This was a rough one for me. A result of late night Netgalley requests where I didn’t check the details before requesting. This is a Wattpad book that got a really cute cover. Terrible formatting, lame plot, and they just do it constantly. I ended up skimming to hurry and finish.

Thanks Netgalley for the free copy. And the important lesson to pay more attention when requesting.

I was really excited about this book, but it just wasn't for me.

The main problem I had was that it felt too instant-lovey. I don't know how they fell in love in such a short amount of time together. It felt unrealistic to me and overall, the book felt shallow and without substance.

After finishing, I feel like I still do not truly know Gretchen or Josh or their motivation behind why they did certain things. This book had a cute premise but a poor execution.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley who gave me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Devastated to say but I didn’t enjoy the book. The writing screams fan fiction, if I’ll be honest it lost me at the first chapter. It screams Wattpad amateur writing and I hate Wattpad. The premise was good but the execution led to - couldn’t even finish it.

2 stars

Gretchen loves baseball and has never done anything spontaneous in her life. When she sees her favorite baseball player, Josh Malvern, in the airport looking worse for wear, she buys him coffee hoping to just make his day better. What she doesn’t expect is for her weekend trip to revolve around him and the attraction between the two of them.


📚

This book was an unfortunate miss for me. It was flat and unexciting when the book’s synopsis seemed promising. It was simple in dialogue and details and the attraction didn’t read as inticing. I felt no chemistry between the two leads which was unfortunate because the romance was the most interesting thing about this book. The subplots were quick weren’t needed. They seemed to be added just to add words to make the book longer.

The original meet cute was boring and shallow and their attraction only seemed like it was there because they had sex. I otherwise was not moved by it and felt indifferent about the characters. The book was also short but it took me so long to read it. I just was not motivated to pick it up at all.

I also think lack of chemistry could’ve been boosted by being read in the first person narrative. I just didn’t feel Gretchen’s worry of being a new person around Josh or Josh’s anxiety about his career and peers. The characters felt flat and not complex at all as hard as the author tried.

If you want a short read with the very bare minimum of an adult romance, this one is for you.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was was an okay read, it didn't have as much character development or plot as I would've liked. The formatting was odd and there wasn't much depth at all. Sadly an DNF for me. It was flat and disappointing for me.

I received a copy of this as an e-galley from Net Galley for an honest review. Thank you!

I wanted to love this book, and it had everything to be a perfect recipe for a wonderful romance novel. Baseball. Travel (Las Vegas, Dallas, Toronto). Meet cute in the airport. Wine culture. So many pieces that should have equaled a top tier story. Even some of the details were shoe-in to win (South end of the Vegas Strip at Mandalay Bay and Delano which are my favorite hotels. MC was a Clemson alum.)

However, the execution falls flat. The writing style is stunted and juvenile (can tell this started on Wattpad probably as a fanfic or something). The sex scenes are very hot, but very short, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am. (I mean, she basically can orgasm the second he lays a finger on her. Seriously?) The "conflict" that occurs is miscommunication, which I hate in a romance story. Just talk to each other! The writing sometimes is so descriptive and vivid and then other times flat and vanilla. Also, about 25% into the book all of a sudden the male MC has notorious anger issues, but they have never been hinted at previously. It feels a bit slapped together at times, and then at other times carefully put together.

Plot essentially is a baseball fan, Gretchen, sees her favorite baseball star, Joshua Malvern, at the Toronto airport and he looks a bit down, so she decides to buy him a coffee to cheer him up (she knows how he takes it from reading about him in magazines). He welcomes it and thinks she's cute, so he automatically upgrades her airline ticket so she can sit in first class with him on their way to Vegas (her for a wine expo and him because he's been sent back down to the minors). They hit it off and decide to have a weekend fling, that kind of feels like more, but then there is a misunderstanding, and they stop hanging out with one another. Two months go by and we see that both can't stop thinking about each other. They run into each other again, clear the air, have hot sex, and decide to think about maybe having a relationship, when Josh gets bad news about a friend. Then Gretchen supports Josh while his friend goes through the hard thing, which ends up not being a hard thing at all. Josh has some awesome supportive people in his life. He also has some dicks in his life. Josh is crazy about Gretchen. Gretchen likes Josh too. Gretchen has a friend, Sharla, who is also a sommelier, and she has one client, an earl named Kevin (who names an earl, Kevin?). They kind of show up randomly throughout the book. There is a happy ending.

