Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Love & Baseball by Jaime Jo Wright (with Chloe Joanne) AND The Cinderella Plot by Pepper Basham, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
Title: Love and Baseball
Author: Jaime Jo Wright with Chloe JoAnne
Publisher: MadLit Publishing
Release Date: February 10, 2026
Genre: Young Adult Romantic Comedy
She needed a boyfriend. AI came to her rescue. But then her fake boyfriend showed up at school.
Brielle has never wanted a boyfriend. She's happy with her book boyfriends--purely fictional, right? Easy to maintain. She's also not a huge fan of sports, except baseball. Not playing it. No. Again, books and cozy afternoons are her thing. But Brielle can get into baseball with the best of them when it comes to watching, repeating stats, and wearing her favorite jerseys. But apparently, that's not enough in life. At least according to her four nosy aunts, who all think she needs a boyfriend, people at school who are convinced Brielle is a closet serial killer because she's happier with her books, and yeah. Valentine’s Day is on the calendar.
There is a purpose for AI, and Brielle decides the genius thing to do is make a fake boyfriend. Complete with deepfake photos, Brielle creates the perfect boyfriend, and no one needs to know he's entirely fictional. They just need to believe she met him over summer vacation, and he lives somewhere in North Carolina. Only he doesn't. When baseball catcher, Brooks Mason shows up at high school, a lookalike to Brielle's AI boyfriend, her entire world becomes a dog-eared, bent pages book nightmare.
Brooks is getting sick of all the girls at school wanting to date him. He wants to play ball and hang out. So, yeah. It makes sense to help Brielle out. Fake date? Why not? But once together, dating for show becomes an act that both Brielle and Brooks aren't quite prepared for, and dealing with unexpected attraction, complicated situations, and interfering aunts and bffs?
It's a grand slam of problems just waiting to happen, plus a game-changing shot at a championship home run at love.
** CLEAN YA Rom-Com Fiction you can read without skipping a page **
Young Adult Clean Rom Com is a genre that has peaked my interest lately. Love & Baseball by Jamie Jo Wright is the latest book that I have read.
I will say that it took a couple of chapters to get into the story. I am not a fan of AI technology, so the AI "boyfriend" was a little hard for me to grasp. I soon realized that since this is a Young Adult book that it was a theme that Teens and Young Adults would easily comprehend and enjoy. Brielle is an avid reader and is always reading a book or 2. She is not interested in having a boyfriend, until she creates one using AI.I was amazed at how well her friends believed the AI boyfriend was real. A lookalike "fake Boyfriend" shows up at Brielle's school and the girls are all swooning over him. Brooks and Brielle devise a plan to have a "fake date" to keep the other girls from bothering Brooks. I couldn't help but giggle like a "teenage girl" while reading how AI turned into real life. AI is involved although it felt like the "good ole days" of teenage girls telling friends about a "boyfriend" that doesn't exist. I really enjoyed the book and also enjoyed the faith aspect of the book. I HIGHLY recommend this book to YA who enjoy RomCom. GREAT BOOK!
PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub
Title: The Cinderella Plot
Author: Pepper Basham
Publisher: independently published
Release Date: March 19, 2026
Genre: Young Adult Romantic Comedy
Paisley Harper is invisible.
Not in a superpower way. More like the people-look-right-through-you-in-the-hallway kind of way.
She’s the girl with the oversized cardigan, random book knowledge, and the uncanny ability to tutor the school’s star quarterback without actually being seen as anything more than helpful. Meanwhile, her aunt and uncle’s beloved small-town bookstore is under threat from a shiny corporate chain, her best friend keeps giving her looks that feel suspiciously loaded, and Homecoming is looming like a glittery reminder that senior year is running out…and she’s never been kissed.
Enter The Cinderella Plot—a wildly popular self-help book promising total transformation in five easy steps. New hair. New confidence. New life. Maybe even… a date.
With nothing to lose (except her dignity), Paisley decides to follow the plan. Because if fairy tales have taught her anything, it’s that invisible girls don’t get happy endings unless they change something first.
But as Paisley starts stepping into the spotlight, she has to ask herself an important question:
What if being seen comes at the cost of being herself?
Full of heart, humor, bookish charm, and small-town magic, The Cinderella Plot is a romcom about friendship, first love, faith, and discovering that sometimes the greatest transformation isn’t becoming someone new—it’s realizing you were worthy all along.
** CLEAN YA Rom-Com Fiction you can read without skipping a page **
Young Adult Rom Com is a genre that I have been interested in recently. The Cinderella Plot by Pepper Basham is the most recent book in this genre that I have read.
WOW, I feel like this book described by Young Teen age years perfectly!! Paisley Harper is the main character in the book and she feels like she isn't seen by others in her school. She is the "typical girl nerd" with the oversized cardigan and book smart. Paisley isn't feeling very confident about upcoming events like Homeschooling and her Senior Year and other life events. She wants to be noticed by others. A book captures her attention, one that details a 5 step plan to be transformed. She begins putting the plan into action and part way through the book, she takes a step back. I REALLY LOVE how Paisley realizes that her self confidence and self worth isn't found in the plans from a book, but through her faith in God. I can totally relate to Paisley in many ways, especially lacking confidence in my worth as a teenager and allowing myself to be "used" by others. I think this book has a MUCH needed message for Teen Girls in today's world. I couldn't stop reading until I finished this book. I plan on buying a few copies in the future for Teen girls I know. FANTASTIC BOOK!
PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon
Jaime Jo Wright is a multi-award-winning author of gothic historical mystery novels that weave suspense through dual timelines. Her debut novel, The House on Foster Hill (2017), won both the prestigious Christy Award and the Daphne du Maurier Award, establishing her as a compelling voice in inspirational fiction. An ECPA and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author, Wright specializes in chilling mysteries stained with history's secrets, drawing readers into haunting tales set primarily in turn-of-the-century Wisconsin. Her work has earned praise from Publishers Weekly for skillfully wrapping intricate mysteries around dual timelines with enough surprises to captivate lovers of gothic fiction. When she isn’t writing mysteries, she co-authors YA RomCom with her teenage daughter, Chloe JoAnne, with a passion to provide sweet and witty romance for teenagers with no apologies needed. Residing in Wisconsin's rural woodlands with her husband and their two children, Wright is a self-proclaimed coffee enthusiast and lover of all of her rescued felines.
Connect with Jaime Jo by visiting jaimewrightbooks.com to follow her on social media and subscribe to email updates.
Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance “peppered” with grace and humor. Writing both historical and contemporary novels, she loves to incorporate her native Appalachian culture and/or her unabashed adoration of the UK into her stories. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of southwestern VA, where she is the wife, mom to five great kids, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus.
Connect with Pepper by visiting pepperdbasham.com to follow her on social media and subscribe to email updates.
(1) winner will receive a prize pack of Brielle's Faves (an signed copy of Love & Baseball, a copy of Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen, a Milwaukee Brewers lanyard, and a Brewers Christian Yelich baseball card) and Paisley's Faves (a signed copy of The Cinderella Plot, a Cinderella carriage jewelry holder, and a beautiful copy of Emma by Jane Austen)!
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight March 2, 2026 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on March 9, 2026. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.
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JustRead Tours Blog Tour: Love & Baseball by Jamie Jo Wright with Chloe JoAnne and The Cinderella Plot by Pepper Basham
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