TESSA BAILEY DID IT AGAIN!
I swear, every book she's ever written is an immediate 5-star read for me. Especially if there's YEARNING, and boy oh boy, IS THERE YEARNING IN THIS BOOK.
Icon. 10/10 would recommend.

A fake dating, enemies-to-lovers fake dating sports romance by Tessa Bailey. The fourth book in the Big Shots series. Rookie Robbie Corrigan is a rookie in the NHL and living the dream, on and off the ice. When he meets Boston University softball pitcher Skylar Paige, he finds a woman who doesn't put up with his player behavior. When he finds out she is interested in her brother's best friend, he makes a deal to help her in the dating department. Her family's yearly competition is the perfect excuse to fake date and for Robbie to get to know her better. When they realize that things make not be as fake as they first expected, will they trust each other and their feelings enough to make their relationship the real thing? A fun, heartfelt romance with spice and soul. Can be read alone but have enjoyed all the books in the series so far!

4.5 rounded up.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this ebook.
I actually really enjoyed this book, even though it’s very unserious. I really like that Tessa is really leaning into making her books campy.

This book hit all the right places. I adored Robbie and Skylar. I knew after their first interaction that this book was going to be explosive! I loved how this started out as fake dating and him teaching Skylar how to do things (haha). She's a tough nut to crack and didn't care that she was giving him a run for his money. They were just perfect for each other and just understood each other. I really admired them both because they were honest about their feelings. There wasn't too much hemming and hawing. Mistakes and doubt was made but it was settled pretty quickly. Their families and friends will have you laughing out loud as well. The ending had me tearing up and it was so Rocket and Redbeard!!

This book is quintessential Tessa Bailey. This is the ninth book of hers I’ve read, and I think it might be my new favorite! This book is pure fun and would make for a great summer beach read.

That being said, outside of the vibes (which are great), the scenarios weren’t particularly realistic, and there were many character development elements that were only explored at the surface level and seemed to be instantly resolved. The entire book takes place in a very short timespan, and yet several characters fully work through decades-long emotions and challenges in that time somehow.

Overall, I’d say readers who are looking for a light, quick, fun read and who take this book for what it is will have a great time reading it!

This book had everything I wanted - fake dating, he falls first, crazy family competition, only one bed!? I ate this UP.

I have been anxiously awaiting a Robbie story and this did not disappoint. Possibly my favorite Tessa Bailey book. I love the interconnected characters and plots. I love the "teach me".

Set in both Boston and Rhode Island, Skylar and Robbie have the worst meet cute. She calls him out when overhearing him brag about his prior night’s activities. But by the end of the day, he’s signed up to join her team in her family’s annual competition. Thrown together over the week, Robbie works hard to overcome that bad first impression.

It was so great to see the same scene where they meet but from their perspective. I do recommend reading Dream Girl Drama first just to see Robbie before Skylar more and their meet cute again.

Skylar’s parents are a great couple (love to see a solid second marriage). Robbie stepped in and helped resolve the tension around her not getting into their college and helped them see each other.

Because Skylar starts out with a long time crush on another guy and Robbie is helping her get his notice, I was worried about their relationship progressing while she had strong feelings for someone else. However, they don’t progress physically until they talk and redefine their relationship. I really liked how Robbie was clear on this, even when he didn’t have a lot of relationship experience, but he understood that this was important to be on the same page before they got to a certain point physically.

A few characters are set up for future books, but I suspect a certain best friend is getting the next book :)

Read this for:
🥎 Fake dating
🏒 Dating lessons - and in the planner ;)
🥎 Family outdoor competitions
🏒 Competitive couple - softball FMC and hockey MMC
🥎 Trust and communication
🏒 Found family - love seeing the hockey team, including those from prior books in this series!

Open door / spicy

4.5 / 5 stars

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC!

Thank you Avon for my gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Fangirl Down is an all time favorite book so I get super excited to have another book in this series! I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about Robbie but had to pick it up as soon as it hit my kindle!

