Playing for Keeps

Cricket Creek #1

by Luann McLane

Olivia Lawson is peeved when ex-ace pitcher turned soap opera star Noah Falcon roars back into Cricket Creek, Kentucky, after all these years, to take the lead opposite her in the community theater's summer play. Noah's beloved hometown is having major financial woes and needs his status to turn this small-town play into a big-time hit. But Noah has bigger plans for this small town. And this time he's determined to show Olivia he's not just playing around-he's playing for keeps.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Sports, Small Town Romance, Baseball

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

LuAnn McLane writes sexy contemporary romance with a touch of sass and humor. Published in 2003, her novels have appeared on bestselling lists including USA Today, Nielsen BookScan, Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Her books have been featured selections for Rhapsody and Doubleday Book clubs. A love of country music led her to a collaboration with superstar Wynonna Judd with the novel Restless Heart. A member of RWA, she conducts workshops on a local and national level and connects with readers on social media. She divides her time between Kentucky, Florida and Arizona and when she isn’t writing or reading, she enjoys cooking, beachcombing and spending time with friends and family.

Reviews

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 ½-4 stars – Contemporary Romance

This is a sweet, charming southern small-town contemporary romance about a former Major League baseball pitcher who returns to his quaint hometown of Cricket Creek, Kentucky following the untimely death of his soap opera career to star in the community theater’s summer play and learns that you truly can go home again.

Noah Falcon just wants to spend time in his hometown soaking up his southern roots and honing his acting skills to make a big comeback and doesn’t plan on staying in Cricket Creek permanently. Cricket Creek High School teacher Olivia Lawson remembers Noah from their own high school days when he was the popular jock and she the class geek, and she doesn’t want a famous playboy athlete with an ego like Noah not taking his acting in the play seriously, especially since she’s his co-lead. But as they spend time together rehearsing, Olivia realizes that Noah is much more than she thought, and Noah falls hard for Olivia and charming Cricket Creek.

There’s also a fun and sexy secondary romance between young lovers, playwright Madison and construction worker Jason, which adds nicely to the story, as well as a sweet side romance between Olivia’s father Owen and Madison’s aunt Myra that proves it’s never too late to find love. The author also spends a lot of time focusing on the struggles of the town and local businesses that have been hit hard by the economy and how the community pulls together in tough times.

There’s nothing overly remarkable about it, but Playing for Keeps is a sweet, feel good read with a heartwarming ending that will leave a satisfied smile on your face. It’s a nice way to spend an afternoon. I’ll definitely check out the next book in the series, Catch of the Day , about local Wine and Diner owner and chef Jessica Robinson and ex-Major League baseball player Ty McKenna when it comes out in Jan’2012.

[Kimberly]

7/23/17 - $2.99 on Kindle

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Playing For Keeps by Luann McLane was a sweet, romantic small town oriented story. I have always been a huge fan of the Small Town book series'. I just love getting reaquainted with characters from the previous books in a series. That being said, it's one of my favorite types to read. This was the first book I read by this author and I was not disappointed. I loved the main and secondary characters, and the small town setting. This story introduces us to the town of Cricket Creek Kentucky, a small town in danger of falling to hard times. The H/h in this story, Noah and Olivia introduce us to this town and it's adorable inhabitants. As this first in the series introduces us to all the town has to offer (which isn't much right now) the next books in the series will give us more love and town growth. There are 10 books in this series so far. Also what I enjoyed in this book was the two other small, but no less important, love stories featuring Jason and Madison as well as Owen and Myra going on simultaneously. Totally looking forward to read on!

[Manda Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

By the end, I loved the charcters but at the beginning they seemed flat and too simple. It felt like she wanted to rush the set-up of the book to get us into the relationship. By luck, I was able to finally love the characters and the town it is set in, but around page 80, I almost quit. After a rough 30 pages, I finally began to buy into in the storyline but the ending was also abrupt. Overall, it was a nice read but nothing incredible. Part of me is curious about book 2 but part of me has already forgotton it and moved on.

[Carol Ann Labosky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet romance in a small town. Looking forward to the second in the series. Received both of them for Christmas.

[Book Binge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was one of those really fast reads that didn't take much to get into. It was cute and fluffy and perfect for one of those lazy days where you don't want to do anything but read and you don't want to read anything intense or deep.

This book follows Noah Falcon and Olivia Lawson as they bicker and fight their way to their happy ending. Noah is the town celebrity, having moved away from the small town of Cricket Creek to play baseball and do some acting on a soap opera. Now that his baseball career is done and his stint on the soap opera, Noah has come back to Cricket Creek to get some more acting experience by playing the lead male role in the town's play.

