3 stars. I really, really wanted to like this more. In fact, until the third act conflict, this would have been 4+ stars. I love You’ve Got Mail, I love The Hating Game, I love the romance of baseball as a sport. The book was cute; it was fun! And then, in the third act, my least favorite type of conflict happened, which spoiled it for me — the FMC overhears part of a conversation, jumps to the worst possible conclusion, completely forgets everything she’s learned about the MMC, and refuses to talk to him about it. Yes, this is a common conflict in romance, but it makes me so angry every time. The FMC does grovel pretty spectacularly, but I feel like that grand gesture could have found its way into the book without pissing me off first.

Thanks so much to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC!

Loved this cute rom com that reminded me a lot of the hating game but just different enough. The epilogue made me so happy. I can’t wait to read more by this author.

I absolutely devoured this book! I was sucked in by the first chapter and so invested in what would happen. I loved the hating game and the blurb of this book intrigued me. The vibes are definitely similar but this book stands alone as good in its own right!

This book was fun. :) Emmy and Gabe are rival data analysts at a professional baseball team competing for a promotion. Unbeknownst to them, outside work they're SMS besties after a Gabe is given a Emmy’s number by a would-be date who gave her a fake one.

'Last Night Was Fun' was everything I love in a book rom com. It has You've Got Mail vibes but executed in a fresh way with its well-paced plot development and crisp writing. I devoured this, wondering when they were going to work out who each other were (and I really appreciate that they both found out at the same time. Usually one discovers who the other is first then ghosts the other which irritates me!). Gabe and Emmy were perfect for each other as they slowly opened up to each other, revealing their vulnerabilities. I adored their SMS and workplace banter, I laughed so many times. Woven seamlessly was the relatable way women are treated in the workplace by the boys club, or as Emmy calls it, Boys Town. From talking over you to say the exact same thing which is then praised by other men, to the weekend golf trips where they discuss workplace gossip for their own benefit.

I'm calling this early, it's going to my top rom com for 2025.

Thanks to Avon/Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC.

Last Night Was Fun starts off with an unbelievably fun premise—two people accidentally building a relationship through texting after a woman gives the man a fake number. Most of us have received wrong-number calls and texts, but this book builds a hilarious love story off of it.

Emmy and Gabe are workplace rivals since Emmy’s a woman in the male-dominated field of baseball (and the also-male-dominated field of data analytics). This story follow the two as they hit it off over an unexpected text exchange, but in their texting personas they only call each other Bird Girl and Axe Murderer. Although the sheer number of clues that the people they’re falling for over text messages are actually Emmy and Gabe from work is kind of ridiculous, it’s still deliciously thrilling when they eventually realize who they’ve been pouring out their hearts to.

If you love workplace rivalries, enemies to lovers, fake wedding date, only-one-bed tropes with an incredible number of bird band puns, you’ll love Last Night Was Fun as much as I did! Thank you to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the ARC of this book.

Cute, semi cozy. But very predictable, so predictable that I knew what was up after Gabe threw his almond milk coffee in the trash.

This one was so cute! I started it because I love romances with a pen-pal/texting trope and this one did not disappoint. i loved the secret identity and then enemies to lovers storyline. andddd the forced proximity… perfection. Gabe and Emmy were so cute together but they were just too stubborn to see it. 4 stars only because Emmy made some questionable choices in the attempt to guard her heart but definitely would recommend!

4.25

Emmy receives a text from a guy who received a fake number. They continue texting and even though she has sworn off dating she starts to fall for him.
She spends all of her time focused on her career. She is currently up for a promotion. The only other candidate is her mortal enemy, Gabe. Things take a turn when the stranger she is texting with ends up being Gabe.

