BLOG TOUR: PLAYING THE FIELD by JENNIFER SEASONS ~ REVIEW, GUEST POST, AND EXCERPT

Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on the Playing the Field Blog Tour! As a big fan of the series, I am so excited to be taking part in this tour, hosted by Avon. My stop includes a review, guest post, and excerpt from author Jennifer Seasons.

 

 

 

Series: Diamonds & Dugouts #2

Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary/Sports Romance

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Publication Date: 7/23/13
Format: eARC
Source: Received from publisher for review

Single mother Sonny Miller has spent years avoiding love. A rotten childhood and an even rottener ex-boyfriend left her determined to protect her son—and herself—against the risks of romance. That is, until hotshot ballplayer JP Trudeau swaggers into her carefully constructed life, all sin-with-me eyes and irresistible grin. Sonny can't help but feel drawn to the sexy, confident man, even as every fiber of her being tells her to keep running the bases . . .

JP is known for being fast on his feet, not fast with his heart. But meeting Sonny and her boy sparks something in him—something he's never felt before, not from all the cleat-chasers in the major leagues. Sonny may be hell-bent on keeping him at arm's length no matter what, but this rookie has a plan. To get the girl, he must step up to the plate and convince her to take another chance on love . . . before this game gets rained out.

 

When I read Stealing Home earlier this year, I had such a great time. I enjoyed the story, and the characters, especially Mark and the other members of the Rush baseball team.  There were a few teammates who really caught my eye, JP Trudeau was one of them. He was a doll, and I knew that I would love him even more in his own book.

JP did not disappoint in Playing the Field. His is the type of character I always enjoy reading. He was cute, sweet, loyal and charming. That's not to say he was perfect, and boring. JP had enough swagger to keep his sweetheart Sonny on her toes, and me as well. What I loved most about JP, was his willingness to fall in love.

When JP first sees Sonny, he realizes she is the woman of his dreams. It doesn't matter to him that she is a few years older, doesn't lead a glamorous life, and she has a ten year-old son. With her regular life, Sonny is the kind of woman a lot of us can relate to. I love having heroines that lead the same type of life that I do, and even though I'm not single, I could empathize with her being torn between love and motherhood.

Playing the Field is not only a love story, but also about two people who must face hard truths about themselves before they can even begin to be a couple. JP has issues with compromise and thinking about someone else's wants over his own. Due to her lack of a stable family, Sonny has severe abandonment issues. With JP, though, she must almost face feelings of inferiority in the face of love with a hot, young baseball star. Then there's motherhood. Sonny must constantly weigh what she wants with what is best for her son. Her continued struggle is realistic, but I will admit to getting frustrated with Sonny more than once.

Playing the Field is a nice addition to the Diamonds and Dugouts series. Stealing Home, with it's super intense and hot-blooded leading characters, was the more fun of the two for me to read, but I still liked this one quite a lot. I have a strong suspicion whom the next story in the series will be about, and if I'm right, it has potential to rock!



Favorite Quotes:

 
  Forced to look down, Sonny's eyes went wide when she realized she was staring directly at his package. The bulge was anything but humble. Dear god. Try as she might, she couldn't take her eyes off it. It was like standing in  front of Michaelangelo's David and trying not to take a peek at his goods. It just wasn't happening. Problem was, once you got started, it was nearly impossible to stop.
  It was hypnotic.   ~eARC, 15%


  "Anytime." Because he couldn't resist, JP put his sunglasses on and grinned, quick and hot as lightning. "Thanks for the kiss, sweetness. It was damn sexy."    ~ eARC, 16%

GUEST POST

 

  Everyone loves a sports star. Even the people who hate them, love them. Something about their confidence and energy is almost magnetic. They ooze charisma.  

  When they walk by people notice. 

  And that, my friends, is exactly why athletes make great romance heroes. What woman is going to turn her nose up at a physically fit and strong man who clearly knows how to go for what he wants—and actually mean it? The answer is that there is no woman.   

  Athletes are the epitome of masculinity. They are focused, driven, confident, capable men who aren’t afraid to put it all out there over and over again. No matter what comes at them they meet it head on, without flinching. They stare down obstacles with challenge in their eyes.

  Now, imagine that singular testosterone-filled focus turned on you? 

  Um, yeah. That’s what I thought.

  Now you know a little bit how Sonny felt the first time she laid eyes on JP Trudeau in my new release PLAYING THE FIELD. To give you a better idea of her reaction, I’ve included a small teaser. Enjoy! 



EXCERPT

   Sonny, now, she’d not been nearly so grounded. She’d flown all over the map and landed herself on the wrong side of twenty, pregnant and alone. Charlie being born had given her a path. Once she’d stepped on it she’d dedicated everything she’d had to it, including her autonomy. Nurturing her baby and building a good life had been all she’d thought about and lived since the day she’d brought him home from the hospital.

   Now he was growing up and grasping at some autonomy of his own. Their relationship was changing—slowly, but still evolving into something different. Something with a little more space.

  That new and exotic little bit of wiggle room had opened a fissure in Sonny, just a teeny little crack. But it was enough, and something newly awakened inside her was feeling a little restless. A little flighty. She didn’t like it one bit. It wasn’t safe or predictable or familiar.

   It was foreign and she was domestic.

   Which made it the enemy. The life that she’d carved out for the two of them was stable. She knew how to handle it and felt in charge. Anything different was not okay. It left things open to change. And if things changed then she might lose her grip on control. Status quo was good. It didn’t hold any surprises. 

   She wasn’t looking for them anyway. So when the herd of large-boned people shifted and her gaze landed on a green and yellow Rush jersey, number thirty-nine, she felt a slip—just a subtle shift of the earth on its axis. But it was enough. The world moved under her feet. And when the sin-with-me eyes locked on her from twenty feet away she felt a tremble in her grip on control.

   Because she was suddenly hit with instinct and knew beyond a doubt that, from this moment forward, nothing in her life was going to be quite the same.

   The sky opened up and the universe showed her a very simple and clear truth in one lightning-quick moment. It was written all over his sinner’s grin and loose-hipped swagger.

  JP Trudeau was a whole lot of trouble.

  

 

Diamonds and Dugouts Series

(click on cover for GoodReads page)

 

 

My Review of Stealing Home

 

 

Pre-Order Playing the Field at:

(I receive no compensation for purchases.)

              

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