Holly Crawford is an indie author of contemporary sports romance & loves to make her readers laugh, cry, swoon, and sweat, all in the same book.
When she’s not panicking over self-imposed deadlines, Holly is working for a woman-owned book merch company and playing dinosaurs with her tiny human.
Her first series is the Grand Slam Love series and currently has *5* books planned. Get ready to fall in love with baseball boys and the entire GSL fam. (source: Amazon.com).
I freaking LOVE a good baseball romance and I was so excited to find this new series by 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝! I devoured this book in one sitting and I have ZERO regrets. This man was OBSESSED & DEVOTED to her in the best possible way.
This was a true Friends to Lovers story. Rhodes and Wren had an instant connection their freshman year of college and not wanting miss out on the friendship, they never tried to pursue more.
There is so much mutual pining in this book and I ate it up! Wren unfortunately married someone who didn’t deserve her while trying to convince herself she could get over her feeling for her best friend. She distanced herself from Rhodes but always missed him. When her husband’s cheating ways gets outed, she finally goes back home to Rhodes.
Rhodes was a SWOON inducing MMC. He goes out of his way to make her feel loved and special. This is definitely a book with spice, and I loved it!
Their parents were awesome. It was so refreshing to have a book with supportive parents on both sides.
This book was filled with seriously the BEST group of guy friends. They are seriously so protective of Wren. I hope they each get their happy endings because I loved them!
I can’t wait for the next book in the series, 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐔𝐩 to come out July 19th! 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 is available now on KU!
I want to start off this review with a thank you to Holly Crawford for sending me an ARC of Finally Home!
Finally Home is a cute best friends with benefits sports romance with lots of fluff and drama.
Now let's get into why my rating is what it is...
The storytelling and pacing of this book is EXTREMELY fast-paced. We meet the FMC Wren and MMC Rhodes at their beginning of their relationship, then we are prompted to the jump in which Wren marries the MMC's best friend Derrick (despite all the red flags) and then we are shown the present day Wren who finds out her husband has been cheating on her via a leaked sex tape. She prompts to file for divorce and move back to her hometown which she reunites with Rhodes and so their quick romance begins.
The pacing of the book really wasn't up to my personal taste, Wren and Rhodes end up confessing their love for each other at the 50% mark and the remaining 50% is filled with drama that was far too much (This is my personal opinion).
Next we have the whole romance between Wren and Rhodes, during the early POV's it is CLEAR as day that both of them are in love with each other and yet Wren still marries Derrick and when confronted with the question as to why she married Derrick she confesses that all she wanted was to be loved.
My issue with this is that Wren still married Derrick despite being in love with Rhodes, like why even bother marrying Derrick at all? ESPECIALLY given all the red flag he was presenting.
The drama towards the end of the book was also a total killer for me, the direction in which the author took it wasn't my cup of tea... (I would share but for the sake of spoilers I cannot do so).
I want to end this review on a good note, so I'm gonna share a couple things I enjoyed!
Rhodes is such a sweet character, he's there for Wren and extremely supportive. He's also demisexual!
Also the normalization of therapy was great! Both Wren and Rhodes attend therapy and use it to improve on each other which I really loved. I love it when romance books have the MC's attend therapy!
Overall all, this could be someone elses favorite book but it wasn't mine. I hope that those who read it end up enjoying MUCH more than what I did. And despite my review, I actually really like the author and wish her nothing but the best.
There was something so sweet and heartwarming about this book. I fell in love with love again while reading this and this truly felt like finally being home.
Rhodes and Wren have been best friends since college and have been there for each other through thick and thin. They were truly meant to be together and we're true soulmates!!
I loved the writing, all the super adorable and supportive characters and the whole vibe of the book. It felt like a warm hug and I absolutely cannot wait to continue this series!
3.5 Stars — The friendship between Wren and Rhodes reminded me of myself and my best friend. Granted, totally different outcomes. But, right down to the being there for each other’s anxieties and lows.. to the feelings neither wanted to touch on and ruin their friendship. This was a super cute story. I look forward to continuing this series and learning who the next couple will be!
