Here are my initial takeaways:
▫️Sports related romance.
▫️Miscommunication trope.
▫️Fast-falling romance.
▫️Immature narrators.

I enjoyed reading it but it wasn’t a favorite. I loved the concept of Gretchens career, being a sommelier. I loved reading about her career adventures even how limited they were. There was more of an emphasis on Josh and his career, being a professional baseball player. I wish we could have gotten more from Gretchen.

The miscommunication/lack thereof resulting in the conflict was frustrating. Plus Sharla, Gretchen’s best friend, was one of the reasons her relationship blew up - she ended up being an overprotective and somewhat toxic friend, IMO. I felt like between Sharlas and Josh’s overprotective nature Gretchen was very much shoved into a bubble of pleasing them, which frustrated me. Overall I think that all the characters had very immature mindsets and reactions considering they were 30.

The steam was good and there was some cute heartfelt moments but overall this was just okay.

This was SO FUNNY! I loved the chemistry between the main characters and the fact that neither of them was perfect. I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of the book in exchange for a review. Out of His League is a baseball romance centered around Gretchen Harper and her favorite MLB player, Josh Malvern. It will be released April 5, 2022.

Gretchen is Josh’s biggest fan and meets him for the first time at an airport. She notices he seems down, as he just got sent down to the minor leagues, and buys him a coffee. They sit together on the plane and spend a couple days in Las Vegas together which is home to Josh’s minor league team. The plot continues on from there as the relationship progresses. The story is very fast-paced with a lot of insta-love and miscommunication between the two. I was really looking forward to this story as I love sports romances, but it was just too fast-paced for my taste as it did not seem like the relationship had time to grow. However, I absolutely adore the cover! Readers looking for a New Adult sports romance might enjoy this if they are looking for a quick read.

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad Books for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I was really intrigued because of the book cover and the plot of the story. I was really excited to read this, but unfortunately, I was disappointed.

It's just unrealistic when the two leads fell in love with each other in a short period of time. I never thought I would feel this way the moment I start reading it. I guess, if I read this back then when Wattpad was still hyped, I would really enjoy this. I'm sad to say that this book is not for me.

I was so excited going into this book. I love a good sports romance, and i rarely read ones featuring a baseball player. I loved the main heroine in this book, and the fact that she was not a stereotype, had a personality and was multifaceted.

A sommelier on her way to Vegas for a conference has a run in with her favourite baseball player and she decides to buy him a coffee to break the ice a bit and talk to him. He is also on his way to Vegas for a work thing. They get to know each other on the plane and continue their weekend fling, and where is does and does not go from there.

This book suffered by a lack of good communication between characters, and being very insta love and relying on chemistry to come from sex and not actual conversations.

A WattPad story with a cute cover. This definitely didn't work for me and I could not get into this book at all, no matter how hard I tried. Extra star for the cute cover.

I found that there wasn’t a ton going on in this book. The romance was cute and steamy but I felt like that was the only part I liked. If you’re looking for a quick romance with not a lot to it then this is the book for you but wasn’t really the book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the eARC copy of this book!

⚠️SPOILER ALERT⚠️

I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting going into this book… and I’m still not fully sure what to think about it. I enjoyed it enough that I finished it quickly and I spent hours at a time reading it. But, I don’t think I would read it over and over again. I might read it a couple times, but not to an extent that I would other books.

My main problem with this book is the instant infatuation the two main characters, Joshua and Gretchen, have with each other. I’ve never been much of a fan of insta-love and this wasn’t very far off from it. From the very beginning when Gretchen first buys a coffee for Josh- they have this instant connection that, at first, I found interesting. But, within the first couple of chapters it very quickly becomes what I can only really describe as the closest thing to insta-love without actually being insta-love.

