The Hotshot by Piper Rayne

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Raising my cousin’s three kids wasn’t in my five-year plan.
Actually, it wasn’t in any plan.

One minute I’m a single labor and delivery nurse living a quiet life and the next, I’m navigating guardianship hearings, meltdowns, and homework I’m pretty sure requires a math degree.

Enter Hayes Carlisle.

My best friend’s older brother.
Chicago Colts newest catcher.
And the man I once kissed and immediately pretended I didn’t.

So, when the custody battle I’ve been dreading becomes a reality, I shouldn’t be surprised that Hayes swoops in with a wild idea—a fake relationship. According to him, pretending we’re together will polish his image and prove to the court I’m not taking on an instant family alone.

But pretending to be Hayes’ girlfriend is a terrible idea.

Because he remembers how to make me laugh.
Because he looks at me like our kiss wasn’t a one-time mistake.
Because the kids start asking him to read bedtime stories.
Because my heart starts wanting things my life doesn’t have room for.

I can manage the chaos. I can fight for these kids.
But pretending not to fall for Hayes Carlisle?

That might be the one thing I can’t do.

The Hotshot

Three Kids, One Fake Relationship, and So Much Heart

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💛💚❤️🤎
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😋🙂😁😛🤓
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Duet Narration – Full Cast

Character Backgrounds and Plot Summary

Leighton Sinclair’s entire life changes in an instant when her cousin and cousin’s husband are killed unexpectedly, leaving her as the guardian of their three young children. She goes from worrying about her own future to juggling grief, diapers, school routines, and legal battles almost overnight. Just when she’s barely keeping everything together, her guardianship is challenged, forcing her to prove she can provide the stable home the children deserve.

Enter Hayes Carlisle, the Chicago Colts’ newest catcher and the older brother of Leighton’s best friend. Hayes has always cared about Leighton, and when he sees the impossible situation she’s facing, he offers a solution that sounds crazy but makes perfect sense in the moment. He proposes a fake relationship to strengthen her custody case. What starts as a practical arrangement slowly turns into something much more real as they settle into family routines with the kids and begin relying on each other emotionally.

One of my favorite parts was watching Hayes step naturally into the chaos of parenting. Whether he was helping with bedtime, comforting the kids after difficult moments, or simply showing up without being asked, those scenes made the relationship feel believable. The quiet domestic moments were just as satisfying as the romantic ones because they showed why these two actually worked together.

Highlights and Limitations

The emotional core of this story completely worked for me. The grief never disappears, but it also never overwhelms the romance. I appreciated that the children weren’t treated as background props. Each child reacts differently to losing their parents, and those differences shape many of the emotional scenes. The moments where Leighton questions whether she’s enough for them felt especially authentic, and I found myself rooting for her every step of the way.

The fake relationship trope also felt refreshingly grounded. Instead of relying on endless misunderstandings, the relationship grows because Hayes consistently proves himself through his actions. One scene that really stood out was when he instinctively steps in during one of the custody-related challenges without making it about himself. Those moments made their eventual romance feel earned instead of inevitable.

If I had one criticism, it’s that I would have liked a little more conflict once their feelings became obvious. The legal custody battle creates plenty of external tension, but I thought the emotional transition from pretending to dating for real could have been explored a bit more. Still, that’s a minor complaint because I was invested in them from beginning to end.

Narration

With such a large cast, I was curious how everything would come together, and I ended up really enjoying the production. JF Harding and CJ Bloom deliver strong emotional performances, while the additional narrators help give the supporting characters distinct voices without making the audiobook feel confusing. The performances capture both the lighter banter and the heavier moments surrounding the family’s loss.

I especially appreciated how the emotional scenes with the children were handled. The narrators never overplayed the sadness, allowing the quieter conversations and heartfelt moments to carry their own weight. The full cast approach added energy and made the story feel almost cinematic.

Final Opinion

The Hotshot ended up being much more emotional than I expected. I came for the fake relationship romance but stayed because I became attached to this little makeshift family. Watching Hayes earn the children’s trust while supporting Leighton through an impossible situation made the romance feel incredibly satisfying. This book gave me vibes of that movie with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel, Life as We Know It but with more kids.

I love romances where the characters prove their love through everyday actions instead of grand speeches, and this book delivered exactly that. Between the heartfelt family moments, believable chemistry, and excellent narration, this was an audiobook that kept me emotionally invested from beginning to end. If you enjoy sports romance with genuine heart, found family, and a fake relationship that slowly becomes something real, I definitely recommend giving this one a listen.

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