Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for the ARC via NetGalley!

This book hits the way a Tessa Bailey book should! After not entirely enjoying 'The Au Pair Affair' and 'Dream Girl Drama,' I was nervous about this one; however, this book is the precise right balance of spicy, sweet, and funny. First off, Robbie is great. The about-face he takes from his player ways is somewhat sudden, but other than that, his character arc is enjoyable. I really liked how he stood up for Skylar and protected her, but in a more supportive role than an overwhelming one. Skylar did not have as radical character growth, but it was still there. Everything felt a little fast; you know you're enjoying a book when it goes almost too quickly. However, in this book, a more spread-out time frame would have made sense. I think the bulk of the book is over three weeks, and that is a pretty fast timeline when one of your main characters is completing a personality 180. That being said, it did have me laughing out loud and kicking my feet. It is spicy, as are all of Tessa Bailey's books, but this spice did not feel over the top or gratuitous; it felt authentic to the characters. Overall, this is my favorite of the Big Shot series, and I highly recommend you give it a well-deserved chance.

5 ⭐️ thank you Harper Voyager and Tessa Bailey for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own!

If you’re looking for a book that feels like your favorite romcom, this is it. I genuinely had such an amazing experience reading this book. I was laughing nearly the entire time and when I wasn’t laughing, I was swooning at the romance between these two.

Boston Bearcats rookie Robbie Corrigan has it all—NHL fame, parties, and plenty of admirers—until he meets Skylar Paige, a tough D1 softball pitcher who sees right through his charm. When he learns she’s pining for her brother’s best friend, Robbie offers to play her fake boyfriend and relationship coach at a family wilderness competition. But between heated contests, sizzling chemistry, and blurred lines, their ‘pretend’ relationship might just turn into the realest thing either of them has ever felt.

Now, I’m not usually one for an insta-love relationship, but this book truly hit different. Pun definitely intended! It’s a quick love story, but it feels like Robbie and Skylar have known each other a lot longer with the way they interact and the easy way they both seem to gravitate and talk to each other. Robbie is a true “love at first sight” character, while Skylar is in more of a “hate to love” boat that quickly changes with the intimate setting.

I did wish to have gotten a little more storytelling at the end or even a few more scenes with Robbie’s family, but I did feel satisfied with the ending regardless! An absolute gem and I loved the fact that Skylar was this big bad softball player with a soft center that Robbie completely pulls out of her with the effort he puts in for her.

An absolute love as someone who played softball growing up and through high school and knows the pressures! If you like sports romcom with fake dating, and an MMC that puts food away like nobodies business, this one is for you!

Wow, Tessa does it again, I mean awesome. Great characters and storyline, perfect spice amount. Just great all around. I loved this book. No lagging at all. I’ll be adding this to my library as soon as it’s released. Thank you Avon & NetGalley for this ARC

Thank you to Tessa Bailey, Avon, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

If Tessa writes it, I will read it. That is a rule that I love by, and I am so honored and thrilled that I was able to read this before it comes out.

It has everything you want and more. Spice, comedy. drama, etc. I laughed so hard multiple times while reading.

Also, the cover and sprayed edges are amazing. Can't wait to get a physical copy in my hands!

This was my favorite since the first book. I loved both main characters and I loved seeing the previous characters in this story so much. Skylar is one of my favorite FMCs too. Thank you for granting my wish!

Pitcher Perfect
Genre - romance
Rating - 4⭐️

Thanks @avonbooks for the advanced digital copy - this releases on September 9🙌🏻

Quick breakdown
🥎🏒Sports romance
👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨Fake dating
😡Enemies to lovers
❌Reformed playboy
💪Strong FMC
🌶️ Banter and spice

The fourth installment in the Big Shots series, this is one of my favorites yet. These books work fine as standalones, but the series gives more context to some of the characters, so I do try to read in order. Honestly, when I saw Robbie was getting his own book, I was a little unsure, as he had a bit of um, a reputation in previous books in the series. I was so pleasantly surprised though - he for sure met his match in Skylar. They were sweet together and a couple I was rooting for almost instantly. I did want to shake Skylar for her reasons behind the fake dating, but she was a strong, independent FMC, which is so fun to read. For a spicy romance with a strong plot line and lots of competition, I’d definitely recommend!