It was a fine story. It was good enough to finish, but I wish it had used a bit more of an editing eye to not have "so much" going on, without much depth. Fine overall, entertaining. If you like baseball and romance it's decent enough. 2.5 stars overall.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A random encounter in the airport and a much needed cup of coffee brings Gretchen Harper face to face with her crush, professional baseball player Joshua Malvern.

The premise of this book was interesting but the plot just doesn’t follow through. Between the “love at first sight” premise, the cringe spicy scenes, and the eye-roll worthy misunderstanding, it was all blah.

If you’re looking for a quick sports romance with some average spiciness, this may be a good pick for you.

I’m so sorry to have to say this, but “Out of His League” was boring without even a hint of entertainment in sight. It was badly written and could have gone through a few extra rounds of editing.

If you are looking for a cute, light, easy to read romance, this is it.

After meeting by chance at an airport, Gretchen and Josh fall for each other ( rather quickly). All the best romance troupes are here ( instant lust, hero meets the right woman, one night changes everything etc). If you think that makes it cheesy and predictable and therefore not reading, you are wrong!
It’s the perfect easy read. No dark twists and turns, no deep roadblocks that couldn’t be worked out.
It’s pure escapism. Perfect for a romance novel.

I received an ecopy from the publisher through Net Galley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Well I didn't know you could touch a man's leg after you just met him and all of a sudden you're in love with each other but I'm pretty sure that's what I just read. All the conflict doesn't really do anything to further the story it all seemed unnecessary. Josh and Gretchen's relationship was based entirely on sex the one time they do something that isn't sex we must be told that the relationship isn't all about the sex. We aren't shown that to be true making it seem all the more like they have been whammied by leg touches and each other's magical downstairs naughty places.

I’ve been sitting on this review for a a few days. I feel the dilemma of whether to just write about how much I enjoyed the overall story, the characters, and their chemistry, orrrrrrr rating it and reviewing it compared to the other fantastic contemporary romance books I’ve read recently. It’s hard to not let the writing cloud the story up. It’s in need of some help, and maybe a rewrite of the ending. It’s absolutely “insta-lovey”, which actually didn’t bother me for the sake of how the characters meet, but the initial intrigue and yearning on our hero’s behalf could have been deepened to make it more believable. Underdevelopment is mostly the issue with every aspect of the book. I loved the set up, I liked the characters, but we needed more. It needs professional polish. When the book ended, a few small things were left loose, and they did not need to be, and honestly shouldn’t have been considering the type of book and nature of these sub-plots. It nagged at me. After completing the book I read that the story was on Wattpad and everything clicked into place. I really wish the publisher would have invested a little more time and effort to this book. It could be great, instead it’s destined for 2-3 star kindle-unlimited-land.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this title with me, in exchange for my unbiased opinion!

I feel like this is a classic case of right book, wrong time. What I mean by this is,,, the junior high, Wattpad obsessed version of myself would've loved it, but my current self did not. There was just so much going on, yet seemingly nothing important at all. The plot wasn't anywhere near cohesive or gripping enough to keep me entertained. And the minimal plot that was actually there happened to be filled with some of the most loathsome tropes. I mean there was insta-lust AND miscommunication... not a fun time. Overall, this is by no means the worst story out there, but there are definitely far better books to spend your time and money on.

I didn’t love the writing style at all. I couldn’t believe their relationship either. It was instalovey and superficial.

