This romance was laugh out loud. I absolutely loved this book. Last Night Was Fun is a mistaken identity/workplace romance. I thought the pacing of this book was absolutely perfect. It wasn't rushed, nor did it drag out. I found myself smiling while reading it. I highly recommend this book to all romance fans.

Never ever has a text to a wrong number gone so right! This book has everything: endless amounts of baseball (playing and analyzing), adorable mushy feelings, a double booked wedding venue, hide-your-face embarrassing moments (if you’re susceptible to secondhand, as I am), more than one grand gesture, and a line drive to the thigh!!

Emmy and Gabe (Jameson and Olson to their coworkers) are analysts for a thus-unnamed Sam Diego baseball time (obviously the padres), rivals in all sense of the word, and have found themselves competing for the same promotion. At the same time and COMPLETELY SEPARATELY (wink wink), Emmy receives a text meant for someone else and decides to run with it, establishing a human connection using a cell connection. When she needs a date to her sister’s wedding, who better to ask than the guy she’s texting all the time!!

I was immediately bought in and so entertained by this story! While miscommunication may be enemy number one, when it’s a just clear miss via non-face to face communication (texts, letters, emails, etc) I am always sat and ready!! Emmy and Gabe both were full of heart, passionate and driven about their favorite sport, and willing to put their hearts and minds on the line. With completely separate reasons bringing them to the sport, it also felt like a love letter to baseball and all of those big activities we get to enjoy with our loved ones or through competition. I was so delighted with this one!!

Thanks so much to Holly Michelle, Avon, and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

I didn’t know what to think at the beginning of this book. But after reading a few chapters I was hooked!! It had a great storyline. The characters were wonderful. I literally have zero notes. This was everything I wanted on a romance book.
I will be buying this when it comes out and will be recommending to others.

I enjoyed this spin on a sports romance that is in the bowels of the baseball stadium rather than on the field. Emmy and Gabe are analysts on the same team, and are competing for the same promotion. And they are both very competitive, with Gabe trying to make up for a failed baseball career and Emmy a walking poster for imposter syndrome as one of only 2 women in the department. So Emmy can use a little levity when she gets a "Last night was fun" text from an unknown caller, and before she knows it she's started a conversation. Unbeknownst to her (and him), the texter is no other than Gabe.

I'm a sucker for love via correspondence, so this was a winner for me. I do wish Emmy was a little more secure in herself because it would have made the workplace interactions more fun, but overall I found this to be a charming slow burn, and I would read more.

This book was FUN! (Hehe see what I did there)

I thought the plot was so cute. Emmy gets a text from a random number and realizes he was fake numbered… with her phone number. They keep the flirtatious banter going, all while Emmy is up for a promotion at work against her rival Gabe Olson, who she can’t stand.

I love that this book blends STEM and sports (Gabe and Emmy are sports analysts for a baseball team). The text banter was so fun, and I ultimately really liked how their story played out and the pacing (although I probably could have done without the miscommunication near the end there).

Perfect for fans of slow burn, workplace rivals to lovers, forced proximity, one bed, and STEM x sports romance!!

Thank you so much Avon books and NetGalley for the eARC!

I loved this story! It really was the perfect mash-up of "You've Got Mail" and "The Hating Game," I was kicking my feet the whole story. I really appreciated the growth in the characters, it gave more context to why their behavior had so much animosity in the beginning. I'm a sucker for a big, fat happy ending with a public declaration of love... and this definitely delivered.

the books was like the equivalent of a june baseball game - it hits the spot, scratches the itch, fulfills the wish of having some ball on. it has the satisfaction of a really good baseball nap that you wake up from with your team winning in a non-concerning or injurious or psychically damaging fashion. it is low stakes (there's not really a third act breakup, one of romance's least necessary traits) yet deeply charming. if it isn't obvious from this review, i care deeply about baseball and thus, the accuracy with which the sport and industry is depicted; inaccuracy in representing a sport REALLY bothers me, and holly james clearly also cares about it. on the other hand, it's weird that the book isn't set over the all-star break.

