"Heavy Hitter" by [Author Name] is a delightful and fast-paced romance that intertwines the lives of international pop star Lacey and professional baseball player Jimmy. The book's nods to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce add a charming layer of familiarity for fans. While the initial chemistry between the characters is electric and engaging, the story's chaotic progression and rushed ending may leave some readers wanting more depth and resolution. Nevertheless, it’s a quick, fun read that captures the excitement of a whirlwind romance.

Rating: 4 ⭐️
Spice: 1.5 🌶️

Such a quick, fun, and flirty read!!

As a Baltimore girl, I LOVED that the author used the Orioles as the team for Jimmy to be on and she made it seem desirable!!! This never happens!! Also, the parallels of the romance between Lacey and Jimmy compared to Taylor and Travis was *chefs kiss* !! I thought this story was well done and the characters were well developed. I was hooked from the first page!

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!!

I love this book! I really enjoyed the story and the characters. The plot was well written and interesting, and I related to the characters. The characters were realistic and interesting, and really felt like people you want to know.

A Travis & Taylor fanfic! What a fun and fast read. You will be rooting for this couple from the first chapter.

As a huge Taylor Swift fan, the obvious parallels from this novel to her current relationship, this was a much-anticipated novel for me. Unfortunately, the writing in this novel felt detached and I did not enjoy my reading experience at all. I was glad it was a short read. I did not really like either character and/or feel like their emotions/reactions were portrayed in a way that made me understand their actions.

Thank you to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Chaotic Taylor-Travis fanfic!

Lacey, a singer superstar, embark on a journey of relationship with a baseball player, Jimmy.

It's basically great at the start. Very fast-paced and the nod to Taylor and Travis' relationship was great considering I'm a fan.

It's very chaotic though and not really in a good way. They communicate at first, flirting and just plain talking with one while they were away from each other. I love that part, but when they got together, it kinda went downhill because it's obvious that they wanted to be with each other but circumstances are just not clicking. They just talk and start fighting to hurt one another. It was a mess. Chaotic. Ending felt rushed with no proper resolution.

The whole book went so fast, I wished it was a bit longer and much more thought out because it got so much potential but sadly, it just didn't live up to my expectations.

Heavy hitter follows Lacey and Jimmy. Lacey is an international popstar and Jimmy is a professional baseball player.

They meet by chance in a bar and after spending the night together develop a phone relationship. They talk often and build something special before meeting in person again to see if they still feel the same way. There is some back and forth issues with the media and fans but they end up making it work in the end.

This was a cute short read. Travis and Taylor vibes with a little extra.

I throughly enjoyed this book. This is my first time reading this author. The last few books I've read hadn't been able to catch my attention from the beginning but that wasn't true with this book. I read it in less than 24 hours. I recommend you check it out if you want a lighthearted baseball romance. Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy. #NetGalley #HeavyHitter

this is the perfect summer book! there were definitely Taylor/Travis vibes, which made this such a cute and fun read. my only complaint is that this book felt SO short and i wish it were a bit longer.

thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

Thank you to NetGalley & Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

This was such a cute read! 99% sure this this Travis/Taylor coded and I'm not complaining. I loved the banter between Lacey and Jimmy and their chemistry was on point. I do wish there was a bit more back story and a little longer but it was a great quick summer read! 

Read if you like: 
- Pro baseball player
- Travis/Taylor coded
- Dual POV

Enjoy reading this and the parallel to the Taylor and Travis of it all. However, it was way to much of a parallel that it was cringy.

It's a cute fan fiction piece and I enjoyed the fast read. I think it moved rather quickly for the relationship aspect of the novel, but overall was cute. There are quite a few spelling errors that threw me off, but those can be fixed! I would say the cutoff at the end is honestly tragic and would have probably lead to a 4 star review if it had been ended in a way that wraps the story up nicely. Unless we're leading to a second book the cutoff felt devastating as a reader.

Where has this been all my life?? I could not put this book down. The characters felt real and relatable. It was a quick read with fun and serious moments. It was as if I watched their story play out.

First, I have loved all of Katie Cotugno’s other books so this was an instant read for me.

Second, BUT I was really skeptical when I read that people were reminded of Taylor/Travis but lucky for me I don’t follow her so I blissfully read the book without a single aspect of Taylor/Travis sticking out to me.

This book was a super fun, quick read that can easily be read in one sitting. I really enjoyed Lacey and Jimmy’s banter and connection but I wish it would’ve been longer because the story definitely could’ve been expanded further.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

I have always loved Katie Cotugno’s books, which is why I requested this ARC on NetGalley, but this one KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK (pun very much intended). First and foremost, the writing is great - witty, funny, creative prose. Even the intimate scenes feel fresh and not recycled from other romance novels.

