cute, easy, fun. i wasn’t a big fan of the underwhelming “happy-for-now” ending though. but this was still an enjoyable read.

please keep in mind that this was nothing like caught up by liz tomforde (another baseball x nanny romance) and strikeout is really different and the two shouldn’t be compared.

mateo martinez and isabella morales were cute. and cringy lol. i don’t know how to describe it, but in the beginning their relationship was insta-something (lust and love...?) and they moved really quickly. their backstories are interesting, though.

mateo (33) struggles with his hispanic identity because he did not grow up speaking spanish and he’s a single father as the biological mother of his 5-year-old daughter is not in the picture as she gave up full parental rights at birth (but there isn’t any drama there, they parted on good terms).

isabella’s story is different, as are her struggles. she’s younger (25) and she had been very briefly engaged to another pro-baseball player 5 years prior, who then publicly humiliated her in the worse way possible. her ex cheated on her 72 hours after their very public engagement and then he leaked intimate/private pictures she had sent him to the press, and she became somewhat of an infamous spectacle and she had to stay low for several years to avoid the negative press. eventually, she rebuilt her mental health and confidence and starts standing up for herself.

mateo and isabella did not have an on-page meet-cute as they knew of each other previously because their mother’s have been best friends for decades. their mothers have schemed to get mateo and isabella together for years. before the story takes place, isa had worked for mateo previously as his daughter’s nanny briefly when they were on vacation and then the story commences when mateo is seeking a full-time nanny and their mother’s meddle to make sure isa gets the job and thus begins their journey in strikeout.

one of my favorite parts of the story were the dominican, puerto rican, and latine representation, which was so beautiful. the bits of spanish that was interwoven in the story felt natural and actually made sense. it did not feel cringy or like trying too hard, as sometimes stories with latino characters do.

overall, the author is a talented writer and the series is promising. the potential couples that have been teased makes me even more interested to see how the entire series plays out. i am looking forward to book 2 as the bonus chapter sold it for me.