YOURS TO KEEP is the second book in Lauren Layne’s “Man of the Year” series. This is a good book for readers who like when the hero and heroine have some prior history together. Although, in this case, the history isn’t steamy. Pro baseball player Carter Ramsey and science teacher Olive Dunn went to school together. Now their ten-year high school reunion is coming up, Carter is headed back home to recover from an injury, and they have an opportunity to get reacquainted. This should appeal to people who enjoy romcoms and Hallmark movies.

When Carter and Olive meet again for the first time, there is no insta-fiery attraction. The pair take over duties planning their reunion from his sister, and Carter is also a star attraction. Olive is like one of those brainy, quirky Amanda Quick historical heroines. She seems like she has oodles of smarts, personality, and confidence, but she has realistic flaws just like everyone. Though Carter is a star athlete and celebrity, he is generally humble and down-to-earth. When a recent accolade and article profile him but say nothing about who he is apart from his career, it hits him hard. With Olive for a temporary neighbor, reunion co-chair, and one-woman welcoming committee, his mood is lifted, and she helps him center himself. A tentative friendship develops between these two characters long before any physical intimacy, so that the attraction sneaks up on the pair. YOURS TO KEEP is told from alternating perspectives – which is fab since these two are slow to reveal their burgeoning feelings. I like how Carter appreciates Olive’s inner qualities rather than be instantly attracted to her physical qualities. Conversely, I like how Carter’s personality slowly grows on Olive, until she is caught by surprise by how deeply she has come to care for Carter.

YOURS TO KEEP is fun romcom about two people who grow and discover love when least expected. Lauren Layne includes a healthy dose of humor to break up the drama. I thought the secondary plot involving Carter’s high school girlfriend reappearing would be a bigger issue than it ended up being, but I’m glad for how it played out. Olive is a quirky heroine, but I love her strength and that she doesn’t wallow in self-pity or give up easily. I don’t know if Lauren Layne has already written about how Carter’s sister and her husband got together, but I would be interested in reading that story. Having never read the first book in this series, reading YOURS TO KEEP has me interested in hunting it down and reading about that couple. I look forward to reading more love stories by Lauren Layne.

An ARC was provided through Net Galley but this review is based on my own opinion.


I am not sure what it was about this particular book from Layne but it didn't click for me. I can't say that I cared for either of the main characters. There is supposed to be one more book in this series and I am hopeful about that one.

When pro baseball player Carter Ramsey suffers an injury that lands him on the injured list, it obviously brings up questions about his future in the game he loves. With nothing to do but wait the 4-6 weeks until the cast comes off, Carter heads back to his hometown of Haven to heal and be around his family. Coinciding with his ten year high school reunion, Carter runs into his former classmate Olive Dunn.

Olive has always lived in Haven. She now teaches biology at the high school and loves the small town life she's built for herself. She's independent, has a job she loves, and many friends within the community. What she hasn't had in quite awhile is that someone special in her life. But all that gets thrown to the wayside as Olive gets tangled up in planning the reunion. When Carter steps in to help, they form a quick, quirky friendship with one another that Olive thinks may lead to something more. That is, until she learns that what drew Carter back to Haven is not just his injury, but the opportunity to reconnect with his ex who will be in town for the reunion too.

Yours to Keep was just one of those books that instantly clicked for me. The moment I started reading I was invested and interested and basically wanted to live in this book.

I think it was the idea of this perfect setup of a second chance romance with Carter and his ex meeting back up in the small town they grew up in, and both left separately, and learning their connection was still there after all these years.

Then BAM! Lauren Layne pulls a fast one on us and turns it into an opposites attract-type romance and I think that turn just hooked me from the start. I actually was a little thrown when the second chapter began with Olive's point of view. I had to go back and check that I had all the names correct. And I did. Now, looking at the blurb I realize that it makes things perfectly clear about the premise. But I would like to make clear that this is Lauren Layne therefore I know I need not read the blurb of her books to know I want to, I'm going to, read whatever she writes :) So I kinda didn't look at the blurb first. But honestly probably turned out best for me because, as I mentioned, I was hooked.

