The Songbird Setup

by Maggie Linn Sharpe

Leena Mitchell has no interest in falling in love. She’s done it before and has the broken heart to prove it. Instead, she wants to focus on running her bar and, sometimes, singing sad songs during open mic night. But her best friend has other plans for her, like setting her up with a superstar pitcher.

Bailey Turner is in the prime of his career. He doesn't have time for distractions. But his best friend’s wife won’t be put off. She’s found his soul mate and is determined to push them together.

Leena and Bailey are just as determined to sidestep love and decide a pretend relationship is the best way to get their mutual friend off their backs.

But when sparks fly and their pretense feels more real than either of them is ready for, they’ll have to decide—do they stick to their status quo or swing for the fences and take a chance on love?

235 pages, Paperback

Published February 20, 2025

About the author

Maggie Linn Sharpe has been creating worlds and characters in her mind for as long as she can remember. Because no career path felt quite right, despite her efforts, and motherhood limited her social time, she decided to try writing a romance novel. Now she's pretty sure she won't be able to stop.

Maggie lives outside of Columbus, Ohio with her husband, her two boys, and her mother. When she's not writing, she's usually reading romance, obsessing about musicals, or spending time with her kiddos, which usually involves learning more than she wanted to know about Minecraft and watching Bluey on repeat.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie Linn Sharpe’s “The Songbird Setup” is a fantastic debut that delivers everything you want in a romance — likable characters, fun tropes (including a fake relationship!), and just the right amount of spice without overshadowing the heart of the story.

Sharpe’s writing has the charm and wit of Ali Hazelwood and Emily Henry, making it an easy, engaging read. And as a bonus? It was the perfect excuse to revisit all my favorite Sara Bareilles songs—especially since the author included a playlist at the end.

A strong start from a local debut author (I know enough baseball terms now to confidentially say she hit it out of the park), and I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute, short and spicy baseball romance!

Spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5

I enjoyed the spice in this book! It’s definitely spicy, with multiple scenes throughout the book, but they’re well done.

Songbird Cafe is often the setting of this book and I loved the vibe of that place. The open mic nights with a fun group or characters was fun to see I also enjoyed all of the music references and loved that lesser-known songs are mentioned as well.

The story is on the shorter side, about 200 pages or 5.5 hours in audio, but the length is perfect! We get the main couple’s whole storyline and it didn’t need to be any longer.

I did listen to an audiobook, but I’d recommend physically reading this one. I struggled with the narrator and don’t think they did this story justice! I will continue with the series though!

Thank you to Maggie Linn Sharpe for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

[Abby Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book! It really picks up speed after the first chapters, once the love interest joins! I think it’s a perfect book for relaxing and what my mom and I call a “beach read”! Easy to follow along and fun!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this light romantic debut novel! It was warm and sweet and spicy! Hard not to love Bailey! Looking forward to see what Maggie writes next!

[Laurie Reads Reverse Harem · Rating 4 out of 5]

🌟🌟🌟🌟
🌶️

This was a debut novel? HOW?!?!?

This was sensational. Super fricking cute and sweet. Some of the timeline jumps were frustrating but apart from this slight issue, this book was fabulous!

It was hard not to love Bailey. Leena was a bit harder to love but also, understandable with her history and her character needed to be a certain way for this plot and storyline to work so I understand. Bailey, woah!, what an easy love. He was the epitome of a book boyfriend. Such a fricking cutie pie! If anything, read this book just for Bailey. I wanted more of him to be honest.

I received this book (ARC) for free in exchange for my honest review which I am leaving voluntarily.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book! I could visualize the characters and feel their emotions throughout. I liked how it alternated between characters so you could get the story from their points of view. The flow was natural, and it had just the right amount of spiciness. And the song selections really connected with me, especially the ones at the end! Once I started it, I couldn't put it down! I can't wait for the next one!

[ES · Rating 2 out of 5]

The overall idea and plot of this book was really good.

I found issues with the pacing and the lack of time notices. In some chapters there was multiple breaks in time but it wasn't clear how much time had passed. Then with the pacing some parts seemed to drag on. Some minor continuity issues.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is outstanding and I love the cover too.

[Morgan Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

God do I love a fake-dating turned real romance. Getting over closed feelings and excepting real love and care from someone. Some things really are real.