This was a good story of starting over, self discovery , with a bit fun and friendship. Maggie and Ben decide to rebuild their lives in Starr's Falls. Zach enters their lives and the relationship has lots of ups and downs.
Overall, I enjoyed the story, love the characters and the small town. I did enjoy Book 1 little more, but would recommend to anyone looking for a quick read.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Three and a half stars.

Maggie is a widow, she and her son have decided to move to Starr's Fall and open a Board Games café, which is far cry from their consumeristic, McMansion, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses lifestyle encouraged by her late husband's high-flying job. Her son is an introvert, happier playing online games than participating in team sports, which led to him being bullied at his last (private) school and they have agreed that he will be home-schooled for the foreseeable future.

Zach has a reputation as the town lothario, having dated every woman under forty within a 20 mile radius (allegedly). He and his sister inherited the family store after their parents retired to Florida but he is finding it an uphill battle to get his sister to agree to any changes to make the store more profitable. Overall, he feels firmly pigeon-holed by all and sundry and no-one can allow him to change. Sure, he was an entitled jerk of a jock in high school but he also gave up his college plans to nurse his mother when she got cancer.

Maggie doesn't have the bandwidth for romance, especially not with a guy ten years younger who looks like a male model, especially when her new-found friends tell her he's a player. But Zach is a good friend to her son, confessing that he too plays online games (in fact the same one) and they start to fall in love.

I enjoyed this. I thought the backstory with Maggie's son was obvious (but I won't spoiler it in case others don't) and the tension/disagreement between Maggie and Zach felt a bit manufactured, I think if Maggie took a step back she would have realised that it felt wrong.

Overall, however, another sweet small town romance.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

When Maggie Parker’s life comes crashing down upon the death of her husband, she is left devastated, filled with guilt and wondering how she and her son Ben are going to get through the grief and begin again. Ben has been badly bullied at school and is now home schooled.
On a miserable Thanksgiving they make the decision to return to Starr’s Fall, a place they both have happy memories off, maybe to begin again. A car trip to the little town sees them make a life changing decision; to lease one of the many empty shops long the main street and open up a gaming Café; gaming being a passion of Bens’.
The move is on and it is the bleak month of January when they pull up outside what is to be their new home and business. Ben is morose, but willing to help and once the removal van has departed they set about beginning the next chapter in their life.
As the day’s pass Zack Miller comes into their life, offering to help out with shelving and anything else that may need to be done. He is far to handsome and has a reputation of a player with the ladies. He and Ben bond over an online Game RainQuest which they both play.
Zack and Maggie also begin to appreciate each other, a soft and gentle friendship forming which seems to be leading down a road Maggie is unsure of wanting to travel. Zack is far younger than she is but believes he has found the perfect woman he has been looking for since high school, Maggie.
Kate Hewitt has carried on the special magic to heal and find love in Starr’s Fall, with this delightful second book Playing for Keeps in Starr’s Fall, as Maggie and Zack fall in and out and in love and Ben begins to discover true friends as they put their past firmly behind them and begin again.
Playing for Keeps in Starr’s Fall is the perfect companion for a lazy day on the couch.

"Playing For Keeps" is the second book of this series by Kate Hewitt. You do not need to read book one in order to follow this story but I did like that we got to see more to the story of the characters from book one!
Maggie and Ben move to Starr's Fall in the hope of starting over and moving on from their dreary past to open a boardgame cafe. And that they surely do!
It's a thrilling romantic read but it I did deduct one star as I preferred book one as I found it to be more in depth and emotional.

After her husbands death and her sons self harming incident Maggie knows she needs a new start for her son and herself, away from the gilded cage her life had become.

Deciding they needed a fresh start they arrive in Starr's Fall, a place they had spend many some happy time her son asked her if they can move there and set up a games cafe.

Zach is a local in Starr's Fall, seen as a bit of a player, is getting a bit fed up of everyone thinking that they know him when he has a lot more going on in his head than the locals think of.

On their first night Maggie and her son decided to get pizza and Maggie meets the gorgeous Zach, the sparks fly but he is so much younger than her she can't act on these feelings.

Zach befriends the mother and son, and spends time playing RainQuest (a computer game) with her son, but the spark is still there, but how can Zach prove he is more than the player everyone thinks he is and can Maggie ignore the large age difference and get her own happy every after.

This was a fabulous book, a lovely Gilmore Girls type feel to the town, the main characters and the supporting characters are well written and everyone has a story but the book flows gently towards its conclusion, can't wait to return to Starr's Fall.

Defintely worth a read.

