Truth or Tequila is the first book I have read by Donna Schwartze and I loved it! Just what I needed! I loved the title and I'm a huge baseball fan so this seemed like a perfect fit. The relationship between Sophie and Seb starts out slowly but builds to a home run! I will definitely read more from this author!

Sophie finds herself playing "truth or tequila" at her best friend's bachelorette party. To complete the game, the losing (aka drunkest) participant has to complete a dare and lightweight Sophie is sent to kiss the good looking guy who has been staring her down all night. She has no idea who he is, but knows he must be famous based on his entrance into the club. She approaches him, but doesn't make it too far because he sees how intoxicated she is.

Without much recollection of the night before, Sophie has to go to an important client meeting as a PR specialist. Her client is the owner of a baseball franchise. Sophie gets introduced to some of the team and recognizes the catcher as the guy from the night before, Seb. They have a connection, but dating a client is off limits. Should she let him in or try to keep her distance, even though they can't seem to stay away from each other?

This was such a cute book! It has a little bit of forbidden romance, which I love. I wish there would have been a little bit more drama, but overall was a great rom-com. I think this is a perfect beach read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Donna Schwartze, and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC.

I thought it’s going to be a laugh out loud, summer vibe with lots of memories in Miami, but no. I’m kind of disappointed.
Seems like I’m not a fan of insta love. Sophie and Seb fell in love quickly, but I hoped there will be a little chasing game between them after the first chapter. But the focus wasn’t on the love. They just fell in love and it was fine, they live happily ever after.
Sophie’s PR job was more in focus. I didn’t like that background. I read it anyway but I was highly bored and disgusted. Good to look for TW before someone picks up this book.

I’ll give it 3⭐️ because I wasn’t annoyed by any character. That was a door point.

A quick, easy and cute read that was funny and had a predictable but engaging storyline. It was an enjoyable read that I read quickly.

Truth or Tequila is a really cute concept for a book and I was so excited to read the ARC I received!

Sophia is a PR consultant who helps companies find internal problems, address them, and come away with improved public image and better practices internally. She is used to working with big name clients on hush hush matters and her next client is no different.

Seb is a big name pitcher and a celebrity in his own right. Unlike most professional athletes and celebrities, he hates the spotlight and the public recognition that comes with it.

Sophia and Seb meet at random during a night out for Sophia's BFF bachelorette party, when she and her friends play a game called Truth or Tequila. This spin on Truth or Dare leaves Sophia drunk and in Seb's lap as she tries to complete her dare. Their paths meet again when Sophia meets her new client the next day and learns that Seb is the pitcher for the team.

That is where things kind of fell apart for me. The basis for the story is good, but the plot lacks substance. Immediately, the main characters are so enamored with each other, but there is no real why to their attraction. They know nothing about each other and have spent very little time together, but the story makes it seem like it's an epic love. Outside of appearance, what draws them together?

As much as I wanted to love this book, I struggled to finish it. The story needs more than a pretty girl with curves, and a hot guy. This book has so much potential! The author has some really good ideas...it just seemed like this was an incomplete idea for a book. Giving it 2 stars because I really do love the concept and idea...but the story lacked depth and plot was lackluster.

First of all, thank you to Victory Editing, NetGalley, and Donna Schwartze for allowing me to read and review this book!

I've been thinking about how I want to rate this book because while I enjoyed the story, I have a few issues with it still.

• I can get behind a love/attraction at first sight, but how quickly the relationship began even though Sophia was so persistent she didn't want to pursue anything... it just didn't make sense.
• The timeline was what? 2-3 weeks? Why did it need to be so rushed? It would have made sense to slow it down and stretch out the story
• The whole sexual harassment story needed more. Again, it just needed to be all explained better
• Umm, those side characters Maisie and Roman need to be included a whole lot more. I want to see ALL the relationships, not just the main romantic one

Overall, I liked the story. I just needed more from it to be satisfied.

Thank you Netgalley and Victory Editing an advance copy of Truth or Tequila by Donna Schwartze.

I love a good sports romance. When I saw the description of Truth or Tequila I immediately envisioned the Bromance Book Club books and was so excited to read it.

Truth or Tequila is a quick romance read that I did enjoy. The beginning of Truth or Tequila was really fun and a lot of chemistry between the two characters. But then things went a little sideways for me. While I thought there would be a lot steam between the characters the sex scenes were more closed book with a tiny bit of steam. I also found that the author was trying to do too much within a short book. The wrap up was relatively quick.

