Here are 100 books that Playing For Keeps fans have personally recommended if you like
Playing For Keeps.
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Prior to writing my own works of fiction, I actually worked for several years as a romance ghostwriter. I’ve worked for many clients under various pseudonyms, and many of these titles have gone on to the Amazon Top 100 list (I just can’t tell you which one because I signed an NDA). I think that romance as a genre can be a wonderfully cathartic and escapist experience, allowing us the opportunity to swoon, pine, and giddily indulge in the joy of what it’s like to fall in love over and over again.
A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon is a laugh-out-loud read with just enough spice and tension to get you squirming in your seat.
I adore the grumpy x sunshine dynamic between the two leads, Mariel (the witch who accidentally summoned the demon) and Ozroth (the aforementioned demon who wants Mariel’s soul). This is a fun, delightful, and heartwarming paranormal romance with great stakes and plenty of shenanigans. If this unlikely pair is able to find love, then so can you!
Mariel Spark knows not to trust a demon, especially one that wants her soul, but what’s a witch to do when he won’t leave her side—and she kind of doesn’t want him to?
Mariel Spark is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen in centuries of the famed Spark family, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. When a spell to summon flour goes very wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon—one she inadvertently summoned for a soul bargain.
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
Prior to writing my own works of fiction, I actually worked for several years as a romance ghostwriter. I’ve worked for many clients under various pseudonyms, and many of these titles have gone on to the Amazon Top 100 list (I just can’t tell you which one because I signed an NDA). I think that romance as a genre can be a wonderfully cathartic and escapist experience, allowing us the opportunity to swoon, pine, and giddily indulge in the joy of what it’s like to fall in love over and over again.
I believe in second chances. That’s why Forget Me Not is one of my favorite romance reads of the year!
Ama Torres is a wedding planner who (ironically) doesn’t believe in marriage. This may or may not be the reason why handsome and brooding florist Elliot Bloom seems so distant and broken-hearted. They were an item—until something went terribly wrong!
This is a swoon-worthy read with snappy banter and plenty of spice. Watching these two fall in love all over again is sweet enough to give me cavities.
A wedding planner and her grumpy ex must work together to plan a celebrity event in this deliciously spicy and funny novel from Ali Hazelwood's "favorite writer."
Ama Torres is an optimistic wedding planner who doesn’t believe in marriage. But weddings? They’re amazing. Elliot Bloom is a brooding florist who hates owning a flower shop…until a certain bright-eyed, donut-loving workaholic shows up at his door.
Once upon a time, they collaborated on events by day, and by night, Ama traced the intricate flower tattoos etched along his body. Then Ama shattered his heart and never spoke to Elliot again.
Prior to writing my own works of fiction, I actually worked for several years as a romance ghostwriter. I’ve worked for many clients under various pseudonyms, and many of these titles have gone on to the Amazon Top 100 list (I just can’t tell you which one because I signed an NDA). I think that romance as a genre can be a wonderfully cathartic and escapist experience, allowing us the opportunity to swoon, pine, and giddily indulge in the joy of what it’s like to fall in love over and over again.
This one will break your heart. It’s more of a romantic tragedy, but I think there’s something wonderful in near-miss romances because it helps you appreciate what you have, when you have it.
In a monochrome world, you can only see color once you’ve met your soulmate. The problem is that the main character, Brighton Evans, has been able to see color since forever—so who on earth is her soulmate and how will she ever be able to tell? We’d Know by Then is without a doubt a tearjerker, so prepare yourselves!
Fans of bittersweet titles by Colleen Hoover and Jojo Moyes will have you invested in Brighton and Cain's journey from the first page to the last.
In a monochrome world, Brighton Evans is a splash of brilliant color.
She can see the world in its true, kaleidoscopic form-a privilege reserved for soulmates only after they've found their other halves.
Knowing your soulmate when they come along should be easy, but Brighton can't remember a time when she hasn't seen in color. The past has her convinced that life is safer this way; she doesn't need a soulmate.
The Guardian of the Palace is the first novel in a modern fantasy series set in a New York City where magic is real—but hidden, suppressed, and dangerous when exposed.
When an ancient magic begins to leak into the world, a small group of unlikely allies is forced to act…
Prior to writing my own works of fiction, I actually worked for several years as a romance ghostwriter. I’ve worked for many clients under various pseudonyms, and many of these titles have gone on to the Amazon Top 100 list (I just can’t tell you which one because I signed an NDA). I think that romance as a genre can be a wonderfully cathartic and escapist experience, allowing us the opportunity to swoon, pine, and giddily indulge in the joy of what it’s like to fall in love over and over again.
Deliver Me is without a doubt a tale that will stick with me for a very long time.
We follow Mia, a pastor’s daughter, who volunteers to write letters to prison inmates hoping to offer support and friendship regardless of the crimes they’ve committed. Gabriel Myers happens to be the recipient of these letters, but his tragic and cold backstory make it difficult for him to open up.