Ready for Madden and Eve’s story next, who we met in this book🥰

#tessabailey #pitcherperfect #romancereadersofinstagram #romancereaders #romancereadersofig #newbookalert #newbookrelease #sportsromance #sportsromancebooks

i liked this!! ROBBIE IS TO. DIE. FOR. i can not stress that enough. he is down BADDDDDD for skylar & so freakin sweet and funny and is a goal bf. anything skylar tells him he EATSSSS IT UP. AND HIS MOUTH I STGGGGGG 🤤🤤🤤🤤

skylar is a sweet bbg and i need her to be my bestfriend thank youuuu

i think the set up of this book was great, i loved the competitive nature! i will always love fake dating, so loved that aspect. i will say, i do believe it moved WAYYY too fast though. he was in love with her from the get go (understandable) and she hates him BUT legit she “loved” him within like .. a week?

thank you to the publisher for providing this book for review via netgalley. all opinions are my own <3

Skylar has been crushing on her brother's best friend Madden since high school, but he's never noticed her. What can she do to get Madden's attention at her family's annual Page Stakes competition? Bring home a fake boyfriend should do the trick, right? Enter Robbie, a professional hockey player with a reputation for being a playboy. Since Skylar's best friend, Eve, can't be her partner in the games this year, her fake boyfriend Robbie is the next best thing. We see Skylar struggle with her family dynamic, as the only one in her immediate family to not go to Brown University, but constantly being reminded of it. She's a star softball pitcher at Boston University, but that never seems to be enough for them. As the games progress, both Madden and Robbie start showing their true colors, and soon, Skylar may not want to fake date Robbie after all. Robbie is starting to catch feelings for Skylar, but will his playboy reputation and past get in the way?

This book was cute, and I enjoyed Skylar and Robbie's banter. Though seeing the way Skylar was treated by her family was tough, it was also nice to see growth in her family throughout the book. Skylar was a great FMC, and I loved her confidence and how strong of a woman she is. Robbie definitely came off as a playboy and womanizer at the beginning of the book, but as I kept reading, he grew on me. The spicy scenes were hot, but there was just the right amount for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the e-arc!

Forever obsessed with Tessa Bailey. The Big Shots series is fueling me. I need more of them! I need all of them. Give me Elton’s book please!!! Skylar and Robbie are to die for. He falls hard and fast and never recovers. I love that in a man. This one has all the tropes. Fake dating. Sex lessons. One bed! I couldn’t put it down.

This was my first by the author and it had me laughing out loud most of the story! The banter between the characters and one-liners were hilarious!

I loved that the first impression we have a Robbie is a total playboy and we see how much he grows throughout the story! It is the same foe Skylar, but in a different way, which was just as satisfying to see.

The fake dating element and spice lessons felt a little predictable, but it definitely didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed the story!

I totally want to go back and read the first few books in the series and I can't wait to see what comes next!

A sports romance book where they are both successful athletes?! And where the coaching extends beyond the game?! Skylar longs for a lasting relationship but knows she needs help in seduction. Playboy Robbie steps in, offering to fake date her and coach her in the ways of love. Many comedic and eventually romantic moments ensue as the two find that they have more than the love of sports and competition between them. Although I haven’t read other books in this particular series but am familiar with earlier novels by the author, I was still treated to a plot that was fast paced and fun, banter that was top-notch, steamy hot spice and a good time with smiles. I always enjoy “the moment”when the enemies turn to lovers and the fake becomes real, and this story had both.

3.75⭐️
I can always count on Tessa baileys books to be fun and offer the perfect form of escapism! This wasn’t my favorite from the big shots series but still really liked it and I hope madden and eve get their own book and that Mailer does as well!

Tessa Bailey has done it again, she has me read a sports romance and I totally enjoyed it. I loved how the MMC is head over heels and is very vocal while the FMC is doubtful but comes to terms with the love that he has for her. In a way it reminded me of the feels from It Happened One Summer.

She had me at “fuck you.” Hahahaha

My favorite quote: “Besides pitch like a Hall of Famer, what are you into?”
“Cannibalism”

I’m completely obsessed with this story! Queen Tessa has truly delivered with the imperfectly perfect, he-falls-first MMC. I adored Robbie and the way his love for Skyler deepened as he learned to really listen to her. And Skyler? Absolute badass, owning her role as a pitcher for Brown University. The whole book was hilarious, swoony, and undeniably steamy. Without giving anything away, this was such a fun read and I’d recommend it to everyone!

When Skylar meets Robbie at an epic baseball v hockey showdown - she never expects to be writing a detailed to-do list for the two of them to make her crush notice her.

I loved Skylar and her to-do list!! As a paper planner girly I felt SEEN. Robbie is a reformed playboy seeing him become all that he can be and was made to be when he meets Skylar was everything .
I think these two would have a long happy life together post epilogue as they mature and reach their dreams together.