I loved the whole idea of an unforeseen event changing the trajectory of your life. Really making you examine who you are when your dreams could be on the verge of crashing down, which is where Carter spends the majority of the book. He found success early and greatly in the game. When his injury happens he realizes that he's not left much room in his life for anything other than baseball in the last ten years. He really begins to reassess what is important and what he wants out of his future.

Olive helps Carter begin to see what life could be like if it turns out he is forced to leave baseball behind. Olive is just one of those characters that you immediately love. Who is all the good parts of all of your real-life friends. I love the fact that she is unapologetically herself. She knows she is quirky and likes to lean into the town gossip, but she's just a genuinely kind person who has maybe always wanted a little more out of her life, but will be happy regardless.

The back and forth banter and exchanges between Carter and Olive are hilarious. I think Lauren Layne does a great job establishing their friendship and the ease in which they interact in such a short amount of time and then seamlessly turns it into something more. The natural progression of their relationship with one another could go nowhere else really. I just honestly wish there was a bit more exploration in the context of Carter and his ex. I thought it was such a wonderful setup but didn't really get a great follow through. But that's really the only thing in what I thought was an otherwise wonderful read.

This book can be completely read as a standalone so don't worry if you missed the first book. There's mention of characters from the first book but they don't overlap. Longtime Lauren Layne readers/fans may recognize a couple of other secondary characters from Haven which was a nice little surprise.

If you're looking for a feel-good, fun romantic read, Yours to Keep perfectly hits the spot.

Carter & Olive I loved loved loved your story and the journey you went on. My favorite Lauren Layne book to date!

I really hope there is more in this series!!!

I voluntarily reviewed this book.

Lauren Layne is a wonderfully talented author and while not every book by her hits the spot 100% I keep returning to her stories because many times they are very enjoyable.
In YOURS TO KEEP we meet Carter, an MBL star who while mending from an injury takes up the opportunity to go to his smalltown home to reconnect with his high school sweetheart. Instead he moves in next to his former lab partner, nerdy, busybody Olive.

I loved Olive, she was so self aware and a little quirky, confident, she knew who she was and what she wanted and knew how to express it. Something Carter admired. He has come home to find out who he is beyond the baseball player with the plethora of top model ex-girlfriends.

Olive is a typical smalltown girl, sticking her nose in everybody's business, at first, hilariously, to Carter's dismay. But he soon found himself helplessly attracted to Olive and I really loved the chemistry between them.

“What I am is a very smart woman who’s figured out how to have the life I want with the man I want. And that man is you.”

Carter was an all around good guy and Olive grounded him. I loved how down-to-earth he was. His love for Olive snuck up on him and it was quite funny how confused he was at first. Their relationship was based on friendship and came so naturally.

“It’s so annoying,” she said, folding the newspaper closed.
“What is?” Carter took a sip of coffee. It was excellent.
“All your hidden depths.”
“Starting to fall for me now, are you?”
“Let’s not get crazy.”

YOURS TO KEEP is a pretty low-drama, lighthearted quick read that made me smile and reminded me why I love Lauren Layne's books. Olive and Carter made my heart sing and I'll be grabbing the next one for sure!

Favorite school subject: Science. Because it’s damned important. And because I met a girl there my senior year. I think I love her.

Carter Ramsey is a pro baseball player and is now on the injured list with a broken arm and hurt shoulder. He is talked into going home for his high schools’ ten-year reunion. When he arrives and begins to move into the house he has rented, his neighbor turns out to be his former lab partner from high school Olive Dunn. She really makes this book for me. She is now a high school science teacher.
Olive begins to take over Carter’s life and he really does not realize it even after he is signing the paperwork for the red truck that he is buying that she picked out. Or when he is chosen to help her with the reunion. As they begin to work together and you see the bond between them you are hoping for a relationship between them. Then his old high school girlfriend shows up and spoils everything. It is in his court if he wants to get Olive back. The rest of the book and the ending is really good and very much worth the read.

