after multiple attempts at reading- I have decided to DNF. I’m hoping to return to it in the future but right now i’m unable to connect with the author’s writing style.

I didn't realize until I was too far into needing to read this book for a NetGalley review that it's just a retelling of Taylor/Travis and their love story. It's quite literally copy and paste of many of the headlines that are written about the pair. I wanted some form of originality.

This was a good premise but I wasn't honestly a huge fan of the execution. It felt extremely fast paced and it was sort of hard to keep up with. I think it would be great for someone who likes fast books but unfortunately did not hit for me.

Cute idea but the execution was lacking. I’m definitely a Taylor x Travis fan. But the story seemed very surface level. I needed more depth for the characters and story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heavy Hitter by Katie Cotugno

Heavy Hitter follows the relationship between pro baseball player Jimmy and singing star Lacey.

This was a solid romance. It had the expected banter, some spice and drama, and the required HEA -- all of the stuff you expect to be in your typical romance book. Jimmy is on the tail end of his career while Lacey is in full swing. Because of this, they struggle at finding time and ways to be together. Jimmy was my favorite of the two. I appreciated his struggle with life and making hard decisions, and trying to understand what Lacey’s celebrity was like. Lacey on the other hand was less likable, more bratty, and had the “I’m better than you” and “I told you so” vibe. The side characters made me mad quite often, blaming Lacey for showing up to things and “ruining” the moments. She gets to have a life too! For that, I felt sorry for her.

This book would have been better told in the first person point of view where we could maybe feel more of what the characters are feeling rather than being told what they are feeling. It hindered a solid connection with Jimmy and Lacey.

If you like the Taylor and Travis saga, then this is for you. Again, it’s a solid romance, just lacking in a little bit of depth.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title for review.

Lacey Logan is a chart-topping superstar whose life no longer feels like her own. Every move she makes is photographed, videoed, dissected online and scrutinised by her fans. While I'm a bar recovering from a breakup with her ex-boyfriend, she meets baseball player Jimmy Hodges. Jimmy is the opposite of the picture-perfect guy Lacey thinks she wants. Soon, sparks fly and inhibitions go out the window when Lacey dares to take some chances.

I don't usually read other people's reviews before reading a book. This book gives me some serious Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce vibes. Even the cover's illustration of the FMC looks like Taylor Swift.

Usually I'm a fan of retellings but not this. I'm just disappointed that there is not much originality in this story although the author does include some scenes of her own.

If you are looking for a short, satisfying, steamy, swoony rockstar/sports romance with charming characters and a timely plot, 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘏𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 might be your call. While this fares as an "okay" romance for me, it is not my favourite.

I'm usually a fan of the MCs in romance novels but I don't like Jimmy in this. Personally, I find Jimmy to be self-centered and the scene whereby Lacey goes to his game to cheer him on irks me (sorry, no spoilers here. You're gonna have to read this to find out).

A lot of issues and the characters' backstories are not uncovered as well. The character development is poor. I've always loved characters which are well developed and have grown over the course of the story but this does not seem to be the case for this book. The character development (if there even is one) seems flat and nonexistent.

Unfortunately, the ending felt rushed too. At less than 200 pages, I feel like we've skipped too many parts. The good news is - the chapters are short! I finished this book in under 2 hours.

Thank you to NetGalley @netgalley, Harper Perennial and Paperbacks @harperperennial, and Katie Cotugno for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.
𝓜𝔂 𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰: ⭐⭐⭐/5

DNF @ 17%. I thought I was going to love this one as a baseball romance is one of my favorites, but this one just had me annoyed. I didn't like either character, they both felt very toxic and I couldn't see the chemistry between them. Thank you for the eARC!

I’ve decided to DNF this book at 31% for a couple reasons. Mostly it’s just not for me. I found the two main characters to be very one dimensional and cringey. Additionally, there was way too much cussing in this book. When I notice it, it’s a problem.

Lacey Logan is an international superstar who is struggling with privacy and control over her life. Jimmy Hodges is a Baltimore Orioles player who has experienced a failed marriage. They are polar opposites, but Lacey takes a chance on Jimmy and sparks fly!

Overall, this book felt like a fan-fiction of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce (but maybe more Jason Kelce). There was lots of flirty texting and banter throughout the book. I just didn't feel particularly connected to the characters or the story. I liked it, but it didn't feel "special."

