REVIEW: Well Played by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward

In Well Played by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward, Presley knows moving back to her hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina, with her seven-year-old son Alex is a risk. But what better place for her son to grow up than the beautiful town she’s always loved? Presley made up her mind to take the leap when Alex inherited half of his great-grandfather’s Inn. She soon learns that the other half was left to Levi Miller, Alex’s uncle who also happens to be the quarterback for the Denver Broncos. The fact that neither Levi nor his younger brother Tanner–Presley’s ex-fiance and Alex’s dad–has spent any time with the seven-year-old grates on her nerves. But as she and Levi navigate the tricky situation they’ve been left in, Presley is shocked at some of the info she finds out. Almost as shocked as the feelings she finds herself having for the frustrating, handsome football star.

“Calm down! You’re telling me to *calm down*?!”
The six-foot-three man of muscle actually looked a little scared. “Just…take a few deep breaths. Everything is going to be fine.”
I growled at him. *Literally growled*.
Levi’s eyes widened.

Levi’s plans were to make the Inn as attractive to sellers as possible and find someone willing to take the historic building off his hands before he reports back to Denver for the upcoming season. He never dreamed he’d get rooked into fixing the Inn up to turn it into a B & B. Or that Levi would fall head over heels for his brother’s ex-fiance. But Presley turns out to be everything he never knew he wanted in a woman. And his nephew Alex is the absolute best. It leaves Levi longing for things he always said he’d never want: love, stability, and a family of his own. But he’s not sure chasing after his dreams with Presley is the right thing to do. It seems no matter what decision he makes, Levi will end up hurting someone he loves.

‘How do you choose between the woman of your dreams and your brother? Is blood automatically thicker than water? I honestly didn’t have the answer, but losing either of them didn’t seem like an option.’

Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward upped their game with Well Played, which was a sizzling forbidden romance that had all the fun bantering, angst, and complex relationships readers adore from this stellar author duo.

“We’d have to fight for it. But you make me want to do more than fight for us. You make me want to go to war, Presley.”

Keeland and Ward never cease to entertain me with their novels. And they always make me fall for their characters within the first chapter or two–which is exactly what happened here with compassionate supermom Presley and gold-hearted football quarterback Levi. From their first comically memorable scene together where Levi ended up with several stitches in his head to the bickering the couple did about the future of the Inn to the sexy moments after they gave in to their desires, this was a story that had many layers. And oh my but didn’t it get complicated…

I will warn readers that there was a fairly high level of angst. So if that isn’t your thing, it might be a bit of a stretch to get through some parts of it. But given that Levi was Presley’s ex-fiance’s older brother and that Levi inherited half of the Inn–with Presley’s seven-year-old son Alex getting the other half–I expected the angst. It made sense. Ward and Keeland added in a touch more complexity (okay…a whole lot more, lol) with Presley’s ex-fiance showing up just as she and Levi were finally settling into their new feelings. Their families of course butting in and offering advice didn’t help. But I think it paved the way to bring Levi, Presley, and Tanner’s true intentions–and true personalities–to light.

Well Played was an irresistible page-turner that showed how messy life can get when you try to follow your heart. It was also charming and heartfelt, and had a simply glorious ending that proved love is worth the risk.

QOTD: If you inherited a fixer-upper Inn with another family member, would you restore it to its former glory or would you sell it?

Book Info:

Publication: Published October 25th 2021 | C. Scott Publishing |

From New York Times Bestselling authors Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward comes a new, sexy standalone novel.

It all started with a bet.
When my young son inherited half of his great grandfather’s historic inn, I decided to move us both to the place where I grew up.
Notice I said half of the Inn. The other half now belonged to Levi Miller, the famous quarterback who had other ideas about what we should do with the property.
We won’t mention that I accidentally injured him during our first meeting, causing him to get eight stitches.
You could say we got off on the wrong foot.
We bickered a lot as we both moved into the property while we figured things out.
He wanted to unload the rundown place which, admittedly, needed a lot of work.
I wanted to restore The Palm Inn to its original beauty and re-open it as a bed and breakfast.
We couldn’t agree on anything. So Levi made me a proposal. One he thought I would surely lose. If I could sell out the place by the time he had to leave for training at the end of summer, he would back off and let me run it.
But in the weeks that followed, we got more than we bargained for while we were living under the same roof.
Levi and I got closer, and before I knew it, my nightly fantasies about the brawny Adonis became a reality. Not to mention, he was so great with my son.
We were in over our heads in more ways than one.
Because not only was he the last man on Earth I should be falling for because of our deal, but Levi was also my ex’s older brother.
And now the inn was the least of my problems.