A sweet small town romance that follows pro baseball player Carter Ramsey as he heads home again to help his sister with their ten year high school reunion. The time off may not be what he wants, but injured is injured and he may as well the time in his home town. If he's lucky his high school girlfriend may just make it home too. Carter though was not prepared for the woman next door to his rental property, his former lab partner Olive. He also was not prepared for how much he would enjoy her quirky personality and her uniqueness. Things may be heating up, but not with who he thought they would! A great read full of humor and heat, tension and that eternal push pull we readers live for!

YOURS TO KEEP is the second instalment in Lauren Layne’s contemporary, adult MAN OF THE YEAR romance series. This is professional baseball player Carter Ramsey, and high school biology teacher Olive Dunn’s story line. YOURS TO KEEP can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Olive and Carter) YOURS TO KEEP follows in the aftermath of a possible career ending injury for our hero, and Citizen Magazine’s Man of the Year Carter Ramsey. Returning to his home town of Haven for his ten year high school reunion, Carter finds that his pregnant sister has volunteered his time on the reunion committee where he will me his former lab partner Olive Dunn. Olive is now the high school biology teacher, having never moved from their home town but Olive never expected to fall for Carter, the boy who had fallen in love with someone else. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Carter and Olive, and the potential fall-out as Carter’s old flame returns looking for a second chances, and Carter’s time in Haven, comes to a close.

Carter Ramsey struggled in the aftermath of an injury with the potential to end his career but Carter had a couple of secrets including the real reason he had returned to his home town of Haven. Working with Olive meant getting a change to know the outspoken, animated and ‘perfect’ woman but Carter never expected to fall in love. Olive Dunn was never the prom queen or high school cheerleader, in fact, Olive was the high school nerd. Knowing that Carter was only in town for a few short weeks, Olive finds herself falling for a man who was about to break her heart.

The relationship between Olive and Carter is a friends to lovers relationship with an end date that will come sooner rather than later. Carter Ramsey’s career meant time in Haven had come to an end, as had his relationship with the woman with whom he had fallen in love. The back and forth banter between Carter and Olive is quirky and delightful. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Olive’s friend Kelly Blakely; Carter’s sister Caitlyn and her husband AJ; Carter’s high school friend Jacob Jakey Kutcher and his wife Becky; Carter’s parents Warren and Tracy, and his ex Felicity George.

YOURS TO KEEP is a sweet and sexy story line; a fast paced tale of attraction and love, friendship and happily ever afters. The premise is engaging; the romance is seductive; the characters are sassy and fun.



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Lauren Layne never disappoints. I adored this sweet, funny story. I would describe it as Evvie Drake Starts Over meets Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating. It was a quick read that I could not put down! Loved it!

Thank you to
Amazon Publishing for the free review copy.
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3.25 stars. I really love LL's writing style. This seemed a little wackier than her sly, dry humor
Olive is kinda out there. She grew on me, but other times, she was a bit much.
I'm not really a fan of looking back at high school- like not at all. Carter doesn't have a choice since Olive was his science lab partner & is currently a teacher at their high school.
Carter's family is really funny when they're together. His mom knows what's going on at all times.
"I'm just sayin'" is her favorite saying.
I read and listened to this. I think that the ebook is a little easier to connect with. This is a slow burn.
I do like it when the MCs are friends first.
I would like to read the next book in this series.

Having now read seven books by this author, she seems to keep me coming back for more. Despite the lurking dark cloud of past high school sweetheart drama threatening to reign down on this main couple’s slow burn, budding relationship, I still managed to weather the storm by battening down the hatches on my avid romantic at heart heart. Yeah, I don’t do other people drama, if I can avoid it, folks. However, when it comes to Lauren Layne, I just can’t seem to help myself. I have to put my heart out there, because I know true love will ultimately prevail. It certainly helped there were no passionate scenes, chemistry, or steam at all involving this third wheel.

