4 stars
I loved this one! Super fun read about a high school science teacher,Olive Dunn, who is thrown into planning hr high school reunion with her old biology lab partner/current Man of the Year and baseball player,

I loved how Olive Dunn was a strong female who everyone loved and cared abut teaching. Her career didn't take a back burner for any man. I love a good, strong frame lead character and this one did not disappoint.

this was my first Lauren Layne book, but won't be my last. This was about Carter, an injured baseball star who goes home to his hometown for his high school reunion. He ends up co chairing the event with Olive and the story is about them getting to know each other. I thought it was funny and liked that Olive was full of spunk. It was a nice story of two people getting to know each other before they just jump in bed. It showed growth an some introspection into what was missing and important in their lives.

Lauren Layne has also been one of my favorite authors. This is another story of rich man and hometown girl , although I found it to be deeper than the usual hometown romance Characters are well rounded and Layne goes in depth with their feelings and back stories. She is able to weave a tale that touches our hearts and remember those old school days. I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Carter is just swoony. Olive is nerdy and awesome. Together, they are perfection! Loved this book so much!

Yours to Keep is the second book in the Man of the Year series. This is the first book I have read by this author and I have fallen in love with the series! The book is fast-paced and an attention grabber. The characters were well developed and perfect for each other. I can’t wait for the next book to come out.
Carter was struggling to find himself after receiving an injury during a baseball game. He knew his time playing professional baseball was limited due to his age and injury. He was looking for a future and he found it when he went home for his ten-year class reunion. Olive was unique and full of sassiness. She loved living in Haven and teaching high school science. She is co-organizer with Caitlyn, her friend, for their class’s ten-year reunion. When Caitlyn can’t help organize the reunion due to her pregnancy and bed rest, she talks Carter her brother into helping Olive. As they work together their friendship and attraction towards each other grow, but can a professional baseball player and small-town science teacher have a future together?

I am a ride or die Lauren Layne fan. I am all in on pretty much anything she writes. Yours to Keep lived up to the standard I expect from her books. I loved Olive and her confidence and determination. I loved Carter. Their banter was just so fun and the return to Haven and it's small town feel was just right after the city vibe in Yours in Scandal. I am going to keep on reading everything Lauren puts out there and loving it! Perfect for readers who love rom coms, sports stories, strong women and love.

I have been a fan of Lauren Layne's since I first read the Avenue series. I love that her books take place in NYC. There is magic in that city and it shows through her writing. I have been impressed by her romance stories, but this has been my favorite by far! I am a sucker for a sports romance. It's one of my favorite tropes, and boy did Layne deliver.

Carter and Olive's chemistry was so great. I love that they were friends to lovers. Olive's wit along with Carter's charisma was just fantastic. The supporting characters were fantastic! I want to know more of their stories as well. I know that this is a mark for a good read, when I leave wanting more.

Thank you Netgalley, Montlake, and the author for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this story. All views and comments are my own.

OMG I was supposed to review this about a week ago, I had forgotten..oops Ok. So we have Carter who is a famous baseball player but due to an injury is at home recuperating and going a little crazy and now he has this time and is reflecting on his life is it all that he thought it would be. His twin sister gets him to come home to their ten year high school reunion but he reluctant until she mentions that his high school sweetheart is now divorced and that immediately changes his mind and wonders if she remembers the promise that they had made when they were 18 and about to start their lives. However when he gets there he gets reacquainted with Olive whom was in his class but they weren't friends they didn't even hang in the same circle and his thoughts on his promise has changed but in a moment of idiocy he reacts and now we wonder what he is going to do...grab it and Enjoy! I did

Yours to Keep was simply fun. A witty, banter-filled romance that I inhaled for its sweet love story and enjoyable characters. Layne's charming skill with characterization made for main characters who were irresistibly magnetic and effortless as they were, and that magic only doubled once they crossed paths with one another. I don't believe I've read a book as fast as I did this one and without checking the percentage until I was well into it.

