Review: The Troublemaker by Piper Rayne (The Dugout #4)

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the authors via Valentine PR.

I'm going to be honest: I wasn't a fan of Easton Bailey's for a good chunk of Piper Rayne's The Dugout series. I felt guilty about the whole thing because I adored his parents, Austin and Holly (Lessons from a One-Night Stand, the first book in The Baileys), and his sister, Harper (The Complication with the Best Man, the fifth book in Lake Starlight). But I had a feeling Piper and Rayne were going to have falling for him in the fourth and final novel in their current baseball romance series, and fall for the guy I did.

Easton Bailey, the thirty-three-year-old shortstop for the Chicago Colts, is the titular character in The Troublemaker, and while the guy knows his way around a baseball field, he finds himself struggling once a six-month-old is handed over to him. While he's got his friends helping out and his parents in Alaska offering advice, he needs readily available to provide hands-on care for Tanner. That's where thirty-year-old bookstore owner Hadley Hargrove comes. He needs a nanny, and she needs a husband. It'll be a simple enough arrangement; that is, until it gets complicated.

I so did not see Hadley coming, and by that I mean how she's tied to Easton even before his son, Tanner, and her bookstore, The Story Jar, basically bound them together. But Piper and Rayne did what they often do, i.e. creating a story that delivered the swoon, the smiles, and the snickers headlined by main characters who earn their happily-ever-after. Both Hadley and Easton had to make changes to their lives as they knew it, and in the process, they discovered better versions of themselves as individuals and together, creating a family of their own. And that twist near the end? Chef's kiss! The Troublemaker was five-starred series ender.

Release Date: 25 June 2026

Date Read: 20 June 2026

Learn more about Piper Rayne.

Purchase The Troublemaker via Amazon.