Double Play (Love Between the Bases Book 4) by Jennifer Bernard on July 14th 2017
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
Goodreads
Double the romance…
Charismatic Dwight Conner is the most popular player on the Kilby Catfish, but he’s more than ready to leave behind the tumbleweeds of Texas for the Major League crowds of San Diego. With his skills and stats, it makes no sense that he hasn’t gotten called up yet. Unless it has something to do with the team’s gorgeous new “whiz kid”—data specialist Maggie Blythe.
Maggie jumped at the chance to put her graduate thesis to work in the real world. But she had no idea the real world of baseball would be so…irresistible. Especially when her roommate Nina drags her on a double date with a certain outrageously sexy centerfielder who decides to give her some hands-on instruction.
Double the fun…
Shortstop Jim Lieberman has been eating his heart out over Nina Stark ever since he nearly landed in her lap chasing a foul ball. Two things stand in his way—nerves and Nina’s overprotective All-Star brother. Maybe a double date with his friend Dwight will break the ice so he can stake his claim.
Nina’s dream is simple. She wants a family and a normal life after a childhood of turmoil. The problem? She’s secretly in love with the one man who apparently will never ask her out. Double date? Sure. Count her in. But the adorable Jim “Bieberman” still has to step up.
Cue the miscues, the call-ups, the on-field miracles, and the off-field disasters. In this Love Between the Bases novel, can two star-crossed couples add up to double the happy ever after?
~~~~~
~~Reviewed by Monique~~
Jim Lieberman and Dwight Conner, of the Kilby Catfish baseball club, are visiting children at the Kilby Community Hospital dressed as Disney princesses, and friends Nina Stark and Maggie Blythe are also there. Nina has had her eye on Jim for a while, but her redoubtable brother Trevor terrifies Jim, so Jim never found the nerve to ask Nina on a date. Dwight is not shy, he knows that Jim has been pining for Nina ever since he saw her, and Dwight is also intrigued by Maggie, especially after he learns that she is a grad student who has designed a programme for whom gets sent to the major leagues. So why not make it a double date and see what happens?
And what happens is pure magic Jennifer Bernard-style! Every book in the Love between the Bases is fabulous, but DOUBLE PLAY is extraordinary! Combining two romances in one book is not always successful, but Ms. Bernard makes it work like nobody’s business!
Adorable, clueless, brainy “Bieberman” is irresistible in his awkwardness, Nina is the sweet girl with solid values and a good head on her shoulders, and I think their romance with a small town feel is what a lot of us don’t dare dream of. They are so perfectly matched and genuinely endearing, young and so relatable. Boisterous and unabashedly sexy Dwight is a god on the outfield and loves the limelight, while Maggie is a serious, introverted intellectual, who has been coddled by her parents, and they are simply amazing together. DOUBLE PLAY has the best meet-cute ever, spectacular dialogues, and characters so well defined that, right from the beginning, I could picture them clearly, and I felt they were my friends as well. The characters have very compelling backstories, and I found fascinating the reasons why Jim and Dwight opted for careers in baseball.
DOUBLE PLAY is a fantastic read, even if you don’t know the first thing about baseball, because it is about people, it’s about real love, being true to yourself; it’s a book that grabs you, never lets go, and leaves you feeling happy. And if you love baseball, you will be over the moon! The writing is smooth, word-perfect, and everything is so well done, that twice the number of pages still would not have been enough. Make DOUBLE PLAY your summer treat, that kind of book doesn’t come around often. Heed my most enthusiastic recommendation and enjoy what I deem the best contemporary romance so far this year. Jennifer Bernard has written a no-run, no-hit game, and batted a grand slam for the win!
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.
Rating:
About Jennifer Bernard
Jennifer Bernard 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
Leave a Reply