(3.75) Thanm you Holly for sending this to me!! Super fun read, check triggers. Rhodes is SUCH a sweetheart. “I love you, Starling, and i’m so damn proud to call you mine.”
First foremost, I would like to say that I really did enjoy this book! I enjoyed the spice, the plot twists (which I didn’t always predict), and most importantly, I love the relationships that Holly built up in this book. I so dearly loved the friendships, both in Seattle and in Charleston. I am always a really big fan of books that allow the supporting characters to be fleshed out, and I felt like Holly did a great job at this because I felt emotionally attached and rooting for the supporting characters throughout this book.
Now to the sole true thing I did not love. I felt like the time jumps in the beginning were so large and sudden that it didn’t really give us a chance to become invested in any of the relationships until after we had had more than a 10 time jump. As I read more of the novel, I ended up appreciating that because we found out about a lot of what happened in those 10 years in retrospective scenes. However, I do feel like there could have been a little bit more in the beginning, particularly when it comes to Wren and Rhodes’ friendship and relationship.
I overarching really really enjoyed this book and hope that if you read it, it’s your cup of tea!
Thank you Holly Crawford for sending me this eARC!
*I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.*
This book is so stinking cute! I love there friendship! Wren goes through a lot!
What happens when you meet the love of your life, pinky promise that you will be best friends forever and watch her marry someone else all while knowing it is and will always be her for you…. 🥹
Rhodes and Wren have been best friends since day one.
They both have had feelings for each other but have never said anything…. After she seen him kiss a girl at a party she decided to start dating someone and then married him… Rhodes doesn’t like him but puts up with him for her.
Things go down hill for Wren when a video gets sent to her of her husband cheating on her….
This isn’t the first time it’s happened…. She goes home and files for divorce…
When Rhodes finds out she is home he comes to her rescue!
Everyone knows how he feels about her and everyone knows that they both love each other but with everything that she is going through Rhodes doesn’t want to say anything yet…
They come to an arrangement but it finally becomes real🙃
I love her friendship it’s all the guys from the team in Seattle! I love that it has always been her for Rhodes. I love how sweet he is.
"GODDAMN, BABY. YOU'RE RUINING ME IN ALL THE BEST WAYS."
Made it to page 220ish before just giving up on this book and skimming to the end.
There was not much depth to the characters or story. The book also jumps around quickly - FMC is married one page and the next her ex has cheated and she's hopping on a plane and filing for divorce and the next page she's lusting over her BFF. A day after leaving her husband, she's already referring to him as her ex-husband, as if they have been divorced for a while, and talking about dating other people. 🤦♀️ It was just a lot of word dumping on pages with so little flow/development of an actual plot.
All of her friends' "obsession" with her/being her friend was kind of weird and over the top. The excessive focus on her was just kind of cringe 😬. The FMC just goes around being all perfect and sunshiny and giggling - it was unrealistic how "perfect" she was portrayed and just got to be annoying.
Finally Home was a beautifully written, emotionally rich romance that really focused on healing, connection, and finding a sense of belonging. The characters felt real and deeply layered, and I loved watching their relationship grow in such a tender, meaningful way.
That said, I’ll be honest—I went into this expecting a little more heat. The chemistry was definitely there, but I found myself wishing the story leaned a bit more into the spice instead of keeping things mostly soft and subtle. It wasn’t closed-door, but it wasn’t as bold or intense as I hoped for.
