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Playing For Keeps
 
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Playing For Keeps [Mass Market Paperback]

Karen Templeton (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)


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Book Description

October 1, 2003
Single mother Joanna Swan had already married one man with a Peter Pan complex, and one was her limit. So now she is determined that romance is for dreamers -- and she is one woman with her feet firmly planted on the ground. Even if she does design custom-made Santa Clauses for a living.

And that's where sexy Dale McConnaughy comes in. The sexy-as-sin former baseball superstar -- now a toy store mogul -- might be irresistible to most women, but Joanna had to resist him. Because after all that she'd been through, what kind of fool would she be a to let herself fall in love with another man so determined to remain a boy?

For Dale, though, baseball hadn't been a game but a way out of a childhood filled with betrayal and heartache. And even though he'd refused to let the past embitter him, it had left its share of scars -- scars that perhaps one woman could help to erase. But only if he could prove to Joanna that, where the game of love was concerned, he was willing to risk it all . . .



Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Joanna Swann has three kids, a roof that leaks, a business carving wood Santas and no sex life until she meets retired baseball pitcher Dale McConnaughy. The two meet inauspiciously after Joanna's Santas are rejected by the local art gallery and she breaks down crying in the toy store Dale now owns. But when he arrives at her house to set up a swing set for her twin boys a few days later, their relationship begins to bud, coaxed along by Joanna's best friend and her ex, Bobby. Although Dale is a player in every sense of the word, Joanna's warm honesty seduces him despite his defenses. Joanna, meanwhile, worries she's falling for another overgrown boy like her ex. Add Bobby's young pregnant fiancee and a secret Dale has kept since he was 10, and you have a complicated but compelling romantic yarn. Initially, it's difficult to see why Dale would be attracted to Joanna, a frumpy single mom with an attitude and issues, but their relationship blossoms believably after their first few encounters. Templeton (Loose Screws) has drawn flesh-and-blood characters and a rare sympathetic portrait of Joanna's ex. With its pitch-perfect prose, spot-on dialogue and steady pacing, Templeton's newest should score a home run with readers.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Joanna Swan has her hands full raising her three children, while her ex-husband, Bobby, gets his much younger girlfriend, Tori, pregnant. Romance is the last thing on Joanna's mind, even when she meets handsome Dale McConnaughy, an ex-baseball player who now owns a toy store. He offers to buy several of the Santa Claus sculptures she's done and comes to her house to personally set up the play set Joanna's mother bought for her kids. Dale is undeniably attractive, but although he's great with kids, he doesn't seem in any hurry to settle down. He also refuses to talk about his past. But he's interested in Joanna, and she succumbs to temptation while trying to get used to the fact that Bobby is going to marry Tori. But Tori is having doubts about becoming a wife and mother at 20. The author of Loose Screws (2002) offers up a sweet, idealized romance. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Silhouette (October 1, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0373218346
  • ISBN-13: 978-0373218349
  • Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,626,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a multi-published romance/women's fiction author for Harlequin/Silhouette and Red Dress Ink who loves to write about real people dealing with the drama (and humor) of everyday life. I've been a voracious reader since I was four, still manage to read a book or two a week despite having five sons and a full-time writing career.

My 'reviews' are more 'recommendations', since I don't post reviews about books that don't ring my chimes. I tend to be drawn to women's fiction and mainstream family drama most often, with some mysteries tossed in for balance. For a book to 'work' for me, I have to find the characters appealing and believeable; the prose must be compelling and well-crafted; and it doesn't hurt if there's a good dollop of humor somewhere along the line.

Fave authors include Jeanne Ray, Terry McMillan, Anne Tyler, Janet Evanovitch, Curtiss Ann Matlock, Marsha Moyers, Marion Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Crusie, and Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
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3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars fine contemporary romance, October 20, 2003
This review is from: Playing For Keeps (Mass Market Paperback)
In Albuquerque, thirty-two years old single mom of three preadolescent children Joanna Swan has had it with her childish ex-husband. He fails to pay his share of child support, doesn't always show up for the kids and when he does he is late, and now has impregnated his latest girlfriend. At the mall, Joanna's efforts to sell homemade dolls for collectors fail until her mother drags her into the toy store. Owner Dale McConnaughy, former Atlanta Braves superstar, offers her $300 a doll. Meanwhile her mom buys an outdoor play set for her grandchildren.

As Dale and Joanna start seeing each other, they begin to fall in love. However, she feels his carefree attitude is too much like her ex while he mistrusts women after a terrible childhood and the betrayal of his ex. Still with neither wanting anything permanent love forces both to reconsider if he can only trust her with his heart.

Fans of contemporary romance between two wounded protagonists will want to read Karen Templeton's fine PLAYING FOR KEEPS. The story line will delight sub-genre fans, as the lead duo is a nice pair who deserve happiness and can achieve this in the arms of the other. The problems suffered by one of the children add depth and serious parenting issues to the mix, but also takes away from the prime theme though it's intended to provide a dilemma to the romance. Still this is a solid tale that will provide pleasure to the audience.

Harriet Klausner

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A winning and warm story!, October 6, 2003
By 
This review is from: Playing For Keeps (Mass Market Paperback)
Joanna Swann's life is full of challenges; leaking roofs, three kids, an ex who is good hearted but about as helpful as a hole in the head, a meddlesome mother, and a dog with a paternity suit against him. Romance is not on her to do list, but nonetheless, she finds herself falling for ex ball player turned toystore owner, Dale McConnaghy.

To Joanna, Dale seems to be going through the Peter Pan syndrome, and he may be sexy as sin, but she does not need another child. Dale is not one to take no for an answer though, and with an assortment of unlikely allies, he manages to work past her defenses and into her heart. He was only looking for a fun affair, but what he finds is much more.

***** Dale is worth putting on the list of all time keeper heroes, and this book is one that also makes the keeper list. Real life is filled with romance, as you will see after reading it. Laughter and tears combined with feel good characters to tell a winning and warm story. *****

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4.0 out of 5 stars Longer contemp from this wonderful writer..., November 26, 2003
This review is from: Playing For Keeps (Mass Market Paperback)
A believable premise and endearing characters make PLAYING FOR KEEPS another winner for Karen Templeton. Filled with sexual tension and angst, Karen again writes a tale of ordinary people facing extraordinary odds at finding their happily-ever-after(s). I found the ex-husband's fiancee a tad annoying at times, but understood where she was "coming from". And, some of the scenes with the heroine's ex trying to fix her up were hysterical.

Karen's talent and skill at creating compelling characters, sparkling dialogue, and realistic scenes, makes PLAYING FOR KEEPS a must read for her legion of fans.

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