I picked up "First Base" because I was craving a baseball romance. (I'm in my sports romance era). However, this one just didn't do it for me.

This is a book that had a lot of potential but just wasn't executed that well in my opinion. I liked the premise, liked both of the characters, and enjoyed a lot of the character choices the author made. The FMC and MMC had personal issues that made a lot of room for them to grow together, but there was just no follow through. This is Wiegand's first novel, and I'm looking forward to seeing her develop as an author in the future. All of the ingredients are there.

As for the things I didn't love, the FMC had major "she's not like other girls" and "she's pretty but she doesn't know it" energy. Which feels a bit tired in 2024. As far as how the emotions were written, there wasn't a ton of substance and I felt like there was a lot of back and forth. I wish characters would sit with their feelings a little more. Maggie would feel anxious, and then have all her anxiety disappear (literally), and then have it all come rushing back, over and over. I also wish there was a little more development in Tommy. There was such a great opportunity to explore his drunk driving incident in the context of the story, but it was mentioned once and never returned to.

I wish there was more inside baseball (literally). The sports details felt sparse and not super well researched (a 12 strikeout game is good, but not record setting). And I was able to suspend my disbelief on the premise to an extent, but it didn't totally sell me. If a professional athlete had a large online following of fans and ended up in the tabloids a lot, wouldn't that drive ticket sales up not down? And the premise posits that Tommy was released from his former team, and the Chicago team begrudgingly took him as somewhat of a liability, but it's also mentioned that he's one of the highest players in the league?

Again, this book had really good bones. I'm definitely going to pick up future books from this author. But there were a lot of pieces that just didn't quite click for me.

2.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and 8th Note Press for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This was a very cozy and lighthearted romance. I had a good time following Maggie and Tommy as they had to fake date. The concept of why they had to date, and the overall inclusion of baseball made the story very fun. This was a fairly simple story and I do wish there had been a little more character development. Even though I had a good time, I wanted a bit more especially about the backstories about our main characters.

This book was pleasant but also not very original. It was an easy read and went by very quickly.

This was a solid book, and with it being under 300 pages I expected the plot to happen very quickly. If I wasn’t prepared for that I would have been totally blindsided. I ate up the playboy wanting to be reformed trope, and cannot wait for the next book in the series!

"How could you not be romantic about baseball?" 🥹

Maggie and Tommy had great personal growth throughout the story, but I feel like their relationship was soooo slow going. Once they finally admitted their feelings to each other, the lack of trust and miscommunication in the last quarter of the book had me struggling to get to home plate (pun intended).

I still enjoyed this read and definitely think we need more baseball romance!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

While I loved the premise of the book, I think some things in the book fell a little flat for me. The slow burn was just a little too slow, with not a whole lot of chemistry going on with the characters. At times it felt like the characters did not even like each other at all. Insta-love is something that I find so hard to write and read, and it's something I have yet to be able to get behind.

However, I did love the sports romance of it all and the characters themselves were very well developed in my opinion. I love a fake-dating book and it was a quick read!

This was such a fun great baseball fake romance story. Maggie is a Chicago baseball team photographer for their social media. Tommy is the new baseball player transferee to the team. He was dropped from his last team due to his bad boy reputation. Loved the fake dating scenario on this for. I really think it helped with getting to know is the characters. Both Tommy and Maggie are coming from a very complicated past and dealing with overcoming those obstacles. I love how patient and caring Tommy is for Maggie. He just falls so quickly for her and wants the best for her which is really endearing. It’s a great summer time baseball read. Many thanks to 8th Note Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was such a feel good read!

I loved the dynamics of Maggie and Tommy as a couple. They both had realistic problems and it was so easy to connect with them. Their chemistry seemed real and genuine.

I loved Tommy. He was a cinnamon roll MMC and would do anything for Maggie.

Ally wrote the fake dating trope so well. I was impressed that this was a debut novel.

