Awwww. That’s how I felt reading this book. It was just comfort in a book.

We have an instant attraction meets love after death with some fake dating and real feelings. Every trope someone could want and more.

I liked the characters and their story.

Thank you 8th Note press and NetGalley for the ARC.

I enjoyed this one. This was the perfect summer sports romance! Loved the tropes and the characters.

Thanks NetGalley and to the publisher for early access to the kindle version of this book. The cover was adorable and I love me a sports romance. It was cute and worth the read.

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Disclaimer: I received a review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thanks to the author and Netgalley.

General Thoughts: I enjoyed this one. It was cute, and a fun, enjoyable read. Fake dating can be a fun trope, even when it's done in the predictable "fake date to repair the playboy athlete's image" but I did feel the author added a fresh way to present that story.

The characters were intriguing and well-written, and I liked seeing their romance develop. It was a cute, fun story that I'm glad I read. If you like sports romance, baseball romance, baseball, or fake dating, then definitely give this one a go.

Spice Meter: 🪵 mostly closed door but some steamy scenes.

Romantic Tropes
-dual POV
-romance
-contemporary realistic
-fake dating
-sports romance
-baseball romance

You can read more of my reviews on Insta @mylastromancenovel.

This book was SOOO good! Had me so entranced! I loved the characters, the character development, the arc of the characters from their backstories, and I loved them falling for each other! I think this was spectacularly written and was a slam dunk sports romance. Also I loved that it wasn’t a baseball book!

↳ 3 stars ◝ ˚

this is a sports, fake dating romance, thats closed door (tho it did get steamy in one scene)

the characters.
i didnt particularly love them. it felt like the author was trying to add depth, but then since this is a pretty short book and romance novels NEED to have happy endings, all the issues in their lives were solved within 0.465 seconds. it was also kind of hard to believe tommy's playboy backstory, because his demeanor and the way he acted did not ressemble that at all. as for the side characters, i liked jamil a lot he reminded me of gibsie from binding 13 and gibsie is probably my fave character in that series so i was very happy <3 i had very mixed feelings towards olivia, but she was a good friend towards the middle of the book until the end so i can appreciate that.


the romance.
unfortunately, the romance was very insta love, which i hate. i need the tension and the things to get the other person to like you. this was the opposite, because after literally 5 minutes of talking to her the mmc was already saying things like “maggie was unlike any woman i had ever seen. she was an explosion of energy.” thats insanity ! how do you know that much about a person just by looking at them 😭 pls tell me how i would love to know your fbi ways. no but seriously it felt so unbelievable. also, at the beginning of the book maggie kept saying things in her pov like oh i shouldnt get close to him ! hes a bad boy 😔 or the feel of his touch on my waist is magnificient ! but i should back away hes a bad boy 😔 like if hes THAT bad get tf away from him?? im just confused because you are a person of free will right?? im glad the main trope was fake dating tho, because i was seriously about to dnf if the whole book kept going like it had in the beginning.


conclusion.
overall, this wasnt bad just average and gave me a bit of second hand embarassement. i would recommend it if u like insta-love, but if u dont pls dont go into this thinking its a slowburn because its definitely not !

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review !

⭐⭐⭐.75 🌶️1.5

I really enjoyed Maggie and Tommy’s fake dating romance and I was really surprised by how emotional I would find it. Maggie is still dealing with the loss of her partner in a tragic accident and Tommy is so patient and steadfast with her. I found their story to still have lots of humour & some great character development. The writing of this debut novel was spectacular and a really easy read!

Although the book is dual POV, most of the story is dominated by Maggie’s perspective and I did find I was wishing for more of Tommy’s thoughts to add to their growing chemistry. The spice between the couple was also low, so I would probably characterize this book as somewhere between YA and NA (with most scenes being closed door).

Overall this is a touching, romantic and entertaining debut novel for any baseball lover!

this was a cute sports romance. I enjoyed the book however felt like it was a bit rushed. however the main characters were relatable and funny. I will say I thought this was going to be an opened door romance, but didn't mind so much it wasn't.

DNF at about 25 percent of the way through

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy for an honest review.