Thank you to Avon Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinion expressed here are my own.
You had me at You've Got Mail. One of my favorite movies. I just love a mistaken identity trope!
Emmy Jameson has rules: no dating, no personal interactions at work, and baseball above all else. At work, she's competing or a promotion against her nemesis, Gabe Olsen. They are like oil and vinegar and she's determined to beat him for the title.. When she receives a random text and strikes up communication with the sender, she finds herself opening up about things she never thought she would. Little does she know the sender is none other than her nemesis.
Emmy is a great character. But boy does she have some unsolved trauma. She definitely works through a lot throughout the book. And a woman in a man's world made her life even harder. She had to fight for everything to show she was worthy of her job. I hated that for her but it wasn't unrelatable. I enjoyed her development and her relationships with her coworkers, best friend, and parents.
Gabe is a tight lipped character. His outside facade is not what he feels inside at all. He presents himself as what he thinks everyone wants to see him while he's secretly so not the way that everyone sees him. I loved his connection to Emmy. I was routing for him the whole time.
The pacing of the book was good. While it took a turn about 50% through, that didn't stop me from wanting to continue to read to see where the story was going. I really enjoyed the slow build romance. Plus there was so much banter I found myself laughing more often than not. And then there's the swoon the author makes you go through. The build up is tense and the culmination worth the wait.
This book was a lot of fun. I was enamored with the text exchanges between Emmy and Gabe. There was some serious flirting and moments of raw honesty that were refreshing. There is a ton of baggage for both characters which of course forces them to look deeply at themselves and how they view relationships. My only complaint with this book was the drop off in that connection at about halfway through the book. While I understand why it happened, it changed the feel of the relationship and tone of the book very quickly and I found myself missing it.
Overall this one was fun. It's my first book by this author, who I understand has more than one pen name. I would love to read more from her in the future. A solid swoon worthy beach read!

LAST NIGHT WAS FUN

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read this book if you like:
•rivals to lovers
•fun, flirty banter
•feminist undertones
•beach setting
•STEM + sporty fusion

I loved the epistolary element but with the modern twist of texting. I liked the main character backstories, it really gave them a realistic feel and great opportunity for a deep, emotional connection.

I could have done without the 3rd act miscommunication but to each their own 🙃

*romantic content: a few moderately descriptive open door scenes
*strong language

*thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the eARC!

Books with similar vibes:
Mr. Wrong Number
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this!
Really enjoyed this! Definitely a new fan of this author’s writing. I could see this book as a movie. I enjoyed the characters’ and their growth. And Gabe? Ohhhh Gabe 🤭☺️ However I don’t think I would’ve made the same decision as Emmy towards the ending 🫣 lol

What an enjoyable read. The enemies to lovers theme worked perfect in this novel. I could not put this book down. The banter between "Axe Murderer" and "Bird Girl" made this read so easy. Do yourself a favor, READ THIS BOOK. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The premise of Last Night Was Fun is a pretty standard You've Got Mail trope (see also The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, Love on the Brain, Goal Lines and First Times, etc.) between Emmy and Gabe, who work as analysts for a professional baseball team and are competing against each other for a promotion. Gabe meets a girl at a bar who gives him a wrong number, which happens to be Emmy's, and they start chatting. The banter between these two is great as they get to know each other. At the same time, in the real world they get to know each other more because of their boss pushing Emmy to insert herself into the boys club. Text Emmy and Text Gabe decide to meet and she invites him to her sister's destination wedding... before they figure out that they've been talking to someone they share an office with the whole time. After that, it's a lot of typical romance book things, kissing and falling in love and sex and whatnot. I really enjoyed the vast majority of this book, especially the text banter and the night they go out with their coworkers.

HOWEVER. The third act had my very least favorite tropes, which I will not include here because it's a spoiler. As a result, my official rating is 3.5 stars. I waffled on rounding up or down because I really hate that trope, but I ultimately decided to round up because I was really enjoying the book until then.

I read almost the first 50% of this in one sitting, I was so immediately sucked in! I’ll admit I’m a fool for the You’ve Got Mail trope, and this is the best one I’ve seen in a while.

Emmy Jameson is minding her business when one night she gets a text from an unknown number: “Last night was fun 😊.” In the process of letting the texter know he’s been wrong-numbered, a flirtation sparks and quickly grows into something more.

IRL, Emmy is a data analyst for a San Diego professional baseball team, and she’s up for a big promotion. Unfortunately she’s competing as one of the only women on staff with perfect and ruthless former college ball player, Gabe Olson. To top it off, Emmy’s sister is getting married in Cancun soon, and Emmy needs a date to show her jerk of an ex she can have it all — her time-consuming career and love.

