3.5 stars

This was cute in a sense and I really liked the concept, especially how she proved the guys on her team wrong, but some of the execution fell flat. I will say I think the romance was so cute and I loved the way it unfolded, but I definitely wanted more because it felt like it just disappeared off the page a number of times and I wanted more substance. I think personally, while I liked her friend group, her friendship with Joey threw me off a bit because I felt like the tension wasn't really resolved by the end of the novel and I wanted to see their antagonistic nature explored a bit more. Overall though, as a baseball girl looking for a cute romance to read, I really liked this one and def will be keeping an eye out for future books from the author.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the review copy!

Excellent read of a teen girl on a boys baseball team.
The chemistry between the main characters is tangible.
I couldn't stop reading this. I had to know what was going to happen.
I only wish it were longer so I could keep getting to know all the characters.
I will be following this author in hopes of additional books!

**3.5 Stars**

This book was super cute. It was definitely YA and very appropriate for young teens.

Marnie was your typical angsty with a side of slightly low self esteem, teen. She loved playing baseball with her friends and I liked that she decided to try out for the boys team. She was able to hold her own in a field dominated by boys and she always stood up for herself. I think that's a very important trait to give an h in a book geared toward a younger audience. I will admit that her actions toward her friends annoyed me sometimes and the way she handled her feelings toward Cody weren't my favorite. I felt like her decision to not tell Cody about Santino was very immature and didn't really make any sense. That being said, it's not very uncharacteristic of a 17 year old to act that way so I guess given the age and audience, it's not that unrealistic.

Cody was cute. I wanted him to be a little more present and have more of a presence in the book. We didn't really get a whole lot of him and Marnie interacting on a personal basis to really get a good feel of their feelings toward each other. It's basically just all of their friends and family saying how much they like each other. It was an example of a telling not showing situation.

Speaking of family. Marnie's mom really grated on my nerves and her explanation at the end was complete BS. She didn't support Marnie at all and, in my opinion, really dropped the ball at good parenting. No matter how busy you are with work, you should always make time to go watch your kid's games- especially when they are essentially paving the way for other girls. You should be proud of them and want to be there. She was a terrible parent.

Joey and Sara were pretty good secondary characters. I actually really liked Sara and thought she was a fantastic friend. Joey, however, was a jerk. We kept being told that the four of them were best friends, but he acted like Marnie was his mortal enemy and often times went out of his way to be mean to her. You would think when the whole baseball team was against her he would stand up for her. Carrot and Jiro were easily better friends to her than Joey.

Overall, this book was really cute and if you're looking for a clean, fun, YA novel or if you're a fan of Kasie West then this is definitely for you. I absolutely recommend this book.

A fun, light read, but not necessarily something my library would purchase. I think a lot of romance YA readers would enjoy it as a good beach read.

I enjoyed this light read, and it reminded me of Miranda Kenneally's sports-themed romances. I loved how confident and outspoken Marnie is, and how her vulnerabilities make her even more likable. She doesn't suffer fools, and she is protective of those she loves. She's also a wreck when it comes to admitting her feelings for her best friend Cody, but that's pretty understandable, since the stakes are so high.

I'm a sucker for best friends who fall in love stories, and despite not being a sports spectator in real life, somehow really enjoy sports-related books -- especially ones with a feminist message. Marnie becomes the varsity baseball team's post-season pitcher after her best friend/pitcher extraordinaire Cody is injured during a game.

Cody was incredibly supportive of Marnie trying out, even though that meant stepping on the toes of the team's current relief pitcher. Fellow best friend Sara is also a big Marnie booster, and their friendship is authentic and positive. They listen and try to help each other, and there's none of that toxic girl friendship so rampant in YA. The fourth member of their squad, Joey, has trouble with Marnie trying to worm her way onto "his" team. I thought that tension was realistic -- friends who've known and been competitive with each other for 10-11 years would have a few issues.

The romance is of the slow, slow, slow, "will they or won't they" variety -- but I love that sort of tension, so it worked for me. If you only like romances that are resolved early on/by the half-way point, this may not be the book for you.

There was a lot of incidental diversity, which I appreciated -- with Sara described as half-Latina/half-Filipina and a few of the players cued or overtly described as black, Japanese, South Asian, Latino etc. One tiny thing that bugged me, though, is that while most key non-white characters were described by their skin tone and racial/ethnic background (thanks for not making readers guess and then default to white), that wasn't true of the white kids. I know that must be because Marnie herself is white, but if you're going to describe the race/ethnicity of some, it would be good to see that across the board. But that's just a personal preference and not a flaw.

Overall, a fun and quick romance with a courageous and confident main character.

Super fun romantic read about the relationships and friendships that form in our childhoods and shift and changes as we grow older. Marnie and Cody have been besties since they were little kids and they share a love of baseball. When Cody is hurt during a key game heading into the post season, Marnie decides to see if she has what it takes to pitch for the boys team and show all the doubters that she can do it. With Cody's encouragement, she tries out and finds that maybe she got in over her head. Trying to figure out how to be the best pitcher she can and prove her worth, Marnie is also trying to deal with the new feelings she is realizing about Cody. Meanwhile her uncle is getting married and her new cousin may just be the catalyst to destroy her relationship with Cody before it evolves into something more. This is a sweet romantic read, but at the core of it there is also a strong statement about friendship and the journey to find where you fit. I really enjoyed this story and look forward to more romantic YA stories from Kris Hui Lee. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review. I know some of my high school students will pick this one up and love it too!