Cutest cover art for the cutest book! I will read anything in the future from this author, thank you!

Last Night Was Fun is a witty and heartwarming romance that blends the charm of You’ve Got Mail with the slow-burn tension of The Hating Game. Emmy, a sharp and determined data analyst, is easy to root for as she navigates workplace rivalry and unexpected romance. The mistaken identity texting trope is executed with fresh humor and emotional depth, making the reveal both surprising and satisfying. The chemistry between Emmy and her anonymous suitor crackles, even as their professional lives put them at odds. With smart dialogue and a unique sports-world setting, this book is a delightful read for fans of modern romantic comedies.

You've Got Mail and The Hating Game are two of my favorite movies, so I jumped at the chance to read Holly's Last Night Was Fun. I was hooked from the very beginning with the text message from an unknown number. There was instant chemistry between Emmy and the person on the other side.

Emmy Jameson is the only female data analyst for a professional baseball team. Emmy is up against her rival, Gabe Olson, for a promotion and Emmy is determined to win. Emmy tries her best to keep distractions from getting the best of her, even with her sister's upcoming destination wedding for which she still needs a date. And she's pretty successful until she gets a text message from an unknown number that leads her to inviting the person on the other side of the phone to the wedding as her plus-one. The best twist--that person happens to be Gabe.

I absolutely loved how Emmy and Gabe's relationship grew over both text and in person. The text messages allowed them to get to know each other without any preconceived notions and it made their journey from strangers to more all that more heartwarming. The chemistry between Emmy and Gabe was also off the charts from the very beginning. And the banter had me kicking me feet in joy all the way through the book.

Last Night Was Fun is the perfect book if you love a workplace romance, an enemies to lover, forced proximity love story.

Thank you to Avon for the e-ARC!

I’ve been meaning to read one of Holly James’s books because they all sound so fun, but I’m glad I started with this one because I love a good romcom that also has a little bit of data nerdery in the context of baseball! As a baseball fan, all the baseball appreciation in this book made me so happy. I loved reading about these two data nerds falling in love with all their bird puns. Someday I’ll get around to watching You’ve Got Mail because I know I love the anonymous pen pal premise every time.

This book also made me miss San Diego, where I attended college. Even if I never went to a ballgame at Petco Park and only saw it from a distance, I could feel how much Holly loves the city and all its beautiful beaches and scenery. And Cancun! What a lovely destination wedding setting for Emmy and Gabe to get to spend time together after they find out about their whole texting relationship. Speaking of which, I loved their back and forth via text, the bird puns and vulnerability and opening up to each other just because they felt comfortable with each other. Odds of this kind of thing happening irl always seem terrible because, like Beth mentions, there are lots of creepers lol. But I always eat this up in romance.

Emmy telling Gabe these things when she didn’t know who he was on the other end of the phone was so relatable though; it does feel less daunting with that layer of anonymity. Their one-upmanship and banter in person even before the reveal is also so entertaining, and like Pedro notes, the tension and chemistry between them is so obvious from the start. The way I KNEW Gabe was interested in Emmy from the start, haha. I was like girl, he’s asking about your weekend because he actually wants to know! I’m glad he realized from Piper’s drunken rambling that he was responsible for at least part of how she was treated at work, and how difficult things were for Emmy as one of very few women in their field.

And Piper, despite her bridezilla meltdowns, was actually such a good sister (it was so NICE to read about Emmy’s family actually being really sweet and supportive—it made me cry a little. I don’t like having to hate all of the MC’s families lol so this was a refreshing discovery. And that Gabe’s family when they are mentioned is actually sweet, too. Their fears and insecurities are rooted in things they assumed, not things their families actually said or did, so I was happy for both of them to realize that :’)) and so supportive of Emmy. Loved the pep talks with Beth and emergency counseling lol. Pedro and Silas made me so happy, too, especially towards the end as Emmy realizes how much she’d closed herself off and made assumptions about them as well.

I didn’t love the third act conflict, mainly because I thought she would’ve trusted Gabe a little bit more, but honestly the grand gesture scene was a lot of fun, so I got over it and am not that mad lol. It didn’t last too long, although I was yelling at Emmy the whole time, but Gabe is just such a sweetheart who’d do anything for her that I figured they’d be okay. And the way she got to unintentionally make that dream of his come true (I’m sure that was 90% of the reason Holly James wrote this scene lmao) was the cherry on top.

I gotta go back and catch up on Holly’s backlist now. I’ll be eagerly anticipating her new books as well.

Thank you so much to Netgalley/Avon for the ARC. I truly had a blast and flew through this book in a day because it was so darn fun and had me kicking my feet and squealing and swooning.

"Last Night Was Fun" is such a humorous read.

This book has all the fun tropes: workplace romance, enemies to lovers, one bed, and slow burn. Plus amazing banter between Emmy and Gabe!