Still, the emotional payoff made it worth the read. The slow burn, the vulnerability, and the way the characters showed up for each other were all beautifully done. If you’re looking for a heartfelt, cozy romance with depth and soul, this one delivers—even if you, like me, might wish it turned the temperature up just a notch. 🔥📖
I don’t know what to say other than I loved this book! I loved Wren and Rhodes and their journey from being friends to something more. Like I said in a previous review I am a sucker for friends to lover/ sports romance. Honestly I haven’t read a ton of baseball books but I think it’s time I changed that. I loved seeing Wrens friendships with the guys in Washington and I hope we see more of them. 🫢 Along with Rhodes friends in South Carolina. The writing was amazing and I can’t wait to see where this author goes I feel INCREDIBLY LUCKY to call her a friend. I loved the virgin MMC we don’t see that a lot in books. I also loved how Wren treated him after she found out we need to normalize that in books
I would like to start off this review by formally apologizing for putting off this book for so long because WOW! I read this book in one sitting and I have zero regrets about it. If you are a baseball romance girlie and you love best friends to lovers with “its always been you” then you NEED to read this book. The characters are so easy to love and the romance is so so swoony and the spice is SO good! Holly’s writing will have you hooked and never wanting to put the story down!
The best part of the book was for sure the characters. Not only the leading couple but the side characters as well. There is such a beautiful sense of found family in this story and it really sets up nicely for the rest of the series. I’ve already started theorizing about the couples we don’t know about yet and I am SO excited to see what comes next.
Wren and Rhodes were such a sweet couple. From their adorable friendship at the beginning to the passionate and loyal romance that we see develop over the course of this story. It is so easy to root for these characters and want nothing but the best for them. I also really love how the story talked about Mental health and how the characters were so cognizant and empathetic towards one another’s mental health journeys. It was so wonderful to see how much they cared for one another and always put each others needs first.
There is also a dog. His name is Finn. He is definitely a top favorite character LOL
I can’t recommend this book and author enough. Book 2 comes out in July and I am counting down the days!
We made best friend pinky promises ...Everyone is amazing and everyone loves everyone!! (With the exception of Derrick and Ella) The book is full of sunshine and rainbows 🙄 I couldn't stand FMC..
I’ll 100% admit that I bought Finally home based solely on its cover… and then when I kept seeing it pop up on my bookstagram it went from a book on my tbr to a book I just really wanted to read. And so after a long work week I decided I wanted something cute to read and what better than a friend’s to lovers romance. And this book was that and so much more! It was friends to lovers romance, found families, amazing best friends almost sibling like relationships, an adorable puppy, swoon worthy romantic moments, just the right amount of spice, and just enough drama to keep you flipping pages late into the night or early in the morning… I would know since I’m writing this review from my night owl cave at 4:00 am 😂. And while all of those tropes alone are enough to make me read any book ever… the characters in this story are simply amazing! I loved Wren immediately! I loved her sunshine personality, and how much she loved others and determined she was to make all those in her life happy even at the expense of her own happiness and while their were a few times where her naivety, well both her and Rhodes naivety, made we want to shake her I still loved her character and wanted her to be my best friend! And then there was Rhodes, the man who has been in love with his best friend from the moment then met. Rhodes sweet, and loving side towards not only Wren but all of his friends and family was beyond charming, and made it hard to not place him at the top of the book bf list. Add to that his protectiveness of Wren and I was truly swept me off my feet and rooting for their love story, honestly from the prologue! Wren and Rhodes had such a sweet and fast paced romance filled with heat and chemistry that to tell you to much more would be a spoiler in and of itself! So I’ll leave you by saying that if you love sweet, friends to lovers, fast paced romances stuffed to the brim with amazing characters and spice than this book is absolutely for you!
