Very sweet, predictable, light-hearted romance. Easy read and the characters were very enjoyable. Hope to see some future books for side characters.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC. This was a nearly immediate DNF for me. It was so incredibly corny and unrealistic that I rolled my eyes so much in the first 3 chapters I gave myself a headache. I love sports romcoms and the book description seemed cute, but this was just awful. I'm surprised this was actually published and not a piece of fan fiction on tumblr. I would give zero stars if possible.

While I'm a big fan of sports romances and Josh and Gretchen were very cute there were many moments where I was confused by the transitions in the book. I found myself going back pages to figure out how we got to location B from location A. I also found that right when I think the book was over it kinda just kept going which isn't a bad thing because there was no drama it was just more cute moments I felt like it could have ended once they agreed to work it out.

I did appreciate how aware Josh was in his anger and his mistakes. There were moments where he knew he needed to take a breather and have a clear head. Also him standing up for what his body needs instead of pushing himself to the point where he most likely wouldn't be able to recover like most athletes was refreshing.

It was a quick read and I couldn't help but wanting more Sharla and Kevin moments. I'm definitely intrigued since they seem to give off grumpy/sunshine vibes.

Gretchen and Josh….can I say wow! Typically I’m more of a slow burn type of romance reader, but the chemistry that was shown between Gretchen and Josh was strong from the beginning, I understand why they moved as fast as it did. I think they’re definitely for one another. Personally I think the conflict was a bit unnecessary considering the short time they knew each other before hand. The supporting characters between Starla, the coach, Neptune, were a joy to read. I also loved that this touched into what many athletes don’t talk about, which is when retirement is among them. The pressure of being a professional athlete is unimaginable, but this author gave some nice insight and wrapped it up with a HEA.

✨BOOK REVIEW

Out of His League by Caroline Richardson was my first pick for #NetGalleyNovember so thank you to @netgalley and @wattpadbooks for my ARC.

PUB DATE: 04 04 2022

SYNOPSIS: When Gretchen Harper sees her favourite baseball player, Josh Malvern, at the airport, she decides to throw caution to the wind and buy him a cup of coffee. Coffee becomes wine on the plane which turns into a one night stand in Vegas of all places. “While stepping out of her comfort zone has never been Gretchen’s style, for a chance at true love she will have to decide whether she will swing for the fences, even if it means striking out…”

Ok, this book was FUN and STEAMY! I love a romance centred around a professional athlete (who doesn’t) and absolutely loved how it centred around a Canadian team, the Toronto Sixers, a fictional take on the Toronto Blue Jays. I do wish we were given a bit MORE; I wanted more character development, more relationship building and more suspense. For me, there was just a bit too much insta-love (the practical side of me has a really hard time believing someone is willing to completely upend their life and career based of 48 hours in the sac). Still, I really liked Gretchen and Josh and thought their romance was cute and steamy and would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a HEA steamy romance centred around sports!

I really enjoyed this. I do think that feelings happened a little quickly, but I don’t fully mind since it is a romance. I think romances with athletes are some of my favorites and I want to read more. This book was cute and made me laugh and smile and the cover is super cute. I can’t wait to see what else this author writes.

When I first started reading it was a bit difficult, but that had more to do with the format it came into my kindle. After downloading the NetGalley shelf app it was much easier to read and enjoyable. Now to the book!

Out of his league is a Rom-Com written in the world of sports and wine, it was cute, really cute. It starts with Gretchen seeing her favorite baseball player at the airport, and instead of going over and asking for his autograph like she originally thinks to do she instead buys him a cup of coffee, and the rest is well history.

The spice in this book is on point, I mean they waste zero time in getting to the spice. But it wasn't in a way that made me feel that it was just because there needed to be a spicy scene, you could feel the connection that was being built. I do feel that the drama and a few of the subplots that were in the book midway/near the end felt like an afterthought. Almost like it felt like there hadn't been any "real" drama so they had to throw some in. I felt there could have been other ways and other opportunities to put a strain on the relationship to create that moment of doubt. So the end for me dragged but I am a sap for happily ever after and this book did not disappoint. It did leave the door open for what appears to be a continuation of Sharla and Kevin's story, and I do hope they do. I would like to see how that dynamic works.

Is this a book I can say I would reread? No. Is it one I feel like I will be screaming from the rooftops for every one of my friends to read? Maybe not the rooftop, but there is a good chance I'll suggest it to some. Would I recommend this to anyone looking for a cute and quick romance with a good amount of spice to read? Yes.

Any book that combines my big love for both wine and baseball has me at hello. This one grabbed me from the first few paragraphs and did not disappoint.

Gretchen, a late twenty-something sommelier happens to spot her Major League Baseball crush, Josh, in an airport bar while waiting for her flight to a wine convention in Vegas. She has a bit of time, and noticing that he looks rather down, throws caution to the wind and buys him a cup of coffee. That uncharacteristically bold gesture on her part turns into a few days of fun, or perhaps even more.

Josh is headed to Vegas, because his Big League team is sending him down to the minors at what could be the end of his major league baseball career. He's not very optimistic about his future in baseball, and unlike so many of his colleagues, he's really not the hook up kind, so when Gretchen walks into his life, he's really not looking to hit any home runs, neither personally nor professionally.

I really enjoyed this book because neither Gretchen nor Josh are stereotypical. They have interesting careers, and despite the glamorous worlds that they run in, they are both just good, likeable people with nice friends.

This book had some twists and turns that kept my pages turning and my wine glass filled a I read this book in a day. It' a great beach or vacation read and if you like sports related romance, it's a lot of fun.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for my never-held-back opinion!

