Wild Pitch (Dominating the Diamond) Paperback – October 21, 2022

✔️ Dual POVs (Sierra and Mateo)✔️ Set in California✔️ WAY open door contemporary romance (5/5 🌶️)✔️ Tropes: Age gap, workplace/baseball romanceMy first 5-star review of 2024! This is a good one. Mateo is an aging catcher looking for his first World Series ring. He’s sacrificed relationships — both romantic and familial — to be the best in the game but doesn’t have the big win to prove it. Sierra is the rookie pitcher that’s the first female baseball player in the league.They are wildly attracted to each other, but can’t have a relationship while focusing on the big game, can they?The representation in this book (Latine, Filipino, bisexual, gay/lesbian) is extremely well done and simply fits the plot line and setting. It’s a great book, and I highly recommend it.

A new to me author with:Sports romanceAge GapSlow burnWorkplace romanceFriends to lovers2 Bi leadswith a side of kinkand sexual chemistry out the wazoo!Cat Giraldo is a new to me author and I enjoyed my first book by her.Sierra and Mateo are 2 baseball players playing in the big leagues. They start out on 2 different teams, but when Sierra is brought to Mateo's team in California, he slowly becomes her mentor and basically helps her hone her craft and become the pitcher she was always meant to be.Ok, first...I LOVED that we had a woman as a pitcher playing in the big leagues. I'm all for equal representation in sports and I enjoyed seeing her go from one team that treated her poorly to her slowly earning respect on her new team with Mateo. Yes it did take awhile and she did need Mateo a lot at first (which was frustrating and unrealistic), but this was as much about her career in the MLB as it was about her romance with Mateo.And can we talk about the slow burn chemistry that I enjoyed watching develop through their story? Mateo did everything he could to NOT be attracted to this amazing woman, but to see the friendship and mentorship build was just as exciting as the sexual chemistry.After these two become a bit more "familiar and comfortable" with one another, Sierra opens up about her control issues and how she likes to bring that to the bedroom. This allowed them to open up about their bisexuality as well as opening up a whole new side to Mateo that made it seem like he was a completely different person, but it worked for who these two were together.The family dynamic along with the team dynamics came in to play a lot for the story and the journey for these two and how they were going to make any sort of relationship work in the second half. While the first 1/2 was more slow and building who Sierra and Mateo were, the second half was more exciting, sexy, a bit drama filled, but also gave us that HEA we all wanted.Wild Pitch was a fun and sexy slow burn and I hope we get more in this baseball world.

I really liked the main characters and, for the most part, a real adult healthy relationship. The way they communicate and support each other is endearing and a nice change of pace. My biggest issue is the storyline with his sister. I'm not self actualized enough to be okay with that situation, and the unfairness of it all just really took me out of the story. The idea of him being wrong for being uncomfortable with it, yes, you want your characters to be admirable, but I also want them to be human.

wild pitch | @catgiraldoauthor•4.7/5 ⭐️ | 2/5 🌶️•look at me. LOOK AT ME.•go read this book•immediately. posthaste. now. please. i'm begging. like mateo, i am begging•sierra, our mlb queen and first woman in the majors, gets transferred from her terrible team in texas to the Definitely-Not-Los-Angeles-Angels-Of-Anaheim, where she is now pitching to her MLB crush/major hottie mateo. but don't worry, she has an "i don't date ballplayers" rule that definitely isn't going to get broken at allmateo, or grumpy team captain and overall heart throb, takes the rookie under his wing, because of COURSE he does. but he's gone through a very recent breakup that is still haunting him in more ways than one, and he can't get involved. baseball and his family are his entire life, and he's totally fine with that and not at all lovely even a little bit•first, EVERYONE in this book is queer. are there straight people under the age of 50? i have no idea. mateo and sierra are both out and bi, sierras moms are a bi and lesbian couple, mateo's niece's partner is nonbinary. we LOVE QUEER BOOKS DURING PRIDE MONTH YALL. i also learned a ton about filipino and latiné culture, which was really lovely to see <3•second, the SWEETNESSSSSSS. i was KICKING my FEET like a SCHOOLGIRL with a CRUSH. someone come sedate me. truly.•BUT THIRD THE 🌶️🥵holy mother of god the spice. i was SWEATING while reading this definitely not during a work training. SWEATING. sierra knows she likes control in the bedroom--and she knows she really can't be with someone who doesn't enjoy letting go of control for her. mateo knows that, in his past relationships, he didn't enjoy being the one in charge.sierra is an excellent domme--she CARES for him in the way dom(me)s are absolutely supposed to. and the way mateo falls into subspace? how he BEGS??????? i am salivating at 6 am writing this review, truly•cat is now an instant buy author, up in the spicy rom com shelves of alexis daria, talia hibbert, morgan elizabeth, and jasmine guillory for me. she's getting a shelf on the special bookcase, guys. it's

