⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5-star) Sports Romance!:

First Base by debut novelist Ally Wiegand was in the ballpark (pun intended) of books that have everything that piques my interest! This book included themes of sports romance (baseball to be exact; my favorite!), the fake dating trope, new love, friendship, grief and loss, banter, and so much more. I immediately fell in love with Maggie and Tommy’s dynamic, as well as their shared love and appreciation for baseball. The timing of this book’s release right around the beginning of baseball season was extremely well-played and once I realized that this was the first book in a series (Chicago Heartbreakers), I was truly over the moon! I cannot wait to see what Ally has in store for us next!

Thank you so much to Ally Wiegand, 8th Note Press, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this beautiful book! ⚾️💙

Book Title: First Base
Publication/Release Date: April 23, 2024
Author: Ally Wiegand


~Alissa R.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Maggie Redford is living her dream of being a photographer for the Chicago MLB team. When her first and only love ends tragically, she closes herself off from feeling that way again. But when Tommy Mikals, a playboy with his career on the line, ends up on Chicago's roster, things get complicated when the Cougars PR team asks them to fake a relationship. The only issue is that real feelings come to the surface.

I will say that this book was quick and cute! It was really lighthearted even with the tragic past of Maggie's college relationship. The biggest issue I had with the book were that the side characters were so fun but barely given any limelight. Maybe the author is leading up to those being front and center in the next book, I'm not sure. However, Maggie was a good protagonist for me in terms of growth. I loved that she learned how to move past grief and love again. Tommy had a pretty stereotypical relationship with his father that didn't really feel like it consumed him a lot, if you know what I mean. This was a quick and sweet book and a great debut novel, I just think it fell a little flat. I would be interested to read the second in the series at some point. Also, miscommunication is my least favorite trope and I wish I read less of it. But I think that's a me problem...

Baseball romance, fake dating and allll the feels! First of all this book combined my love for reading AND baseball! Tommy is the party club star baseball player on his last chance to play professional baseball due to his wild life in the tabloids! Maggie may the be the answer to his problems as the team photographer… well this story starts to unravel as they quickly feel an electric buzz between the two of them and realize this fake dating may not be so fake!

This was a gem! I enjoyed this book so much & found myself not being able to put it down! I love sports romance & fake dating! A recipe for smitten!! The characters are well written & it’s a fast pace book which many people prefer and the 3rd act miscommunication was a little predictable in story sequence. I wish I would have felt a little deeper angst though! Overall I loved it though!

Thank you NetGalley, 8th Note Press, and Allie Wiegand for this ARC of First Base.

Overall this was a cute fluffy rom com book with a fake dating trope that I absolutely adore. This is one of those books that is perfect when you just finish reading something extremely heavy and you want to feel good. The one thing I wish the author did was go into Tommy and Maggie’s relationship more. I felt as if she said how they felt about each other but there was so much going on that you never really felt the chemistry between the two. I wanted more detailed events of how they acted together instead of mostly hearing what each of them thought of the other in their own minds. I’ll definitely give the second book a read once it releases.

I absolutely loved this book! It was such an adorable baseball romance. I loved the characters and how complex they are. They each have such deep emotions and issues that they need to face. I loved seeing each of them overcoming their issues together and internally on their own. The romance in this was amazing and I loved seeing them go from fake dating to actually falling in love. It was such just a fun read and I recommend it!

Can you find true love twice in one lifetime? With a star athlete playboy? Maggie and Tommy’s fake dating arrangement was very cute. It was for PR but they also really fell hard for each other. She helped him see himself as more than a baseball player and find purpose. He helped her out of the gray cloud of grief and guilt. They developed a friendship that grew into love. It was a charming romance which I truly enjoyed. If this is going to be a series, I’m hoping her best friend is the FMC.

I enjoyed the story line of First Base, I loved the main characters, their stories, they transitions to becoming who they are meant to be. I loved their friends, too!

I am here for a good sports romance and fake dating!

This was an easy read!

The only thing that kind of got me was that there were a few times I felt lost in the book. For example, the main male character would loosen his grip on her hands, and I was like wait, when did he grab her hands? I would have to read back to see if I could find where he picked up her hands, and I still never found it. Totally my mom brain on that though!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ally Wiegand and 8th Note Press for this ARC.

This book was cute, but overall I felt like it was rushed. I love sports romance and I loved adding a baseball book to my library. The plot felt kinda forced as the book is so short so not a lot of time for development. There is also a major TW for a Car Accident.

