THE WINNING PLAY - Lauren Lacey
Playing For Keeps (Book #2)
Independently Published
BUY
Jennifer Brown (A)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Playing For Keeps (Book #2)
Independently Published
BUY
Jennifer Brown (A)
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
REVIEW: THE WINNING PLAY is Book #2 in Lauren Lacey's Playing for Keeps series and picks up in the world of Greer, Georgia, where opposites don't just attract - they collide. Sebastian Boom is the product of legacy and expectation, a man who has spent his entire life chasing perfection, both on the basketball court and off. Lottie Daniels is his counterpart in every way - a woman who has clawed her way toward peace in a world that never offered her any easy paths. What begins as an undeniable, lust-fueled friendship slowly deepens into something far more complicated and consuming. Late-night conversations, basketball games, shared vulnerability- and then choices that scar, and years of distance that follow. Yet no matter how hard they fight it, their connection refuses to die. This is the kind of story that grabs you by Chapter One and does not let go.
Sebastian is not an easy character, and that is exactly what makes him so compelling. He is controlled, driven, and weighed down by the pressure of who he was born to be. But Lauren Lacey gives him dimension beyond the hard exterior. His walls are real, his wounds are real, and when Lottie begins to chip away at them, you feel every crack. He is flawed in the most human way possible and watching him reckon with what he has built versus what he actually wants makes for a deeply satisfying character arc.
Lottie is the kind of heroine I live for. She has fought hard for every bit of the stability she carries within herself, and yet she is not hardened - she is warm, complex, and fiercely real. She does not exist simply to soften Sebastian; she has her own story, her own scars, and her own growth to tend to. What struck me most is that Lauren Lacey never lets Lottie shrink. Even when the relationship pushes her to her limits, she remains fully herself.
What elevates this book beyond a great romance is the supporting cast. These are not throwaway characters filling space in the background. They are layered, present, and purposeful. Readers who met Mason Boom in THE WORLD AROUND US, Book #1 will appreciate seeing how his story threads through Sebastian's journey, and the way Lacey uses the Boom family dynamics to illuminate the pressures Sebastian carries is both subtle and devastating. The secondary characters feel like people you know, not plot devices - and that is a genuine craft achievement.
At its core, THE WINNING PLAY is a story about what it costs to be who everyone else needs you to be, and what it takes to finally choose yourself. Lauren Lacey writes with emotional intelligence and an understanding of how deeply the past can shape the present. The twists here are not cheap drama - they are earned, and they land hard. This is a deeply moving romance that I cannot stop thinking about, and it confirms that Lauren Lacey is an author whose entire catalogue deserves a spot on your shelf.
12 March 2026| romcol@caribsurf.com
Sebastian is not an easy character, and that is exactly what makes him so compelling. He is controlled, driven, and weighed down by the pressure of who he was born to be. But Lauren Lacey gives him dimension beyond the hard exterior. His walls are real, his wounds are real, and when Lottie begins to chip away at them, you feel every crack. He is flawed in the most human way possible and watching him reckon with what he has built versus what he actually wants makes for a deeply satisfying character arc.
Lottie is the kind of heroine I live for. She has fought hard for every bit of the stability she carries within herself, and yet she is not hardened - she is warm, complex, and fiercely real. She does not exist simply to soften Sebastian; she has her own story, her own scars, and her own growth to tend to. What struck me most is that Lauren Lacey never lets Lottie shrink. Even when the relationship pushes her to her limits, she remains fully herself.
What elevates this book beyond a great romance is the supporting cast. These are not throwaway characters filling space in the background. They are layered, present, and purposeful. Readers who met Mason Boom in THE WORLD AROUND US, Book #1 will appreciate seeing how his story threads through Sebastian's journey, and the way Lacey uses the Boom family dynamics to illuminate the pressures Sebastian carries is both subtle and devastating. The secondary characters feel like people you know, not plot devices - and that is a genuine craft achievement.
At its core, THE WINNING PLAY is a story about what it costs to be who everyone else needs you to be, and what it takes to finally choose yourself. Lauren Lacey writes with emotional intelligence and an understanding of how deeply the past can shape the present. The twists here are not cheap drama - they are earned, and they land hard. This is a deeply moving romance that I cannot stop thinking about, and it confirms that Lauren Lacey is an author whose entire catalogue deserves a spot on your shelf.
12 March 2026| romcol@caribsurf.com
