Just Playing For Keeps by Lauren Blakely | Audiobook Review • Ana's Attic Book Blog

Just Playing for Keeps (Hockey Ever After #2) by Lauren Blakely

Full Cast Narration by Erin Mallon and Jason Clarke, with Savannah Thomas and Ryan West

Hockey RomCom. Stands alone just fine. Advanced Copy received, this post contains affiliate links.

This is my 70th (if I counted right) review of a Lauren Blakely book, and every single review has been positive. There is some kind of magic she pours into her books, especially her audiobooks. Lauren can take the most common tropes and themes and make them new, fresh and fun, Then she writes them with audiobook narrators already in mind for duet or full cast recordings, making the audiobooks stand out as even more special. Whenever anyone tells me they just can’t get into audiobooks, I immediately suggest a Lauren Blakely book.

Just Playing for Keeps by Lauren Blakely is a light, fun hockey romance with emotional depth. It’s the second in the Hockey Ever After Series, but it stands alone just fine. Plus, it releases on my birthday, so it MUST be good!

“She’s the most real thing to happen to me in years.”

After finding a ring box, Remy thinks her boyfriend is about to propose. As the hockey team’s PR person and a romantic date planner on the side, Remy pulled some strings to have the proposal on the Jumbotron. But it wasn’t a proposal, she got dumped and friend-zoned in front of the whole arena and on live TV as well.

Right Winger Lake Axelrod has always had a thing for Remy, but she was with someone else, and also his sister’s best friend. So when he sees what’s happening, the grumpy player distracts the crowds and the Jumbotron to focus on his antics, saving her some of the embarrassment. But it still went viral, humiliating Remy. To make matters worse, her ex is the best man in her sister’s wedding—a wedding (and events leading to it) that will be live-streamed by her influencer sister’s brand partner.

Knowing this, and knowing what an ass her ex is, Lake proposes a fake dating situation, but we all know what happens when you fake date, right? The chemistry was so good between them! While Lake is usually known as the quiet introvert who is mourning his ex’s death from 2 years ago, Remy is the total opposite, an upbeat, romantic, outgoing planner. Yet they also had so much in common, and were really perfect compliments to each other.

“What I’m saying is a plus-one is a cop-out. But being your new guy? That says your ex is a dumbass for losing you, and you’re moving the hell on like the fucking goddess you are.”

While I admit, I’m a little tired of all the hockey romance on the market, if Lauren writes it, I will read it. Just Playing for Keeps was a fake romance done right. What started as an arrangement for show slowly developed into a deep, meaningful romance. The flirting and teasing and the build-up to their walls coming down was perfectly executed, and I loved every second. The humor and light were there, but we also got so much emotional depth. There was never any filler, just a perfectly executed fake dating romance.

“I want my fake boyfriend to do very real things to me”

Likes:

Funny with emotional depth.
Seeing the couple from the previous book in the series, without needing to remember it.
Getting to know more of the team.
I loved the sister relationship.
Lake’s father. Sigh…I loved him so much.
Remy’s career path.
Lake’s growl.
Not one ounce of unnecessary fluff.
He’s a cat daddy with an amazing cat.
The ex was perfectly hateable.
Another feel-good romance from Lauren.
The perfect amount of spice—maybe a tad more than some of Lauren’s books, but it worked perfectly. (That mirror scene 🤤)
The bloopers at the end.

Dislikes:

None.

The Narration:

The narration is where Lauren’s books really shine. She knows the narrators before she even starts writing, and it shows. The narrators perfectly embody the characters, and the full cast duet production is done seamlessly. Erin Mallon and Jason Clarke are already two of my faves, but adding duet narration and Savannah Thomas and Ryan West voicing some of the side characters made for an even more immersive listen.

The Down & Dirty:

Lauren needs to teach a master class in romance writing, especially for audiobooks. The way she can take every trope you already love and somehow make it feel fresh, fun, emotional, and impossible to stop listening to is just magical. Just Playing for Keeps had so much emotional depth under the banter, flirting, and spice, but it never felt heavy. There was no filler or fluff, just a perfectly executed fake dating hockey romcom with tons of popular tropes: fake dating, best friend’s brother, hockey, only one bed, workplace romance, wedding dates, he falls first, and more. With all those popular tropes, you’d think it would feel cookie cutter, but not at all. Lauren’s execution makes her books special. And if you listen to audio at all, her full cast audiobooks are a step above most others I’ve listened to. I absolutely recommend this one in audio format, especially if you love fake dating with emotional depth, amazing chemistry, and a hero who falls hard.