It was fun to see how they have two completely different types of interactions unbeknownst to them.

Thank you Avon for selecting me for this ARC. It was a fun one.

LAST NIGHT WAS FUN was such a cute book!

Putting the "you don't know who you're communicating with but you're really hitting it off and whoops it's your enemy" trope inside a sports rom com was delightful, and it's one I'll eat up every time.

There were some great sports details as well, which any sports or stats nerd will appreciate!

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy! This one wasn’t for me or the right fit for my mood at the time.

Thank you NetGalley, Holly Michelle, and Avon and Harper Voyager |Avon for this digital advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.


Are you looking for something similar to The Hating Game with a mix of You've Got Mail? You should definitely read Last Night was Fun.

In this rom-com, Emmy works in a male-dominated environment and faces all of the challenges that goes along with it (oh to be a woman). I also low key love the competition aspect of this (it gives divine rivals).

I am all for tension and creating conflict to drive a story forward, but I was not a fan of the third-act breakup.

All in all, this was enjoyable and entertaining.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager, Holly Michelle and Netgalley for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The comparison to THE HATING GAME and YOU'VE GOT MAIL is perfect. In this book, we get a (work) rivals to lovers dynamic sprinkled with a wrong number text exchange that leads to reconsideration on both ends. I read it in a day, and it was giggling my feet in between chapters, feeling mischievous for knowing where this was leading before the FMC caught up with the plot.

In terms of romantic pacing, this felt very close to my personal ideal. Not only do these two get to meet each other and open up throughout the first half of the book through text, but even in their rivalry they end up showing some vulnerability and kindness that makes the reveal all the more worth it. I love how their relationship evolved slowly but with vulnerability because the romance felt a lot more realistic that way, and also had me rooting for them a lot more.

This is a single-POV, so we are accompanying our FMC's journey through her passionate pursuit of her promotion, as well as her peeling off the layers of a past relationship that had her believing she would be single her whole life. I also really appreciated the way grief was handled through her character and how it ultimately lead to a lot of her decisions, as well as strained relationships within her family (which are ultimately addressed in a satisfying way).

Overall, this is a solid romance read. It is funny when it needs to, it has a ton of familiar tropes that were worked seamlessly into the narrative and both characters felt three dimensional enough for me to buy into their vulnerable moments. Would definitely recommend to people who enjoyed The Hating Game, Spanish Love Deception and wish that Great, Big, Beautiful Life had a lot more yearning and was less insta-lust/love.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the eARC!

Last Night Was Fun was, pun intended, fun! This book kept me fed with the baseball, texts, rivals to lovers, etc etc. Holly’s books are always auto-buys for me, and this will be one I recommend to my friends.

Fun rom com that starts out with getting a wrong number text and finding your person. This gave a little bit of “You’ve Got Mail” sparkle with a little “Bull Durham “ baseball love, and a lot of hilarious bird puns. A fun, flirty read perfect for summer.
**Thank You Netgalley for the ARC of this book!**

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC of the novel. I know zero about baseball but Emmy was a great character to understand some of the appeal and why she works where she does. I did like that the texting with Gabe did not span the entire book and have the big reveal not happen at the airport as I expected, There was more plot here than I expected but nothing felt too overblown. Pretty enjoyable for a late summer read. 3.75 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon for providing me with an eARC of Last Night Was Fun in exchange for my honest review!

You've Got Mail, The Spanish Love Deception, The Hating Game—those are certainly the rom-coms that popped into my head while breezing my way through the charming and heartfelt antics of Last Night Was Fun. Sure, the formula is incredibly familiar here, but that doesn't stop it from being a chuckleworthy ride as I watch Emmy navigate her competitive rivalry with Gabe at their baseball data analyst workplace, then hop on her phone and exchange chemistry-filled texts with an apparent stranger who'd been given a fake number after a failed date—a fake number that just so happens to be Emmy's. Oh, but little does she know that this stranger is actually Gabe—a detail that we readers already know thanks to the back cover, so we're left in a state of amusement over the growing crush she has on this text buddy. The banter rolls along smoothly and keeps me invested in the development of these relationships—both the one that takes place over the phone and the one that unfolds in-person, all leading up to an inevitable point where the two dynamics must converge and smack that moment of realization in Emmy and Gabe's faces. All of this is combined with Emmy enduring the casual misogyny of our society that sticks her in a place where she has to work much harder than her male coworkers just to be seen on equal footing with them. You don't even need to be a baseball aficionado to enjoy this book, and I'm saying this as someone who's no aficionado myself.

Probably my biggest criticism, though, is a tropey choice that this deploys in the third act as an unnecessary way to escalate the drama. As soon as this plot point happens, I have to roll my eyes at its utter predictability. Couldn't we have found an alternate and more creative route to achieve the same objective? Oh well, at least it doesn't majorly drag down the ending and the obligatory grand gesture. Once Last Night Was Fun is all wrapped up, I'm left to give it four out of five stars. I'll be keeping an eye out for more of Holly Michelle's writing.

