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!

Thank you @netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Let me start by saying this book was SPICY🔥! But as far as the story goes it was hit or miss for me throughout. The beginning was a bit strange for me as they really just dive in with these strangers having a connection from page 1 basically. As the story went on it grew on me, I liked both the MCs, and at one point even had some butterflies I was so invested in the romance! But I just wasn’t sold on the relationship “hardship” they experienced, and I found the MCs best friend insufferable at times and her constant interference annoying. Overall I’d say this was a semi enjoyable book, and exactly why they say don’t judge book by it’s (cute) cover.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well paced and the characters were fully formed. I would enjoy reading other work by this author in the future.

Mein Leseerlebnis

Das tolle Cover des Buches hat mich sofort angesprochen und da mir auch der Klappentext gut gefiel, habe ich zugegriffen.

Erst nach dem Lesen habe ich herausgefunden, dass das Buch ursprünglich auf Wattpad veröffentlicht wurde und nun vom zur Seite zugehörigen Verlag veröffentlicht wurde. Es wäre sicherlich spannend zu vergleichen, wie/ob es Unterschiede zwischen den verschiedenen Versionen der Geschichte gibt.

Von Wattpad als Plattform habe ich übrigens absolut keine Ahnung, falls sich von euch jemand mit der Seite auskennt, würde ich mich über ein paar allgemeine Infos und eure Erfahrungen freuen. Aber zurück zum Buch.

Die ersten Kapitel haben mir sehr gut gefallen. Gretchen und Joshua fand ich als Charaktere interessant und ihr erstes Treffen fühlte sich unverbraucht an. Den ersten Teil ihrer Beziehung fand ich darauf aufbauend wirklich gut und unterhaltsam.

Doch dann hat die Autorin eine Wendung in die Geschichte eingebaut, die auf mich sehr erzwungen und konstruiert wirkte. In Folge hat mir das Lesen nicht mehr so viel Spaß gemacht wie vor der Entwicklung. Vor allem auch, weil die beiden Hauptcharaktere im Mittelteil und auch gegen Ende etwas blass auf mich wirkten.

So ganz habe ich die Wendung gleich am Anfang von Gretchen und Joshuas Beziehung übrigens nicht verstanden. Die Beziehung der beiden entwickelte sich gerade so langsam und als Leserin fing ich an beide näher kennen zu lernen. Durch die Wendung hatte ich das Gefühl, dass mir diese Chance genommen wurde und danach der Fokus auf etwas anderem lag. Dadurch blieben mir die Charaktere bis zum Ende etwas fremd.

Das Ende der Geschichte war für mich ok, konnte mich aber nicht mehr so begeistern wie noch der Anfang. Alles in allem hatte ich mich “Out of his league” ein eher durchschnittliches Leseergebnis. 🖤🖤🖤

Für wen?

Wer Liebesromane mag, in denen das Paar recht schnell nach dem ersten Treffen eine Beziehung beginnt, in der es schnell Probleme gibt, der sollte sich das Buch mal näher anschauen.

I really loved this book, and hoping the parallel characters get a spin off sequel. I thought the descriptions and story line were really great

Out of His League is a romantic and flirty sports romance that I adored! Caroline Richardson writes a cute page-turner that I just couldn't get enough of.

Gretchen is a sommelier who is on her way to Vegas. When she sees one of her favorite professional MLB players, she decides to take a risk. She knows that isn't having a great day because he is being sent to the minor leagues so instead of asking for an autograph she buys him a cup of coffee. It's bold and Josh approves.

Josh is a professional baseball player who is dealing with an injury and being sent to the minors. He is normally in a mood when it comes to fans because he doesn't like all of the attention, but when Gretchen buys him a cup of coffee he can't help but feel the attraction. She is kind, sweet, and sexy. They are boarding the same flight and he buys her a first-class ticket sitting next to him. They bond so quickly on the flight and when they land neither want to say goodbye. They decide to spend time together in Vegas and one thing leads to another. Neither Josh nor Gretchen are the one-night-stand type of people and yet they are anticipating spending the night together. One night will be enough right?

I give Out of His League 5 stars. I love sports romance and as I am watching the World Series it just reminds me of my love for baseball romances. And it made me love this book even more. The chemistry between Josh and Gretchen is fantastic. This is a bit of a quick love but it feels so right. I loved the whole journey they took personally, professionally, and together. If you enjoy reading sports romance, then you NEED to read this as soon as you can!

I really enjoy this one! I always like the theme of these books sort of an injured hero healed by love.
Premise
Sometimes you've got to leave your heart on the field

Gretchen Harper has always been practical. Dependable, solid, predictable. She’s never taken risks, and she’s especially never bought coffee for gorgeous professional athletes in airports. That is, until she meets her favorite baseball player on the worst day of his career.

Being sent to the minor league is just the first of Joshua Malvern’s many worries—he’s got an injury that won’t heal and his entire career and future are on the line. When a beautiful woman offers him coffee, that simple kindness is exactly what he needs to lift him out of his funk. He asks her to join him in first class, not expecting to end up joining her in bed.
It was fun reading about their connection and how there one night stand let to lifetime romance. Gretchen & Joshua had a great chemistry and I really enjoyed their story.

Love it its a definitely not a book you can put down I read itbin one day! I love that the characters in the book kinda love at first sight and it's so sweet and and special

Any book that involves a hot baseball player and a fling, you know is going to deliver! Out of His League by Caroline Richardson was so good I couldn't put it down. This is definitely a one sitting read! This book makes you laugh, warms your heart, and shed a few tears! Hands down this was an out of the park home run!

Wanted to love this because I love baseball and romance novels, but it is from Wattpad and feels like it.

This book is short and a fast read (a good book for when you can pick it up and don’t have much time to read in one sitting). As a sports fan, I liked the baseball subplot. However, the relationship between Gretchen and Josh goes very quickly from one-night stand to love. It felt very rushed. Some storylines started and were left to wonder why as they didn’t seem to really drive the story much (the whole Starla/Kevin relationship was underdeveloped, the coach having cancer, teammate getting in legal trouble). The actual formatting of the book made reading difficult as it would skip ahead to middle of next page before I was ready for that page.

This rom-com gave me all the feels and is such a super cute book! The chemistry between Gretchen and Josh was sweet and spicy and I really enjoyed seeing Gretchen grow more in herself. I'm hoping we see Sharla and Kevin's story in the future cos they're relationship was intense even though they were the main characters. Highly recommend!

I've read this book once on Wattpad Paid Story, and best bet I did enjoy it years back. After rereading this, I realized that the book is fair to middling. There weren't many things going on, and the romance is probably the most interesting aspect of the book (thanks to the smutfest) which that's about it.

Putting insta-lust and miscommunication in a book is also likely not the best mix to opt for. Their first encounter was shallow and touching each other after two minutes just doesn't make sense. Like, trust me, you do that now, and I'll make sure you get that harassment report sent to you.

This book is short enough, but it could've been shorter since the subplot was tossed as a quick attempt to create more storyline; the big mouth Sharla scene, the Neptune part. All of that is pretty unnecessary which then highlighted the fact that this book lacks a solid plot.

If you're looking for a short enjoyment of adult romance, perhaps this book could help you fulfilling that. Other than that, this was an okay read.

Fun story of a firecracker redhead who captures the heart of her favorite baseball player. Unique meeting and an ending that brings joy. Steamy scenes. Story moved quickly!

Two stars for the Romance & add another star for the Baseball.

Gretchen meets her favorite baseball player at the airport- she buys him a cup of coffee which kicks off an intense weekend Vegas fling. Will it become something more!? 😮🤷‍♀️

The Good- The baseball. Maybe because I'm reading this during the World Series, but I love the baseball element. I appreciate that there's no mansplaining of baseball in the book- no one seems shocked that Gretchen- A GIRL!- knows the rules to baseball. The romance was steamy & I genuinely wanted to see their happy ending. I also liked the wine element- Gretchen is smart and successful. The romance was steamy & the connection between the characters was compelling

The meh- I would have liked a little more character development all around. Gretchen and Josh seemed to be largely defined by their careers. Gretchen was repeatedly described as a "firecracker," but I didn't really see that. I also would have liked more of Sharla and the Earl- That sub-plot felt underserved and slightly unresolved.

This book isn't exactly anything that hasn't been written before, but it made for a fun, quick romance read.

I did not pay attention that this was published by Wattpad, and I gotta be honest...it shows. The characters spend almost the entire book doing it, the conflict is dumb, and the actual formatting of the book is.....ugh. I was betrayed by the cute cover, because I reeeeaally didn't like this one.

I really wanted to love this book. The premise was interesting, and I was into the description. However the book needs some work. This read very much like a first draft. As much as I wanted to love this, I just couldn't get into it. I wouldn't say it was boring, but it was very easy to put it down and not remember about anything about it. I will read more from this author, I feel like she has much potential.