I am not a huge fan of baseball, neither am I a fan of wine… but the moments when Josh was focused on the game and his teams, and the moments when Gretchen was focused on wine and her business- those were my favorite parts. Throughout the book, there are a lot of times (most of the time really) when all Josh and Gretchen are thinking of, is each other. It got pretty frustrating when all they were thinking about was having sex. But, when Josh got into his game, when he was coaching players and when he was actually playing… he was focused on that and you could tell just how much he loved it. And when Gretchen got into the role of sommelier and she was working to make perfect pairings for her clients- you could feel her love for her job. I admired that about them. Their love for their jobs and their dedication was something that I inspire to be like one day.

This book was a genuinely good book, and I enjoyed reading it. But, I can only give it 3.5/5 stars because of the insta-love like relationship they had. It didn’t feel like there was much growth between them- it felt like they jumped into the deep end before really knowing how to properly swim.

3.5 stars

When Gretchen finds herself sitting next to her favorite pro baseball player at the airport, her first impulse is to ask for his autograph. But she can tell from his posture that he's feeling down, so she buys him a coffee instead to cheer him up. They strike up a conversation, which leads to attraction, which leads to…more. But her business is located in Toronto, and he's in the US. If he wants to stay in the major leagues, he has to go where his career takes him. Can they find a future together?

This is a cute, well-written, emotional story with likeable characters and enough conflict to keep the pages turning. It's super steamy, and the intimate scenes are well done.

The cover looks like a rom com, while this is solidly steamy contemporary romance. The cover should be a shirtless guy wearing a baseball glove or something. This cover appeals to the wrong audience.

The pacing is off—the breakup should happen at about the 75% mark. Instead, it happens at 50%. As a result, the climax comes too soon, and the last 25% or so of the book is denouement. The last half of the book is engaging, though, and includes some poignant moments.

Overall, this is an enjoyable story for readers of steamy contemporary romance.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

First of all…thank you so much NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for a review! I am new to reviewing books and I was so excited to be approved for this one! That feeling hasn’t changed now that I have read it!

This was so cute! This isn’t popular opinion by the looks of it but I really loved this one! Out of His League had it all for me. I loved that the male role was a baseball player…because who doesn’t love baseball? Come on people!! Also he plays for the Toronto Sixers and I’m from Toronto so I was all for a book that gives a little shout out to my hometown!

Josh Malvern is a left fielder who loves the game but doesn’t really enjoy being in the public eye. He is careful to avoid the tabloids and doesn’t draw attention to himself. Meeting Gretchen in an airport and deciding to take her home for a weekend of steamy sex is completely unlike him, but he’s been sent down to play in Vegas and you know what they say about what happens in Vegas. As the weekend comes to a close both of them realize that they don’t want this crazy adventure to end. It started with a much needed coffee, was fuelled by baseball and wine but it’s too good to end; so how will Gretchen and Josh manage living their separate lives while following their hearts about how they feel for one another?

I loved that Josh and Gretchen were both very independent people who were truly enjoying their lives. Fate brought them together but it’s not enough to keep them together. Real love takes work and I loved that this couple had some real struggles with finding a balance between who they were as individuals and who they were becoming as a couple. Also I really enjoyed all of the little iconic Canadian tidbits, especially the true Toronto ones that were thrown into this story to make it feel genuine. This was so much fun for me to read, it was fast, it was sweet and wow does Caroline Richardson know how to write a sex scene (or two…or more) in her novel.

One thing I didn’t like was that Sharla (Gretchen’s friend) had some issues of her own that I didn’t feel really got resolved. My hope is that there will be a sequel that follows Sharla and Kyle and that we find out more about Coach and Felicia. I just felt that there were loose ends…but it also made me feel that it left room for this to become a series rather than a one off. Fingers crossed! I don’t like unfinished business in my novels so if it’s not going to be a series I will be pretty disappointed in the ending for some of my favourite characters.

