Perfect for readers of Joanna Blake and Sawyer Bennett, hailed as “charming, sexy, and smart” by Lauren Layne, the Boys of Summer series from award-winning author Katie Rose heats up as a homegrown baseball star returns to snag the one that got away.
When veteran catcher Connor Jackson gets traded to the New Jersey Sonics, he welcomes the opportunity to possibly cap his career with a World Series ring in his home state. But there’s another reason Connor is glad things have come full circle. In pursuit of hardball glory, he left behind his college sweetheart, the one girl he could never forget. Seeing her again stirs up long-lost desires . . . and this time, he’s determined not to strike out.
A divorced mother of four, Tracy Coleman no longer aspires to gossip-mag glam—but she’ll make an exception for a date with Connor. Their chemistry is hotter than ever, and being alone with him is more seductive than she anticipated. Who could blame her for leaving out a little detail like the kids? Now all she has to do is come clean and convince the man of her dreams that they—Connor, Tracy, and her children—have a future together.
Review:
I really enjoyed Tracy and Connor and their second chance romance–you gotta love a perpetually single guy who’s willing to take on a single mom with four little (and they are little!) ones 🙂
Connor is a great hero. Though taken aback by the fact that Tracy has four kids, he soon takes it all in stride. He came back to town with two things on his mind–winning the Series before he retires, and finally getting back together with the girl he let get away after college. He’s ready to get out and settle down, and he knew from page one who he wanted to do that with.
I was a bit surprised that Tracy kept her kids’ existence from him as long as she did–I get not wanting to lead with that fact, but how did he walk her to her car in the daylight and not see car seats and kid paraphernalia all over the place? I mean, I suppose her car could be spotlessly clean (though that would make me have to hate her a little bit, mine never was and I had half as many kids) but no one takes car seats out of their car unless they have to. I was sure the gig would be up at that point and he’d know, but apparently not…
Still, once he found out he was a champ about it–we’re talking every single mother’s fantasy material. Seriously, we’re talking practically too-good-to-be-true territory, even for a fictional character. Can this man be cloned? 😉
The part of the story that I wasn’t so crazy about was all the secondary characters and their “advice”. Seriously, are there school counselors out there that would dare to talk to a single mom like that? So not any of her business, even if she does claim to have (Tracy’s oldest child) Mason’s best interests at heart. Tracy’s mom waffled a bit in her assessment of the situation, going from being supportive to issuing warnings, and Connor’s best friend on the team and his wife even got in on the unsolicited advice train. It’s not really the fact that so many people had advice, I guess, as the fact that 1) they took it further than it was ever their place to and 2) they weren’t consistent about it (except for the counselor, but she only made a single, super-annoying appearance). Fortunately, Tracey’s best friend Jillian was supportive from the start and made up for the other characters’ attitudes. Every single mom needs a friend like her!
Overall this was an enjoyable story about a hot baseball player, a single mom, and her four adorable kids. Past series couples made appearances, but it worked well as a standalone 🙂
Rating: 3 1/2 stars / B
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
