cocktailsandbooks1's review
3.0
HIGH HEAT is a fun baseball romance. Sarah Dudley is VP of public relations for the Thrashers, a minor league baseball team in Indiana. Her family owns the Thrashers and she and her brother both work for their dad. Sarah loves baseball; she played when she was younger and knows a lot about the game. Unfortunately, because she is a woman, she is not taken seriously, not even by her father.
Tom Cord is a pitcher who has been playing in the big leagues for years, until an elbow injury sidelines him. He is in the last leg of his recovery and is rehabbing with the Thrashers, before he goes back to the majors. He is nearing the end of this career, but he loves playing baseball and isn’t ready to retire.
Ticket sales are down for the Thrashers and Sarah hopes adding Tom to roster will help spark interest in the team and fill more seats. Sarah knew Tom when he roomed with her brother in college and she had a crush on him. He is still attractive, but he has a reputation as a womanizer and she knows she should stay away from him. Tom isn’t interested in a relationship, he needs to concentrate on healing and getting back to the majors, but he has never met anyone like Sarah. She is down to earth and doesn’t care about his fame or money.
Sarah is smart and I admire her baseball knowledge. It’s not easy working in a male dominated field. She lives a dull life in a small town and is surprised Tom is interested in her and she also worries if she gets involved with him, she will get hurt. Tom is a nice guy who likes to have a good time. Unfortunately, his wild antics keep getting him bad press. Once Tom meets Sarah, he starts to question the decisions he has made and the women he has dated. I always enjoy a story about a good looking baseball player. Unfortunately, I had a hard time connecting with the characters in this story. This is the first book in the new Hard Hitters series.This book was reviewed by a member of the review staff at Cocktails and Books. The name of the reviewer can be found under the post categories.
katekat's review
3.0
kame's review
3.0
I wanted to like this book. I love reading books centered around the game of baseball. I was excited about Sarah's baseball knowledge but for me her character was sort of flat. A lot of time was devoted to how she wished she could do more with the team but her Dad was very opinionated with his ideas of where women should be. (Which by the way almost had me DNF this book). It affected all aspects of her character and I was so depressed that even her brother wouldn't defend her. Tom was a little to clique for me - the bachelor baseball player. Even when he had a scene that showed some promise he was more than just baseball and women he didn't break through and shine.
The conflict that erupted brought me no satisfaction - you know that point in a movie or book where you cheer - yeah never happened.
So why did I finish if the characters didn't enthrall me. It was the baseball - the author was on point with her baseball - and even had details about Tom's injury that brought him to the minors that few would think to include. Now in the end I would prefer characters I could enjoy spending time with than great technical details - but in this case the technicalities kept me reading.
This is the first in a series - If book 2 takes place in the big leagues with Tom's MLB team I might consider it because it would mean a whole new set of characters.
I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest review