Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

I very much enjoyed this book. The writing was great and the characters were well developed. I hope to read more from this author in the future.

I really enjoyed this book and loved the writing style. The book was low-angst, but still managed to be engaging throughout thanks to the descriptive writing and realistic plot lines.
Theo and Maya’s relationship felt real and I loved the communication and acceptance around sexual preferences - it’s not something I’ve seen in other books! Both characters were written so well that I felt like I knew them. I was rooting for Theo big time!

🏀✨ This book is pure sapphic gold. If you're craving a queer college romance with heart, humor, and a little bit of viral chaos—this is the one to pick up.

Theo is a rising basketball star. Maya is fiercely independent and allergic to commitment. When one photo sets the internet ablaze with dating rumors, the slow-burn tension between them becomes impossible to ignore. What starts as a fake flirting situation quickly turns into something deeper and incredibly tender.

Expect:
📸 Viral rumors
🏀 College sports glory
🌈 Queer joy
💘 Soft but complicated feelings
❄️ And so much Colorado winter charm

It’s fun, flirty, and full of heart. The chemistry? Off the charts. The emotional growth? Beautiful. The queer rep? Absolutely needed. Put this one on your TBR if you love: rivals to lovers, college romances, and soft sapphic chaos.

My first sapphic sports romance—and I think I found a new favorite trope.

Maya and Theo had such natural, flirty chemistry that pulled me in right away. The fake dating setup was fun, but what really got me was how sweet and real their connection felt from the start.

I loved seeing two ambitious women chase their goals and fall for each other. I devoured this and already want more like it. 🏀💘

Tip In is fast, raw, and emotionally punchy. It drops you right into the headspace of someone balancing pressure, performance, and the fear of falling apart. The story hits on themes like identity, expectations, and the cost of trying to always “measure up.” Whether it’s sports, school, or just life, it captures that intense inner dialogue so many of us carry.

Josie May’s writing is sharp and direct, but also vulnerable. The tension feels real—like you’re watching someone trying to stay composed while everything underneath is shaking.

Do you remember the feeling of your first crush? Not the one that the world knew about, but the one that gave you butterflies just by thinking about them. This book is THAT feeling encapsulated. Theo and Maya have fully thrown me into my #basketballromanceera. The way I GASPED at some of these scenes was comical. I could not stop kicking my feet throughout this story! The longing between these two - the pining - was just *chef’s kiss* and I’ll be needing 14 more immediately.

Theo and Maya are very black cat/golden retriever energy. And I’m just saying, Theo is 100% vibes (coming from a black cat herself). A tall, muscular D1 athlete with a cocky court presence but a total down-to-earth person off it? 🥵Sign me up yesterday. I think my new motto going forward is going to be “How would Theo handle this?” Maya is actually the “fuckboy/commitmentphobe” of this story, but I love her character growth with it. (Partially because her bff Iris sets her straight no less than twice…partially because the stereotypical speed of lesbian relationships.) The importance of having a good circle of people to communicate your fears and worries, people!! Commutation 👏🏻 Is 👏🏻Key 👏🏻 (Coming from someone who is working on her own daily.)

I read many reviews that said Maya’s miscommunication/lack of communication was a downside of the book. However, I loved to see the representation and the thoughtfulness behind how to deal with it. I think that latter part is important: how to deal with lack of communication correctly because communication is what keeps relationships alive. Theo’s patience is legendary, though, and I bow to it. Well done to the author for portraying this so realistically.

Now, excuse me, I need to go to a women’s basketball game STAT. Thank you to Teacups and Tales and author for letting me read the ARC of this book. Josie Mae, I am purchasing this book and shoving it on all my friends. Congrats on your debut!

My first ARC! This sports romance had me kicking my feet and rooting for the MCs. I first heard of this book on Instagram and immediately went to NetGalley to make an account. Theo, the star basketball player surprised me with her soft, gentle love. She was insanely charming in a quiet way that made me want more. While Maya, the resident bookworm stayed standoff-ish until she couldn’t get enough. I loved how she was also a power femme on the down-low. A genuinely sweet and nostalgic love story with the right amount of spice. Speaking of, that build up. WOO! I normally can’t stand a slow burn but this fast moving book made the build up even better. When I finished the book, I was left wanting more. I’m excited to see where this series goes! I immediately preordered for my next re-read.

This book was so good i loved both of our fmc’s I liked how it the book wasn’t too long to were it dragged out and went on forever. It was good I’d give it a 7/10 definitely would recommend

This is an amazing sapphic sports romance! I couldn't put this book down. The characters were interesting and had really good chemistry together. It did have a third act breakup which I hate, but this one was done rather well, so it didn't bother me too badly.

I've got three words: Sporty Sexy Sapphic.

Definitely gave Caitlin Clark fanfic vibes and I had no complaints on that. For such a fluffy novel it was surprisingly grounded. Really took me back to uni, giving me those feelings of uni parties and painfully slow study sessions. But the highlight had to be the buildup of the crush. All the pent-up sexual energy was intoxicating and the spice that came out of it was immaculate. Can't wait to see what follows in this series!

“Tip In” by Josie Mae is a sweet adult romance novel (only moderately spicy) despite the suggestive title. Featuring two college students, one a decently famous basketball player, Theo, and an academic, Maya. They meet at a party, and though neither is interested in relationships, they quickly find themselves making an exception for one another.

The book is a standard three-act romance, falling into the same structure as many romance novels. I personally find the third act breakup to be predictable at this point, and was hoping this book would avoid it. I do think this novel did a decent job of allowing the reader to really get into the mindset of the characters to understand how they got to that point. Despite the predictability, I found the relationship between Maya and Theo to be charming and relatable. I enjoyed the book even though I wouldn’t say there was anything particularly special about it.

There was a minor plot of fake dating that seemed random and unnecessary. I felt like it was just trying to hit a few tropes so they could say it in the ads for the book.

If you’re into college basketball or just a college student, I think this book has something for you. Otherwise, it’s a sweet but fairly generic sapphic romance novel. Maybe I’ve just read too many similar romance books. If you love romance, you’ll love this one too!

Thank you to NetGalley, VictoryEditing and the author for the ARC of this book!

In a world with Caitlyn Clark constantly in the limelight why not have a sapphic basketball book? This is a really cute and easy read. I loved the flirty moments, the spice 😉, the relationship build up. All in all I think it was well written and a great addition to anyone's shelf.

I was really excited to read this because I love sports and I love queers. I'd only heard good tings about the author, and so I was primed for a fun story. Unfortunately, I was entirely underwhelmed by this entire story. Essentially, it's a story of two characters who meet and fall in love, which is completely fine. However, the characters were flat and the entire book suffers from so much telling and almost no showing, so you're stuck just reading monotonous, repetitive thoughts that don't align with the entirely lukewarm characters.
In the first chapter you're introduced to a seeming party girl, Maya; however, that's the last time she's this party girl vibe. She has commitment issues for really no reason, and it feels like her entire personality is not knowing anything about basketball-- a pet peeve of mine because it's truly not that hard to get the basics of a game with a devoted friend like Iris spelling it out.
We then meet Theo, the hot shot, future WNBA star, stone top who is motivated and driven. That's her entire schtick. She plays basketball. She's simultaneously a hearth throb and player, and then not that at all?
These two then go back and forth for about 60% of the book about if they should date and if they are dating and if they even like each other despite having literally just a handful of conversations (the telling and not showing).
Overall, I thought the characters were uninteresting and the plot was vague, the pacing was slow.

This felt like a Caitlin Clark fanfic, and I didn’t hate it at all. That aside, I loved this book so much. It was full of sapphic yearning and real emotions, and it was beautiful. I loved seeing a book focusing on women’s sports and feel like this release is timed super well with the rise in viewership women’s basketball is getting. Overall a super enjoyable read, and I would definitely recommend it!

Only a few minor typos in the e-book but I assume that's just a step in getting to the final copy. Other than that, lovely book!

Review posted on Instagram (@bookswith.sk) June 13, 2025

I picked up this book on a Sunday morning and I could not put it down! Tip In is swoony and fun!

