Can a girl with scars and baggage really be with a billionaire who has his life together? Playing for Keeps is an opposites attract type story with 2 people who have way more in common than they think initially. Caleb, AKA Suits, grew up poor, sickly, and bullied. He made sure his family never struggled again as soon as he was able. Sadie, AKA Mercedes, never fit in with her family and they never stopped reminding her of it. She is trying to make it on her own, but each day is a struggle.
Sadie has walls that Trump would be envious of. This girl is so closed off its like trying to escape North Korea (all right, no more political comparisons). She is broke and struggling to build her tattoo clientele, but she is also proud and stubborn. Her family hasn't been kind to her and she struggled with mental health issues. Now, she tattoos people who want to cover up scars, which is amazingly cool. I had trouble really liking Sadie because, honestly, she is VERY judgmental. I found this ironic given how her family judges her, but she thinks she knows Caleb from the start and makes some pretty judgmental comments disparaging him even though he has been nothing but nice and honest. Caleb calls her out on it, which I thought was great. She does admit to this character flaw, and that helped me warm to her.
The thread that ties these two together is what totally won me over though: Lollipop, the 3 legged dog! Caleb and Sadie's relationship grows from their "co-parenting" of a rescue dog. As a dog lover myself, and someone who has 2 rescue dogs, I agree with Lily about this: You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat an animal. I loved seeing these two kind of use Lollipop as a reason to see each other. Sadie doesn't want to admit her feelings, so she literally and figuratively hides behind Lollipop. Caleb is so sweet to this dog I could hardly stand it.
Playing for Keeps will tug at your heartstrings whether you are an animal lover or not because Caleb and Sadie will warm your soul! Their story is filled with past hurt that has to be overcome, but that makes the journey so sweet.
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: no
- Trope: opposites attract
- Triggers: Sadie was a cutter; Caleb was bullied as a child
- Series/Standalone: standalone within an interconnected series
- Cliffhanger: no
- HEA: yes
Going Down Easy by Carly Phillips, Driving Whiskey Wild by Melissa Foster, Everything She Wanted by Jennifer Ryan, ...then you will probably like Playing for Keeps!
See full review on The Book Disciple