Review: Playing For Keeps

Playing For Keeps by Julie Hammerle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Bryce Barrett gets passed over for promotion to partner at her fancy Chicago law firm in favour of a snotty-nosed, know-nothing idiot who just happens to be the Mayor's nephew she doesn't take it well. In fact she may have incinerated her career. Now she's retreated to the house her ex-husband bought in the tiny midwestern town of Wackernagel he grew up in (she might have been petty enough to ask for it in the divorce) and is sticking it to The Man (assuming that this means watching every episode of The Gilmore Girls, wearing sweatpants and eating Cheetos - can I also say I've never eaten them but they sound vile).

On a visit to the local ice-cream parlour to buy essential ice-cream provisions, Bryce attracts the eye of a concerned citizen who calls the local security for the gated community in which she lives (cripes these are special snowflakes if they've never seen a woman in sweatpants and novelty slippers binge-eating ice-cream). Jake Warner was born and bred in Wackernagel (I apologise for all the asides, not sure what has come over me, but why do authors insist on having their towns called silly names (please don't tell me it's an actual town)) but he's spent the last decade as far away as possible roaming the US. Now he's back, but only until he's repaid his father, and then he'll be off far from home once again - because 'reasons'. His temporary job as security guard for a gated community is easy work, but when he's called to deal with a possibly violent vagrant woman scaring customers at the ice-cream parlour he feels compassion for the woman who is clearly dealing with some issues.

A chance encounter with Bryce's ex and his new girlfriend leads Bryce to claim that she and Jake are dating, which he goes along with because he can see where she's coming from. When Bryce's power gets cut off because she's not been paying her bills (or opening her mail - see, I'm doing it again), they come to an agreement, Jake will help her renovate the house to sell and in return Bryce will pay him the realtor's fee which will help him repay his father. United in their desire to get out of Wackernagel as soon as possible the two of them become friends - or maybe more.

I've read a few of Julie Hammerle's novels before and I've always appreciated the way she portrays more mature women with real problems and grown-up reactions, which is why I requested this book. Unfortunately, this didn't really work well for me for several reasons. First, Jake blames himself/his father for something that happened - it is this that has kept him away from home for a decade, but frankly his logic is that of an eight-year-old, not a grown man. Second, Jake's family are so irritating I would have left town as soon as possible to get away from them. Third, Bryce's slob phase was too extreme - closer to mental breakdown territory - and I've read better.

Overall, it was okay, a pleasant enough read but after only a few days I could barely remember the plot.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.


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