Thank you Netgalley and Ally Wiegand for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Thank you #netgalley , the publisher and author for the ARC of this book. I loved this book. Tommy and Maggie’s love story was so wholesome and perfect. Each of their characters developed in such a beautiful way. They way they connected with one another and their friends in this book was wonderful to read. I like to go into ARCs with little knowledge about the authors, so when I finished this and read that this was the authors debut novel I was floored. I have read so many books over the years, and I felt that this was written very well. I will definitely be adding Ally Wiegand to my list of authors to watch out for. Well done!

I’ve read a lot of good sports romances (and a lot of bad ones too) but this was high up on the list of good ones. Both of the main characters had complex backstories that perfectly intertwined with each other at the end. Reading this book felt like having a good conversation with a friend that you don’t see often because even though you don’t see them often, they’re still the same old friend. I’m not one for a baseball romance, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one in particular. I’m pretty sure this is the author’s debut novel, if that’s true, she has a long and great career in writing ahead of her.

I had really high hopes for this after reading the description and I felt like it fell pretty flat. Instead of a slow burn it was just plain slow. There wasn’t a lot of on page chemistry or tension throughout most of the book. I liked both Tommy and Maggie and their growth separately but I didn’t get that feeling for them as a couple. I also wasn’t sure of the timeline. At first it seemed fast and then I was shocked when Olivia made a comment about months going by. I will definitely try this author again in the future, this just wasn’t a favorite.

This book had the makings of a story I would typically enjoy, but it fell a little flat for me. While it featured many of my favorite tropes and centered around baseball, which I loved, I struggled with the pacing. From the male main character's point of view, it felt somewhat like insta-love, even though the characters did not exchange feelings until the very end. Despite this, there were moments where the story dragged, creating a disconnect between the instant attraction and the slower pacing.

Several repetitive phrases caught my attention, suggesting that another round of beta reading or editing might be beneficial before publication day. Additionally, there were some inconsistencies between the male and female main characters' perspectives that did not seem entirely justifiable, even though the author attributed them to insecurities.

Despite these issues, there were many positive aspects to the story. The structure made sense and worked well overall. The female main character's journey through her grief was particularly well-executed and believable, indicating that the author may have personal experience with loss. The depiction of guilt and grief was spot on.

The male main character's quest for validation from his father was relatable, as he constantly sought to improve himself and make his father proud.

Thank you to NetGalley, 8th Note Press, and Ally Wiegand for the advanced reader copy.

While I do think First Base will find an audience, it just wasn’t for me (DNF).

I couldn’t get past two specific things: (1) the flatness of the writing – all tell, no show, and quite cliché/cheesy at times, and (2) the immediacy of these two characters’ feelings for each other (and related plot pacing). If one of these two items had been different, I don’t think I would have DNF’d – because the premise of the story is a good one.

Style is such a difficult thing, often hard to pinpoint what isn’t working. I’d say aside from the clichés here, the sentence structuring was repetitive.

And, to the second point above, I can’t think of a single novel where the “insta-love” trope works well. Instant attraction? Absolutely. Instant connection? Sure. But what happens between Maggie and Tommy was hard to believe—and, as a result, I was never really rooting for them. Also, the moment we are introduced to Olivia's sister, Lottie, I felt like I knew the ending to her story as well. Why not introduce us to Lottie and have her profession be a surprise later on? It felt too neat and predictable. Romance novels are, by nature, often predictable - but the combination of the predictable plot elements and the "tell not show" writing style did not hold my interest - as if we know what everyone's happily ever after looks like right away.

Perhaps if we had gotten to know Maggie more before we were introduced to Tommy the immediate reaction these two had to each other might have been more convincing?

Ultimately, First Base should be popular among its target “New Adult” audience.

this book was a miss for me. i saw it was a baseball romance and after reading a few baseball romances in a row i thought this was going to be it for me! i didn't love this book but it was still cute and i enjoyed it for the most part. i just didn't really connect with any of the characters and it felt a bit rushed and i didn't really believe in these characters relationship. since it took me forever to get into it i think that also didn't help either. maybe I'll try another book by this author, maybe i won't it just depends.

This was a cute book overall. I liked the fake dating aspect of it, it's my favorite trope, but this book didn't make me squeal. Didn't give me the super feels as I read it.

