Synopsis from Goodreads:
A professional baseball player and his heckler prove that true love is worth going to bat for.
Daphne Brink doesn’t follow baseball, but watching “America’s Snoozefest” certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball. Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message.
Chris doesn’t usually respond to random fans on social media, but he’s grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. When a DM from “Duckie” catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does.
Daphne isn’t sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out?
My Review
Daphne Brink is not a baseball fan at all, but she ends up at a Carolina Battery game after signing divorce papers. After having a few drinks, she gets into the spirit of the game and heckles one of the players, literally driving him to tears.
Chris Kepler can’t believe he became emotional over a fan’s taunts. That never happened before, but he’s in a pretty bad state. He’s grieving and not playing the best baseball. When a fan named Duckie sends him a text message empathizing with him, he is quite receptive and begins a friendship with her. The unique thing is that the friendship is strictly through text messages, so he never comes face to face with her.
Meanwhile, Daphne gets a job with the baseball team. What Chris doesn’t know is Duckie and Daphne are one and the same person. What’s going to happen when the truth comes out?
I’m a huge baseball fan so I couldn’t resist this one. I’m always looking for some good fiction set to the backdrop of baseball. This is a good, solid romance, although I thought it took a bit too long for the truth to come out.
There were a few steamy love scenes. I was afraid Chris and Daphne’s chemistry would melt my e-reader. I liked both characters very much, even when I wanted to shake Daphne into coming clean with Chris.
The supporting characters were all portrayed realistically. I cared about them almost as much as I cared about the main characters. I could even see a sequel in the making.
This is the first book I've read by this author, but I'll be checking out her backlist. Overall, a hot romance with emotional characters you can truly care about.
For reading challenges:
NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2024
Literary Escapes Reading Challenge 2024 (South Carolina)
FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.
I'm so glad you enjoyed this one! I love the sound of it and I'm glad to hear it lived up to expectations. I will have to give it a try.
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