if you know me, you know i LOVE tessa bailey and her books. this one??? no exception. giving robbie depth was so so much fun and him being put in his place about his former womanizer ways was genuinely one of the best parts about this book. this wasn’t perfect for me, the third act breakup made me shrug and banging in the nature preserve was WILD.

thank you to netgalley, tessa, and the publisher for the arc!!!

I have a horrible obsession with Tessa Bailey
Books and this one did not disappoint! I love how all of her stories are intertwined with each other. It helps to give the stories more depth for me. I thoroughly enjoyed how corny and adorable this book was but also with tons of comedy thrown in. I enjoyed the growth of each character through the book and also how the background characters had their own growth. She also set it up for a possible couple more books found forward which I will absolutely read!

My life got better the day Tessa Bailey decided to extend this series.

Look, there’s nothing I enjoy more than a fuckboy desperately pining over an amazing woman, but in this case Robbie’s insta-love for Skylar was a bit too over the top to feel believable? Contrasting that, Skylar’s situationship with Robbie was more convincing than her supposed lifelong crush on Madden! And also what exactly was happening with Eve (guess we’ll find out…)
The ending was a little rushed and felt like conflict just for the sake of conflict, which I didn’t love. Still, I flew through this book and had a good time, loved seeing my other favorite characters (wish they were involved more), and am already looking forward to the next one.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC!

Pitcher Perfect was such a cute romance! Robbie and Skylar really do have that perfect mix of chemistry and rivalry—their competitive banter makes their relationship so engaging. The sports angle, especially the hockey vs. baseball dynamic, adds such a fun twist and keeps the tension high in all the right ways.

If you're into sports romance with snappy dialogue and strong character dynamics, this is definitely a book for you.

Thanks so much to Avon Books and Tessa Bailey for the advance copy!

My rating: 4⭐
Read if you like:
Fake dating
Dislike to love
Slutty hockey player MMC
Overachiever softball pitcher FMC
Great banter
Unrequited crush on childhood friend
Sports romance
A week to win her love
Open doors spice

My thoughts:
I cannot explain how much this book gave me everything I was looking for. This is seriously what I needed these past few days.

As usual, Tessa delivered the most dramatically, swept-off-his-feet, in love MMC with a dirty mouth and an iron will to prove himself to the girl, and a FMC that excels at everything she does except advocating and believing in herself.

Combine that with
1. a wildly delusional plot to win the attention of her childhood crush (who also happens to be her brother's best friend)
2. by fake dating the hockey player who's mostly known for his active and shameless sexual life, and
3. of course a heavy dose of forced proximity and incandescent, m-f*cking tension

and BAM!! There you have it: a romcom I ate up in 3 days and had me panting for more than half of it.

I had a blast.

Tessa Bailey does it again. Another wonderfully crafted spicy romance with a sports themed backdrop. Cameo appearances from characters in other books make this all the better. You fall in love as the characters in the story do and you root for them every step of the way. With some extra crazy competitions and truly wild spicy scenes this one is a book I will be sure to read again. I only wonder who else from this world has a story we need to know. I basically read this book in a sitting.

4 ⭐️

Robbie and Skylar surpassed my expectations. I was not expecting much from Orgasm Donor #1. Miss Tessa Bailey is not known for a slow burn, and you’re kidding yourself if you’re not expecting instalove with her. But I’m here. For. It. It was the perfect trope for Robbie and Skylar.

We didn’t get too much of a look into the hockey world with this book. It was mainly about baseball/softball. I think Robbie and Skylar both being professional/collegiate athletes might have been a little too sports bro-y for my taste. However, when they weren’t talking about their sports, they had a wildfire-esque romance blooming between them. That banter! The dirty talk! The lessons! Woof 🥵

The reformed playboy act could’ve been drawn out a bit longer to raise the tension and realism. But when you find the one, that’s it. Robbie stepped up to the plate quick af.

I did not care for any of the secondary characters in this book that were connected to Skylar. They all sucked and were self-centered. I loved how Robbie saw this and immediately started taking care of our girl. She’d spent way too long feeling less than because no one who “loved” her prioritized her.

Tbh, I’m not looking forward to Madden’s book… Skylar’s girl bff is an ice cold bitch. Will I still read it because it’s written by Tessa Bailey? Ofc.

Wow! This is the best book in the series. I loved the humor in the romance in the story. I could read a whole other book about these two characters in their romance.