Yeah, a way to get me hooked is usually not to bait the tale with an old flame ex-girlfriend that rekindles a “what if” spark in the hero’s mind and heart. Good thing Carter and Olive, the main couple, had plenty of time to reconnect first ten years after high school with great back and forth banter so they could get to know each other better before that other person and brief storm blew into town. Carter and Olive’s sizzling chemistry and overall natural comradery made them both feel like home when they were together.

So, in summary, this book may be yours to keep in mind if you don’t mind some past and present issues still needing to be hammered out. The main couple were both slow to come to their senses and completely trust in the game of love. Fortunately, they do step up to the plate and go to bat for their own endgame of a HEA.

Title: Yours to Keep, Series: Man of the Year (Book 2), Author: Lauren Layne, Pages: 224, pub date: 9/1/20, stand-alone, pro baseball hero, sassy, sweet science teacher heroine, lurking OW drama backdrop, relationship angst, great back and forth banter, no smex scenes with other people, slow burn, met in high school 10 years ago.

Book 1 - Yours in Scandal
Book 2 - Yours to Keep

(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not given any payment or compensation for this review. There is no affiliation or relationship between this reviewer and the author/publisher/NetGalley.)

I loved this book! This was a great second book in Lauren Layne's Man of the Year series. Carter and Olive were the perfect main characters. I love small town romances and this one was super well done. I also liked the second chance aspect of it - I love when characters have some sort of history. I can't wait till the next book in the series!

4 1/2 Stars for this sweet funny romance!

I just loved Olive ... she was so funny and had no illusions about who she really is. And Carter ... well who wouldn't love a hunky baseball player ... no really WHO? The banter between Olive and Carter had me laughing-out-loud and sometime I would just swoon. I loved how she would always knock him down a peg or two and then give him a sweet smile. When he was trying to teach her how to play baseball ... it still makes me giggle! And the steamy scenes were ... well STEAMY!

Carter is a pro baseball player and in the 10 years since he left high school, he hasn't once thought about Olive, his science lab partner their senior year. Carter has had his choice of women, but prefers one-night stands. When he breaks his arm, his sister talks him into coming home to recuperate. He only agrees because his high school sweetheart, Felicity, is also coming back for the 10-year reunion. He'd like to explore the idea of them together again because maybe there's still something between them. His sister is laid up so she cons him into taking her place on the Reunion Committee to help Olive. The more time Carter and Olive spend together, the more he looks at her and wonders why he didn't see her in high school.

Olive beats to the sound of her drum. She doesn't care what people think about her because she knows she's a nerd and tall and strong ... not like most women she knows who are petite and pretty. She's always had a crush on Carter, but she knows he is way out of her league. They can be friends though ... right? Her heart can't get broken if they're just friends ... right?

This is a great read that shouldn't be missed ... believe me this is read that will warm your heart!

I received an early copy courtesy of Montlake Romance through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Hometown Homerun!

Injured baseball superstar and the upcoming Man of the Year, Carter comes home to heal and attend his 10 year reunion. Passionate about biology and her hometown, Olive is focused on planning a wonderful reunion and living her life on her terms. When they end up Co-chairing the reunion their chemistry is a grand slam.

This might be the funniest LL book I’ve read. The humor and banter of Olive and Carter leapt off the page and set the stage for their explosive sexual chemistry! I also adored the supporting cast, getting to catch up with Kelly and Mark from An Ex For Christmas was so fun!

As always I’m anxiously waiting for the next LL book!

I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.

Ok. This book is adorable.

Carter Ramsey’s an injured MLB player who’s about to be named Man of the Year. When he succumbs to peer pressure from his twin & travels to his hometown of Haven for their high school reunion, he never imagines that the first person he’ll run into at his temporary lodgings will be his former lab partner, Olive Dunn.

Everyone loves Olive. She’s capable, confident, & never met a problem she didn’t cut off at the knees. She’s also a whirlwind of energy & when she sweeps into Carter’s life—literally repeatedly barging into his home or imposing on his plans—he’s not prepared to like her. A lot.

