The Wild Card by Piper Rayne

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Getting pregnant after a one-night stand with my brother’s best friend was never part of the plan.

We’re talking about Foster Davis here.

Chicago Colts closing pitcher.

The broody king of one-word answers.

And the man everyone knows keeps one foot out the door.

Surprisingly, when two pink lines turn my world upside down, Foster doesn’t run. He steps in, he shows up, and he insists we do this together.

Pretending we’re fine is easy. Pretending this is just about the baby? Not so much.

Because Foster is gentle when no one’s watching.

Because he looks at me like I’m something worth protecting.

Because the walls he’s built start to crack—and I’m the one he’s letting inside.

Our arrangement was supposed to be simple. Boundaries were set. Co-parents and no catching feelings.

Okay, maybe a few sex lessons were added in too. Bad idea, I know.

Because the more time I spend with Foster Davis, the harder it is to remember why I ever thought he was the risky choice.

The Wild Card

When a Surprise Baby Changes the Game

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

The Wild Card jumps right into the biggest twist imaginable. Callie Carlisle, a successful podcast host who plans every aspect of her life, discovers she’s pregnant after a one-night stand with Chicago Colts closer Foster Davis. It is a complete shock to her because she’s been meticulous about birth control since college and is the type of woman who always carries condoms in her purse. Watching someone so organized have her entire future turned upside down immediately hooked me.

Callie and Foster are not strangers, though. Foster first heard about Callie while playing in Seattle with her brother Hayes Carlisle, but they didn’t actually meet until Foster was traded to the Colts. Their first meeting happened after Hayes disappointed Callie’s best friend, Leighton, by missing an important event because Foster ended up in the hospital with a bloody nose. That shared history gives their relationship more depth than a typical accidental pregnancy romance.

Foster has problems of his own. His reputation as baseball’s bad boy only gets worse after he’s caught in a public street fight with his twin brother and teammate, Decker, after his first game with the Colts. The brothers have been estranged for years, and the constant media attention makes Foster seem like someone Callie should avoid. I loved that the story didn’t pretend his reputation was just a misunderstanding. Foster has flaws, but the more time he spends supporting Callie through the pregnancy, the more layers of his character are revealed.

Highlights and Limitations

The emotional tension carried this story for me. Foster is protective without becoming overbearing, and I appreciated that his biggest obstacle wasn’t commitment but figuring out how to pursue Callie without betraying his friendship with her brother. One conversation where he wrestles with whether telling the truth is worth the fallout really stood out because it showed how much he valued both relationships.

My favorite part of this book was watching Foster slowly prove he was more than the headlines written about him. Instead of running from responsibility, he consistently shows up for Callie, even when she questions his motives because of his playboy past. One scene that really stood out was when they began discussing how they would co-parent despite barely knowing each other romantically. Those conversations felt awkward, realistic, and surprisingly sweet as trust slowly replaced skepticism.

I also appreciated that Callie never became a damsel in distress. She continued focusing on her career while trying to process an unplanned pregnancy, and I admired how she refused to let Foster’s growing feelings erase her very reasonable concerns about his reputation.

Though my only real criticism, would be that the book started out after Callie already knows she is pregnant. I like these kinds of surprises to develop naturally rather that come out in the first few minutes of a book. Though we do get short flashbacks into how the two main characters ended up with a surprise baby, I would have like the book to start out before their night together.

Narration

The full cast narration made this audiobook incredibly entertaining. Sean Masters gives Foster exactly the right balance of confidence, vulnerability, and humor. His deep voice was pretty sexy as well. Erin Mallon captures Callie’s intelligence, determination, and emotional uncertainty beautifully. Their performances made the quieter conversations feel just as engaging as the bigger emotional moments.

The supporting cast, including JF Harding, Teddy Hamilton, Connor Crais, CJ Bloom, Austin Stone, Meg Sylvan, and Willa Jaymes, helps create the feeling of an interconnected baseball family. Every character has a distinct voice, and the production keeps the story moving at a great pace.

Final Opinion

The Wild Card isn’t exactly the kind of sports romance I enjoy most because the relationship starts long after they have a night together instead of starting in a meet cute situation, which is usually my favorite part of a romance. I ended up having so much fun with this audiobook. I normally enjoy surprise pregnancy romances, but this one stood out because it never relied on the trope alone. The relationship develops through honest conversations, mutual support, and watching Foster earn Callie’s trust instead of expecting it.

I was pleasantly surprised by how invested I became in Foster. I expected another charming baseball player who needed to grow up, but seeing him step up while carrying the weight of his damaged public image and his complicated relationship with Decker made him far more compelling than I anticipated. The romance felt earned, the humor balanced the emotional moments well, and the full cast narration elevated an already enjoyable story. I finished this one excited to see where the rest of the series goes next.

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