I received and ARC of this story and it was A HOME-FREAKIN-RUN!!!! I came across this author on instagram by chance and oh my god am i glad i did. I just spent the last 15 hours squealing and ugly crying over the words she wrote. I LOVED THIS BOOK. Rhodes and Wren were the prefect best friends to lovers story and I loved the side characters just as much and am chomping at the bit for the next book in the series! Rhodes Grey had me in love with him from the first page! He was a boy dumbstruck in love with Wren and i ate. it. up! I adored watching him navigate his relationship with Wren in such a healthy way and opening up about his sexuality and feelings. There were so many things that Rhodes could have handled wrong but he handled everything so maturely like a whole man 🥵 i also didnt think I would like the whole "hes the virgin" trope and this was my first time reading that but oooof i loved it! Wren was a freaking badass PR queen who I just wanted to hug with all the shit she went through. She handled everything thrown at her like a queen. Watching Wren and Rhodes in the beginning had me screaming "YOU LOVE EACHOTHER DUMMIES" at my kindle many many times. And when they finally did get together 🥰🥹🫶🏼 The place where i thought the HEA was going to come in was not the HEA and threw me for a loooooop. But as i read on i realized that there were so many more questions I had and I really liked that it wasnt a simple third act break up and then reconciliation. Both Rhodes and Wren took time to grow and heal from the events of the story that makes me know they will last past the epilogue when the dust finally settled and we got to our HEA 🫶🏼 Overall LOVED this story from Miss Holly and I will officially be hounding her ✨respectfully✨ for the rest of series ASAP 🩵
Wren had the love of her father her entire life. But during Freshman orientation a late student instantly charms his way into her life & friendship. All Wren wanted was to love and be loved in return. Due to Rhodes poor time management skills, he’s late to orientation. This earns him the smile of the prettiest girl he’s ever laid eyes on. Swearing a pinky promise to keep her secret, he cements his place as her best friend. After almost 10 years of keeping secrets, will Wren & Rhodes be able to handle the truth?
This is a fast paced story with (I’d say) significant time jumps. Which allows the reader to cover the span of almost 10 years in this book. While time jumps aren’t typically my thing, I did find that it worked for this storyline. Most stories cover only a few short months or even a couple years, but being able to see these characters from age 18 - 25 is cool.
This is an adorable and sweet book. This book had me laughing, crying and loving all the characters. Even the side characters were so lovable and I hope we get to see more of them in the future. I loved the mental health aspect of the characters. With several being open to services, it allowed them to grow and form stronger friendships and bonds. The healthy parent / child relationships was absolutely amazing. The parents were exactly what every child hopes to have.
⚾️ Sunshine / Sunshine ⚾️ Friends to Lovers ⚾️ Mental Health Rep ⚾️ Boy Obsessed ⚾️ Found Family ⚾️ Cheating (not between MCs) ⚾️ Queer Rep
Rhodes and Wren are soulmates. They became best friends their first day of college, and they both had romantic feelings for each other from day one, but Rhodes accidentally friend-zoned himself and had to watch the love of his life marry someone else. Four years later, after years of being cheated on and generally treated poorly by her husband, Wren returns home and gets the chance to reconnect with Rhodes.
This is a cute second chance friends to lovers romance with some spice. There are some quick time jumps in the beginning of the book, but I thought they made sense and gave us a peek into their friendship as it was “then” before we get to what is happening “now”.
There was a lot more drama in the second half of the book than I was expecting, and the only thing that I didn’t love was the villain redemption arc. I understand why Wren had to have some space after everything that happened to her, and I like that though they decided to take a step back, they didn’t break up. She moved back in with her dad so that they could date without the pressure of moving in together so soon after her divorce and she could work on her mental health.
⚾️baseball romance ⚾️friends to lovers ⚾️second chance ⚾️sunshine x sunshine ⚾️boy obsessed ⚾️no 3rd act breakup (they take a “step back” but don’t break up)
I really enjoyed this story!! It was a true friends to lovers that was just everything I was looking for. It had such great banter and sass, fun moments and characters, the storyline was beautiful, and I just loved it.
Wren and Rhodes meet in college and instantly connect, and I love how no matter what, their friendship never wavers. They are always there for each other, always loyal, and their developing romance is just so beautiful to watch blossom.
Wren has to deal with her past traumas of not having a mother growing up and a failed relationship that leads to drama, but her light and her spirit are so beautiful. Shes upset and sad, but she uses this vulnerability as her strength to fight for herself and for the life she deserves. And along the way, she has a great support system of family and her newfound family.
Rhodes is instantly captivated by Wren and fall for her right away, but is scared to lose her. No nether what happens, he is always in her corner, always cheering her on and it’s beautiful to watch how he loves and respects her. He struggles to find himself, and this journey is honestly so touching and beautiful.