I really love a good sports romance so I was really excited to read this book. However, this just didn't fully hit the mark for me. It fell flat in a lot of areas. It was very spicy which I enjoyed but I feel like there was a major lack in character development.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC. The beginning seemed very choppy and shallow. I wanted so badly to like the main character more. But her obsession and knowing every detail came off creepy to me. I’m giving 3 stars simply because not liking the main character tainted the whole story for me.
I would definitely recommend to someone who likes their romance novels on the *steamy* side.

Gretchen meets her favorite baseball player, Josh, in an airport and they strike up a whirlwind romance. Gretchen is a sommelier, which was a fun touch and interesting to learn a bit more about! But I have to be honest, I struggled a bit with this one. There were quite a few places throughout that just felt like an excuse to include a sex scene without anything substantial or that served to advance the plot -- which may be what some readers are looking for, for sure! Just wasn't particularly for me. I enjoyed the female friendship dynamic and Josh's career discussions, as well as Gretchen's sharing about her family. More than the lighthearted and sweet romcom I was looking for, it served up a substantial amount of steam. It didn't satisfy my personal tastes but I think it would happily suit a different reader. There is no denying that Caroline Richardson is a talented author and I am so happy for her success from Wattpad! I would definitely be interested in reading future works.

Many thanks to Caroline Richardson, Wattpad Books, and NetGalley for this ARC!

This book is exactly what it says on the tin, in many positive and not-so-positive ways. It reads as fun, lightly developed fanfic, because that is exactly what it is. All the favorite romance tropes are there: insta-lust, one night changes it all, focused hero meets the right woman, wallflower steps out...this hits many of the classics. The “romance” is really more sexual attraction, and that is fine. Books can be pure escapism, it isn't against the rules! Honestly, this book is exactly what would expect to happen when you take a solid, long-form fanfic and smoosh it into book form. I am 100% here for it. Fanfic has tons of talented writers and if this starts a trend of people getting paid for that work, sounds great. This is a great read as long as you know what it is meant to be: a fun, sexy story with a cheery HEA.

Going to be real here... I feel like I was a little bit catfished by this book cover.

I know, I know, "don't judge a book by its cover," but I did (kind of... I also read the description) and I was really not expecting to get such Wattpad vibes from this book. But then I went on Goodreads and realized that was because it was initially published on Wattpad.

There's nothing wrong with Wattpad stories. they just sadly aren't my cup of tea.

The premise of the story and the characters were promising (also I'm a little jealous of Gretchen's career as a sommelier tbh), but, I ended up DNF'ing around 30% in.

I would take my review with a grain of salt - if this is your sorta vibe, give it a try!

I wanted to like this book, but I just found myself struggling to connect with it.

Gretchen Harper meets her long time baseball hero, Joshua Malvern, in the airport, looking more than a little down on himself. So she buys him coffee. Joshua has been sent down from the majors and he's off to Vegas to figure out what to do next and buy himself some time. One thing leads to another and a one night stand turns into something more complicated, but both of them are contending with the obstacles of their lives along the way.

I'm very much a slowburn romance person, and this book dived straight into a very passionate one night stand, and was pretty heavy on the lovey-dovey from there on. There was no angst and and all of the characters felt kind of flat to me. It felt very much like fan-fic, which usually I don't mind, but this just stood out to me. I think what bothered me most was just the pace of this. They fell into bed together in the first 50 pages if I'm not mistaken, and it just felt rushed and hollow. Subplots weren't well developed either, making the pacing seem even more off kilter.

This book just didn't work for me. I love baseball and I love romance and I love a baseball romance, but I just didn't like this one. It read to me like it was written by someone who doesn't know all that much about baseball, which is a shame, and the romance itself was paced really strangely in my opinion. It definitely felt fanfiction-y to me, which was a bummer because I definitely think the world needs more baseball romcoms.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wattpad for this ARC.

i really enjoyed this book! it was so cute and sweet, and refreshing! None of the usual tropes here - the couple was communicative and good for each other. I was entralled in it from start to finish, and definitely believed the story.

This book was a quick and easy read that appealed to me on Net Galley based on a cute illustrated cover (much like an Emily Henry or Mary Kay Andrew’s cover) and what felt like a meet-cute description. Once I received the book as an ARC I noticed a starkly different cover, much more Fabio in the MLB. If this cover had been the one paired with the Net Galley description, I definitely would not have requested it.

I was surprised quickly though by some intimate scenes that felt vulgar for no reason other than that they could be. Frankly some of them felt like they were written by a college frat bro.

I enjoyed the book, but it definitely wasn’t great. I think the book has a bit of an identity crisis - it doesn’t know if it’s a rom-com where two people meet one weekend and find a once in a lifetime romance or if it is a true romance novel about a fan and an athlete.

There is a bit of drama between Gretchen and Josh that could split them up for good, but there are a few plot points that seem like they’re just thrown in to give the book a real story in between intimate scenes.

Overall, I give this book a solid meh.

thank you netgalley for giving this arc for free in exchange with a honest review.

this is a wattpad book i didn’t expect anything at all…these two stars are for the romance and the smutty scene that’s all i mean there’s nothing great about this plot…it could be more shorter than this but overall the characters are cute for me and yes that’s all.

I was interested in this book from the title and description but was let down. There was no character building and went straight into spicy scenes. Joshua came across very aggressive and made me uncomfortable reading in areas. Cute concept behind the plot but was a let down.

I really enjoyed Gretchen! I love that she treated her favorite baseball player (Josh) as an actual human. She saw his bad day, and wanted to make it better.
This was a very fun contemporary romance, that I look forward to rereading in the future!