Sophie was a fun character, but she did get into her head too much. I liked that she had a high-power job and was close to a few friends (although I would have liked to seen more of some and less of others.
Seb was not it for me. I like macho guys, but he was so macho that he seemed controlling, and I did not enjoy him “growling” at everyone. I felt that he needed to be more developed. I did find his early interaction with a fan to be endearing.

The supporting characters were brief, and I was not sure if they were there just to add diversity to the book.

I enjoyed the books setting in Miami since I went to college there and could picture waiting in lines in clubs at South Beach. So the descriptions were very believable.

My complaint with this book was that I felt it needed to be longer to really deal with the other issue in the book that created conflict between the two characters. I also wish Seb was a little less macho and had a little more depth to his character. The book was told from both character's points of view but there was on overlap from chapter from chapter that I did not like.

Overall, Truth or Tequila was a quick romance read between a famous ball player and a non-famous person. I read it quickly and may decide to read book two.

Decisions and tequila are normally a bad combo, so when Sophie is dared during her friend's ritualistic bachelorette game you know something about to go down. We just probably never imagined Seb and the morning after. Highly relatable (I wouldn't know a sports athlete if they dropped to my feet, but I don't mind the imagery) and funny. The situation is unique but also gives us the back story to really want these two together. You'll love it!
I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley for my honest opinion.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC copy in exchange for a review

I just finished this book so this review will be all over the place and might edit it later. I just needed to write something so I don't forget.

This book is a 3.5 to me, it's not necessarily bad just wanted more from it, and I'll explain later on.

CW: Sexism, talk of SA, minor SA scene and homophobia.

The story is about Sophie and Seb (the name made me think about Sebastian Vettel the whole time). Sophie is hired by Seb's team to clean up their image. A female reporter has been banned from the clubhouse and she has to get to the bottom of it. As much as she tries to keep Seb at a distance (since he does work for his team), there is something about him that she can't resist. This book is dual POVs and he is obsessed with her.

Things I liked is how obsessed Seb was with her. He is the perfect gentleman and to be honest, I wish I could date him (especially since I imagined him like Sebastian Vettel but as a baseball player).

Now things I didn't like about the book is that I was too fast pace. The story has a lot of potential but most of the time I was lost on where they were, there is no description of where the are, most of the time its just conversations between Sophie or Seb with someone else. I feel like the whole story could've been more developed. Plus the looming fear of a SA scene happening had me scared. It was alluded to it so many times.

I think that is pretty much it, if you just want a quick romance book for a palette cleanser then I think this will hit the spot. If you want a moving deep story that centers in character development, read something else.

Oh but I absolutely love this book! I’m not usually a fan of the insta-love trope, but man… this was good!
The fact that we have both Sophie’s and Seb’s point of views makes you like them even more - and also, thank god we have Seb’s p.o.v. because I swear sometimes he’s kinda creepy (could be just me tho!) but knowing exactly what he thinks and how he feels makes us like him and understand him!
Sophie. Damn, I love her! Basically the definition of strong independent woman!!
This was so fun, romantic and heartwarming! And the hurricane scene?? Damn, my heart…

Thank you to Donna Schwartze & NetGalley for this wonderfully cute and spicy rom com. It’s been a while since I read a sports based romance book and this one didn’t disappoint.

This had all the elements of a typical illustrated cover romance. Seb was the sweetest overprotective (sometimes alphahole) boyfriend whose control issues and desire to look after Sophie made him just so heart warmingly adorable. But what I loved about this was contrast between the cutesy clumsy meet cute at the start of the novel and the darker and more serious tones of the plot that bought Sophie and Seb closer together. I really enjoyed how the book came full circle at the end and of course it wouldn’t be a rom com without an epilogue 🥰

Overall this was a fun spicy quick read that was a perfect pick me up read, but I didn’t feel 100% invested in the characters and felt that Seb and Sophie’s relationship happened a little bit two quickly for my liking - I’ll take an angsty slow burn over an instant love any day!

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 from me!

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Book Review

Truth or Tequila by Donna Schwartze

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

One sentence synopsis: Provided from Amazon

Seb’s the most famous baseball player in the world. Sophie’s not impressed. Game on.

I really enjoyed this book! I think Seb and Sophie's story is so cute!

One thing that really stuck out to me in this story is that Sophie is not portrayed as your typical struggling female character. She is very strong and well established which is something you don't often see in these types of romance books.

Seb is such a sweetheart but also a fierce protector of the people he loves which is perfect for anyone who loves the "If you touch her I'll kill you" trope!