I admired that Carter was written with such a humble soul beneath the weight of the athlete profession and what came with it. He was simply a man facing a crisis of identity and thinking returning to his hometown would ferret it out. And I loved that out of everyone who could've welcomed him home, Olive—the quirky and kind neighbor who was the quote-unquote nerd in high school—was the one who sweetly bulldozed her way in to his life, his home, and eventually his heart. Though I absolutely inhaled this story in a short time, their connection and fall from re-connected acquaintances to friends to more had the perfect pacing. The slow burn, the humor of learning each other, and then the sweetness of attraction were all so well done.

I can always count on a Lauren Layne novel to be consuming and have wonderful storytelling, but there was something ultra special about the magic on the pages of Yours to Keep . I'm loving the contradictory nature of opposites attracting in this series and this was just another fantastic book in this genre and this author. If you love romance, this book is for you.

well, i am officially swooning over Carter. Sports romances are my favorites and this was no different. I also liked the friends to lovers / slow burn aspect. I loved Olive's fun nature slowly breaking down Carter's tough exterior. I loved the small town gossip where everyone knew all of Carter and Olive's business. I loved Carter's sister helping olive realize her true feelings for Carter. I did not like part at the baseball game when Felicity came back but I knew it had to happen sometime. The grand gesture of the microscopes made me tear up a little bit. I mean, how could you not with what Carter wrote in the magazine! I am also a sucker for happily ever afters so thank you for this epilogue!

Oh how I love Lauren Layne! The first book in this series is probably my favorite of her books, which is saying a lot, so I went into this knowing it probably wouldn't enjoy it as much. I didn't, but it's still SO good. I love the trope of re-meeting someone from high school.

Yours to Keep is the second novel in Lauren Layne’s Man of the Year series. Readers will enjoy the development of the relationship between Carter and Olive as they reconnect. This novel is a well written, light hearted, fun romance that readers will devour. Yours to Keep by Lauren Layne has just the right mix of everything that makes up a fabulous contemporary romance.

Normally I'm not all that impressed by small town romances, but this one... It was not just good, it was AWESOME. And a very easy FIVE star rating, which is something I don't throw around very often.

Olive simply is to die for!
She's happy with her life as it is. Being a quirky science teacher at the local high school in the small town where she grew up, and far from your usual romance novel heroine. She is not easily impressed by much, not even her former science partner, and now a pro athlete celebrity. The interactions between her and Carter, were both fun and flirty, and the chemistry was just spot on. I already admitted to absolutely love Olive, but Carter was rather cute as well.

I adore these unexpected gems, that you start reading without any expectations, but ends up being absolutely fantastic.

I'm already looking forward to reading it again.

You know the “now kiss!” meme? Like when you’re reading a slow burn romance novel and you can’t wait for the MCs to finally get together? Yeah, there was none of that here, unfortunately. Quite disappointing since I really like Lauren Layne, but this book just didn’t work for me.

Yours to Keep is the story of Carter, an injured pro baseball player who returns to his hometown for a few weeks to recover, and Olive, the town’s high school science teacher. It plays out like a classic small town, sports romance, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But my main problem with this book is the lack of chemistry between Carter and Olive. The plot relies heavily on dialogue, and the author talked a lot in her notes about how fun the banter was, but in reality I felt nothing reading this book. It somehow felt very rushed and super slow at the same time. It took a while for Olive and Carter to get together, but I still felt like their friendship was rushed and didn’t make any sense.

All in all, not my favorite Lauren Layne. It wasn’t necessarily bad, it was just meh.

Thank you to Netgalley and Montlake Romance for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 I love Olive stars!

I have seriously hit the jackpot in contemporary romances lately. Honestly, I could not put this one down.

I was a little wary when I read the blurb with Carter going back home after an injury with the intent to see how his old flame was fairing and maybe see about starting something back up- I loathe second chance romances, too much water and bridges are out and all that- BUT, I so, so, so LOVED Olive. She was fun and quirky, but not in that oh I'm so weird, I'm cute, hipster way. But just, she was different, and she owned that shit. LOVED Her!

