Jennifer Bernard kicks off a brand-new baseball-themed contemporary romance series with All of Me. This book released yesterday, May 26th, and if you loved Bernard's Bachelor Firemen series, you will want to get on board with the sexy, single men of the Kilby Catfish (no, not a sexy baseball team name, but it does lend itself to some humour) in the Love Between the Bases series.
Stick with me for an excerpt, review, and an Avon-sponsored giveaway!
For the rest of the stops on the tour, check out Tasty Book Tours.
The Book
Jennifer Bernard, the USA
Today bestselling author of the Bachelor Firemen series, scores another homerun
with a brand-new series about sexy, single baseball players.
Playing
for the Kilby Catfish is hotshot pitcher Caleb Hart’s last chance to salvage
his career after a major league meltdown. But the day of his opener with the
minor league team, Caleb strikes out with the gorgeous woman who is delivering
a petition to run the unruly Catfish out of town. Now to stay in the lineup,
Caleb will need to score big with the feisty brunette he can’t keep out of his
thoughts.
After
the nasty lies Sadie Merritt’s rich ex-boyfriend spread about her all over
town, she’s lucky to have a job at all. She can’t afford to screw it up by
falling for the player who is supposed to be helping her change the image of
the fun-loving Catfish. But that’s easier said than done when Caleb’s voice
alone is enough to make her pulse race. And when he surprises her with a
mind-blowing kiss, she knows there’s no turning back.
All of Me is available now!
Excerpt
When Sadie glanced back
over her shoulder, Caleb was chatting with two guys who must be fans, the way
they were staring up at him in awe. She let out a long breath, grateful that
she still had the ability to inhale and exhale. Caleb Hart was completely
outside her experience. She’d known plenty of guys, of course. Boys at high
school, boys at Kilby Community College. And the boy who’d ruined her life,
Hamilton Wade.
But not even Hamilton had
caused her heart to do this crazy cartwheeling Caleb inspired. She’d been swept
off her feet by Ham, but in an awestruck, what-does-he-see-in-me way. He hadn’t
made her hands damp and her thoughts scurry every which way like an anthill
someone had stepped on.
Caleb had caught her at a
vulnerable time in her life, that was all. There was a rational explanation for
this crazy sensation, as if the ground wasn’t quite stable under her feet.
Maybe there was a medical explanation, like vertigo. Or maybe Donna had spiked
that White Russian. For sure, she couldn’t risk another devastating humiliation
at the hands of a man.
She found Donna leaning on
the bar, talking to Mike. “Donna, I have to go home. I told my mom I wouldn’t
stay out too late.”
Donna turned a beaming,
blurry smile on her. “Mike was just explaining the benefits of celibacy to me.
Did you know it could raise my batting average by fifty points?”
Sadie smiled at Mike, who
winked. “Thanks, Mike. It was nice to meet you, but I’m going to take Donna
home now.”
She couldn’t help looking
for Caleb as she herded Donna toward the exit. As one of the tallest men in the
room, and the one all the girls kept checking out, he was hard to miss. By the
time she reached the door, three girls had joined the two other fans. He leaned
against the wall, listening patiently to the little knot of admirers. The low
light created shadows under his cheekbones and made the stubborn line of his
jaw stand out. A slight smile tugged at one corner of his mouth.
His eyes shifted so he
caught her gaze in a sudden flash of steely silver. The half smile turned into
a full-voltage grin that transformed his face into something that belonged on a
movie screen. Her knees nearly buckled, but she couldn’t for the life of her
stop the smile that spread across her face.
She gave him an awkward
little wave, then nearly tripped over Donna, who had stopped to adjust her
halter top.
Donna staggered, then
grabbed onto a nearby table. Sadie hauled her back to her feet and then, her
face burning, glanced again at Caleb.
His smile broadened even
further. He put his hand to his ear in a “Call me” gesture, then pointed from
himself to her.
Oh my God. He was going to
call her.
My Review
I primarily read for entertainment. I want to smile, laugh, and generally feel good when I read. I want live through adventures that I would never be able to experience otherwise. I want to have fun, gosh darnit! Yes, sometimes I read a book that makes me think or brings all the 'feels' and has me sobbing or angry or otherwise moved to action. But I don't really go looking for those books. They tend to spring themselves on me unexpectedly.
So, All of Me is mostly a fun book. There's a sexy pitcher (Caleb), a stubborn and good-hearted young woman (Sadie), and they have fantastic chemistry. But there are reasons why they should not be together, and despite those reasons, Caleb pursues Sadie, and she flirts back...That's all quite fun. The book has a good sense of humour.
Now, those nasty lies that Sadie's ex has spread around town--and especially the way those lies are spread? Not so fun. A very topical, modern issue, to be sure, but... at times I was a bit uncomfortable. Without saying anything spoiler-y, I was also not entirely thrilled with the way the story unfolds towards the very end of the book. I think I veered off of the path, taking things a bit more seriously than I was being asked to, and though I still really loved Caleb and Sadie together, I wasn't always on board with the book.
Now, I have to come back to Sadie and Caleb together. These two gave great flirt. Great flirt. I definitely grinned at a few spots, and I loved that there's some definite heat to the book. There were a few steamy moments - I particularly liked the phone conversations - and they really helped me buy into the explosive attraction that Sadie and Caleb share.There's plenty of other characters here that intrigue me. Donna, Sadie's best friend; and Mike, another Catfish player, are a pairing that I want to know more about. There's several other players who will, I assume, eventually feature in their own books, and the nature of the series, featuring a Triple A ball team, means that it'll be easy to move new players, and thus new characters, into the mix.
Bottom line:
All of Me is a flirty baseball-themed romance. It was entertaining and sweet and sexy. There were a few spots when I wished certain elements had been handled more seriously, but overall, absolutely a fun book that I would recommend to fans of the genres - contemporary romance *and* sports romance
4.5 stars
For fans of contemporary romance, flirtatious romance, sports romance, baseball
About the Author
Jennifer
Bernard is the USA Today bestselling author of the Bachelor Firemen of San
Gabriels series. She is a graduate of Harvard and a former news promo producer.
The child of academics, she confounded her family by preferring romance novels
to … well, any other books. She left big city life for true love in Alaska,
where she now lives with her husband and stepdaughters. She’s no stranger to
book success, as she also writes erotic novellas under a naughty secret name
not to be mentioned at family gatherings.
Thank you for hosting ALL OF ME!
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