Both of the main characters are fleshed out, with traumatic life experiences, friends and family members who should be supportive, but who are actually mentally draining. You feel like you have an insight to the lives of real superstars and it is deliciously voyeuristic. The author clearly researched much of the nuances of what it means to be an international performing artist and it felt very real.

I love a good slow burn with a lot of dialogue adding to the buildup. This was done well and the forced distance due to their conflicting busy schedules provided the perfect opportunity to get to know one another through calls and texts - a dynamic I personally love. Great conflict; realistic issues these two would encounter. Satisfying ending without being too contrived or wrapped in a perfect bow. Loved it all, highly recommend!

this book was 100% Travis Kelce/ Taylor Swift coded which was a fun surprise considering I went in blind and requested mostly because the cover is so adorable!

I loved it! it was sweet, sexy, and swoony! I liked the way they met and the way their relationship progressed- I wasn’t a huge fan of the conflict, but I still overall enjoyed it.

⚾️pro baseball player
⚾️phone convos
⚾️singer
⚾️Travis Kelce/ Taylor Swift coded

I'm going to round my rating up just for the sake of it not negatively affecting the author's launch. I wasn't a big fan of this, which says a lot since I love baseball, and just like the mmc I'm a catcher. I found many inconstancies in the whole mlb realm, and lots of things don't actually happen. The relationship felt purely physical, they bang 12% in and it's like that the rest of the book. I didn't feel an ounce of a emotional connection between the too. I think the author should have focused less on the spice and more on the conversations they should have been having. Also the mmc's best friend is horrible and so is the fmc's mother.

A super fast read with a pop star x pro baseball player love story!

I loved how feisty Lacey and Jimmy were, and their dialogue back and forth had me completely entertained. I do wish it was a bit longer to add more development to some of the different plot points, but for a quick romance read it was great.

This is a popstar-pro athlete romance, and I absolutely loved it. Does it have Taylor/Travis vibes? Yes-ish. There are some pieces of their story, but this is also a story that is Lacey/Jimmy (the main characters)-centric, and you cannot help, but get swept away in their love story. Jimmy is a baseball player thinking about life after the game, and Lacey is getting ready for a big tour. And then, they have a chance encounter, and things go from there. Again, this was just a delightful read. I love the way their romance developed as they navigated the world of celebrity and real-life. I needed something light and fun and swoony, and this checked all those boxes. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this August 2024 release!

The premise of “Heavy Hitter" seems a guaranteed grand slam — an international pop star and a major league baseball player meet one night in the city and the rest is hot and heavy history. And Katie Cotugno’s attempt to blend humor, sizzle, and a ripped-from-the-headlines vibe does occasionally hit the mark. Unfortunately, there are plenty of swings and misses in this story.

When characters are not-so-loosely-based on two real people as famous as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, character development in the fictional versions becomes extremely important.

One of the primary issues with "Heavy Hitter" is its third-person, present-tense narrative. This choice creates a significant distance between the reader and the characters, making it difficult to feel connected to Lacey Logan and Jimmy Hodges, the fictional Taylor and Travis.

Their emotions are told to us via a third-party narrator, who inevitably becomes more detached observer and unreliable narrator than someone intimately familiar with these character’s inner lives. This detachment undermines the romance at the story's core, leaving Lacey and Jimmy’s feelings toward each other flat and unconvincing. We are told they care, but do they really?

The present tense aspect makes this problem worse, each person often lashing out like children or working through their moment-to-moment feelings on page. They aren’t growing in our view as people. They are just bodies in motion doing stuff.

Not to mention that these two characters spend almost no physical time together in the story. Their relationship exists as more of an idea they have in their head, and in casual texts, and in wondering if the other person is on their way out the door than it does in togetherness. The relationship and the love isn’t real in any definable way. We are told it’s real and are supposed to accept it’s true.

But reality, as it goes here, is subjective in many ways. Lacey, with her perfectly curated Instagram feed and high-profile celebrity woes, never quite emerges as a fully rounded person. Jimmy, the scruffy baseball player with the banged-up knees, a bruised ego, and maybe a decent heart, feels half-baked. Their interactions and budding relationship lack the depth and complexity that would make their romance feel genuine and compelling.

Moreover, the pacing of the story is breakneck. Key moments in their romance are glossed over until they are slammed into an abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion. While the book does end on a happily ever after note, it feels incomplete and hastily wrapped up, leaving many threads unresolved.

“Heavy Hitter” is a first draft of an amazing book I would have no doubt loved, and a second draft of a very good book I would have liked. But as it stands, this is an intriguing concept which failed to deliver a true home run of a love story.