I think the plot line moved a little to quickly for me but that is literally the only note I have. I loved the main characters and side characters. I seriously can't wait for the next book!



You can find this book and the next book Raine Out on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.

It was a quick and fun read. Not my favorite but I still do not regret time spent reading it.

I liked the name (have my unresolved issues with tequila apparently), checked the synopsis and asked for an ARC on NetGalley.

It was super fast read, I could be done with it in a day easily, just took some time off the book. I can see a movie adaptation, it has all the points to make those rom-coms I used to watch as a teen (minus spicy scene lol).

The issues that I had (and it’s totally personal preference):
1. insta-feels - damn I hate it. I was literally having gag sounds every time I was hitting the sentence indicating the insta-feeling between the MCs. It’s just something I really despise 🙈
2. the MCs are supposed to be adults but behave like literal teenagers. Too silly for my taste.
3. the issues brought up (sexism, harassment, overprotective MC) - not everyone will vibe with that in a rom-com book. Personally, felt a little unsolved, overprotective MCs in general are creeping me out sometimes. This was that time 😂
4. the speed of the book was chaotic sometimes, not that I complain, apparently it was just what I needed at that time but not sure everyone will enjoy the chaos.

But at the end, despite the things I didn’t appreciate, i could still enjoy the read.

This was my first read by Donna Schwartze and it was a charming quick RomCom read.

Schwartze's storyline and wit made for an easy read and several laugh out loud moments that kept me turning to see how the story would end. Unlike most romance novels, this story had some professional depth for our heroine which I appreciated as a reader.

Overall, I'm happy I had an opportunity through Netgalley to preview this story and experience it. There were a few times at the beginning of the story that the supporting characters felt very "mean girls"-esque that had me wanting to abandon the book early on. I'm glad I stuck with it, because the storyline between Sophie and Seb that developed was sweet and I always appreciate a male lead who isn't afraid to tell his girl exactly how he feels about her from the jump.

Perhaps it was just my personal experience, but I was so distracted by a few elements of the writing:
-many of the character names Schwartze selected for her characters. Every time we would be introduced to a new character that had an unusual name it gave me pause wondering...where is she pulling these uncommon names from for her characters? Neither here nor there for most readers, but I just found them to get more and more unusual as the book went on...Maisie, Roman, Seb, Gentry, Chick, Liza, etc. Did not change the story overall for me, but it was distracting enough I started a mental tally each time another uncommon name was introduced.
-I love dual POV storylines, but didn't love the overlap sequence in many of the chapters.

Overall, great cover, cute title, sweet love story, loved the baseball/romance combo, and great friendship tie ins. Would recommend.

I was given this ARC to be honest so that is what I will do.
I absolutely hated this book.
Not only is it some white feminist bullshit, but it's also a complete power difference between the male and female main characters, Seb acts like Sohpie is a child and she acts like it too. he describes her as "cute" too many times to count and it felt very infantilizing. She is afraid of practically everything, even catching, and when Seb tries to teach her how to catch, he even says he's teaching it to her how he teaches little kids. Also this is a grown woman who can't catch, need I say more?
Also, there is about one non-white character even though there is absolutely room for more. And not only is the token POC Cuban, but he's also gay, which feels like the author sat down and checked her diversity list. We are not a quota to be filled, and it absolutely feels like that in this book.

I wouldn't recommend this book if I was being held captive and the only way out was to do so.

A passionate rom-com about temptation, timing and a bit too much tequila!

Truth or Tequila by Donna Schwartze
Book 1 in the Grand Slam Series

Seb’s the most famous baseball player in the world. Sophie’s not impressed. Game on.
Smoking Pro Baseball player, tequila, drinking games and finding love when you least expect it..... I'm there!

This made me smile, laugh, and swoon with its wonderfully well developed and likeable characters.
I thought this was such a fun adventure.
Donna Schwartze blows it out of the park with an absolutely outstanding read
Sophie and Seb's story was just remarkable.
I loved the dynamic between the main characters.
The character development and chemistry between the characters was phenomenal.
I had the right amount of emotions.
Their journey was beautiful and so real, a journey not just of accepting love even with the risk it can hurt you but also of self love.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Victory Editing NetGalley Co-o,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

I loved this book! I've never read something by Donna Schwartze before but after this I definitely plan to check out some others! This book was a cute, quick read that had some tropes I always gravitate towards and enjoy. Seb was such a sweet MMC and it warmed my heart. I will always love a famous anyone mixed in with someone and this book delivered. Best part? No miscommunication in this one! 3.5/5 stars