Let's start by saying I have read a LOT of books by Tessa Bailey. Seriously, I think I've lost count of just how many I've read. Off the top of my head, I loved the Bellinger Sisters books. I HATED 2 out of the 3 of the Hot & Hammered series. I mostly liked the A Vine Mess duology, I didn't like Wreck The Halls. I've also read the first, let me check, 3 books of this series, and I'll be honest, I haven't been consistently rating them very high. Still, I keep coming back because when I find a Tessa Bailey book that is AWESOME, it knocks me off my axis and I decide to read the next book set for release by Tessa Bailey.
I'll be reading book 5 of this series, no doubt about it.
Okay, first off, this book can be read on its own. All that is needed to understand this world is that the books mainly focus on some kind of professional sports figure and their love interest. Book 1 followed a professional golf star, book 2 followed said golfer's best friend, a professional hockey player. That set up, the hockey team, is where the next 2 books continue, with book 3 being focused on another teammate from that hockey team and book 4, THIS BOOK, now focusing on a rookie player from the same team. The reader sees some of the team interaction from said previous leads, and the introduction of this book is a scene from a previous installment, just from a different perspective. I appreciated this because let's face it, I read that book a while back so while I figured that couple would end up the focus of a future book, I didn't remember all of the specifics about their encounter. It also helped to fill in the background of our leads and cement them as a couple I genuinely wanted to read about and see them get their happily ever after.
So Pitcher Perfect follows Skyler Paige, a senior softball pitcher at Boston University who attracts the attention of rookie hockey player Robbie Corrigan at what was supposed to be some kind of challenge between a group of baseball players versus the hockey team I mentioned before. She's a no-nonsense, tough-as-nails, one of the guys type of character who thinks Robbie is only making fun of her when he keeps calling her hot and tries to get her to go out with him. A bet leads to a short coffee date where the truth is revealed. Skyler is in love with her brother's best friend and she has no idea how to get him to notice her. Robbie volunteers to fake date Skyler in the hopes that the guy will get jealous and relaize his here to now unknown affection for Skyler. All the while, Skyler wants Robbie to tutor her in how to keep her true love's attention, starting with flirting lessons and escalating from there. At the same time, Robbie is trying hard to prove that he can be the guy of her dreams by participating in a week long competition with her family where the pair are forced to make a united front to her family, where Skyler has always felt like the odd man out.
And that's all the first quarter of the book!
By this point, I was charmed I tell you. I loved Skyler's quips and her sense of humor. I loved the sudden realization that Robbie had that his past had come back to bite him when he finally met the girl of his dreams. Their interactions were sweet and yearning and their chemistry made me almost swoon except I was smiling the whole time so it was more giggling than falling back in a faint. I can't remember the last time a couple felt like something I wanted to read. The pacing of this book just flies by because of the banter and the nature of the setting, being the family competition back at Skyler's childhood home. I read every scene and just wanted them to get on the same page but at the same time I enjoyed the journey of them getting to the right place for their relationship to work. I'm even invested in what I believe will be the future leads of upcoming books in this series. Which is funny, because as I said before, I read the other installments of this series and I have not felt quite so eager to get to the next book until now.
I could go on but I'll end this by saying I'm buying a copy of this soon to go with the other Tessa Bailey books I've loved. It deserves the place it has earned on a shelf with my other favorite romances.
Rating: I'm going to play it safe and say 8 Stars on my scale. I'd rate it higher but I worry that this might be a fluke for the series for me and then I'll have to wait for yet another Tessa Bailey book that I fall head over heels with again in the future. Best to temper my expectations and wait with crossed fingers for book 5. Here's hoping I love it to bits, like this one.
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