Olivia Lawson rolls her eyes every time Noah's name is mentioned around town and when he comes back, she's not that impressed. She thinks he's hot (she's not blind) but outside of that, there isn't anything about Noah Falcon that she wants to deal with. She used to tutor him in high school and his ego was more than she wanted to hang out with.

McLane does a good job of keeping the story interesting by adding charming characters that I came to love and the story was easy to follow along with which I appreciated. There were times when I wanted to bean Olivia in the nose for being such a little whiny brat but Noah Falcon brought it all back to the love for me because I really enjoyed his character.

This is the first book in a new series by McLane and I'm mighty interested to see where the rest of this series goes. This book is cute and fluffy and I'm anxious for the next book in the series. I enjoyed the secondary romance between Jason and Madison. As much as I enjoyed the book, there was a time or two when it was all too easy for me to put the book down to read something else or go and do something else but I'm glad that I stuck with it because it ended up being a cute story.

This story is filled with a great mix of characters that you will come to care for and the town of Cricket Creek will work it's way right into your heart. I'm really looking forward to more.

Grade: 3 out of 5

This review was originally posted on Book Binge by Rowena.

[Geri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is where my love for all books by LuAnn McLane began. I love Cricket Creek. What a great little town where people help each other. Olivia is a teacher and also devotes a great deal of her time to the local community theater. Her friend is putting on a play and Olivia wants to do everything she can to help make it a success. When her friend hires a guy that didn't even realize she was alive in high school,she isn't happy. Noah is someone who made good becoming a baseball star and currently a big soap opera star. They play the leads of the play and their rehearsing draws them closer. However, they both have ideas of what they think the other is like and the rest of the story delightfully tells the tale. I loved Olivia and Noah and I felt like I knew them. I enjoy stories set in the South because it just seems as though stories have more heart. It has a perfect amount of heat and romance. This is a terrific start to the Cricket Creek series and there are lots of characters with potential for their own stories.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why don't I live in Cricket Creek? Maybe I wouldn't be happy, but McLane's fictitious Kentucky town seems just right to me: warm hearted, colorfully flawed yet good people are the citizens of traditional small town with a pretty river flowing by. Many of these folks are trying to help figure out how to keep their struggling town alive and with fresh business coming in.
Enter Noah, home town hero, former pro baseball player who has his own reasons for returning, and whomay become the answer to economic revival. He'll stay if Olivia gives him the green light.
This book is the first in a series, and Noah is the first of a cast of very studly yet quite personable love interests. Most, I think, are ball players, but their is a builder thrown in there too.
The very successful melding of community, occupation, love interest and friendships reminds me of Debbie Macomber's novels but with more fully drawn love scenes.

[Marissa Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noah Falcon, a professional baseball player turned actor, has come back to his hometown of Cricket Creek to star in a local play in an attempt to hone his skills after his titular character dies in the soap opera he starred in. He does not expect much from his return, but then he meets Olivia Lawson, a beloved, strait-laced teacher in town that he knew from when they attended high school together. While she wants to keep her distance, her heart closed off from pain in her past, it turns out she is the leading lady of the play Noah is starring in. So, begins a comfortable, comical love story as they strive to bring their fading town back to its glory while matchmaking side characters along the way.

This small-town contemporary romance was the first book by the author that I read after picking up half the series from my library's bi-annual booksale. Usually, the genre is not a favorite of mine, but I am very pleased to have read Playing For Keeps in a time in my life where I am making changes to better my mood and appreciate where I am in life, for that is one of the main themes in this novel. It touches on the meaning of home, not only through the place you love but by the people around you, the power of forgiveness, accepting love in all its forms, embracing family and new beginnings.

I loved both of the main couples in this story and found myself attached to every character in the book. Each one has their own loveable quirks, important role and desires that keep them grounded. Most of all, I appreciated how positive they were, how much they loved Cricket Creek and wished for the happiness of their neighbors. I grew up in a small town and related hard to the setting and its people. It was like I was reading through my own personal memories.

While there is spice, it does not overshadow the plot, making up less than a quarter of the book. The pacing was also very well done.

The author managed to slip in plenty of pop culture references that nineties kids would be familiar with, such as: High School Musical, Glee, Garth Brooks, The Simpsons, South Park and People Magazine. I was born in 1997 and was tickled to spot so many little references that were a key part of my life.

Going to throw in a couple of my favorite quotes before ending my review:

"It is such a blessing to have that feeling. To have what you do be an extension of who you are, and yet not be confined or defined by it".

"Have you forgotten the meaning behind Madison's story?...If you could choose just one thing?...Love would win every single time."