Their love is everything and I’m so excited to continue in in this series!
❤︎ sunshine x sunshine ❤︎ boy obsessed ❤︎ found family ❤︎ friends to lovers ❤︎ baseball romance ❤︎ demisexual rep ❤︎ dual timeline
This book felt like coming home and having your favorite person wrap their arms around you. It was cute, cozy, realistic, funny and everything I love from friends to lovers. The connection & chemistry (the spice too?? passing away it was so good) between Wren and Rhodes was so genuine, plus the mutual pining had me kicking my feet and giggling.
Rhodes immediately became one of my favorite mmc’s, especially as he continued to communicate and care for Wren even when he had to watch her get engaged to another man (cried). 10/10 book boyfriend though. Now Wren. The way she kept pushing forward, no matter what happened in her life and continued to keep her head up was inspiring. I loved her and her group of friends that always had her back.
Overall, this book was beautiful and real while also being fun and silly. I’m a sucker for the friends to lovers trope, and this has instantly become one of my favorites. I’m soooo excited to see what Holly writes next, and I’ll be first in line to read it !!
Man, I really wanted to love this. The setup was promising and the MCs were sweet, but I slogged through this short book. First, I get that this is the start of a series and other characters need to be introduced, but there was far too much time spent on chatty scenes with the large cast of characters. Second, there are a lot of continuity and factual errors that kept yanking me out of the story. Third, and I think the worst hurdle for me, the side (and occasionally the main) characters are extremely one-dimensional. They feel like carboard cut-outs from a Hallmark original movie crossed with a "quirky for the cameras" TLC home renovation star from the early aughts. If there hadn't been so much sex in this book, I'd think I was reading Christian fiction. That's the tone of the characters.
Then, there's Derrick.
Also, there's no baseball in this baseball romance. Talking about playing another team and talking to kids at a charity baseball camp for two pages doesn't count. No one so much as hits one ball on page.
First things first, congrats Holly on writing a freaking book! That in itself is so amazing and should be celebrated! Now to get into my review.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There are a ton of lovable and relatable characters. I can't wait for more of them in the next books of the series.
Rhodes and Wren's relationship is probably the cutest thing I've ever read. It simply comes down to the fact that they are each other's other half. I was so giddy reading about them finally confessing their feelings for one another after all of the bumpy roads and more to come. They are just so cute together!!
I think the mental health aspect and the acceptance of therapy was great and important to the storyline.
This book was so cute, and a great debut novel from Holly! The epilogue was romantic and swoony. I loved every bit of it.
Read if you like ⚾️ Best Friend's to Lovers ⚾️ Baseball Romance ⚾️ Mental Health Rep ⚾️ Found Family ⚾️ Boy Obsessed
This was my first book by Holly and I’m very interested to see where she goes with the series in the future. She set up a lot of new characters, which while enjoyable, was sometimes a bit overwhelming. I thought both Rhodes and Wren were great characters and had good personalities and traits. Some of the language choices though for nicknames, descriptions, etc. were just a little much for me. The prologue mention of a grasshopper height really threw me. Never heard that one before.
I think there was a lot of potential here; but needed some adjustments to pacing of the story and issues. I felt there was inconsistencies on that front as things started to unfold it had only been a couple days it seemed like rather than weeks. Then a jump ahead where it was time for Wren to go back to work.
All in all, I enjoyed it. But I wasn’t looking for more and felt like it could’ve ended a few different times. I’ll give book 2 a chance when it comes out.
A friend's to lovers baseball romance, and this illustrated cover is so sweet.
When you meet the girl of your dreams on the first day of college, and pinky promise to be best friends and also watch the girl you're madly in love with, marry someone else.....
Rhodes and Wren did everything together, were literal best friends in all aspects. Until Wren married a guy Rhodes couldn't stand. Wren couldn't break it off as she had her own issues to deal with.
