REVIEW: Playing with Forever by Rebecca Jenshak

Playing with Forever by Rebecca Jenshak: She’s sunshine with a bucket list. He’s serious, guarded, and allergic to fun.. And this might be the one game neither of them can control.

Lacey Kerr has her life mapped out. Head cheerleader. Straight-A student. Student council VP. Senior year bucket list ready to go.
Vaughn Collins? Frost Lake High’s broody soccer captain who is very much not on her approved plans list. But when his grades threaten his place on the team, he needs help — and somehow Lacey is the only one who can save him academically. What starts as reluctant study sessions slowly turns into crossed-off bucket list moments, unexpected laughs, and chemistry neither of them planned for.

There’s something about a sunshine heroine and a broody athlete that just works — and PLAYING WITH FOREVER leans all the way into that dynamic in the best way. The tension between Lacey and Vaughn was very high school in the best way — intense, emotional, full of “this could change everything.” And the slow shift from reluctant tolerance to real feelings? So satisfying.

Tropes

• Sunshine x grumpy
• Tutor / tutoring sessions
• Ex’s best friend
• Jock romance
• Opposites attract
• Slow-burn YA tension

Themes

• Academic pressure
• Personal growth
• Emotional maturity
• Identity beyond labels
• enior year transitions

PLAYING WITH FOREVER by Rebecca Jenshak captures that senior-year magic where everything feels temporary and permanent all at once. Readers who love YA sports romance, soft emotional development, slow-burn high school tension, and characters figuring out who they are before graduation hits.

QOTD: Do you love sunshine x grumpy in YA… or are you here for friends-to-lovers instead?

Book Info:

Publication: January 20, 2026 | Bloom Books | Frost Lake High #2 | Reading age: 16 – 18 years

Tutoring the captain of Frost Lake High’s soccer team isn’t on her bucket list. And neither is falling for him.

Seventeen-year-old Lacey Kerr is a lot of things: head cheerleader, an A+ student, vice president of student council, a loyal friend, and beloved by her classmates.

What she isn’t is a fan of star soccer player Vaughn Collins.

And he knows it.

Unfortunately for him, he needs her.

With his grades on the line, he’ll do anything to turn it around and keep his spot on the soccer team. Even if it means winning over his ex-girlfriend’s best friend and convincing her to tutor him.

They’re different. She’s sunshine and he’s…not. She has a bucket list of fun things to do before high school is over and he’s allergic to fun.

But as they spend more time together, studying and crossing things off Lacey’s list, they realize they’re more alike than either of them wants to admit.

She doesn’t want to fall for him, and he doesn’t want to fall for anyone. They’re both good at playing the game, but maybe this time it could be forever.