Watching their relationship grow from a place of distance to a place of genuine trust and love really drives home that the world is always better with love and compassion.
She's a pastor's daughter. He's a convicted killer. Forever may be out of reach when she falls in love with one of the dangerous ones.
Faith is more than just a word to Mia Anderson. It's the foundation of her life as a pastor's daughter. At home in her church and at peace with her beliefs, she decides to participate in a program to send letters to inmates regardless of what sins they may have committed.
Gabriel Myers is a convicted criminal, serving life in prison for his father's murder. Facing a hopeless future and haunted by a past that…
Have you ever felt this deep, internal calling, one you can’t escape from, that even as time goes by, it remains there, whispering in your inner mind, telling you, driving you, to create things that aren’t real? To make them into words that then form adventures? For as long as I can remember I have felt this, and feel it is what I was meant to do. I love, and try to incorporate in my own stories, elements that involve magic, uncommon or new creatures, extensive worlds, flawed characters, a pinch of love, and everything else (including, possibly, a kitchen sink) that can be found in a made-up universe.
I read this book when I was younger, as the main character is fourteen, but I have recently reread it with a different view, being older. And it still had me excited to keep reading to the end, not having lost the mystique of magical components and a cute love story that it did all those years ago.
With a conquering empire invading their borders, Princess Thirrin must seek help from those she has only heard terrible tales about and gains an unlikely relationship with a witch’s son in the process. This is one of my favorite books that has me picking it up a couple times to revisit the journey Thirrin must venture, and it never lets me down.
A magnificent tale of adventure, emotion and a girl who defies an empire set in the backdrop of sublime landscape!
'A dazzling, confident debut about power and personal discovery' THE TIMES
'A wonderful, swashbuckling read and an exceptional debut.' BOOKS FOR KEEPS
When her father dies nobly in battle, fourteen-year-old Thirrin becomes Queen of the Icemark, a tiny kingdom forever caught between dangerous neighbours.
Thirrin must raise an army to protect her people from seemingly invincible Imperial invaders. Her search for allies takes her beyond her northern borders, to former enemies in The-Land-of-the-Ghosts and onwards to the frozen Hub-of-the-World.
I have loved French Pastry for as long as I can remember, all the way from my Mum’s kitchen as a kid in Belgium to my own kitchen here in Melbourne. I love it so much I quit my job as an architect 6 years ago to start a blog that focuses on baking and French pastry especially! This crazy experience took me all the way back to Paris to attend a French pastry program at Ecole Ducasse in 2019 and to publish my first cookbook on French pastry at the end of 2023.
This is the only book I recommend that is not written by a French chef!
I devoured this book not only for the incredibly detailed recipes and techniques covering everything you need to know to make croissants and viennoiseries at home but also for the life story of the chef that accompanies the recipes.
The “Lune” bakery is an institution in Melbourne (Australia) where I live, and I find it so inspiring to read about a local woman who broke through a traditional men-filled industry.
The debut cookbook from Lune, a world-renowned croissant bakery in Australia.
Lune Croissanterie is one of the most talked about bakeries in the world. From rave reviews from Nigella Lawson, Yotam Ottolenghi, Rene Redzepi and Rachel Khoo, to features in news outlets such as New York Times and The Guardian, Lune has been touted as 'the best croissant in the world' since it opened its doors in 2012. Customers are queuing quite literally around the block from the early hours to eat Lune's pastries, but what makes this book so special is how Kate Reid elevates croissant pastry from a…
Aury and Scott travel to the Finger Lakes in New York’s wine country to get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings at the Songscape Winery. Disturbed furniture and curious noises are one thing, but when a customer winds up dead, it’s time to dig into the details and see…
I've always been a bookworm. From the Boxcar Children and The Hobbit as a kid to Nora Roberts, Danielle Steele, and even Stuart Woods as an adult. None of those genres hold such a special place in my heart as Young Adult. Self-discovery, overcoming pain and trauma of childhood, making deliberate choices about love, and life, and who we’re going to be in this world—young adulthood is fraught with the elements necessary for unforgettable stories. Since I began publishing 10 years ago, my books have sold thousands of copies worldwide and won numerous book awards, but the thing that keeps me writing is being a reader first.
I love shifter stories that feel unique and completely fresh which aren’t easy to find anymore! Nothing against the classic shifter romance story. I love and read them all but when you find something fun and new-feeling, it’s that much more unforgettable. Kelly St. Clare’s Shifter Wars series definitely does that for me. This one is a little more Upper YA and definitely sexier than some of the others on this list, but it’s one I couldn’t put down and one I always think of when I’m ranking my favorites. In this tiny mountain town in Australia, shifters play a very unique game with humans—one with stakes that equal life and death. When our girl Andie gets tossed into the game and forced to play, all bets are off. Definitely worth a read and one you won’t be able to put down once you start!
When Mum died, I inherited a lot more than a pack of lies.
I landed a $410,000 debt. Discovered her previous surname. And her real place of birth.