Book two in the Starr's Fall series.
Maggie and Ben move from Greenwich to start a new life and new beginnings in the small community.
We meet familiar characters and together the story comes together.
There're lots of secrets, rumours, love, heartache but above all friendships.
A great feel good book..

Maggie arrives in Starr’s Fall, with her son, Ben, who are moving there to have a new start. It has been rough for them, the past year. Her husband and Ben's father passed away, but before that things weren't good. They weren't expecting what they received when they arrived in Starr's Fall, friendly people who welcomed them so warmly. It took them a little while to realize, that this is their way of life, and they started to trust once again.
Maggie and Ben were going to open a board game café.
It was nice visiting Starr's Fall again and meeting everyone again, and meeting Maggie and Ben. It was rough going at times, but they kept moving forward, In March they opened their board game café, and the people loved it and were glad it was there. Maggie's trust issues, caused a problem that as much as she wanted to make things right, she wasn't sure it would ever be right again.
Starr's Fall welcomes you to come read the story, meet the wonderful people, and fall in love with it all. I received an ARC from Boldwood Books through NetGalley.

This is the second book in the series, and although you don’t have to have read the first one, I do think it helps with setting the scene. This was an easy read with some emotional baggage. The characters are likeable and are relatable with a fantastic backdrop of the small town of Starr’s Fall. This isn’t a book I would tell everyone about and encourage them to read but it is a decent story that is good if you don’t want to be too heavily invested in a book.

Enjoyable read. I like this author and the Starr's falls series. I hope she continues to write books in thr series

Thank you NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Kate Hewitt for allowing me to read this ARC of Playing For Keeps in Starr's Fall.
I give it a 3.75-4.00 overall. It has a fair amount of fun, charming, new lease on life outlook.

Thank you for the read. I gave this book three stars. It hit several emotions. I think this was the first time reading this author. I will read her again. It was an enjoyable book. I wish I had read the the first book I will still go look for it as I read books out of order all the time.

This is the second in a new series from Kate Hewitt taking place in a charming, slightly scruffy Connecticut town called Starr's Fall. I quite enjoyed the first one, and I quite enjoyed this one as well. It is a well crafted story about starting over in a new place after a lot has gone wrong. Ms. Hewitt's writing is good enough, that even though the premise sounds a bit formulaic, you find yourself caught up in the story. The characters have depth, they are flawed and relatable, the stakes are real, and the outcome satisfying. I am a fan of Ms. Hewitt, and this new series does not disappoint. Even though the characters are really going through it, there are also moments of kindness and lightness and hope that I found both moving and satisfying. The story alos concludes well; it is a romance, but there is not a facile "happy ever after". In summary, another charming and immensely enjoyable read from Kate Hewitt. Highly Recommend.

Thank you for the kind invitation in reading Playing for keeps in Starr’s Fall by Kate Hewitt I was honored when I received the invitation I love the first book of this series and I couldn’t wait to start the second unfortunately it wasn’t up to my expectations when reading this book single mom ( Maggie) looking for a second chance in Starr’s Fall after husband past away to open up a Board Game cafe with her son ( Ben) Starr’s Fall town folks welcome the newest members with welcome arms and that includes Mr. Playbook Zach who has yet to discover who he truly is. Town folks warn Maggie of his conquest of admires although the town may have a bad impression on Zach he knows that Maggie was worth it.

Welcome back to Starrs Fall! A small town community that has charm, wonderful neighbors, a wonderful place to start over and open a business and that’s exactly what Maggie and her son Ben are doing.
Zach has lived in Starrs Fall all his life and has a reputation that he just can’t get away from.

In this book 2 of the series we get to catch up with our neighbors from book one, and we get a little bit more details into the past of some of these people and what I think will be coming in upcoming books.
You don’t necessarily need to read book one to read book 2, but I urge you too as you’re going to fall in love with this town and its people.

Thank you to Boldwood Books for an ARC of this book.

This is the 2nd book in the Starr's Falls series by Kate Hewitt. Starr's Falls is a small town in rural Connecticut, something like Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls. This second book in the series is as easy to read as the first book was, and features a young widow who moves to Starr's Fall with her fragile teenage son to open a board game cafe. Re-introducing a cast of small town characters that we met in the first book, it is easy to fall in love with Starr's Fall, and feel at home there. Well written, good pacing with believable characters, this book was a perfect escapist weekend read.

It was SO good to be back in Starrs Fall. The same wonderful characters that always make a newcomer so welcome. Tragedy, overcoming obstacles, a new lease on life. This book has it all. I cannot wait for the next one!