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw a later book in this series and though it looked interesting, I resist starting in the middle. So I started with the first book introducing us to the little town of Cricket Creek. Author Luann McLane is from Kentucky and this must be her idealized yet realistic vision of a small town. The charming little town has endless lures and a growing encroachment by chains as we see throughout America.

Into this comes Nick Falcon, former baseball superstar and soap opera actor comes back to his hometown in need of a life jolt. He's set to star in a local community theater production written by a local girl who grew up being an observer. It'll also star Olivia Lawson, English teacher and hometown girl who long ago had a tutoring job for Nick and a crush on him.

We have two couples in our main orbit and several others who I imagine will be the subject of other novels.

[Nancy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in s series set in Cricket Creek, Kentucky, this book tells the story of Olivia Lawson, a teacher, and Noah Falcon, a TV star who returns to his hometown to do a summer theater job. Olivia has the leading female role and Noah the leading male role, and although there is to be romance between the two in the play, in real life, the only sparks that fly are ones of irritation. Things get complicated and the two have to figure out how to work together so that they don't ruin the production.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unbelievable romances abound in the tiny town of Cricket Creek, meaning there are too many perfect matches to be believable in a miniscule population. A few interesting characters, many rather undistinguished or stereotypical. The thin plot is padded with lots of graphic sex that adds nothing to the story. The baseball game may be the best part of the book. Not terrible, just strains credulity and lacks the heart found in Robyn Carr's Virgin River series. This is book 2 in a series.

[Pauline Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small town not going down without a fight. A well written and perfectly paced story about family and friends pulling together. The story pulls you in from the start and keeps your interest until the end.

[Amalie Berlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Fantastic characters and much loved trope (unrequited love/secret crush years later), and a lovely down home feel to it.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for young adults.

[Momma Bear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feel good book. Enjoyed it.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Book! Can’t wait to read book 2 of the series.

[Carol Bohmbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book in a series I'm enjoying. Good characters in a small town where baseball is Big. Similar to Robyn Carr's Virginia River series. The graphic sex scenes add nothing to the story.

[Dona A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love the Cricket Creek series. This book was super cute and such a great beginning to all the books.

[roe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute, quick read. While it is not amazing and had some flaws, it was sweet and worth reading as long as you aren't expecting a masterpiece. I will continue to read the series.

I like the concept of the star jock and the nerdy bibliophile getting together. The hero, Noah Falcon, despite his fame and arrogance, has enough humility and vulnerability to make him a likeable character. I really liked Olivia as well. From the beginning, Noah makes it clear that his hometown supporting him has been the best part of his life. The only thing is that the thoughts of Noah and Olivia didn't seem as mature as they should be for their age. I think that sometimes has a tendency to happen with romances that have a base in a high school past.

The relationships in the story progressed at different speeds, some were too fast, some were sprung on the audience all of a sudden, which added variety.

There were a few things that I really didn't like about the book. The first was some of the dialogue. There was a lot of exposition and explanations put into dialogue. Now I know that you want to use dialogue a lot of times rather than straight exposition but when characters are having monologues about the downturn of the economy and the town, and the past, and their ambitions, well it gets monotonous. It really subtracted from the characters and story. The other issue with the dialogue was that there were times when everyone seemed like thirteen years old. When the author broke down the syllables on words and names ('No-ah' instead of just 'Noah") was really annoying. While I get that sometimes people outside of teenagers speak that way, the amount of times that it was written in there was bothersome.

The other issue that I had with the writing was that some of the actions and scenes were repetitive. People slapping their thigh either in laughter or in an 'Aha moment,' etc. The love scenes were similar. If it was one character with repetitive actions, it would have been fine because it would have been a character trait, but when every man has the same actions in the story it makes it seem that they are all copies with different ages or hair color.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of this sweet southern romance is new to me, and so far I've found her writing style entertaining and engaging. The story is funny and lighthearted and is filled with an interesting group of characters that I found easy to like. I'm not talking just about Olivia and Noah but all the other people living in the town too. That's really the whole secondary point of the story--working to save the town. It's a wonderful community full of people that care about each other, which the author's done a great job of expressing. Working the town's problem into the romance is handled well, giving the story a big dose of realism which I appreciated. It's really well balanced and I never felt the plot became maudlin or oppressive.

Olivia and Noah are very different. They actually bicker--a lot, at least at first. Olivia can be sweet but she's very judgmental, a huge character flaw I got tired of. Noah's a much nicer individual and liked him much more. As the story grows we learn why she acts like she did and it makes sense but her actions because of a childhood trauma gets old. She and Noah make a cute couple and have some baggage to overcome but never fear the author creatively tweaks their lives and gets them together in a believable manner.