My Thoughts
I was quite excited to read a sports romance and it was quite sometime that I read one!! Being an ex athlete I enjoyed the sports mentions .the life of a sportsman..the games, traveling, injuries..life after retirement etc.
What I didn't enjoy as much was the romance between Gretchen and Joshua..the chemistry was there and quite a bit but the substance between the 2 I felt it lacking.
The insta love for this one unfortunately didn't quite work well.
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book wasn't for me. I'm not a huge fan of instant-romance, and there wasn't much plot going for it other than the smut.

This could be great for some romance readers (especially if they like sports) but it wasn't for me!

I love that this author is Canadian and this book was based out of Toronto! But I found that this book was missing something. It jumped right into it at the beginning, it should have had more of a build up. I couldn’t connect with the characters because I felt like I didn’t know them. I think this book had a lot of potential, as I did enjoy it halfway through, but the beginning just threw me off. Also a side note, that a X-ray and ultrasound tech are called technologists and not technicians. Coming from a medical background this really bothered me 😅

This book was okay. It was pretty spicy, so if you are looking for a quick NA romance, go for it. However the miscommunication trope is a bit unrealistic and it was very insta love.

This book was not for me. There were too many sub plots going on for any of them to feel fully developed. The steamy scenes were good but there weren’t enough of those scenes to make up for the weird pacing and chaotic plot. The conflict that caused the inevitable mid book break up made me mad and made me not like the best friend at all. The rest of the book I was annoyed with the best friends behavior. I needed less sun plots and more steam to make this book better.

Sexy Sommelier meets hunky baseball player in airport and buys him his favorite coffee. They are immediately taken with one another and so begins a steamy love affair, that ends as quickly as it began. But will they admit this is more than a fling and commit to seeing where it goes or will they call it a game and walk away?

While this may be for some, it was definitely not for me. I found it lacked any kind of character development or storyline beyond a very formulaic plot. The writing seemed immature and stunted, and I was not able to connect with a single character in any part of the book.

Given that this was an arc I received, I did not want to leave it unfinished and unreviewed. However, if I had stumbled across this on my own, this would have been a DNF (did not finish) hands down. This book is basically steam for steam’s sake with little else.

If you are looking for a spicy quick read, this may be for you. However, I would not recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and W by Wattpad Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my (very) honest review.

To be honest, I wasn't able to finish this book. I've been in a book slump while super busy with work and school, so I don't fully blame the book itself. I was looking for something to catch and hold my interest, but I just couldn't get into it enough to block out the rest of the world. I'm not a big fan of insta-love, and this felt way too fast for me. The spicy scenes I got through were good and there were definitely some cute parts! I might give this another go in a few weeks when things aren't so busy.

While sitting at the airport, Gretchen sees her favorite baseball player coming towards where she’s sitting. He looks upset sitting there, so she decides to go out of her comfort zone and bring him a coffee.

Usually I’m not a huge fan of insta-love but their instant chemistry was AMAZING. These two had an instant connection that I absolutely loved. The only thing I didn’t love about this book was the epilogue. Personally I enjoy when an epilogue is years ahead and this one was only a few months but other than that I really enjoyed this book!

Thank you NetGalley and WattPad Books for this advanced readers copy!

I was drawn to this book because I enjoy sports romance and thought the cover was cute.

What I liked:
⚾️ Athlete main character
🍷Bold Female Main Character


What I didn’t like:
⚾️ Writing at times made characters feel immature
🍷 Didn’t feel like the connection between the two characters was deeply developed
⚾️ I found myself wanting to skim during a lot of parts.

I lost interest pretty quickly and took it as a negative sign that I wanted to push through it just so I could get to my next read. Unfortunately, not recommending it based on my own experience with it. I wasn’t able to finish it because I felt like I couldn’t click with the writing at all.

I'm DNFing this VERY early because I already hate Josh. He's the love interest and his POV is super annoying. He's like a horny teenage boy and I can not suffer through reading from his POV. The writing also has a fanfiction style to it and while that may be some people's style, it's definitely not mine.