I did like the growth for Tommy. The connection between Tommy and Maggie was there. We get those little cute moments between them.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First Base is a fake dating baseball romance between a photographer and a “bad boy” baseball player.

There were a few things I really enjoyed about this one. Firstly, who doesn’t love baseball? It is definitely one of my favorite sports and I loved reading about it in this book. I also loved that it was based in Chicago (I’m from the suburbs)! Chicago has such a rich sports history and this book really shows that as well. I thought the relationship was cute and there was a lot of chemistry. This book also examines grief a bit and moving on. I loved how everything wrapped up as well.

I would recommend this for anyone looking for a sports romance! This was a cute quick read that the romance girlies are going to enjoy! Baseball season just started so it is the perfect time to read this!

Thanks so much to netgalley and 8th note press for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

THIS BOOK!🤩🥰 I LOVED it so much!!!!

First off, thank you to Ally & NetGalley for an ARC of the book! Ally, you created the most incredible characters & environment that I cannot wait to live in again. I need the next book asap!

This was the an amazing sports romcom book. It had the perfect amount of spice & drama to create a story that I couldn’t put down. Tommy is everything. The character's development was incredibly well done, allowing me to feel deeply for Maggie and her past trauma, but also root for her happiness with Tommy and his personal growth.

I truly believe that Ally Wiegand is the next Sarah Adams. The plot was beautifully laid out and played through, as well as giving the fun vibes that a romcom book should possess. I also thought that while it was a book about baseball, it wasn't fully about baseball, which I personally appreciate. I don’t even like baseball & I’m the Cougars newest fan.💙⚾️🐾🧢

Overall, extremely well done. An easy 5-star rating for me!

Rating
4.25 stars
First Base is Ally Wiegand's debut novel and the first instalment in the Chicago Heartbreaker's Series. This is the first sports romance that I have read and I think Wiegand really "knocked it out of the park!" The story is told from 2 perspectives, Maggie Redford (the team photographer for the Chicago Cougars) and Tommy Mikals (the star player on the Cougars).
During a night out with the team, Maggie and Tommy get innocently caught in a picture that goes viral. The problem is that Tommy, a previous party boy, is supposed to be keeping his image squeaky clean with his new ball club and Maggie is not supposed to fraternize with the players.
In order for both Maggie and Tommy to keep their jobs, Monica, the head of the team's PR department has them sign a contract saying they are going to pretend to date each other. As time goes on, both Maggie and Tommy start to develop real feelings but are either of them brave enough to make the first move?
If you like the tropes of fake dating, forced proximity and bad boy/ good girls then this book is for you! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough! Wiegand did a great job with character development which made the characters likeable and relatable. I especially liked Olivia, the supportive and caring best friend of Maggie. I may have just found my first romance book crush on Tommy, I just loved everything about him!

So cute! I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick easy read and a good story. I loved the characters, even though fake dating isn’t my favorite trope I still enjoyed it a lot!

I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was a super cute romance, I’m a huge sucker for fake dating. I really liked the way they MCs supported each other in overcoming their “flaws” from the bad boy with the image to fix to the photographer who has been guarded for to long, I think this is a great debut into a new world and can’t wait to see the continuation! I’ve been getting really into sports romances lately and this gives off heavy hallmark romance vibes, this book doesn’t really have any smut which I don’t think takes away from it at all but if that’s what you’re looking for just be mindful.

First Base was my first baseball romance book. Now I neeed many more! Good thing it’s the first book in the Chicago Heartbreaker series.
Maggie Redford is content and happy being the Chicago MLB’s team photographer. But Maggie is thrown a curveball when Tommy Mikals joins the team. Tommy was traded from his previous team because of his scandalous playboy reputation. How to make it better? They throw in a fake relationship.

This book has it all!
Fake Dating
Hot Baseball players(can’t wait for some of the other stories)
Heartache
Drama
Close proximity
Low spice

First Base was a very fast paced short book. I read it in one sitting. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and 8th Note Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.