The Post Game

by Amy Rose

After three years studying abroad, Blake returns to her family's beach house in Kitty Hawk. Her support her brother's baseball team and figure out her future. Until Jonah Parker shows up. Two years older and trouble wrapped in a baseball uniform, he's the guy who never gave her a second glance when she was just his best friend's annoying little sister.

Until now.

With MLB scouts watching, Jonah knows this is his shot at the pros. The last thing he needs is a distraction—especially Blake. But he can't keep his eyes off her. She's no longer the pigtailed kid he once knew.

After a game, the team and Blake head out to the bonfire at the beach when they decide to play Never Have I Ever. It starts out fun and innocent until Jonah looks at her and says, "Never have I ever wanted something so badly."

They both know her brother's no dating his sister. she's off limits. But stolen glances turn into secret kisses, and one perfect summer night changes everything between them.

Some rules are made to be broken.

237 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2026

Reviews

[Xan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was time for another ARC. This time, however, it came after release of the actual book. I was really curious to read a sports romance centered around baseball.

This story is told from Blake and Jonah's point of view. Blake returns to Kitty Hawk after getting her degree in London. And Jonah is her brother's best friend and also on the same baseball team as him. Will the pull between them bring them together?

I have some things to say about this book but let's start with the things I didn't like. The first reason being that this ARC still had quite a lot of mistakes in it, especially in the beginning of the book. It took away from the reading experience. I also missed the sports aspect of the book. The baseball matches mostly get breezed over, they win, they lose, but there's never an experience of the matches themselves which I often like in these kinds of books. I know that Blake and Jonah knew each other from before she returned and that they have been friends but still I thought the kiss happened too soon. Next to that I had trouble finding the chemistry between the characters, which made the story boring at times to me. I also had to wait to so long until I finally figured out how old they were, and for Jonah and Carter I still don't really know.

The moment my interest was piqued, though, was the one 'Never have I ever' game (you'll know). Even though Carter's reactions seemed really big sometimes, it was the biggest reaction I had to the book as well. I do have to say that the lack of smut in this one was quite refreshing. Not everything has to be sex driven.

In the end this book had a lot of potential but that was also it, a bunch of potential. And as an honest reviewer, I cannot in my right mind give this more than three stars. It definitely was okay but nothing more than that. Who knows, however, this might be your next five star read.

[Breony Cradock · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Post Game (Waves & Dugouts Book One) by Amy Rose

I’d like to thank Amy for the chance to read and review this book. I received an ARC copy after the book’s release due to technical difficulties.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and wanted more. However, I wish baseball games were more in-depth and not just surface-level. A prologue and epilogue would have also been great. Overall, it’s a typical sports and small-town romance, focusing on best friends’ sister/brothers’ best friend. It’s a slow-burn story. I loved the characters, especially the main ones, and how they develop and grow individually and together. The cover is simple yet captivating. I’d love more of this story, perhaps even a playlist to accompany it. I understand this is only book one and can only improve, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

[Heather Ott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spice: 0
Brother’s little sister, slow burn

This book is about a girl who has a crush on her brother’s best friend. She comes home from school away and is put in the same space as him every time she turns around. They all end up and the beach with friends and play the game “Never have I ever”. That’s when the story really takes off.

I had some trouble getting into this book. It’s supposed to be about a guy trying to make it in baseball but there really isn’t any baseball game time. It’s like an after thought. It is an HEA and is multiple POV. The book is mostly just good character development and relationship dynamics.

I was given an advanced reader copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review. Thank you for an interesting read Amy Rose.

[Manda · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC reader here! I’ve been waiting for this one for so long and the issues with the arc send out were so frustrating (completely not Amy Rose’s fault). I think more development needs to be done with the story and the characters. It was okay; I could see where it was going and where the ideas were at, but it could have been great. Everything felt very surface level, when it could have been so much deeper.

[Sarah Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first read from this author and I quite enjoyed it. It was a good introduction to her writing and a good start to a series. I will definitely be looking out for the next book in the series

My only criticism is that i felt the ending was rushed and missing something, we could have delved deeper into the characters, it was surface level

I was gifted a copy of this book by the author and this is my honest opinion

[Carley Misener · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARCish Review:

4/5⭐️, 0/5🌶️

-Baseball
-Brothers Best Friend
-First Person POV: Dual

This was good. Jonah and Blake are so cute it hurts. They’ve known each other for a long time but never acted on any feelings. But when they finally do it’s all or nothing. There’s some tension that held my interest. I did however feel like the ending was super rushed. And for a book about a baseball player there’s not much actual baseball included.

Overall it’s a decent fast paced read.

[Vibeke Sørlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this is a good start, but I would have loved more Finnish seance, a lot of them end very abruptly, and it makes it harder to follow and feel the story, the backbone is very good, but it doesn’t deliver for me unfortunately.

Love the Depth of B whit E, and you feel that, but not very whit J, whit some small tweaks this could be a five star read.

[Vivien Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice palate cleanser baseball romance. Blake is the MFC, and Jonah is her brother’s best friend and fellow baseball player. He hasn’t seen her in a long time and notices she is quite the beautiful lady now. This was a nice romantic story with likable characters but I did miss spicy scenes and smut. I do love my smut.

[Monique Geiszler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice romance without any smut.
Sister x brothers best friend was interesting to read and I enjoyed the small town vibe of Kitty Hawk.
I wish we learnt more about Blake’s adventures in London. This ARC had a few typos which hopefully have being fixed for the published copies.
It felt a bit high school sometimes, but overall a reasonable read.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first ARC read and I enjoyed it. Quick sweet read, no spice. Character development was there but I felt like there was room to go deeper. I also felt the ending could have been a little less abrupt.

[Gayla Storz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was cute and clean read but very fast paced. Blake and Jonah’s relationship was cute but I wished we could have dived a little bit deeper. The ending was really short and seemed like something more was missing.

[Krystal-Lee Sands · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is first time ARC a Sport romance book based on Baseball .

I like it had the POV from both Blake and Jonah each chapter,

This could easily be a YA, very Clean and cute characters , no spicy scenes .

I feel there could’ve been more to the ending .

[Patricia Lord · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is cute, clean and fast paced.. the plot and characters were good, but I felt like it could have gone deeper with the development and the ending felt rushed.