Robbie, an NHL player for the Bearcats meets Skylar when her brother gets into a feud with the Bearcats. Their first encounter starts with her cursing him out, but then they concoct a plan to fake date and make her crush jealous. They end up falling for each other instead.

I just loved their story! Robbie grows and changes so dramatically once he meets Skylar and sees what he’s been missing in his bachelor life. He is so absolutely down bad for Skylar. I loved how supportive he is of Skylar and how he teaches her that she’s perfect just as she is. I loved seeing him standing up for her to her family. I loved their banter, chemistry and connection! I also got a kick out of her family’s wild challenges. I highly recommend this and also really hope for another book (or two) in this series! I would give this way more than Five stars if I could!

Robbie stan here - I've read all of the books in Tessa's Big Shots series so far, and Robbie far and away is my favorite MMC. He's so endearing and sweet, it was charming to get to read his growth throughout the books. He's one of the team's biggest playboys turned sweetheart, and it all came down to the right person giving him a chance to change. I'm not a huge fan of the - you can change them - trope, so I actually loved that Pitcher Perfect did it in a different way. Robbie needed the opportunity to change, then even though Skylar doesn't wholeheartedly trust him, he ends up having to find the courage to continue his growth without her. ***Cue the swoon***. The third act here was so refreshing - to see him wronged by her, I feel like that's not typically how romcom books go. It was nice to see him being the loyal one. I loved that Robbie and Skylar were so similar and understood each other so well!

Robbie is obsessed with Skylar from the moment he meets her and I was obsessed with watching him try to get her to fall for him. This story is funny and fun with Tessa Bailey's usual flair for sexual tension and writing instalust that feels believable. I loved that Robbie saw Skylar's value and her reaction to him made him question his previous interactions with women.

Robbie and Skylar are both competitive and love sports. It was really fun watching them bond over their similarities and cheer each other on. They both needed a little encouragement to stand up for themselves and it was fun to watch them come into their own. I really enjoyed their fake dating and the baseball vs hockey rivalry.

I really recommend this one for anyone who love a sprots romance and doesn't mind instalust. I think Tessa Bailey has a gift for writing quick connections that feel believable but if you want a slower connection this may not be for you. I loved seeing the set up to the next book in the series. I can't wait for that story!

I love love love Tessa Bailey but I found myself not connecting to this book. Wasn't for me but might be for someone else!

Absolutely love Tessa Bailey and I flew through Pitcher Perfect. It had the perfect amount of spice and chemistry between Robbie and Skylar. I loved both of these characters and the natural way they complimented each other. I really liked the families and supporting characters as well. Great fun read!

2.75 stars. I didn't hate it but it also felt a little like spin the wheel of tropes. And that it was too short - it could have used some more plot development. I did love the characters. It felt like a novella setting up Eve and Madden's book. I would have liked more.

I got an ARC on NetGalley, and it is Tessa Bailey thru and thru. I hate manwhore characters but she always makes me root for them. I love how she writes banter, it’s fun and flirty and i can actually envision people talking like this. The dirty talk is always great!

The plot for this one was fun, I liked the fact that she was seemingly in love with someone else. It flowed well, but it is very fast burn. I didn’t love the third act issue though. If you like Tessa Bailey, this is a fast and fun palate cleanser.

Skylar Page has 3 priorities in life: her lifelong crush on her brother’s best friend Madden, pitching softball, and her planner. Her carefully organized routine is completely disrupted when her brother drags her out of bed one Saturday morning to pitch a game against the Bearcats, a local NHL team where she meets one of their rookie players Robbie Corrigan. As first impressions go, his will probably hold the record for the worst. The first time Skylar sees him he is bragging about his latest conquest and she instantly does NOT like him and she lets him know it. However, her fiery comebacks have Robbie hooked and suddenly she is all he can think about. Skylar on the other hand sees an opportunity to use his bachelor lifestyle skills to help her win over her long-time crush. The Page family coincidentally has an annual tradition of a week long tournament coming up called the Page Stakes, and Skylar’s usually partner, her best friend Eve, drops out at the last minute. Robbie agree to help teach Skylar all about flirting and dating as well as being her stand in partner at her family’s games, and he gets to spend time with her and maybe even convince her that he is the one she should be with.

