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Tessa Bailey\u2019s \u201cPitcher Perfect\u201d is a bright, breezy and charming romance that\u2019s just messy enough to keep things interesting. The book kicks off Bailey\u2019s new baseball-themed series with the author\u2019s signature mix of humor, tension and heartfelt emotional payoff. It\u2019s the kind of rom-com formula that works not because it\u2019s reinventing anything, but because Bailey knows how to make familiar beats feel fresh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The story centers Robbie Corrigan, a National Hockey League rookie and relentless flirt, and Skylar Paige, a Division I softball pitcher who is laser-focused on her sport \u2014 and so over men like Robbie. But when Skylar needs a fake boyfriend to make her longtime crush (and her brother\u2019s best friend) finally notice her during their family\u2019s annual wilderness competition, Robbie volunteers as tribute<\/a>. It\u2019s a setup tailor-made for chaos, and Bailey leans into every possible source of tension it invites.\u00a0<\/p>\n Skylar herself is easily one of the strongest female leads Bailey has written to-date: fiercely independent, guarded and quietly carrying the weight of being the only one in her family who didn\u2019t go to Brown University. The \u201coutsider in your own family\u201d ache hits harder than expected here.\u00a0Skylar is the person constantly trying to prove herself because she doesn\u2019t think she meets someone else\u2019s standard of \u201cperfect.\u201d She\u2019s the definition of TikTok\u2019s beloved \u201cthought daughter<\/a>\u201d \u2014 introspective and devout in her overthinking. If you\u2019ve ever felt like you were trying to earn your own family\u2019s approval, her journey will likely feel uncomfortably familiar.\u00a0<\/p>\n That said, \u201cPitcher Perfect\u201d isn\u2019t without its flaws. When Skylar and Robbie first meet, she overhears him make a casually sexist locker room remark. It\u2019s a genuine red flag, but instead of addressing it, the book just moves on. Before you know it, the two are fake-dating, and Robbie is suddenly a changed man just because he\u2019s fallen for Skylar. The emotional logic here is thin, and it\u2019s one of the places where the story feels like it skipped a step.\u00a0<\/p>\n