Special thanks to the Rachel Quin for providing me a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

TL;DR: Pitcher Perfect wound up being a surprisingly fun fake-dating time?! I really enjoyed the banter between Robbie and Skylar but I also loved the sweeter, quieter, and more intimate (non sexual) moments between them. Skylar didn’t need anyone to rescue her, but she could’ve used someone vocal in her corner, and that’s exactly what she got from him. He was a surprisingly great cheerleader and I loved how hard he believed in her and how quickly he recognized how amazing she is and how lucky he got. While some of the steamy scenes had me cringing a fair bit, and I wish that we got to see more interactions with side characters, this gave me a giggle, made me blush, and I had a fun time with it!

It’s been a very long time since I’ve read a Tessa Bailey book and I honestly haven’t been very inclined to pick her books up anymore because I feel that I’ve outgrown her romances. But I’ve seen positive ratings and reviews for the books in this sports romance series so I thought, why not? I was pleasantly surprised by how fun this wound up being!

Even though I had my reservations at first, especially because our introduction to Robbie was not great, and despite the differences in their personalities and experiences, I thought they fit really well together. Robbie had a lot of golden retriever energy and it was pretty infectious. Although he didn’t leave the greatest first impression, it didn’t take too long for him to pull his head out of his butt and realise how far he’d strayed from the good man that his parents, and especially grandfather, raised him to be. It was fun seeing him genuinely remorseful and try so hard to be better—even if he still was a horn dog at the end of the day, at least it was all directed at Skylar.

Skylar was an interesting FMC. She’s very Type-A and lived by her planner, which contrasted nicely with Robbie’s spontaneous gung-ho personality. I liked seeing her loosen up the more she spent time around him and it was great seeing her enjoy the moment without constantly worrying about not being good enough or not trying hard enough. I can’t even imagine how stressful, exhausting and honestly, demoralizing it would be to part of a family that is not only so hyper competitive about everything, but who constantly talk about ‘never being enough’ and ‘trying harder’. Even though it didn’t feel malicious and clearly, Skylar had a lot of love for her family and they her, it was still frustrating to see how oblivious they were to the pain they were causing.

While I don’t feel like Skylar needed a knight to rescue her, and definitely not one in the shape of Robbie, it was clear she just needed someone in her corner. Robbie fell super hard and fast for Skylar (yes, very instalove even with the initial denial of feelings) and it was honestly kind of cute how head over feet he was for her! 🤣 He was tripping all over himself just to get a smile out of her and it was adorable. Surprisingly, I also didn’t mind the third-act because it felt like it needed to happen for them to come to terms with Robbie’s past but also to commit to any kind of future. I do wish that they spoke a little more about their thoughts after the anger went away though.

I will say that the steamy scenes, of which there were plenty towards the end, got a bit too cringey for me. I’m all for the dirty talking during sex, but why did Robbie have to end up sounding like that? 🫣 Some of the terms that were used to describe body parts throughout the read were also… Not great. 😵‍💫 Like, you didn’t need to be calling those body parts that and then go on to find different but just as cringey variations of those terms for those body parts, did you? No, she didn’t but she did it anyway and I’m sorry but I did not enjoy it!

Also, if you’re here for the “let’s fake date to make the other guy realise how amazing you are” plot line, then you might be disappointed by it because it didn’t lead anywhere. I personally didn’t mind it because it was nice to not have that extra angst and drama. Something I wanted to see was a proper hashing out between Skylar and her family. There was the blow-up reckoning moment for all of them, but there was never a moment that addressed these issues head on. I also wish that we got to see more interactions between Eve and Skylar, especially because they’re meant to be besties and even though it was clear Eve was going through something, it didn’t feel like they really knew each other.

Overall though, this wasn’t bad and I might even read the next book too because I’m curious to see how that couple’s relationship will evolve, but I don’t think I’m entirely sold on reading the earlier books in the series just yet!

Have you read Pitcher Perfect or is it on your TBR?

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