What you can expect
-sports romance
-fake dating
-closed door :(
-trauma from both MC's
-cutesty dates
-healing with eachother

3.5/5 Stars (rounding up to 4 stars to be fair)

I enjoyed this book. Baseball is my favorite sport so happy to read baseball romances. This story is so cute and such a well-written, easy read; I can’t believe this was Ally Weigand’s debut novel, and I can’t wait to read more in the Chicago Heartbreakers series. Maggie is the team’s photographer, and Tommy is the team’s new bad boy who’s trying to clean up his image and save his baseball career. When the paparazzi catches Tommy and Maggie leaving a club one night, the PR team devises a fake dating plan. Tommy and Maggie both have demons from their pasts and challenges to overcome, but they both help each other heal and overcome their demons and challenges by being supportive and being there for each other.

It's important to remember that this is much more than a frivolous romance, despite the charming cover. It's been a great surprise to discover that the characters have far more depth than I had anticipated. Even though I felt there were some problems, overall, I felt this was a good introduction to a new world with some potential. Because the novel is only 300 pages long, the plot moves along very rapidly. I enjoyed how both characters' shortcomings were handled.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, Romance...I really want to love you.

The thing about this book is that it's FINALLY about a sport that doesn't get a lot of love. And I adore baseball, so I was excited to try this one.

I liked that there wasn't a lot of smut (it just isn't my kind of thing), and I didn't even mind the characters. It was nice to see not only a baseball player, but a photographer instead of a fan or something. I even didn't mind the fact that Maggie had a crush on Tommy pretty quickly. It wasn't too much like insta-love for me to be completely turned off.

But I will say that the fake dating didn't really seem necessary? It was so fast and barely had a play in their relationship. And then there was the whole miscommunication part that almost had me pulling out my hair (thankfully Maggie's friend is smart because I think I would have given up if the friend hadn't told Maggie to think things through before assuming).

Overall, it was an okay read. And if you're into cozy, relatively quick romances, this will work well for you.

for once, i just want a cutesy sports romance that DOESNT HAVE FAKE DATING. don’t get me wrong, i love a good fake dating romance, but why is that the main trope of every sports romance?? i just wanted tommy to love her for her, especially when they had so much chemistry right off the bat (baseball pun). the fake dating was so unnecessary.

Solid 3 stars! I had fun while reading this book and of course, loved a good sports romance. The only aspect I felt was lacking is that their relationship felt very physical and about how the other looked. Personally I like it when a book has something deeper going on, but overall a great book.

This book is a super cozy sports romance. “How could you not be romantic about baseball?”

I was the amazing opportunity of receiving an ARC of this book. Thank you to Ally and 8th Note Press for sending me a copy ❤️

This book followed the love story between Maggie, team photographer, and Tommy, bad boy getting a second chance at his baseball career. The growth both these characters was so beautiful. I wish there was more!! Tommy paid so much attention to Maggie that I caught myself all smiles and giggles several times. I’m smitten for Tommy and I can’t wait for the rest of the series.

Favorite quotes:
“I would never get over that smile. It lit up my insides and filled the parts of me with enough joy…”

“And every time I look into her eyes, I feel like I’m being transported somewhere magical where only Maggie Redford has been.”

Tropes:
One-bed
Fake dating
He fell harder

“How could you not be romantic about baseball?”

As a baseball fan myself, I was excited to be selected for an advanced copy of First Base.

A sports romance centered around baseball? Yes, please!

This book has everything from fake dating to he fell first, from past struggles to dual POVs, readers will not want to put this one down.

I cannot wait for more books in the series!

Add this to y’all’s tbr, you won’t regret it!

Thank you to Ally Wiegand and 8th Note Press for gifting me this one!

this was such a fun, cute and fluffy sports romance. there was a lot more depth to the characters and book than i anticipated.
tommy stole my heart, he was so sweet and i love how he would do anything for maggie 🥺
i love all the tropes and i eat up fake dating every. single. time.

while i adored the story, i would’ve loved more of a slower build up on their relationship it started very fast and the ending felt a little too rushed.

overall, what a great debut novel! i can’t wait to read the rest of the books in this series when they come out!

baseball romance
reformed playboy
he falls first
fake dating
dual pov
player x team photographer

thank you ally, 8th note press, and netgalley for this arc 🤍

Rating: 3.75 stars

This was a very cute, quick read!

I enjoyed many parts of it and enjoyed both characters.
I loved how protective and caring Tommy was with Maggie. I feel like both characters definitely had some growth and development throughout the story.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the miscommunication/third act break-up part, but I didn’t hate it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

such a cute book. I loved how real it was for Maggie to move on to another relationship while still trying to respect her former fiancé. I loved how supportive every single person was for Tommy and Maggie. The very much deserve the world and I cannot wait to see what happens with the rest of the team!

I really really enjoyed this one! I love fake dating and I think this book really balanced the fake dating and real relationship well. I loved Tommy and how he was working on himself and that his past was still relevant to the story but didn’t impact their relationship. I thought this was really well done and I loved the baseball aspects so so much. I do wish the ending had played out a bit differently but overall really enjoyed this book.