This book was perfect! It had right amount of fluff, kink, and all the feels. I can't wait to read more books by this author.

Wild Pitch is like, SO GOOD. I don't really read any sports romances, nor do I really enjoy them but this was a pleasant surprise. Sierra and Mateo's chemistry was hot and the tension between them made me squeal so much LOL. Absolutely adore them and the side characters as well. Can't wait to read more!

A great sports romance that was as soft and fluffy as it was hot and spicy. With lots of LGBTQA+ and Filipino/Latinx representation, this book was a breath of fresh air when it comes to inclusivity in the genre. The content warnings provided by the author were very much appreciated, as well.Though this book was mostly focused on the relationship between the main characters, I loved how the author didn’t skimp on the sports aspect of the story. Readers were able to experience not only the love for the game through the characters, but also the struggles and insecurities that the MCs faced on and off the field. This allowed readers to see the character-growth from both a personal and professional angle; perfectly combining each aspect of the book to create a cohesive story.It has to be mentioned that the spice was nicely done, too! It was detailed without dragging on, adding another layer of connection for the MCs to explore instead of it being the main component of their relationship.Overall, I really liked this sweet and spicy sports romance!

If you're looking for another sports romance, i highly recommend this. The chemistry between the main characters was off the charts and their relationship was so beautiful and also really steamy. Bonus, it's queer and has amazing family dynamics.I'll definitely be reading more by Cat Giraldo.

Whoooie, I have never been so glad to stumble across a book on Instagram and fall in love with it before. Cat Giraldo’s sports romance has all of the things we like about the trope, and then some. This book is beautifully queer, with two bisexual leads and so much sexual chemistry and tension that you’ll find it hard to put the book down once you start.Mateo Reyes is a legend in baseball, he’s made a name for himself in sports and he’s working his perfect butt off to achieve that series ring. As the oldest player on the team, he’s also gotten used to being picked on for his age and the years spent in the league, but Mateo doesn’t care about any of that. He knows what he’s got and he’s working towards making that dream come true. Sierra Ramirez hoped for this, but never thought it would happen. And as a rookie pitcher, she knows she has her work cut out for her. Add to the fact that she’s a woman and she knows what fellow players, the league and the fans will have to say about her. But she’s a hard worker and she’s out here proving to herself (more than anyone else) that she belongs right there on the mound as part of a major league team.When Sierra is drafted onto his team after the All Star Game, Mateo takes her under his wing. As pitcher and catcher, they work to perfect her technique and how to shake off the mounting pressure. The time these two spend together is so amazing. Their chemistry is off the charts and there’s just so much sexual tension coursing through their words; it’s a miracle that they held on as long as they do. Sierra and Mateo go from strangers to friends to lovers and that gradual build of their relationship was just so fantastic. I loved every single minute of watching them unravel the other person and learn what made each other tick.Speaking of which…their sexual relationship is FIRE. Sierra is a Domme and Mateo is the most willing Sub ever. Cat’s sex scenes are so beautifully crafted and I might have read a few of them more than once. There’s toys, there’s exploring sex in a new way, there’s just so much beautiful stuff that I don’t want to spoil it all just yet. All you need to know is that Mateo is the softest and most willing hero I’ve ever met in a romance and the way he bends and bows for Sierra was so incredible.Just trust me when I say that you NEED this book in your life. From the writing to the way Cat writes about baseball (a sport I only care about because of the tight pants) to the relationship between the leads and definitely to the way she writes her sex scenes—Wild Pitch is a must read.