Rhodes got drafted into the MLB and still kept in contact with Wren. When she shows back up in his life after not seeing each other for 2 years. They decide to make a pact and won't say what, but you'll like it.
Rhodes tries to make his best friend fall in love with him. There is a bit of twist at the end. There's also a lot of baseball friends for Wren and a new friend in interested in finding out more about. I'm going all these baseball players get a story too.
Finally Home is the first book in the Grand Slam Love Series. It is a sweet best friend’s to lovers novel that follows Wren and Rhodes.
Wren and Rhodes met at the age of 18 and accidentally placed each other in the friend zone. When Wren goes through some hard times, she comes home and Rhodes sees this as the best time to try to get out of the friend zone.
This story is fast paced but I believe that’s because the characters have known each other for so long, and they easily pick back up when they leave off. At times it did feel a little rushed but I felt like the end did tie up any loose ends that the chapters might have left off.
I do wish actual baseball was written about more but it is mentioned quite a bit.
I am really excited to read the next book! This book did a great job of setting us up for the next books characters! It is going to be such a sweet story as well!
Arc Review 📚 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ One more week until this story is out in the world and I’m so excited for you guys to read it 🤭 This book gave me all the feelings (like seriously all the FEELINGS)🥹 and the tropes in this book are AMAZING - friends to lovers - missed chances - Dual timeline - “It has always been you” - Baseball romance - Drama/ secret pining - Demisexual Rep - Mental Health Rep And the best Happy Ever After EVER 🥹 The connection between Wren and Rhodes just jumped out of the pages and I’m so happy they finally found their hea with each other 🥹 Thank you so much Holly for the ARC copy and I can’t wait for everyone to read this book! I myself want to turn back to page one and read it all over again 🤭 It releases March 1st and you can preorder here 👉🏻 Finally Home (Grand Slam Love Book 1) https://a.co/d/eam8r4e
I snagged this ebook on its release day because LOOK at this cover!! And I definitely read half of the book in one night.
And, I have to say, this one was adorable yet unexpectedly hot! Friends-to-lovers, accidental friend-zoning, second chance -- it has it all! I didn't love the found family aspect of all of the baseball players (seemed a bit much to me even though it's definitely plausible) but in general all of the characters are likable and the sizzle between the MCs was undeniable!
The drama in the book was the perfect amount and was realistic for once, making it a good addition to the plot. It was the perfect summer baseball season read with two charismatic characters who you'll love to love.
If you read any baseball romance this summer, let it be this one!
❤️Best friends to lovers ❤️Found family ❤️Mental Health representation ❤️Demisexual representation
Almost DNF’ed at like 30%. Ultimately glad I finished it because it was a cute little romance that made me actually want to give sports romance another try.
That said, the nicknames the main characters used for each other gave me the ick (sorry😂) and the “twist” in the last half was one I was ultimately expecting but was also genuinely hoping I’d be wrong about. If I never have to read another “guy we think is a jerk ends up getting a redemption arc and instead we throw the girl who was supposed to be a good friend under the bus” story again I’d be fine with that.
Will probably read more by this author, I think there was a ton of potential here and a lot that I really enjoyed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Maaaa’aaaam, YOU DID THAT 🙌🏼 I want to 𝕀𝕄𝕄𝔼𝔻𝕀𝔸𝕋𝔼𝕃𝕐 get adopted into this friend group/family & never leave them.
- Rhodes is 𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓮𝓬𝓽 🤌🏼 not only has this man loved Wren thru ALL the ups and downs, he has has also stayed an awesome friend & loving part of his family, all while learning things about himself and being a professional athlete. - My girl Wren, the way that I wanted to 𝙋𝙐𝙉𝘾𝙃 my way thru all of these - really only two - people for you! Obstacle after obstacle comes for you & you’re still swinging & being the bigger person 🫡
- I really truly cannot explain the love I have towards this book. Holly, you are absolutely amazing. EVERYONE do yourself a favor & immediately add this to your TBR list and be ready to fall in love with this group of people on March 1st!