Troupes: enemies to lovers, forced proximity

I requested this ARC immediately when they mentioned The Hating Game. This lives up to that hype! I love the text flirting that happens between bird girl and axe murdered. I was even more excited when I found out that it is centered around baseball. This is a fun, clever, sexy romance.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon or Harper Voyager for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a "You've Got Mail" style, colleague rivals to lovers story, set in the underbelly of a ball park.
I love the idea of people showing different pieces of themselves to different parts of their lives. This feels so true, especially in a work environment you feel less represented in. The coincidence (wrong number) was pretty extreme, but worked for me. The character growth was beautiful and the third act struggle was a doozy (I'm not sure I could have reconciled...). I loved the banter and the humor. I loved the side characters. I loved the setting. I loved the spice! This was a good, well-written love story.

Thanks to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager, and especially Holly Michelle for this eARC.

This book was adorable! The banter between Emmy and Gabe was great and I loved how their relationship grew throughout the book. It was a super cute story.

It's a straightforward story that you can get lost in. The banter between the couple is written very well. I enjoyed the similarities to the movie You've Got Mail. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

loved this wrong number and finding romance. loved that it was an enemies to lovers story with baseball. loved her co workers and hope to see more books about the friends.

Awwwwww, I just loved this story. Coined as You've Got Mail and The Hating Game, this romp had elements of both, as well as sliding in other famous rom-com scene similarities. I've been waiting for years for something to shake me like The Hating Game did and while nothing can really top The Hating Game, LAST NIGHT WAS FUN was pretty close.

I thought Emmy and Gabe were so good being against each other and WITH each other. I loved the banter of their "real life selves" and the endearment of their "text selves."

*** spoiler alert ***

The spicy scenes were unique compared to what's out there because they actually talked and fumbled with their clothes and revealed their feelings (particularly Gabe). Their talking during and after was the chef's kiss to the scene.

I will say I would have liked more info on the "last night was fun" original exchange with Gabe and the mystery woman. I'd also have liked to read more about Gabe's relationship with his parents. AND it would have been good for there to be a conversation about Emmy's dad and Gabe fishing. IYKYK

Nonetheless, ahhhh, I spent an entire day (which may or may not included reading at work) loving this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Harper Voyager for an e-copy of LAST NIGHT WAS FUN to review.

I rate LAST NIGHT WAS FUN five out of five stars.

One thing I've come to discover about myself is that I absolutely love romances that follow the "You've Got Mail" plot. Is it the most original book? Perhaps not, but I still enjoyed it! This book had all the staple tropes: fake date to a wedding, one bed, rival coworkers up for the same promotion to name a few. I thought the book did a great job of adding some new elements to them though. It also focused a lot on the misogyny that Emmy faced in her job, but my one problem was that a lot of it was at the hands of Gabe. We do get an eventual "explanation" for this and he redeemed himself in my eyes but I wish it didn't all have to come from him.

The fact that the book revolved around baseball was a unique touch. Emmy and Gabe both work as analysts for a pro baseball team but each have an individual and sad tie to the sport. Gabe was an ex-player who had a career-ending injury but has all the marks of a pro athlete, but his personality on the inside is completely different and heartwarming. Still, in another world this book was definitely a sports romance.

"Last Night Was Fun" was a really heartwarming read with lots of great banter. I personally enjoyed the use of many of my favorite and familiar tropes - they're such a source of comfort and when done right, which I think they were here, give me such butterflies. And the spice was phenomenal - it was nothing too crazy, but it was very well done. This is a perfect comfort read for romance lovers!

A cute holiday baseball romance, enemies to lovers with some serious "You've got Mail" vibes. It is lighthearted and fun, and about finding love in unexpected places. Emmy Jameson is a baseball data analyst for a Major League Baseball team, she is outstanding at her job but has to face many hurdles at work being a female in a male-dominant industry. She is up for a promotion and in competition with the other strong analyst, Gabe Olson. Emmy holds her personal life close to the vest and doesn't share personal details at all with her coworkers. She has sworn off dating, but one fateful night, she gets a text from a mystery number saying "Last night was fun." It turns out that some girl at a bar gave a guy a fake number, which just so happened to be Emmy's number!

