beta male – The Romance Factor

Admittedly, I’m not a huge baseball fan, but I’m being sucked into sports romances and I’m loving it. They’re just fun! This is the third in a series by Katie Rose.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A power hitter with an injured knee is miserable when he’s traded to a lower ranking team, but his misery is cut short by his physical therapist who he’s totally into, even though she claims she won’t date baseball players after a bad experience. To see a full synopsis, check out this book’s Goodreads page.

The Good Stuff
Even though it had nothing to do with the romance, I really loved the camaraderie of the team in this book, the New Jersey Sonics. They’re a lower ranked team and even though they train and want to win, they don’t take themselves so seriously that they can’t have a good time. I love the brotherhood of the whole thing, including the pranks and the encouragement.

I also liked the theme of inner confidence versus outer confidence. Jessica, the heroine, is an attractive, outgoing tomboy. Though she seems comfortable with herself at the beginning, and confident enough to engage with others, as the story progresses we find that she definitely has a fear of putting herself out there and putting her heart on the line (why, yes, I did just use a cheesy cliche…)

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm
While a good portion of the dialog flowed, and the banter was normal, the lack of contractions was distracting. For me, contractions make the dialog sound natural to the reader’s ear, and when I come across a line that isn’t contracted, it reads unnaturally to me.

The Romance Factor
The story is cute, but the conflict is minimal. Jessica and Gavin have chemistry, but there were times I thought the story was kind of boring. I like my angst, and it was missing through most of the book. On the other hand, Gavin is adorably beta male, and I kind of dig that. 3/5.

The Steam Factor
There are a few hot scenes, but nothing that really caused any blushing. Their first encounter was pretty awesome, though, mostly due to location. 3/5

Final Thoughts
This can be read as a standalone, though there are characters from the other books in the series that kind of intrigued me. Though the romance wasn’t as strong as I like, I wouldn’t mind reading more of this series just to get more of this baseball team and their shenanigans.

There are so many good historical authors that I’d never read before, but now that I’m discovering them, I’m also rekindling my affair with historical romances after indulging in contemporaries for awhile. Going forward, I’ll be balancing the two out, but on my continue-to-read list is Elizabeth Hoyt. This was the first book of hers I’ve read, and I loved it.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A blind lady targeted by kidnappers for nefarious plots must rely on her bodyguard to keep her safe, despite her need for independence and her unexpected and quickly escalating feelings for him. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

The Good Stuff
I loved that the heroine, Phoebe, was blind but still fierce and wanting of her independence. She knows her limitations, but she also knows what she wants to do. Unfortunately, she can’t seem to get out from under the thumb of her brother and is constantly shadowed by her bodyguard.

Trevillion feels like he should be an alpha hero, but really, he’s not. He’s gruff, but he’s sweet, and the fact that he keeps the fact that he’s in love with Phoebe a secret makes me love him that much more. Also, I can’t resist a flawed hero, and Trevillion has a bad leg, so how I could I not love him?

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm
I’m guessing Phoebe’s brother is the main character in another book in this series. I’m not sure how I feel about this. I really didn’t like her brother at all, but maybe if I’d read his story first, I’d have seen him in a different light? Not sure yet, but I do plan on going back and reading the other books in this series, so it should be an adventure.

The Romance Factor
Definitely 5/5. I thought Trevillion and Phoebe had that amazing sweet chemistry that I love in my romance novel couples, and I adored how even though he wanted to protect her, he put her happiness and wish for independence first.

The Steam Factor
Full disclosure, I finished this book several days ago and have delayed writing a post for it due to busy times in other areas of life. I don’t remember the sexy times being overly scandalous, but it’s possible they were just overshadowed by the romance. So I’m giving this a 3/5 since I know there were some detailed scenes, but I was apparently too wrapped up in the love story to get hot and bothered over them.

Final Thoughts
Flawed characters for the win! I’m definitely going to read more of this series in the hopes that I get more similar in style to this one.