Last Night Was Fun was a super "fun" read and what an opening line for a wrong number text! What was there not to like...baseball, nerdy protagonists, rivals-to-lovers, witty yet heartfelt texts, humorous dialog, even a needed wedding plus-one. Those are a lot of tropes for one book but the author handled it seamlessly. If you're looking for a summer rom-com, you can't go wrong picking this one up. Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for this copy.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Emmy and Gabe. They broke work for a baseball team. They are both in the running for a promotion. There is an attraction between Emmy’s sister is getting married in Cancun, she needs a plus one. She asks Gabe to go with her. He does. They start dating. They fall in love.

This was a really cute workplace romance! I’m such a sucker for the You’ve Got Mail/mistaken identity set up and I loved the banter between Axe Murderer and Bird Girl (didn’t love these nicknames, but you can’t win them all!) The balance between Emmy and Gabe getting to know/falling for each other over text and not having the mystery about their identities dragged out was well done. The third act drama was frustrating though since it could have been completely avoided with a simple conversation. The grand gesture involving driving from San Diego to Los Angeles in rush hour traffic had me laughing. Overall, a fun and entertaining romcom!

I both read and listened (thank you LAPL and Libby!) to Last Night Was Fun, and the narration by Patti Murin was fantastic! She’s definitely becoming one of my favorite narrators and I love the emotion and enthusiasm she brings to every role.

Audiobook Review
Overall 4.5 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 4 stars

CW (from the author): depictions of gender bias in the workplace, grief, and addiction, and references to the past death of a sibling.

*I voluntarily read a review copy of this book*

Thank you to the publisher for my advanced copy! I loved all that You’ve Got Mail Similarities in this book. It was fun to watch Emmy and Gabe fall for each other and I love enemies to more trope! So I really loved this book until about 2/3 of the way in. Then it started to drag a little and there was a huge miscommunication. It was frustrating that the main character couldn’t express themselves enough. I didn’t think it added anything to the story. I liked how it evened but didn’t love the last 1/3 to 1/4 of the book.

Okay, I loved this book!! Emmy Jameson is a woman stuck in a man’s field- sh'e's an analyst for the San Diego MLB team. She’s been a bit unlucky in love, with her last relationship ending because her insecure man couldn’t stand that she has a career that she cares about and excels in. She’s even battling for a promotion with the golden child of the office, Gabe Olson, former baseball player himself. When Emmy gets a wrong number text that says “Last night was fun” her life turns upside down. She mistakenly believes it to be her questionable upstairs neighbor, but discovering it isn’t, they both develop a flirty banter that blossoms into something more. She eventually grows closer to this stranger, lovingly referring to him as “axe murderer,” and she decides to meet in the hopes of inviting him to her sister's wedding in Cancun that is fast approaching. When she finds out who it is behind those texts, however, she gets the shock of her life and the surprises keep coming.

Holly James is truly an auto-buy author for me at this point! This book has a lot of my favorite tropes including enemies to lovers (the best romance trope there is hands down) and forced proximity. Plus we have the side character of baseball and I love a book where a wedding occurs because that always makes things interesting. I just wanted to shake Emmy in the first half of the book because it was pretty obvious who “axe murderer” was, but it was still fun watching her figure it out. Things really spiced up when they got to Mexico though, and a one bed (!!!) situation happened. Ahhh, nothing better. Honestly, I loved this book, I thought it was unique, fresh, and kept me coming back for more. I loved the characters of Emmy and Gabe. I typically dislike a miscommunication situation, but I think this one was well handled, and let me tell you, the ending was *chef’s kiss* perfect! If you love a rom-com that has some delicious spice, some important family dynamics and a wedding, this one is for you!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon for an advanced reader’s copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

Last Night Was Fun by Holly Michelle was one of my favorite reads of this summer. The texting banter was hilarious and had me laughing out loud on a regular basis, and the storytelling was fantastic. The plot premise was unique and quite funny, if not a bit too convenient, but because the writing was so excellent, this small point did not in any way ruin the overall effect. The characters were well-rounded, with fully fleshed backstories and realistic baggage attached to those backstories. The chemistry between the main characters was palpable, and the slow burn was extremely well-paced. The setting of a professional baseball team's stats team was also very unique and super interesting. I thought the depiction of gender bias in the workplace was on point and well-handled.

Spoiler alert: the backstory of Emmy's brother and how he died was handled very well. Having lost my own brother the same way, I was incredibly grateful for how the storyline was handled, and that it was featured at all. Kudos to the author for shining a light on this issue and the aftermath of sibling loss and family grief.

I rarely give a 5 star rating but this book definitely deserves it! Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this title.

This was cute enough but the miscommunication at the end was not necessary! I felt like the romance was also surface level and I couldn’t really believe in them truly being in love.