Eighteen years ago, Malcolm Douglas, was given a choice of jail or military reform school. No choice at all. He left town and the broken hearted Celia Patel. Now he returns and this time he is PLAYING FOR KEEPS.

Malcolm comes back as a seven-time Grammy winning, platinum selling soft rock star after hearing that she has been receiving crank calls and strange notes. He may have been separated from her but he has been keeping an eye on her.

As a sixteen year old Celia was hopelessly in love with Malcolm but after everything fell apart she had been left with not only a broken heart but a baby that she put up for adoption. Now she is an independent adult with a full life of her own, she doesn't need him back in her life. The past is the past, it needs to stay that way and he needs to go back where he belongs.

He has different plans. He's no longer a teen reaching for a dream, a part of it is always putting him in the tabloid headlines, but the other part always regretted leaving Celia. Helping her find out the reason for the threat against her will help appease the guilt, but he still wants a question answered. Is what he felt for her all those years ago only puppy love that he glorified or was his first love meant to be his only true love?

PLAYING FOR KEEPS is an intriguing, heart touching story of a first love gone wrong. The young couple got in over their heads and the heartbreak they both endured is emotionally realistic as is the struggle to accept that there might be a chance for them to be together again. I love reading everything author Catherine Mann writes and this one is another winner.