Barnes & NoblePlaying for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan

Sapphic, Sweet Sports Romance

Synopsis: June, star pitcher for her elite club baseball team, and Ivy, aspiring professional sports official, cross paths when Ivy takes a job at June's baseball game. After Ivy throws June out of the game for poor behavior, the two girls begin an enemies to friends to lovers relationship, despite their code of ethics forbidding their relationship. These two navigate sports, senior year, and whether or not they are living for themselves or their relatives who have recently died. - Overall Rating: 4.25/5 (Rounded Down) Review: I really enjoyed this book. Even though "Playing for Keeps" is a YA novel, it feels more at home in that space New Adult (if adopted as a more formal genre) would occupy. It explores themes of familial and self pressure and grief and the effects it can have on a teenager. "Playing for Keeps" was a very quick read with witty banter and realistic characters. It avoids some of the common pitfalls of modern YA of using dated language and references (though there are a few). Jennifer Dugan has a craft for creating a reality close to our own. Ivy and June have a distinct realness to them, but they are still very different from your average person or average WLW couple. Ivy, June, and their friends make me think of real teenagers in 2024. I truly commend Dugan for this! Everything for these two revolves around going pro with their sports. For Ivy, that's becoming a professional official. For June, it's becoming the first woman in the MLB. While these aspirations are not unheard of in the general populace, the success both of these girls have had all by their senior year of high school is few and far between. The stress both girls face, particularly June who is nursing an injured shoulder, leads to perhaps my biggest critique. It was interesting watching Ivy and June come together. However, their communication was awful. This was one of the reasons I just couldn't give it a 5 star rating. Even though Jennifer Dugan did a great job of capturing how teenagers communicate (or rather don't), it was infuriating their inability to have a conversation without it turning into a fight. It did feel like the girls spent more time mad at each other than in love, but I think this is due to the dual POV. There are some moments where Ivy is downright cruel to June and vice-versa. It's not bad, but it is very clear it is "first true high school romance" with teenagers trying to balance the maturity needed to sustain a relationship. Ultimately, the miscommunication and anger were all rectified as the book concluded, but it did feel like they spent more time arguing than growing their relationship together. The concept of this book was fascinating. I love baseball even though I'm not the most savvy with all the technical terms. Dugan does an excellent job making sure someone's lack of knowledge regarding baseball and soccer does not impede on their experience with this book. Sports talk, while there, is kept pretty minimal for a sports romance. Jenifer Dugan did a great job capturing the stress of a teenage relationship and the external pressures that teenage athletes face. The miscommunication is frustrating, but it is painfully real and demonstrates Dugan's ability to craft a believable and realistic teenage romance. The ending provides a deserved pay off, but I do wish this novel was a bit longer so we could watch Ivy and June's relationship continue to blossom.