4.25 stars

Pool, you probably already know what I’m going to say.
Was this book cringy? YES. Very much so. I feel like even for Tessa Bailey there were some moments that were just so cringy that I had to put the book down. That being said, did I eat this book up? Also yes. There’s just something about these books that’s so addicting. Robbie was so unbelievably down bad and I loved to see it. He’s a reformed playboy who turned things around when he met his dream girl and never looked back. His and Skylar’s relationship was honestly so sweet. I felt like these characters really saw and understood each other and made each other better. I loved how Robbie stood up to Skylar’s family and made sure she knew how proud of her he was. The family chaos was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the weird competitions they had.
I will admit that the plot was a little all over the place at times. It took me a while to get into this one because I just didn’t initially connect to the characters at first. In the beginning Skylar felt kind of flat so it was hard to be invested in her story. Things also progressed very quickly from them going from the baseball game to Skylar’s parents house so I felt like I didn’t necessarily know what was going on. Once they were there though things settled in and you start to learn more about the characters. I do wish we got more of Robbie’s backstory. We know that he wants to be respected by the veteran players on the team and that he was close with his grandfather but other than that I didn’t really know much about him beyond his relationship with Skylar which was too bad because I really liked his character.
At the end of the day this was a very fun and cheesy book with a lot of really sweet moments and a romance that I was definitely rooting for. I have a feeling I know who the next book will be about (assuming there is a next book) and I look forward to that. I would also love to see Mailer get a book - I feel like he could really use a redemption arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC!!

Thank you so much to Avon for the early copy! 

This had some parts I enjoyed and some other that didn't work for me. Most notably, there was slang used that felt sooo 2024, 2025, and I just don't think it will hold up in print in a few years? Especially when the slang was being used during dirty talk, merp.
 
Anywho, I can always count on TB to write a man that is literally so obsessed with the FMC he can barely get out of bed, so if that's your thing, you'll be plzd!!

I really enjoyed the banter in this book. It wasn’t my most favorite read, but it kept me reading until the end. There were a few scenes that didn’t quite add up for me.

Another hit!. The pacing was spot on and while Tessa does write an excellent *BIG DRAMATIC BREAK-UP AND GRAND OVERTURE* (which I love) I really appreciated how the scale of conflict in this one was smaller and more every day. I loved this one and will recommend.

Did Tessa Bailey blow me away again? She absolutely did. With the perfect blend of depth and spice, Pitcher Perfect did not disappoint! The character development had me rooting for our two MC’s from the very first interaction. This novel’s great for fans of enemies to lovers and fake dating!

If you are looking for a fun, fast-paced insta love, this is the book! I seriously loved how competitive Robbie and Skylar are. These two are adorable. Robbie falls fast and hard for our girl, Skylar. The spice is perfect, and I love the whole fake-dating and teach-me trope. I couldn't put this book down and highly recommend it.


-Sports romance
- competitive family
-fake dating trope
-teach me trope
-He falls first and hard
-3/5 spice

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the Arc!

I have loved every book in the Big Shots series so far, but this was EASILY my favorite!!

Robbie and Skylar are so perfect together in the most unexpected way (Also the NICKNAMES!!??? Stop!!!) I CANNOT wait to add the physical copy to my collection!!

I really enjoyed this book! Overall this was fun, and exactly what I was looking for. The beginning of this book felt more believable than some other books in the series (particularly Dream Girl Drama, even though I loved it) and for the first 70% I was hooked. Unfortunately I didn’t love the ending of this book - I just felt like it was a little unnecessary and found the epilogue to be silly and not endearing. Most of this book I would rate as a 5, but the end dropped it down to a 4 for me. Having said that a 4 is still something I really enjoyed and would recommend this to any romance reader - especially if you like hockey romance!

It doesn't matter what Bailey writes, I'm going to read it. She's a must in my book! While this edition in a sports line-up of novels was not my favorite of the collection, I still enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5!! Loved these two and made lots of highlights throughout. I thought it was so great how well he knew her and loved her. I giggled every-time he was dumbfounded at her self doubt. It was very faced paced. I do wish she had an acknowledging moment at the end that she’s enough as she is but otherwise this was the best NetGalley arc I’ve read, didn’t even spot a typo!

Tessa Bailey can do no wrong! Whenever I have a friend ask for a spicy book I suggest Tessa. This Big Shot series has been my absolute favorite for the past year. I’ve read every single one immediately upon release so I was thrilled to get an ARC of this. Robbie and Skylar are both dreamy/steamy together. I loved that she was an athlete in her own right. Tessa knows how to write strong women and the men who love them well! I also can never resist a fake dating trope. This did not disappoint. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC. I know this is going to be a major hit come September when it releases!

Tessa Bailey is hit or miss for me, but "Pitcher Perfect" was definitely a hit for me...no pun intended!

I hadn't read any of the companion novels before this one, but I had NO issues connecting with the characters or feeling lost throughout the storyline. The story opens with Skylar rushing to get ready to pitch in her brother's baseball game vs their local hockey team. After getting into a fight with one of the star hockey players, Robbie, they agree on a fake-dating trope to help Skylar make her long-time crush (and her brother's BFF) jealous!

Some of the events and dialogue were a little corny toward the beginning, but I quickly fell in love with the dynamic and chemistry between Skylar and Robbie! Skylar, especially, had a lot of depth to her character and I enjoyed the background and conflict with her family and how it played a role in her current, type-A personality tendencies. I liked Robbie's character, too, but I wanted to know more about him as a person and his history rather than just how much he loved Skylar. I think this is why the climax of the story fell a little flat for me, too.

While romances like these tend to be pretty predictable, the spice did NOT disappoint, and everything came together full circle in the end! I plan on reading the rest of the novels in this series next - thanks so much for the ARC!