LAST NIGHT WAS FUN

A wrong number leads to romance between rival data analysts for a baseball team.

As a woman working in the male-dominated world of professional baseball, Emmy Jameson mostly keeps her colleagues at a distance and focuses on the work. She’s up for a senior analyst position against her work nemesis, former baseball player Gabe Olson, and is determined to get the job. When she receives a text from an unknown number saying, “Last night was fun,” she responds and soon realizes the texter was given a fake number at the bar that just happened to be hers. As the pair keep messaging, their texts become increasingly flirtatious and vulnerable and are a bright spot for Emmy each day. In need of a date to her sister’s destination Cancún wedding, she decides to take the risk and invite her mystery man…only to discover it’s someone she already knows: Gabe, who is equally stunned. At first it’s difficult to pair in her mind the perfect man in her phone with the frustrating coworker in the next cubicle, but as they continue to open up to each other, she realizes the odds are favorable that she found the one for her. The banter between Emmy and Gabe is top-notch, and they seamlessly shift between fun flirtations and heartfelt support. Their careers and backgrounds that drew them to this field add extra interest and create meaningful moments of tension. Other side plots feel more like filler, and with the story told solely from Emmy’s perspective, some elements of Gabe’s characterization feel lacking. Still, their connection is strong, and their love story is filled with charm.

An enticing mélange of swooning, sports, and STEM.