I have enjoyed Tessa’s previous books and was excited for this one! It was a quick, fun, steamy read with low stakes and lots of passion. Robbie is the definition of DOWN BAD, oh my goodness. He is absolutely obsessed with Skylar and it was really cute seeing both of them find love for themselves within each other. I liked the sports element and competitiveness and how it can be toxic was a big theme in the book, though I wish we could have seen more of them actually being in games!


I think the relationship between Robbie and Skylar did feel rushed, the storyline of the book happens over about a week, and it seemed a bit extreme that Robbie completely switched his lifestyle and is fully committed to a girl he has only gotten to know over less than 7 days. From both POVs there is a lot of focus on lust and physical attraction, which is great and Tessa is a queen on writing spicy scenes, but makes me think their relationship is mostly based on sex instead true emotional connection. It also seems unrealistic that Robbie who is trying to establish himself as a professional hockey player and about to go into playoffs has time to entertain Skylar and her dating practice schedule - who again, he has only briefly spoken to but is ready to completely change around his life for her. It was a cute love story and of course it’s fiction, but the way these situations happened took me out of the book.

I also wish we had more of a resolution with Madden! I feel like Skylar never actually got to talk about her feelings for him and have closure on her YEARS long crush on this guy, but that story arc ends in about just one scene and I think something she’s been chasing for that long deserved more.

It was not my favorite Tessa Bailey novel, but also not my least favorite read either. Overall, a quick enjoyable read if you enjoy sports themed romances, brother’s best friend trope, and fake dating.

Flying through books that are so good and not wanting them to be end is how I feel about all of Tessa Bailey’s books. She’ is the Queen of Rom Com Spicy Books. I read this book in two sittings and then tried so hard the second day to take my time because I knew I was almost finished. “Pitcher Perfect” is filled with swoon, redemption , and sticking up for the people you love, and most certainly the spice! Fans of Bailey will absolutely love and I can definitely recommend if you haven’t read any of her books yet! Tessa Bailey’s “Big Shot’s Series” is my book Dopamine high that anyone who loves to read about love will love! I cannot wait to read her other books to come in this series and anything else she has to write in the future! Five stars!

3.5 ⭐️
2.5 🌶️

Wow, a Tessa Bailey win! While in true Tessa fashion, she has some extremely cringe one liners in the book, overall this book was so good.

There’s nothing better in a book than a man who is down bad and DAMN, Robbie could be the poster boy!! Seeing him going from a playboy to a man in looooooove was fun and he was precious. As for Skylar, I was happy for her to find someone who gets her and cares for her like she deserves. While she did use Robbie’s playboy ways against him for entirely too long in the book, I loved these two together and their chemistry was HOT! Read this if you enjoy fake dating, insta-love, and sports romances!

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!

4/5 stars

I don't know how this is my first Tessa Bailey book but it won't be my last! I really really liked the sports romance aspect and the characters were very easy to relate to.

I may have loved this book even more if I read the three others in the series but it can be read as a standalone. Robbie is a reformed playboy and tries to help Skylar make her brothers best friend jealous of their relationship because she likes him but what could go wrong in fake dating? I loved the family lake aspect, the fake dating, the opening sports scenes and overall, the character growth was just what I love!

Read this if you like:
-sports romance
- enemies to fake dating to lovers
-open door scenes
-he falls first

I love all her books and I wait patiently for them. I have to say this one is one of my favs I could get into so fast and I could not put it down. These 2 people get you all ready for the sports season. The spice is there so you wont miss out if you like those kinds of books.