Desperate to uncover the truth, I drive to a tiny dot on the map called Deception Valley.
Coincidental name? Nope.
There, I find her secret family—because she had one of those too.
How many lies are we at? Honestly, I’ve lost count, but local gossip captures my attention. Apparently, Mum’s other family play laser tag every Wednesday. Not even joking. Laser tag.
Whenever I’m asked about when I knew I wanted to be a pastry chef/baker, I always answer, “birth!” My maternal grandmother lived with us and she loved to bake; I was playing with dough as soon as I was old enough to stand on a chair next to the kitchen table. After college I faced a crisis: graduate school or culinary school – I chose the latter and I’ve never looked back. Adding teaching and writing to my love of baking led me to travel, taste, research, and learn new techniques and recipes to share. It’s a passion from which I’ll never retire.
I first met Ciril Hitz at a pastry chefs’ conference in Las Vegas where he was conducting a demonstration workshop on laminated doughs like croissants. Swiss-born and American-educated, his articulate explanations of this complex branch of pastry-making, helped me to understand them more fully than ever before.
I rejoiced when I received a copy of his first book about bread with a unique approach: Ten master formulas, each elucidating a different type of bread dough, cover the main techniques for producing delicious – and beautiful – breads accurately every time.
Baguettes, focacce, brioches, croissants, whole grain breads, pizzas, bagels, sandwich bread, and challah, are all here with further variations on shapes and flavors. Having started my career with an exclusively pastry background, I had to learn about bread on my own.
This book gave me a firm foundation of knowledge that enabled me to create my own individual approach to…
Bread enthusiasts are more aware of the diverse array of high-quality breads than ever before and are seeking out handmade artisan products at local farmers' markets, organic grocery stores, specialty shops...even the Internet. "Baking Artisan Bread" will show that finding these specialty breads is as easy as looking in your own kitchen! "Baking Artisan Bread" provides a simplified, formula-based approach to baking bread at home, making the mixing, the rising, and the baking itself more approachable and less intimidating. With step-by-step full-colour process shots and clear directions, chef Ciril Hitz will show you how with just 10 formulas you can…
Growing up, I always loved reading young adult romances where first love and growing up seemed like the perfect kind of summer story. As an adult, and especially as an educator, I have too often seen the likes and interests of my female students dismissed as silly or frivolous, romance being at the top of this list. I love cultivating a diverse classroom library, one that includes books for everyone’s interest and background. Writing stories for young readers and about what interests them has been the great privilege of my life.
Not only do we have a summer romance, but we’ve combined it with French pastry. Literally a recipe for success! Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau’s debut YA novel follows seventeen-year-old ballerina, Mia, as she travels to Paris for the summer for an elite ballet program. Of course, she meets the charming Louis, and together they explore all that Paris has to offer. Rife with beautiful descriptions of Paris and plenty of croissants, this is the perfect summer romance.
As sweet as a macaron from Laduree, this romantic novel set in Paris about an American ballerina and a charming French boy isparfaitfor fans ofAmerican Royalsand Netflix'sEmily in Paris.
Mia Jenrow has always known she's destined to be a professional ballerina. In fact, it’s in her blood—according to family legend, her too-many-greats-to-count-grandmother once danced for the Paris Opera and was painted by Degas himself! Her parents say it’s just a fantasy, but to Mia it’s so much more than that. It’s her fate.
Mia is planning to spend a magical summer in France pursuing her dream, but as she pirou-ettes…
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
I wrote my first mystery in second grade, thinking I was writing a page-turning thriller when in reality I penned a sweet, little cozy where everything turns out okay in the end and everyone always has a cup of hot chocolate and a vanilla cookie in hand. Somehow, I’ve managed to turn my love of baking and writing into a long-term career. With over 30 mysteries and counting I’m not sure if I’m going to run out of recipes or ways to kill someone off first.
A food memoir with recipes? Or a cookbook with personal stories? I’m never quite sure where A Homemade Life falls in terms of genres, but honestly, I don’t care. Wherever it lands on the shelves, I’ll keep coming back to it. I stumbled up this book shortly after my mom died which didn’t feel like a coincidence. Everything about this story resonates with me—Molly’s grief of losing her father, her decision to do something radical and move to Paris to wander through the markets, noshing on croissants to heal and remember. Her timeless recipes will have you feeling like a professional chef and her ability to find solace in her darkest days in a slice of Hoosier pie or a scope of potato salad will fill you with hope.
Now in trade paperback, A Homemade Life is a memoir composed of recipes and stories from acclaimed blogger, Molly Wizenberg. Molly's fresh and modern recipes--sometimes decedent, sometimes healthful-- appeal to the growing number of people tired of the processed foods who have become passionate about the art of cooking and the joy of eating meals lovingly prepared with the best ingredients. But the book's appeal comes as much from the recipes as its truly remarkable writing. Wizenberg's food descriptions are luscious: Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Ricotta, Bourbon, and Orange Zest will always sound enticing, but when Molly describes how "the…