Someone takes a picture of Theo and Maya after one of Theo's games. Rumors start to fly that they are dating so Thoe and Maya decide to roll with it. I thought this was such a fun spin on the fake dating trope. It is hard not to fall for Theo and Maya. They have great chemistry and I loved the flirty texts. The third act conflict was well done and I totally understood where Theo and Maya were coming from. This was a fantastic debut and I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

Read if you love
- sapphic
- sports romance
- college
- fake(ish) dating

This was such a great book that I stayed up until 5:30am to finish it.

I absolutely adored the characters, some of Iris’s lines were so funny. I also really liked GJ’s character although I felt there wasn’t enough of her however I wouldn’t be shocked if this author made a specific book about her and her dating life as it seems interesting

The plot had all the feelings, happiness, humour, love and sadness. I really appreciated the fact it educated me about basketball because I have no idea about it and if it hadn’t of been explained I’d of been so confused.

Romantic side of this book was lovely, the talking about fear in a relationship and spiralling because of that fear was so well written. I’d of preferred the epilogue to be like a year later or 2 because I want to know what happens in the future!

Overall a great book, I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

As someone who is not typically a fan of sports romances, I decided to take a chance on this one, and I'm glad I did. It had a good balance between sports talk and romance, and I never felt like I couldn't follow along. The dynamic between Maya and Theo was actually very sweet for two people who are viewed by others as being "players". I loved seeing them falling in love and overcoming their fears about being together. I liked that the fears themselves were realistic about how difficult it would be to be together with Theo's career and Maya's desire for grad school. However, I wasn't a huge fan of how long it dragged on at times. I think Maya was being a little too resistant to what she clearly wanted, especially after Iris talked to her at multiple points about it. As well, I didn't totally get the "fake dating" thing. It seemed a tad unnecessary and I think the story would have been just fine without it. Overall, however, the book is super sweet and has lots of cute flirty moments. I especially enjoyed their text exchanges and how Maya melted for Theo immediately, despite never having serious feelings for anyone before. I would reccomend this for any basketball lovers looking for a cute sapphic romance! 4.4/5 stars.

☆☆☆.5

Look this was not the best written book on earth, it definitely had its issues (although I didn’t read the final copy so any small errors will likely be fixed before publishing). But I surprisingly really enjoyed it.

This book centers around two characters, Theo a top college basketball player who has never really had time for relationships, and Maya a college senior who is terrified of commitment. It follows their senior year as Theo prepares to go pro and their relationship develops.

I thought the romance was really great, the dynamic between Theo and Maya was really nice and I thought they were both really good characters. I love a good sports romance, so I really enjoyed that aspect and I felt very invested in Theo’s career.

I will say there was a ridiculous repetition of how good Theo was at basketball, like literally 10 times a chapter she was like “I am soooo good at basketball omg I have sooo many fans.” And it was annoying me by the end of the book. But apart from that Theo was a really great character and I really enjoyed reading her and Maya’s story.

I would recommend if you want an easy, cute read. I found myself very excited to pick this up and I’ve been in and out of slumps for months.

I had the chance to read a digital ARC of Tip In. Release date is in two weeks on July 1, 2025. Tip In is an new adult sapphic romance that follows Maya and Theo from their first meeting early in their senior year of college through the year as the navigate unexpected feelings, transitioning from college athlete to pro-athlete, and grad school applications. Theo is the Caitlin Clark of this novel, she is THE women's basketball player. Maya is studious, driven, and excellent at compartmentalizing.
While reading this novel I found the pace to find the middle ground between fast and slow. I was able to stop reading and go about life, but I was ready to get back to it once the opportunity arose. I found main characters and their friends lovable and familiar. Their dreams, fears, and pressures felt so normal and valid.
I wanted to see more of their story though. I expect time jumps in novels that span an academic year, but I want at least pieces of the rhythm they've found themselves in. I wanted more of this aspect of their story. Likewise, I wanted more of their text exchanges and more of Maya's learning about basketball.
I'm very glad I read it. And I'm eager to see what my wife has to say about it once she reads the copy I'm ordering for her. My wife is definitely the basketball fan in the house, and I'm excited to see how she feels about the way the sport is tied into Theo and Maya's story.

This was a cute story with little angst other than self-sabotage. Loved the flirty parts. A little too much explaining of basketball in the narration in my opinion; I feel that it took away from the flow of the writing and dialogue.