What are the odds? (I mean, Emmy and Gabe could probably calculate the odds, but we couldn't.)

They exchange texts over the course of a few weeks and start to develop feelings for each other, to the point where Emmy is ready to invite the mystery man to her sister's wedding in Cancun. Now, this isn't technically a spoiler since it is in the blurb, and you can see it coming a mile away, but of COURSE the mystery man is Gabe. There is so much built up anticipation about the identity of the texter, who Emmy has listed as "Axe murderer" in her phone. I promise you, the witty text banter is worth it, and you will love seeing Emmy and Gabe feel safe sharing their lives with each other on text and falling in love. All of us want to believe that if we share ourselves with someone, that they will still be able to love us.

The narrative accurately and infuriatingly describes being a woman in the workplace, and how much harder women, especially in male dominant fields, have to work in order to be taken seriously.

If you enjoy a sports romance, witty banter and a good rivals-to-lovers storyline, this is a great summer beach read for you!

Thanks to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Book to be published June 10, 2025.

One of my all time favorite rom-coms! If you love 90s/2000s rom-coms and/or baseball, you have to read this book! The description mentions being You've Got Mail inspired and it draws the perfect amount of inspiration from You've Got Mail while remaining original. The banter between Emmy and Gabe is fantastic and had me smiling from start to finish.

I went into this thinking it was enemies to lovers but it was obvious from the first encounter that Gabe had feelings for Emmy. The end “twist” was too obvious and I wish they had gone without the miscommunication trope.

The Hating Game is one of my all-time favorite romance novels, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to read Last Night Was Fun. I devoured it in one night!

I loved the banter between Axe Murderer and Bird Girl. Emmy and Gabe are both mature MCs, and I loved the exploration of work/life balance and the stress of parental expectations. I particularly liked the focus on baseball and what it’s like to be an “only girl.” Everything about this romance was peak relationship goals - highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Last Night Was Fun! Going into this book, I was not aware that Holly Michelle was a pen name for Holly James. Having read a few of Holly James previous works, I was surprised by the writing of Last Night Was Fun. I don't know what was different with this book, but this story was out of the ballpark (hee hee) compared to the other books I've read by this author. I'm glad this book was rebranded as a Holly Michelle book because I'm not sure if I would have picked this one up. Besides the very long sentences, I thought the writing and pacing were spot on. As someone who doesn't prefer third-person narratives, I was shocked that I didn't mind the writing style. I liked the plot of this story and the baseball theme. The beginning relationship between Emmy and Gabe was adorable. I loved the texting scenes between them. The banter between Gabe and Emmy was perfect. Readers will get butterflies from them! I wish the texting exchanges were labeled. There were a few points where I got confused on who was texting. I also enjoyed the in-person moments between Gabe and Emmy. The night out and baseball scene with them was fun. Michelle did a great job adding comedic bits to the story. The first "meeting" scene had me laughing out loud. I liked how the author included an Easter egg from her book, Name Your Price. I liked Emmy and Gabe's characters. They were layered enough that I didn't feel left wanting. I thought they were a good match for each other. I wasn't a big fan of the miscommunication with one of the characters at the end of the book. I felt like the side characters could have been developed better. I wanted more from Beth, Pedro, and Silas. The grand gesture scene and epilogue were cute. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC.

Aww, I loved this! It is a sweet, fun romance between two leads who care about and complement each other. The plot is engaging and both Emmy and Gabe are easy to root for (especially once we get to know Gabe a bit better).

There is a bit of miscommunication near the end which I did not appreciate but it was still easy to root for Emmy and Gabe and the ending was charming. Recommended to fans of workplace romance, enemies-to-lovers, and forced proximity tropes. 4.5 stars.

(I did not realize it was written by the author of Name Your Price, Nothing But the Truth, The Deja Glitch until a reference to Name Your Price in one of the chapters. I have adored every book by this author and this was no exception.)

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.