I wanted to love this book - I just tried a few times to read this book and I could not get through it. I wanted more from it and I just got annoyed with the characters.

This book was cute! As a huge sports romance fan, this checked many of my boxes. This book is not spicy, so if that's something you are into this one is for you! I am not the biggest fan of fake dating, but it was done right in this one!

This book turned out to be an easy, quick, and overall enjoyable read.

I loved delving into the lives of Tommy and Maggie. Each character had their own unique backstory and depth, which unfolded more and more as the book advanced. Both were incredibly endearing, to the point where I found Tommy's history of being a playboy a little hard to believe. However. I did struggle with the insta-love aspect. It's a trope that doesn't sit well with me and has to be really well justified, and in this book it made it a little hard to root for them since they fell in love immediately. It doesn't feel practical to me and it was very rushed, there wasn't a lot of build up or tension. That, and the third act break up felt poorly done, with the miscommunication. It didn't really provide a whole lot to the actual story.

overall, I did enjoy the book as it's fun and light, and who doesn't love a good sports romance.

This was a cute sports romance! I love sports romance books, especially baseball and this one did not disappoint. The fake dating trope is one of my favorites as well and the fact that this book had fake dating and baseball made it that much better! I rated it 3.5 stars and would recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley, The author and publisher for the ARC and pleasure of reading this book. I'm a mom of 3 boys who all play baseball so I was excited to read this book and start this series! This is a smut free, sweet sports romance! It's a quick and easy read that I read in almost 1 sitting. I recommend this book to all the sports moms and fans out there. This is a quick easy book to read while at the ball field, in between innings or to entertain you while waiting for practice to end! ;)

I absolutely ADORED this book! The characters were well developed and I found myself staying up way past my bedtime to sneak a few more chapters in. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this amazing book! I will definitely be sharing it with all of my fellow book lovers

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Both Tommy and Maggie have had struggles in their past relationships, but when they meet there is an instant connection. Wrong timing puts Maggie and Tommy in the headlines stating they are a couple and puts both of their careers in jeopardy with the Chigago Cougars. To keep up appearances, they both sign a contract to be in a fake relationship. As time progresses through the season, their fake relationship isn't so fake anymore.

I loved the growth in both Tommy and Maggie, personally and professionally. I would have loved to more spice, but that's just my personal opinion. I love a good sports romance! ⚾️

“A mans strength is in how gentle he loves a woman. And he treats you like you are the most precious gift this world has given him yet.”

tommy and maggie were so fun to read about and i loved how they were there to help each other grow and show each other just how special they are.

thank god for olivia as well because she needed to smack some sense into maggie in the end <3

Thank you Netgalley and Ally Wiegland for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I loved this! It was so cute and the things they would say to each other were so cute and wholesome. This book is fade to black so there are no descriptive scenes but I was okay with it because the story was great! I love this concept it's very unique and I loved our fmc because she had a lot of depth emotions as she discovered how to love someone again. Our mmc was fine but I feel like his "bad boy" reputation was nonexistent and we didn't really see much development from him. Overall I loved this it was a cute, fluffy, and short pallet cleanser!

In an era dominated by hockey romances, how lovely is to see a baseball romance. I thought this was so fresh and so fun.

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
POV: dual 1st person POV
spice: a couple moderately open-door spicy scenes, but mostly closed door
TWs: anxiety, car accident (fatal), cheating, guilt
standalone: book 1 in the Chicago Heartbreakers series
final thoughts: what a great book! So many great friendships and side characters to combat lots of grief and loss. From their initial meet-cute to their epilogue their story was full pf pining, laughs, and tender moments.
I love a reformed bad boy falling for a broken girl and loving her through her pain.

read this book if you love

😬 angst
🍿 celebrity
💬 epistolary
💏 fake dating
😳 forbidden lovers (coworkers)
🏝️ forced proximity
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 great side characters
👦 he falls first and hard
🤫 hidden secrets
💞 mutual pining
😎 reformed bad boy
💓 slowburn
⚾ sports romance (baseball)
🌍 world building
💼 workplace romance

I really enjoyed the writing in this book and the way the characters developed throughout the book! I really enjoyed the banter and the chemistry between the main characters.