I’m still considering making a devoted book review blog over here, but I need to do some research into the best way to go about doing it and I need to decide if it’s something I’m going to keep up on (since I haven’t done such a great job of keeping up on this one…other than book reviews pulled from Goodreads). I’m torn between wanting to do something cool and wanting to keep it simple. Until I make a decision…and we could all be waiting awhile for that…I’ll keep doing what I do. Though hockey is my sport of choice, this baseball romance was fun and proves you don’t necessarily have to like to sport to enjoy the romance.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
As VP of public relations for her family’s minor league baseball team, it’s Sarah’s job to keep professional pitcher Tom from getting into too much trouble with the media. Having already caused some controversy, Tom is pitching for her hometown team while he rehabs his pitching arm before heading back to the pros. Things get complicated when Sarah and Tom start and affair, despite the fact they know it won’t go anywhere past Tom’s short stay and despite the fact that Sarah has been warned by both her father and her brother to stay away from him.
The plot was fairly simple and straightforward, but it was sweet and fun to read. This was my first baseball novel, and even though I’m not necessarily a baseball fan, I found the dynamic of this to be entertaining. The story was paced well, and things didn’t seem to drag on, though I felt the whole thing about Sarah’s dad doing his best to protect her started to get annoying, more because her dad was a super unlikable character.
Though I didn’t like the dad or the brother, Sarah and Tom were fun characters. My issue with Sarah is that she was kind of a pushover, and it was painful to watch her hope that her father would come around and give her a higher position with the company. Tom was a nice guy who just fell into that trope of a good guy who didn’t want to commit and had a rough time of it with ex-girlfriends. I loved how he wasn’t impressed with the way Sarah was treated and seemed to have more faith in her than her family did.
The Romance Factor was a solid 3/5. No heart feels, but it was definitely sweet. The Sex Factor is also a 3/5. While there wasn’t a whole lot of foreplay and it wasn’t as naughty as some of the other books, there were a few steamy moments.
Overall, a good book. I wouldn’t mind reading more in the series and more baseball romances in general.
The Romance Factor 