Title: Third Base
Series: The Boys of Summer
Author: Heidi McLaughlin
Release Date: November 4, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports
Ethan Davenport is already Boston’s most eligible bachelor, in his second season with the Boston Renegades and has eyes for the girl behind the visitors’ dugout who has been staring at him for a year.
That girl is Daisy Robinson, a journalism student at the University of Boston, a die-hard Renegades fan and determined to give Ethan a run for his money. He knows in order to have a chance with her, he needs to change his ways but he may just need her to wait until the off-season.
But with new found love comes challenges and Ethan and Daisy have to deal with his crazy schedule, school finals and his presence on her campus for some much needed media training. For Ethan nothing can come between him and Daisy, until a secret that she’s been keeping threatens to destroy them both.
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Cover by: Sarah Hansen at Okay Creations
Photography: Eric Battershell
Cover Model: Blake Farley
Buy Links
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Title: Third Base
Author: Heidi McLaughlin
Release Date: November 4, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sports, New Adult
Series or Standalone: Standalone Series (The Boys of Summer #1)
Rating: ★★★★★
Reviewer: Melyssa
Growing up in Toronto, it was sort of a given that you had to be one of two things. A Blue Jays fan or a Maple Leafs fan. Since hockey never really spoke to me (I know, I know, I’m pretty sure I’m Canadian defective hockey wise), baseball was where it was at.
This book reminded me of all the things I enjoyed about the game, while also giving me a little bit of what I believe to be insight into what happens behind the scenes with the players when they’re not out there busting their asses to entertain us as fans.
From the BoRe Blogger, to spending the entire book inside the main character Ethan’s head, I enjoyed every aspect of his explanations of what was happening on the field and the breakdowns from the blogger on the team’s performance as a whole. It was an element that isn’t seen often enough in books that use different sports as their backdrop and kept me just as engaged as the romantic storyline happening around it.
So who exactly is it that brings this baseball story to life? Well, we’ve got the player (and most eligible bachelor) for the Boston Renegades in Ethan Davenport and the season ticket holder that he can’t seem to let go of in Daisy Robinson.
What I enjoyed most about this story was getting to see it primarily from Ethan’s point of view. So often in books we’re given the story from the female point of view, but there is something to be said for getting to experience a story, especially one of the love variety, from the eyes of the man involved and that’s the case here. Other than the moments where we’re privy to the Blogger of course.
The character development here was very well done. Because we’re seeing things through Ethan’s eyes, we’re given a bird’s eye view into who he is as a person quite quickly and are learning about Daisy’s as we go along, but even with her, just like with him, I connected. I understood the motivations behind a lot of the things that she did, the person she was and especially as time went on, felt deeply for her in terms of all that she had been through.
Ethan as it would come to turn out, didn’t really read like Boston’s most eligible bachelor to me. I suppose maybe at one point before the book began he might have been but the Ethan that we’re shown throughout was a different kind of guy entirely. He wasn’t your typical sports guy, at least not when he was anywhere but with the guys. I enjoyed that. It was refreshing to read about a guy that didn’t act like your typical alpha guy but instead was someone with a good head and heart on his shoulders who felt more than he even knew what to do with.
I think in terms of guys that would have been right for Daisy, even if they hadn’t been in the circumstances they were with this story, he was it. He was exactly what she needed and I think given what happens within the story as it moves forward, even that took her off guard. She went into this believing him to be the way most sports guys are, both on and off the field and she was in for quite the awesome awakening.
The way he was with his niece had me melting and swooning in succession and the steps he takes to get through to Daisy when nothing else seems to work and he can’t give up on her despite his head wanting him to do just that, god. I literally cried with happiness over the huge overture. Quite possibly one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen a male character do and if I wasn’t already into the guy, invested in wanting him to achieve his happily ever after, this would have sealed it.
This story wasn’t easy. Secrets were revealed and events take place that pull the characters apart, but when they do finally get their feelings straight, basically their heads screwed back on right and in line with the feelings in their hearts, they’re beautiful together. They were just what the other needed and the payoff I had been hoping for practically from the start for both of them, I was given in spades.
The pacing was well done here. No areas I felt were lacking in terms of information or areas where I felt there was too much information bogging it down, and in the end, for me, considering all the running around I’ve been doing as of late, I was thankful for it.
Aside from giving me such a sweet romantic love story, the author also restored my faith and love of the game of baseball and for that and so many other little things with this story, I’m so very thankful I read this book. I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next for this series, or even her other books.
If you’re a fan of sports and romance, I can’t recommend this enough.
My thanks to the author and all others involved for letting me read this before the official release. It was a journey I am definitely glad that I was a part of.
Heidi is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author.
Originally from Portland, Oregon and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband and two daughters. Also renting space in their home is an over-hyper Beagle/Jack Russell, Buttercup, and their newest addition of a Highland Westie/Mini Schnauzer, JiLL.
During the day Heidi is behind a desk talking about Land Use. At night, she's writing one of the many stories planned for release or sitting courtside during either daughter's basketball games.
♥ Other Books by Heidi McLaughlin ♥
Forever My Girl - The Beaumont Series #1
My Unexpected Forever - The Beaumont Series #2
Finding My Forever - The Beaumont Series #3
Finding My Way - The Beaumont Series #4
12 Days of Forever - A Beaumont Series Novella
The Archer Brothers
Here with Me
Choose Me
The Reeducation of Savannah McGuire
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