ABOUT THE BOOK
When her boyfriend dumps her at her father’s funeral, Cassidy Calloway does what she does best—turns her heartbreak into content. To honor her baseball-loving father—and if she’s being honest, to piss off her ex—she launches a season-long social media experiment to attend nine games with nine dates in honor of her father’s favorite player, number nine, Nate O’Brien.
The Gila Monsters’ star pitcher is on the verge of his biggest season yet, and he’s not about to let some influencer-turned-ballpark-spectacle throw him off his game. But when the team starts losing and fans start blaming Cassidy, Nate has bigger problems than his ERA—because the front office wants them to fix the narrative by pretending to date.
With his career on the line and her reputation at stake, Cassidy and Nate must turn their luck around. But the more time they spend together, the harder it gets to pretend they aren’t falling for each other.
And that’s the problem with fake dating. At some point, it starts to feel real.
MY REVIEW
The author sent me the book as part of LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers List, and I also have a great admiration for Ms. Snowe.
I have read many sports romances, and what I liked about this book was that the sport wasn’t just present in the background but was instead an important part of both the plot and the characters, something which I don’t usually come across in stories of this type.
I also found the fake relationship between a well-known social media influencer and a mature baseball player a real treat. There’s just something about that dynamic that adds so much depth to the relationship.
I loved the banter between the characters; the way they teased each other was fantastic, and their chemistry was amazing. You could clearly see the tension and the bond developing between them, which made their journey all the more enjoyable.
Another aspect that really stood out to me was how the author depicted grief. This sensitive topic was handled so well, being genuine and heartfelt. It added another layer to the characters’ development, and I appreciated how real and relatable their struggles felt.
If you’re a fan of heartfelt romances with believable characters and great baseball vibes, including Yogi Berra quotes in every chapter, you need to check this one out.
Thank you to Ms. Snowe for giving me the opportunity to read the book with no expectation of a positive review.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jaqueline Snowe is a contemporary romance author who believes love stories should come with equal parts swoon, spice, and sarcasm. Based in sunny Arizona, she’s embraced the “dry heat” lifestyle—though she’s far more devoted to iced coffee and peanut butter snacks than desert hikes. She’s best known for writing emotionally rich, athlete-centered romances with strong heroines, broody (but secretly soft) heroes, and enough banter to make even the grumpiest characters smile.
When she’s not deep in a draft or rereading her favorite tropes, Jaqueline is raising two delightfully chaotic children, spoiling her overly dramatic pets, and absorbing more baseball trivia than most sports broadcasters—thanks to her husband’s job with an MLB team.