The secondary romance between Jason and Madison is nice and there are also some light moments near the end with Olivia's father and a lady friend I also enjoyed. It's just a nice mix of people, in a nice town that I found easy to care for. I'm curious as what's going to happen in the next book. There's a potential romance brewing on the horizon with another couple.

[Bookaholics · Rating 4 out of 5]

Playing for Keeps by Luann McLane
March 1st, 2011
4 stars

After his baseball career ended and his part in a soap opera puttered out, Noah Falcon returned back to Cricket Creek to play the lead in the community theater’s summer play. There he bumps into the prim and proper Olivia Wilson. She quickly attracts his attention but he can’t remember, has he seen her before?

Back in high school, everyone had a crush on the handsome Noah Falcon. Even his English tutor, Olivia, was not immune to his charms! But now that he is back will he really see the real Olivia?

Sparks fly in the light-hearted and breezy romance. It will definitely keep you entertained for hours! The chemistry between Noah and Olivia was so powerful that you can’t help but cheer for them. It is wonderful to read as Olivia transformed into a more relaxed character that charms the socks off Noah. The guy who was (and still is) every girl’s dream! I also enjoyed the second romance between Olivia’s good friend Madison and Jason. It made this book a double-treat to read!

Fun and cute, Playing for Keeps is an easy, sweet read.

Reviewed by Pauline from the Bookaholics Romance Club

[Phillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even tho it is not my usual reading genre, I enjoyed it. It was a change of pace from reading all the detective and murder mysteries. It is a romance story. Its a new series from this author. Its situated in Cricket Creek, Kentucky. A fictitious very small town that is suffering from the recent downturn of the economy. A well known baseball player turned actor has come home to Cricket Creek to recoup his self worth and turns the town upside down including one of the town's teachers he knew that was his tutor in high school. I will probably read the next book in the Cricket Creek series when I need another break from mayhem.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I liked this book, it did not seem to be as humorous as the other books of this author that I've read.
It had some cute scenes, but no laugh out loud moments for me.
The story was set in the south, but didn't have as much as the quirky southern things as her other books have had. Or, I've lived in the south so long, that I don't notice it as much.
Anyway, it was a satisfying romantic book, with a secondary romance thrown in. It gives a nice lead for the next book, with an idea of who the main characters will be.

[Djfan02 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to start by saying I'm a huge fan of Luann Mclane, but honestly this is my least favorite book of hers. To me, it was just too far fetched and I spent a good part of the book scratching my head. I also feel that there were too many people falling kin love, 3 couples in 1 285 page paperback is overkill imo, especially if it is a series about a small town. Since I don't really follow baseball, I skipped over passages that dealt with what I felt was useless baseball filler. All in all it was a quick read, but left me disappointed.

[zen_s · Rating 1 out of 5]

[1.5 stars] book was bit bland, switch of pov would be clearer if author indicate whom she is writing on. story is not focus on noah & olivia which is just weird, adding madison & jason's story to make up for words or lack of ideas on how to continue noah & olivia's story? no character development, like for example jason & madison, how did they met etc. the focus has been obscure with the mix of characters stories in the end making the book seem amateurish and lack of substance. though i finish the book but don't know if i want to continue reading the series or not.

[Ann Lorz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this story. Of course I did find at times that it dragged for me. But then it would pick up and the story would move. McLane had 2 other secondary characters that got together. She was good at making sure that at least one of the two couples didn't over shadow the others. Olivia Lawson did have a few things that drove me nuts but she worked through then quickly. Noah Falcon turned out to by the type of guy you'd want to marry. This was a great start to a new series.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh how I've missed reading LuAnn McLane! I've needed some good, wholesome, lighthearted, make me literally bellylaugh until I get weird looks, adult romance in my life!!! So glad I had a LuAnn McLane on my shelf because her books always hit the spot!! Can't believe I let it sit this long, but it was well worth the wait!! Pure love for the small town of Cricket Creek and all of the quirky and fantastic characters that live there!! Can I move there too???

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. I like how it showed that the same issues Olivia had as a child still effect her as an adult and how she views relationships.L Love how she was setting people up and looking out for the town. Quick read - I couldn't put it down. Can't wait for the next book - too bad the wait is till Jan 2012!

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's hard for me to give a poor review, but I can think of little that I liked about this book. Characters were shallow, no real conflict. I didn't feel the need to keep reading to find out what would happen. Frankly, I felt it was written just to provide some sex, but it was between unlikable characters.