I absolutely loved almost all of Carter and Olive's interactions but it was usually because Olive just stole the show! They were fun and flirty, and the chemistry was just on point! So much fun!

I haven't had a chance to read Yours in Scandal yet but it is totally on my TBR list. I absolutely recommend for anyone looking for a fun, flirty contemporary romance that leaves you all sun-shiny smiles at the end.

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Yours to Keep by Lauren Layne a five-star read that you will want to keep. This is number two in the Man of the Year series and they can easily be read as stand-alone. Carter Ramsey is a man at a cross roads of his life, an injury that could mean he wont ever be able to do the thing that has been his whole life, how Lauren Layne brings his story, his passion and his struggle to life is beautiful it shows you this deeper side of him and makes him a beautiful soul that if done by anyone else would likely be a lesser man, one whose over confidence wouldn’t have been able to be backed up and would have come across as rude instead of a superstar with a broken wing. Olive Dunn was just simply amazing, she was a character that I just adored she has this je ne sais quoi about her, she is the perfect curveball, and this is the perfect story. Who will be the next Man of the Year?

Your to Keep is a fantastic contemporary romance by Lauren Layne. Ms. Layne has provided readers with a well-written book populated with a stellar cast of characters. Kudos to Ms. Layne for dialog and humor she wove through this story. Lauren Layne books always provide reading pleasure, interesting plot lines, and defined characters, which definitely has me coming back for more time and time again. Go grab your copy and find out for yourself. Happy reading everyone!

I’ve read almost all of Lauren Layne’s books and this is one of the best! Relatable heroine, like able hero and great banter throughout. The book is sweet , sexy and an overall feel-good story that I would definitely recommend.

Carter is a pro baseball player that is on the injured reserve due to a shoulder injury. He decides to venture home after 10 years for his high school reunion. It doesn't hurt that his high school girlfriend is coming back either. What he doesn't count on is renting a house next to his high school lab partner, Olive. A girl he never gave a second glance at in high school, is very intriguing now.
As soon as I was introduced to Olive, I knew I would love her. She is a girl that everyone loves but she is ultimately alone. She has so many friends but no one to come home to. When she decides she wants to get to know her new neighbor that is there for a short time, she doesn't count on falling for him.
Carter is also looking for something more out of life than baseball. If the injury has taught him anything it is that he doesn't know who he is without the sport.
Meeting Olive again has introduced him to a life that he never knew he could have, but he is going back to NY at the end of the summer and she is staying in Haven. How will this survive? Will she be another woman Carter leaves behind?
I love how Lauren gives me a great love story with just the right amount of drama. Thank you to Netgalley and Montlake Romance for allowing me to read this book early!

This book was just what I was looking for but never new I needed! With everything going on in the world for me at least it is hard to get excited about anything. I miss my children, I miss my grandchild, and I just wish that normal would come back. I saw that Lauren Layne's second book was out in this series so I thought sure why not request it from Net Galley because I did really enjoy the first book. I have to be honest this second book blew the first book away. Not to say the first book in this series is not good but this book was beyond amazing. I am in love with Carter and Olive. They are my new favorite super couple. Carter is a famous baseball player and has been injured. He is having those thoughts as to what comes next in my life if I can't go back to baseball. Olive loves life and she always try to see the positive in everything. What they both do not realize is that what they both need is every other. I loved the story, the town, all the characters. I basically just loved everything about this book. Lauren Layne did an incredible job of writing such real characters that they reached out and touched a place inside of me. The dialogue between the characters was so funny. This book had me laughing, and at times it had me crying. There was just something about Olive and Carter that made this book special. This for sure is definitely going to become my go to book to reread when life gets tough. This book helped me realize that no matter what happens in your life there is always going to be joy and happiness waiting on the other side. Thanks Net Galley. I voluntarily reviewed this book in exchange for an honest review.