* reformed-playboy
* inexperienced-FMC
* sports-romance
* dual-sports-romance
* bedroom-lessons
* fake-dating

I think this is officially my favorite book in this series so far. Everything about this book happened to hit just right for me. I loved the banter as Robbie and Skylar went from enemies to fake dating. I also really enjoyed that Robbie helped Skylar understand her worth and to not feel less than for not fitting with the family traditions. It was also incredible how he always had her back and stuck up for her even with her own family. While I’m not usually big on insta love, this felt like a natural progression with the chemistry they already had and then the amount of time they were spending together for her family competition. It was great to see cameos from previous couples and how they helped Robbie understand his feelings and relationship with Skylar. I also enjoyed the sneak peek we got into the next book in the series. I’m so pumped for that couple.

Literally read this within 24 hours of getting this arc, Tessa’s books are so steamy, I love them so much. I loved the banter between Skylar and Robbie, and their open communication. I feel like every romance book has a miscommunication trope nowadays and it was refreshing to see two character sharing their feelings so openly.

Pitcher perfect was one of the best sports romance books I have read in a while! If you are a lover of the Windy City series by Liz Tomforde, I think that this should definitely be next up on your TBR! Pitcher Perfect can be read as a standalone (which is how I read it) or as the 4th book in the Big Shots series. This book is about Skylar, a badass softball player who sometimes moonlights as a baseball pitcher when needed, and Robbie who is a player on and off the ice. These two meet and immediately Skylar is uninterested in his player attitude. Naturally, one thing leads to another and all of a sudden these two are fake dating - Robbie volunteering to help her make her long-time crush jealous by pretending to be her boyfriend during a week-long trip home with her family. If you don’t think that this is a formula for love then you are dead wrong!!!!!!!! This book is sweet, laugh out loud funny, and OH SO SPICY! You will be begging miss Tessa Bailey for more after this one!

Pitcher Perfect was light-hearted, fun, feel-good, fast read. It was the perfect book to get me out of my reading slump, and had me smiling the whole time I read it.

The story follows NHL rookie Robbie and collegiate softball player Skylar, who first meet at a pickup baseball game. Overhearing Robbie's "locker room talk" Skylar instantly dislikes him, thinking he's a womanizing player. Robbie, instantly smitten, will do anything to spend more time with her and change his image. Including being Skylar's fake boyfriend for a week during her family's yearly competition games--all so she can make her brothers best friend, who she's in love with, finally notice her. After being forced to spend together, Skylar learns that despite his past, Robbie is a good guy. Spending more time with her confirms what he already knew, he is head over heels for her, and will do anything for a chance at being her real boyfriend. Will he ever get a chance, or is he just setting himself up for heartbreak?

This book truly felt like a 2000s rom-com, and I loved it. Sure, some of it was far fetched and in the back of your mind you knew this could never happen in real life. But it was fun! Light-hearted! Cute! I love to see a yearning man, and boy oh boy did Robbie yearn for Skylar. Despite the light-hearted, silly nature of the book, I found Skylar to have a lot of depth. Her character really drew me into the story, and her insecurities were so relatable. I saw a lot of myself in her, and it was so inspiring to see an insecure, guarded, nervous heroine in the spotlight. I felt the same with her need to be perfect and not disappoint her family. Chasing a finish line that is always out of reach is something I deal with in my every day, and seeing it in a character was oddly emotional. All that to say, Skylar is my favorite female main character of Tessa Bailey's, and I hope Bailey continues to write female characters with such depth in the future.

Pitcher Perfect was the perfect book to read Labor Day weekend. Quick and fun, and one guaranteed to get you out of a reading slump. I can honestly say I can't wait for the next book in this series, and to read Madden and Eve's story. If you like flirty, fake dating, golden retriever male characters who fall first and hard, and/or forced proximity, this will be the book for you. Thank you to NetGalley + Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC in exchange for my honest review! Expected publication is September 9, 2025.

This was my first book in this series & I loved it! Funny, fast-paced, so much longing & chemistry. Robbie, pro hockey player and Skylar, college softball star pitcher, meet accidentally at a baseball game between hockey & baseball players. She is not impressed but he’s knocked sideways by her immediately. She’s not interested in dating him but happens to need a partner for her family’s annual competition. And maybe if they’re fake dating, she can make her childhood crush fall in love with her. Robbie is up for all of it while secretly pining for her. Fake dating at its best. There’s only one bed! But what I really love is their connection & yearning. It was completely believable to me. It’s steamy and fun. I smiled the whole time & devoured it in a day! Can’t wait to go back and read the other books in the series. Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the advance e-book!