Author: Tessa Bailey
Year published: 2025
Category: Adult fiction (romance)
Pages: 336 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location: (my 2025 Google Reading map): USA (MA)
Summary: Boston Bearcats rookie Robbie Corrigan is living the dream. He’s made it to the NHL, his best friend/teammate and fellow “orgasm donor” is his roomie—and the women of Boston love them both. Life is sweet. That is, until he meets Skylar Paige, division 1 softball pitcher, girl least likely to take anyone’s bull…and the one member of the opposite sex immune to his charms. Robbie might be dazzled by the badass pitcher, but Skylar pegs him as a filthy player and wants nothing to do with him.
When he discovers she’s carrying a serious torch for her brother’s best friend, Robbie knows he should just go back to clubbing and whipped cream bikini parties, but he can’t seem to leave Skylar to flounder on her romantic quest to land another man. Nor can he miss out on the opportunity to spend time with her and hopefully redeem himself. Before Robbie knows it, he’s agreed to be Skylar’s fake boyfriend/love coach at an upcoming family wilderness competition where her crush will be in attendance. What could go wrong?
Through a series of contests that require them to trust each other, Robbie and Skylar grow closer and closer until their fake relationship starts to feel like the realest thing they’ve ever known and the sizzling lessons in sensuality burn out of control.
But it’s all just pretend…right?
Review: Oh, Tessa Bailey. I am seeing that I can count on her to produce a fun romance that will give me escape time just when I need it. I enjoyed her one other novel that I have read: Fan Girl Down (link to my review). Now I want to read the other books in this Big Shots series. I do like a good romance, and combined with a sports backdrop, I'm in.
I read this book in one sitting on a plane, which made my travels go much quicker. At first, I was disappointed because the men were being men and the women seemed swoonie (is that even a word?), but I was soon convinced to keep reading as I realized the main woman is a straight-shooting woman who speaks for herself and says what she wants. That's a good thing.
As with all contemporary romances, I knew the ending at the beginning, and I don't care. I enjoyed the process of getting there, the sports bits, the family and friend dynamics, and the romance/sex parts of it. And, yes, this one has quite a bit of sex in it (for those that want to know that sort of thing ahead of time).
I liked that the story also involved family expectations and pressures (both in academics and in sports), society's perceptions of men and women, and how we talk to our romantic partners about what we want and don't want.
Challenges for which this counts: none
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