The Heat of the Moment by Katie Rose

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.

Goodreads Review: High Heat by Linda Morris

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. 

High Heat by Linda Morris

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.

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Game On, Game Over

This year I watched University of Kansas* (KU) in both the semi-finals and finals.

Let me start this by saying I’m not really a sports fan. The only games I  actively like to watch are hockey games, and since I don’t have cable nor a geographically close group of friends who shares my love of it, I don’t follow that much anymore either.

However, I’m one of those people that if I start watching a game of football or basketball, I get sucked right in. It’s usually college sports, too, though I have caught some NBA action at the gym on occasion.

It’s not just the sport that’s entertaining. It’s the setting and the feel of so many people coming together to cheer on their team. It brings back memories for me of high school football and basketball games and college hockey games. It’s remembering the excitement of being there with friends and watching a group of people representing your school in competition. **

It’s also wanting to see a group of people win, but to be fair, it’s also about wanting to see another group of people lose. I’m not going to lie…when it comes down to a rivalry, the opposing side is the evil one. And if THEY lose, their tears are just icing on the victory cake.***  On the flip side, if WE lose (like KU did last night), that’s okay, guys…it was a great season and you made it to the finals and you’re awesome!

Watching the game is a constant practice in hope and optimism. With every basket, touchdown, or goal you get one point closer to that victory. Even when the gap is wide and your team is behind, you still hold on to that last hope that there’s going to be a miracle and it’s going to be the best thing the sporting world has ever seen.

I’d never consider myself a sports fan, but I do enjoy the odd sporting event, and I enjoyed watching some March Madness this year.  I’m thinking next year I may go all the way in with brackets and beer and get my fill of some college basketball.****

*I live near Kansas State University but chose to root for KU this year because 1) I’m a follower and am okay with peer pressure and 2) When in Rome, cheer for the Romans.

**I wasn’t actually there in the crowd. Live sports are better, but I still had fun chilling in my friend’s cushy chair and taking it all in.

***If you deny taking pleasure in their pain, you’re a better person than I am. Don’t hate…I’m just being honest.

****I’m kind of looking forward to some college football come fall, but I need a place to watch it. I should start looking now.