Feelings happen, but Carter’s got a secret he’s only confided in Olive. He’s also home to *possibly* reunite with the other half of his golden high school coupledom (don’t worry about a real love triangle here!)

Yours to Keep is a consistently funny (I know, I know, does that even mean anything in reviews anymore?!), steamy read with a lot of heart. Both leads are genuinely nice people & I always love that when happens. Especially when one nice person is really drawn to another nice person & then they kiss.

Layne offers a friends to lovers story that I think will appeal to a lot of people—a pro baseball player + a high school biology teacher who seems confident in most ways, insecure in others—& she writes the ending of the book (the chapter before the epilogue) in a way that feels hopeful for their relationship but that doesn’t make either one of them entirely sacrifice their personal aspirations. & the Epilogue is 🏻.

There are some aspects of the romance that I think could have been expanded on throughout the book—like the storyline with his former high school girlfriend, which feels a little flimsy for me. Also the ending, which doesn’t seem to have as much introspection or reflection as I’d like.

But I definitely recommend Lauren Layne’s Yours to Keep for a lighthearted small town romance that kept me smiling.

4⭐️. Yours to Keep is available now. Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Carter suffers an injury that leaves him rushing home to recover. While he is there, he takes the time to attempt to get back with an old flame that will be attending the high school reunion. Instead, he keeps coming across another classmate, Olive, who is not the woman he thought she was.

This one ticked my boxes but didn’t necessarily wow me. Now I love a good small town romance to keep me feeling all cozy but the cozy feeling didn’t really stay. I kept wondering what happened to the old fling. The idea of that fizzled immediately as he encountered Olive.

I like the individual characters but they didn’t quite work well together in my opinion. Carter is the typical handsome jock who is stuck on himself and his sports. Now that he has to slow down he is a lot more reflective and kind. He likes being around Olive. They have always had an easy going friendship so when things spark up between them, it is a no brainer.

I connected more with Olive because she is this tough woman who isn’t shy or afraid to be exactly who she is. I liked how she is straight shooter and didn’t want to give Carter any play despite him being this big time athlete. In fact, I thought she could have come around faster than she did but I get the witty banter and the constant flirting.

The slow burn got to be a bit too slow which made the book drag. After a while the friendship needed to be kicked up a notch and the romance needed to seep into the storyline more. I think an addition of spice could have made this more interesting for me.

Overall, I’m still invested in this series. I recommend this book to fans for a quick, easy and light-hearted contemporary romance.

~ Samantha

A fab read, the story of Carter and Olive. He is her new next door neighbour while back in town to recover from an injury. As they spend more time together it is clear they are falling for each other, but when there is a misunderstanding will she give him a second chance?
Looking forward to the next book in this series.

4.5 'Green glitter' Stars!
ARC provided by the the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I devoured this book! Here is the thing: I started it late already and then, for the life of me, I could not stop reading. The back and forth banter between Carter and Olive had me completely ADDICTED. I literally had to stop myself at around 70% because it was SO late. I finished it as soon as I got up and now I can assure again that Lauren Layne is killing it with this series! I loved the first one and I loved this one. This is the LL style that got me hooked on her stories.

Yours to Keep is the second installment in her Man of the Year series and this time it focuses on Carter Ramsey, an injured pro baseball star that goes back to his hometown while recovering and reconnects with his former high school science partner now also neighbor. Olive Dunn happens to be one of Carter’s sister best friends and Cat forces them to spend time together to organize the ten-year class reunion. Friendship begins, sexual tension and sparks engage and a love story neither expected flourishes.

He had just been yanked back into small-town life by an admittedly strange source, and... he didn’t hate it.

I love Lauren Layne’s books. I LOVE THEM. You probably know that by now since I’ve read the majority of them. Yours to Keep is one good example of why I love Lauren’s creations. A drama-free, mid-steam contemporary romance filled with humor, friendship, sexual tension and a beautiful connection. That’s exactly what I got with the always-amazing LL touch. I fell in love with these characters from the start, especially Carter and Olive, of course.