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks | Harper Perennial for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

This was a very challenging read for me. I had a really hard time connecting with the characters. The pacing was weird. The interactions between the 2 MCs was off to me. I didn't feel like they had a good connection or chemistry. The plot was MEH- more focused on the characters that I couldn't wrap my head around. We have Lacey who is a superstar and ends up having a random hookup in a dive bar in NYC- is that realistic?? I think not. Now she is wanting to stay in touch with her hookup Jimmy who she seems to know but at the same time knows nothing about baseball (confusing much??). Then we have Jimmy who is about to retire from the MLB but decides to see where this thing goes with the superstar that is Lacey. He is all in, then gets freaked out. He wants to go out with her but then realizes he can't handle it. He was too wishy washy for me. He made Lacey feel small and unimportant but then realized what he was losing and wanted her back. One good thing- this was a short one. Bottom line- I would not recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF'd this pretty quickly. I just couldn't get into it at all, the characters didn't feel relatable, and the present tense writing just kinda of threw me off. Unfortunately, not my favorite, though I typically love sports romances.

(Actual: 2.5⭐) I truly wanted to like this one SO BAD and I just..... ugh. I did not, I'm sorry. It wasn't so much that it was "bad" per se, but rather just.... meh? Underwhelming. While the premise/trope of a Celebrity x [Professional] Sports Player is certainly nothing new (and a trope I've honestly enjoyed in previous books I've read), HH is very much inspired by Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce— which would be *fine*.... if it weren't for the fact that it was so painfully obvious (changing the type of sport the MMC plays is simply not enough, okay??) 🙃Is the story a quick read and relatively easy to breeze through while on holiday? Sure. But that doesn't always necessarily make it good, which is what happened for me here. I don't follow sports much and, while I do listen to TS/enjoy her music, I wouldn't at all consider myself to be part of her huge fandom.... which is why for me, personally, to be able to see so blatantly what (predominately?) inspired this book and its plot..... well, it honestly just felt like reading mid-tier fanfic to me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Outside of that, my other true qualm is how both MCs lacked (or had very few) qualities to them that made them feel like real people. There would be brief moments throughout the book where they would showcase some depth........ and then it'd be gone just as fast and they'd go back to being 2-dimensional caricatures. I also am just not a fan of insta-love (and it was laid on THICK here) or the [weird] use of other people's [side characters] trauma/hardships to prop up the MCs without actually taking the time to acknowledge or tackle it in any sort of meaningful way. I liked Cotugno's previous book, so I'll chalk this one up to just not being for me and still implore others to check it out for themselves in order to draw up their own conclusions.

This book was just ok for me. If you are looking for a "Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce" inspired love story, this fits the bill. The story felt rushed however, and the characters a bit one-dimensional. It's also quite heavy on the spice level, which isn't my typical reading fare.

theeeee most thinly veiled Taylor/Travis fictionalization lol. like.. probably to the point where too much is a one-to-one match to Taylor. definitely a fast, breezy read (maybe.... rushed to publication?). overall, it was an easy read that could've been better if we spent more time getting to know these characters, but I had fun. 3.75

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Taylor Swift fans here is your romance story you've been waiting for.

Lacey Logan is a chart-topping international superstar who happens to meet Jimmy, a baseball star on his way out, by chance one night. They immediately hit it off and try to navigate through their romance. Lacey's fans are unlike anything Jimmy has experienced before. Can he handle being with her?

This one unfortunately missed the mark with me. I didn't feel the connection beyond attraction between Jimmy and Lacey. They didn't seemingly have anything in common or a solid base to connect on an emotional level. I will still check out more from this author in the future because I have loved her other books.

As a big swiftie, i was definitely intrigued by this one! Unfortunately, I was not a fan. It was painfully copy-pasted down to the smallest details like Taylors workout to prep for the eras tour. With Jimmy it was a little less obvious which I definitely preferred. unfortunately, I never felt connected to the characters and felt they lacked depth.

I enjoyed this book. I like Lacey and Jimmys meet cute. I wish there was a bit more or an epilogue. I was sad the ending was abrupt and we didn’t get to know what happens with Jimmy. Was a nice celebrity romance.

I was excited to read this book as the blurb reminded me of real life Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. The book was a quick read and I did enjoy it, although I didn't love how abrupt some of the chapters were, especially when switching from one scene to the next. Both characters had to work through some issues, and it made them more relatable.

This was a very fun and quick read. Not hard to be invested in T Swift Fan Fic, especially since I like baseball more than football. I enjoyed the read, but thought the charcuterie were a little too dysfunctional for me to root for them being together… I’d still read another book by Katie, though this HEA was not very satisfying.

Thank you Harper Perennial and Netgalley for my e-arc!

Heavy Hitter is a book that takes current headlines and twists them slightly with a baseball catcher and a singer, but I wish the book had been longert. A quick and enjoyable read! In a single day, I finished the entire book. I hadn't read a baseball player/pop star relationship before, but I really enjoyed this one.