not to know what she was feeling and thinking. Also while Cash and Lyric are their own characters, it’s hard to step away from the Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift inspo of it all and that did take me out of the story at times. Sometimes I felt like their relationship was too much of a focal point.

But at the end of the day this is a quick read and I did love the core relationship.

Thank you Avon for the arc!

[Kelsey Loves Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I liked the Travis/Taylor vibes and grand gesture. It seemed a bit rushed and that there was opportunity for further character development.

[cidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

“I think I’d be really good at loving you, if you’d let me.”

First off, SCO DUCKS. This was so fun to read and see just how close to home (physically and emotionally) it was hitting!!

Rosaline and Poppy are both amazing, career-driven women with some family baggage. They are both publicists for popular clients - a famous singer and a famous football player. Worlds collide when the two start dating and the publicists have to work together more often. Sparks fly, one thing leads to another, and the rest is history.

The way they both spoke about their upbringings and how it impacted them, and then to have them support each other.. it was beautiful. It resonated so much with me.

I loved how they helped to lift each other up in moments of panic or insecurity. It was genuinely a beautiful read for at least 85% of it.

Their love for their friends and the dynamic between the two with Cash and Lyric was also sooo good.

I think the spice was really well written as well - very delicious.

Now, for the not so great stuff…

The third act breakup was really immature to me and set Lyric and Rosaline back sooo far. To the point that when it gets resolved, I didn’t think they groveled enough.

It was so hurtful and while I get the miscommunication and reason behind it, I couldn’t handle how it was dealt with.

I wish there was more time and not just a “alright we’re back together after a grand gesture moment”. And not only that, but I feel like it wasn’t fleshed out enough to really dive into how each character has grown from throughout the story. It felt rushed almost. There was so much talk about their families and its impact, but I don’t think there was enough resolved from that.

But maybe I’m being cynical.

Overall, I really did enjoy the book. It had great pop culture references, it delivered on spice, and the book was unique in its writing.

If you like sapphic romances with side characters who are practically Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, this one’s for you!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to ARC read in exchange for an honest review!

[andrea ✩ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 but rounding down.

This was definitely a fun concept, ngl. As soon as I heard about it, I was interested. A Taylor Swift x Travis Kelce parallel where the publicists fell in love...it was silly but could be interested.

I am actually not sure how I feel about this in its entirety. I think that the romance could've been explored a tiny bit more to make me more invested in the relationship. I also wish there were less similitudes with the Taylor of it all. Perhaps if it was another type of athlete, and their relationship hadn't started the same way as Taylor and Travis'. I say this because alluding to it is fun, but the very clear references make me feel like I am reading fanfiction and I don't love reading fanfic about relationships between public figures (and let it be noted that I was interested in this because I didn't think it'd be SO in your face).

I did think the romance was very sweet, and also it was very spicy, which I could've lived without but it was a nice to have.

I gotta say, I really like Alexandria Bellefleur's writing!