I was really excited about the premise of the book, I love a good sports romance but it missed the mark.

Unfortuantely the story and character development felt very underdeveloped. Their relationship lacked substance and the dailogue was shallow and lacked chemistry, the only draw between the main characters was their physical attraction to the other. It was very smutty, which I expected but I would have liked to see a little more build up to that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Summary: Gretchen randomly bumps into her biggest athlete crush in the airport while en-route to Vegas for a work thing. Instead of asking for his autograph, she sees that he’s not in a mood to deal with a fan and instead Gretch buys him a cup of coffee. They strike up a conversation right away, the connection between them obvious and simmering.
Josh just got some bad news regarding his baseball contract and is in no mood to travel to Vegas to the team he was demoted to. However the girl who bought him that cup of coffee makes his mind go into a different direction.
Is this a Vegas-only affair or the real deal?

What I liked:
- The Writing. It’s fun, light and keeps a consistent tone throughout the story.
- The Characters. Both Gretchen and Josh are alright, if a little too flat.
- The Steam. While some of the scenes got a little repetitive, I really enjoyed how this was used as device to build the characters’ connection beyond just the physical aspect.
- The Cover. It’s the first thing I saw and it sold me in the story so I’m counting it in.
- Quick read. You need about 3 full hours to get through it and so it’s super convenient.


What I didn’t like:
> the lack of plot or conflict. While there is a whiff of conflict at the 50% mark where the action takes a quick turn, the other half resumes its smooth sailing from before. There were no stakes, little adversities or things they had to fight in order to be together.
> too insta-lust/love for my liking, especially combined with just how there was no conflict around it.

🌶️🌶️🌶️,5/5
⭐⭐⭐,5/5

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

(Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

“Out of His League” was a cute sports love story! When Gretchen sees her favorite baseball player at the airport on one of the worst days of his life - she makes the impulse decision to buy him a coffee. When Josh invites her to sit in first class with him to repay her for her kindness it’s not long before both end up falling for each other.

I had a hard time connecting to Gretchen and Josh at first - but wound up becoming a lot more invested in the relationship between their characters around the mid-way point. I think that I understood who these characters were right away, but mainly because the author just told me instead of showing me who they were. And although it’s a romance and I know they are going to be endgame I feel like there were no real stakes to even psych me out.

Overall I thought this was a cute, simple sports romance that was fun but didn’t really get too deep or draw you in, mostly surface level fluff which if that’s the kind of read you need at the time it's perfect. If you are wanting a bit more depth then I think this book would be a skip for you.

This was a cute sports rom com. I would have liked a little more of a story, but it was entertaining. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy.

I really liked the concept of this book and the insta-attraction between the characters was fun to read. The character development is superficial and the book can be edited to improve the pacing that lags. Overall, I wanted to love this book, but it didn't do much to hook me and I found myself skimming often.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the advanced copy for my honest review.

This book is fantasy inducing hot! AND the plot line was enjoyable. These two things are not always found in the same book, so it was quite enjoyable! The hero of the story is the all-American dream: professional baseball player, gorgeous, thoughtful, focused, and not a playboy. The heroine is living this girls dream: tastes wine for a living (also known as a sommelier), and travels to amazing locales to do it. And when they meet it’s fire! Sprinkle in some personal crisis and a quirky best friend, and I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended!

Out of His League was given to be by NetGalley for an honest review. The story is written in the “slice of life” style. Meaning that we get every small detail of every day and the inner thoughts of the characters. I really enjoyed the first 1/5 of the book. It was fast paced and had the “love at first sight” trope, which I personally enjoy. However, after the two characters got together the story lost its steam. About mid way through the story there is a misunderstanding conflict that resulted in a big reaction which didn’t feel fleshed out enough. After that I struggled to finish the story. I usually devour sports romances and I really wanted to enjoy this book, but it was just okay. 2/5 stars.