Caught Up, third book in the Windy City series by Liz Tomforde, is another hard-hitter of a romance that is equal parts cute, heartbreaking, steamy, and wholesome. I’m glad to see a slight step away from Mile High and The Right Move in terms of immediate characters and the sports involved as seeing a baseball setting for this series is a great way to kick off another branch of the series, not to mention the single dad love story is almost always a gold star read (IYKYK).

Kai: I’m a single dad and starting pitcher for Chicago’s MLB team. I’m stretched too thin, but I don’t want help raising my son. Each of his previous nannies only lasted a few weeks before I let them go. Now, my coach is putting his foot down by hiring the one person I can’t fire—his daughter. Miller Montgomery is the last woman I should fall for. Too wild, too young, and too unattached. Chicago is just a quick stop for her. I thought I’d be counting down the days until she left, but summer feels too short when I start thinking about forever.

Miller: As a high-end pastry chef who recently won the most prestigious award in my industry, I’m desperate to prove I deserve it. But with a new title comes new pressure, and I can’t create a fresh and inspiring dessert to save my life. With only two months to get back on track, I should be focusing in the kitchen, but instead, I let my dad talk me into using my time off to nanny for his star player’s kid. Kai Rhodes forgot how to have fun, and I’m eager to jog his memory. But when he and his son start to feel like home, I have to remind us both that my time in Chicago ends with the summer. Besides, I’ve always been a runner, and the last thing I want is to get caught.

I really don’t think the blurb does this story justice as within the first few chapters you get a real sense of emotional conflict and vulnerability from Kai and Miller that doesn’t come across in the simple summary above. In comparison, Caught Up is so much more personal, the stakes are high right from the jump for both of them at this stage in their lives, and the fact there is a baby involved makes it all the more stressful, heartwarming, and guilt-ridden. Liz Tomforde does such a great job at building these characters up yet making it so that they authentically and believably can’t see what’s around them until someone changes everything.

The relationships in Caught Up really make it a story worth reading and rereading ten times over. From Kai and Max to Monty and Miller, and yes even Kai and Monty’s relationship will tear out your heartstrings, there is no shortage of healthy, wholesome, unconditional family love and support. The single dads raising kids and wanting everything for them not only works so well, but it never fails to show a genuine love and spark for humanity and what life is really about. We won’t forget Uncle Isaiah – not only because he too has a lovely relationship with his brother but the love he shows his nephew is unchanging and showcases the kind of guy he really is, which is helpful given Play Along is Isaiah’s book and that boy get’s into all sorts of tricky situations with his head and his heart. If you take anything away from this review or Caught Up as a book, let it be that this found family and blood family situation is well and truly one of the most loving that I have read and I will continue to think about it for weeks.

I loved reading Caught Up, and I am eagerly awaiting the afternoon where I can dive into Play Along before work and PhD presentation prep swallow me whole. Don’t even talk about the fact Rewind it Back is out and I have to wait for it to arrive at the library for me. this series could very well end me before I make it to the middle of 2025.