Caught Up

I'm trying all sorts of new sports this year. Who knew I would enjoy a BASEBALL romance, but here were are!
The focus being on Miller's professional baking career was a really nice plot point. I appreciated that the conflict wasn't miscommunication or someone hiding important information, but rather just a woman trying to figure out how to have it all--a career and a family--while still being true to herself. Plus, Max exhibited age appropriate behavior! We love to see it. I can always tell when an author has never truly interacted with a toddler before and tries to write one, and that was not the case here.
Overall, great book, excited to keep reading! I can't WAIT for Rio's book!!

Caught Up is the third installment in the "Windy City" series and this is Kai and Miller's book. This was a book that I had the most excitement for this year. The premise of this story had me so excited and I loved the first two books, they were some of the most perfect romances I have ever had the pleasure to read. And after seeing all the positive ratings, I had high expectations that this would be such a hit for me.

I am very sad to say that this is one of the worst books that I have read this year. And honestly, if it hadn't been Liz Tomforde writing this book, I would have DNF'd this book. I really tried to stay open minded with this one here but this one was very hard to enjoy. My struggle came with the heroine here. She was so show more challenging and I couldn't get to the point where I could remotely enjoy this one. I practically forced myself to read this book, hoping that it would improve and I would see some fraction of character growth but I never really saw it. I did not like Miller at all. She was difficult and quite frankly a bit of a harpy at times. She was continually pushing Kai away and almost putting him down emotionally because he wasn't as carefree as she thought he should be. She was always trying to change him. The personality of the heroine was so aggravating. She just had a very annoying personality and seemed to be mocking Kai over everything he seemed to say. Kai was an okay hero but the overpowering character of Miller overpowered any kind of personality we could have seen from Kai. The only redeeming qualities in this story were the moments when Max was involved.This story has completely lost any excitement I could have on future books from this author and I will be waiting on reviews for future books before picking them up.

Caught up had a beautiful premise but the execution wasn't done very well. Unfortunately this book didn't work for me and am a bit baffled by all the five star ratings if I am being honest. But hopefully the next book will be more like the first two books will strong character growth, likeable characters and a better execution. show less

After winning the James Beard Award, chef Miller Montgomery is at a crossroads in her career. Her father, Monty who is coach of a Chicago MLB team suggests that she take some time away from her job and become nanny to pitcher Kai Rhodes's son, Max. Miller doesn't know anything about kids but still finds herself enjoying her time with Max and her growing attraction to Kai, but the more time she spends time with them, the more she begins to question the direction of her life and career. Kai is struggling with becoming a single father, while managing a professional baseball career, but as he becomes closer to Miller, things in his life start to become more clear.

Caught Up is well written with realistic dialogue and likable characters in a show more story that is easy to read and fast paced. There are many things about this book that make it enjoyable including the appearance of several characters from previous books in the Windy City series. The narrative does include angst and emotion, but the stakes when the characters make decisions are not life or death. Overall, Caught Up is a fun book with a light romance but does not incorporate anything earth-shattering. show less

I really wanted to like this book and give 4 stars. The plot was essentially a Hallmark Movie. No shame there.

I could not get past how Max was described. He is a 15-month old child. Every other time Max is mentioned, they mention his age. I think "toddler" was used once. I could see how his age would help show time passing, Going from 15 to 16 to 17 months over the summer, but it was mentioned over 15 times. I get it, he's 15 months.

Furthermore the child has no character development at all. He's essentially a prop. There's more personality in the twice mentioned teammates than this kid, who is... You guessed it; 15 months, that should be showcasing some likes and dislikes at least. A dog might have more personality in a story than show more this kid.

Hard to fall in love with a kid that just smiles, waves and barely has words. Somehow he had difficulty producing "mama" or a nickname for Miller but could say "sad'. show less

This is a really cute love story, but it was predictable and a little boring at times.
It doesn't help that I don't have anything in common with the two main characters. It's very well written though, so maybe l'd prefer other books by this author.
Even though I don't think l'll ever read it again, Kai & Miller's love story made me smile and shed a tear or two. Now l'm craving some pastries!

5 stars

One of my favorites from 2024. I had heard good things about this book but went back to the first and second books because I don't like to read out of order. I'm glad I did, if for no other reason, because these characters/friends are special. The first book was a solid four, and the second book was almost perfect. This book though? This book was fantastic and deserved all the stars.

My favorite sort, A dirty talking man that just happens to be a father with a cute baby, chemistry galore, and a likeable leading lady? It was everything.

After reading this, I've never clicked a follow button as quickly as I did. I can't believe I've been sleeping on this author. Highly recommend..

4.5⭐️ Chicago baseball single dad. of course I get the feels. This expands our windy city group out and I'm all for it=)