So of course, it makes sense to take a leap and invite her text-message-dream-guy, right? You can guess how that turns out… 😏

Although I preferred the tension of the first half of the book to the wedding and aftermath of the second half of the book, this was a solid 4-star-veering-on-5 for me. I loved the writing and the pace, and this might be my first sports romance, if you consider a book about math nerds working with sports a sports romance. 😂 (Y’all, he writes her a math equation… 😍) Definitely pick this one up — I finished it in 24 hours!

Oh this book was so fun. I loved the premise and the main characters were perfectly fleshed out. I love and enemies to lovers, secret texting, work drama, and spice. This was a great summer read and I highly recommend! Can't wait to read more by Holly Michelle.

When Emmy gets a text meant for someone else, she gets more than what she bargains for in the love department!

This was such a good one! Here's what I loved:

Emmy: She was such a great character. I loved her humor the most. She also has a really great drive in life. She words so hard at her career.

Gabe: He's literally the best. The banter between him and Emmy was spot on. Their work rivals to lovers was one of the best!

The premise: I loved the start of Emmy's relationship with the mistaken text message. Their back and forth was perfect.

All in all, this was a great romcom!
Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

LAST NIGHT WAS FUN by Holly Michelle (James) is, in a word, fun.

You know I am TRASH for a book with an epistolary element, and anonymous correspondents is my favorite flavor. A girl gives a guy a fake number at a bar, and the actual owner is Emmy, a baseball data analyst who has swoen off relationships and is competing for the senior analyst position with her work nemesis, Gabe. She and the stranger she has dubbed "Axe Murderer" text more and more, the first connection either of them have felt in a long time. But she is down to the wire to find a date to her sister's destination wedding, so Bird Girl and Axe Murderer decide to meet. (You know where this is going!!)

One of the thing I love about anonymous correspondents is the logistics of how/when they find out. Sometimes one discovers it before the other, and how they handle that is such a big character element. But it's more *fun* when they find out at the exact same time, and this one didn't disappoint.

Also! It's a baseball book! Individual played games aren't really a big part of the plot, but the sport itself is fairly pivotal in a couple places, as is the job they're competing for. There is a miscommunication in the third act, which obviously is frustrating, but is not BAD because that is what real people DO and also it makes sense in context, even if your like "girl, just let him TALK, istg."

Still, I had a delightful time and I read the whole thing in one day in my pjs while complaining about cramps, just as the story itself starts, which was very fitting.

Last Night Was Fun is a charming, feel-good romance that had me smiling from the very first page. Emmy Jameson is a strong, smart protagonist trying to make her mark in the male-dominated world of professional baseball analytics. Her three rules—no dating, no oversharing at work, and always putting baseball first—are instantly challenged when a mistaken text message kicks off an unexpected connection.

What really made this book stand out for me was the mixed media format—the text message conversations were such a fun addition and gave the story a fresh, modern feel. I loved seeing Emmy open up through those messages, and the banter was genuinely sweet and witty.

The twist that her mystery texter turns out to be her work rival, Gabe Olson, adds just the right amount of drama and tension. Their enemies-to-lovers dynamic was well done and never felt forced. Watching their relationship evolve—from competitors, to anonymous confidantes, to reluctant wedding dates—was both satisfying and adorable.

If you’re a fan of slow-burn romance, workplace tension, or tech-savvy love stories, this book delivers. It's the perfect blend of heart, humor, and modern romance, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for something light, sweet, and entertaining.

I gave it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ because while I loved the story, I would’ve liked just a bit more depth in Gabe’s perspective—but overall, it’s a delightful read!

I desperately needed a good palate cleanser romance and this was it. From the enemies to lovers trope, and the chemistry between Emmy and Gabe, it was all perfect!

I like that the setting was atypical for a romance. Both characters have layers and are complex, but likable. The only thing I didn't care for was a typical third act trope. I know this is super common, but I was really hoping the author was going to do something different. This is a hardly a complaint though, because I quite enjoyed this story.

baseball? workplace? texting? Give me! I'm so excited to start this one and for it to come out in June! And I love a main character named June.

very fun and well written romance book with a really fun book theme and some awesome vibes. it's never incredibly unique but you don't need it. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.