He wanted his dumpy, impersonal rental home, the warmth of Cedar & Salt or his mother’s kitchen. He wanted the stupid red truck he’d become rather attached to. He wanted the noisy high school biology teacher he’d become very attached to.

Carter is just all around good guy who loves baseball, loves his family and now his new found friendship/relationship with Olive. And Olive probably is one of my favorite heroines from Lauren. She is nerdy, loving, chatty and confident. I loved her personality and how it developed. I loved her chemistry with Carter, the banter, the sexual tension, the sexy scenes and the emotions around this couple. There was little to no drama (just a bit with Carter’s ex) and I am always a fan of that! Olive and Carter’s relationship was just beautiful to read and I loved every second.

“What I am is a very smart woman who’s figured out how to have the life I want with the man I want. And that man is you.”

Therefore, I am rating Yours to Keep with 4.5 STARS because this friends-to-lovers romance hooked me from start to finish. I loved Carter and Olive together and how their journey to love developed. I loved their unique friendship and their passionate relationship. This series just reminds me why I love Lauren Layne’s writing so much and I cannot wait to read the third and last installment which I think is about a character we already met in another series. So exciting!

Following a potential career ending injury, Carter Ramsey is facing not only the possibility of never playing baseball again, but the fact that he is Citizen magazine’s newest Man of the Year, without nothing to really show for it. So, after some family coercion, Carter decides that a trip back home may be just the kind of distraction he needs...

Olive Dunn may just be a science teacher in the same high school she once attended, but she loves her life in small town Haven. And when the town's biggest celebrity returns for their 10 year high school reunion, Olive might just be the one person who can open his eyes to what he has been missing living all of his years in New York City...

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Yours to Keep was an immensely fun and unmistakably delightful read, filled with great laughs and a one-of-a-kind slow burn romance! Olive and Carter forge an unlikely friendship as former science lab partners and current (very temporary) next door neighbors. But when sparks fly between the famous baseball star and the high school science teacher, they will have to face the reality that a relationship between them would be doomed before it even begins...

Olive possessed an effervescent personality that shined and sparkled, and set her apart from every woman Carter had ever met. I loved just how comfortable she was in her own skin, and how she embraced her one of a kind outlook on life. Olive truly adored her hometown and teaching position at Haven High, and she thrives in her simple and otherwise quiet life.

Carter may be facing a crossroads in his career, but while his life is in limbo, he decides to return to the place he never visits quite often enough, and his family along with it. With his pregnant sister, their high school reunion coming up, and an ex-girlfriend coming to town, Carter's self-indulgent feelings of inadequacy have no chance to rule his life while he waits to heal from his injury. But it may just be Carter's new next door neighbor who will truly pull him out of his absence-of-baseball funk...

This book was rom-com goodness in every page! Olive and Carter's relationship was entertaining, ultra sexy and so much fun to read. I loved the town of Haven, and all of the fantastic characters which supported this charming plot. Yours to Keep was a book that I will always "keep" on my must read list...

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest and unbiased review.

Carter is the hometown hero who has made it big in major league baseball. Unfortunately he has an injury that causes him to miss some of his season. He decides to come to home (rumor has it that his HS ex-girlfriend is newly single and will be in town). He happens to rent a house next door to Olive Dunn, his former Chemistry lab partner.

Here's what I loved about this book:
1. Olive- I loved Olive. She has a lot of personality and was unashamedly herself. There are some insecurities, but they don't overshadow how great she is. I want to be friends with Olive.
2. Olive's connection to the community- I love that she's a teacher and so connected to her community.
3. Carter's ability to reflect on his current situation was really nice.

There really wasn't anything I would like to be different about this story. It was a quick, fun contemporary romance with the perfect amount of relationship angst and steam for me (not zero, but not a lot).

Thanks to Montlake Romance and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.