Pitches Be Crazy by Kelly Reynolds

The Savannah Bananas meet Stars Hollow in this small town, baseball romcom set in the Pacific Northwest.

It’s not easy being “the single girl” in the friend group. Romance bookstore owner, Nessa Gibbs, loves love . . . in theory. Sadly, her real-life relationships never seem to measure up to the love stories she reads about, and at thirty-four, she’s decided to throw in the towel on dating altogether. Between running her thriving business, organizing the upcoming Rose Festival, and leading a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, she’s got more than enough to keep her satisfied. But when she runs into her childhood best friend on the arm of the man who made their lives a living hell in high school, she panics, flinging herself at the first passing stranger who just so happens to be the rookie pitcher that’s been lusting after her for months. And now he doesn’t want to let go.
Nobody takes Jared Pink seriously . . . mostly because he’s never given them a reason to. It’s a lot easier to live up to his reputation as the Rose City Roasters’ hot shot pitcher and all-around goofball, then let somebody get to know the real him: doting brother, covert romance reader, and budding plant daddy (pun intended). He was fine with everybody taking him at face value, until he met Nessa, the buxom bookstore owner ten years his senior, who barely gives him the time of day. Now, he finally has a shot to prove that there’s more to him than boyish good looks and “that’s what she said” jokes, and he’s going to make the most of it by being the best fake boyfriend there ever was—one who puts the heroes in Nessa’s books to shame.

There’s one flaw in Nessa’s plan, though: she didn’t realize when she asked him to fake their relationship that his feelings for her might be real.

Pitches Be Crazy is the second book in the Rose City Roasters baseball series. This age gap, fake dating romance between a plus-size, mid-30s girlie who joins a romance bookstore and the golden retriever, rookie pitcher (and plant daddy) features small-town festival shenanigans, “let’s date, but no sex” vibes, an almost entirely LGBTQIA+ supporting cast of characters, a girl gang that plays Dungeons and Dragons, and NSFW limo content.