Kristie J’s Review of Rules of the Game (Stardust, Texas, Book 2) by Lori Wilde
Contemporary Romance published by Avon Impulse 26 May 15
We are into fall now and the REAL beginning of baseball. For the first time since the early 1990s, the Toronto Blue Jays are in the playoffs – though in some trouble at the moment. The Chicago Cubs, my favourite National League team, are also in the playoffs. I love sports romance, so with all these things coming together, it was time to read a good old baseball romance.
This one has some great reviews and I hate to be a party pooper, but, alas, it’s not getting a great one from me. It does start off with promise. Jod, our heroine, has been advised by her therapist to ‘crash’ a wedding as a way to get past her wedding phobia that came on when she was literally left at the alter. She is maid of honour at her sister’s upcoming nuptials and has to get past her fear of weddings – and fast.
She’s not used to doing this kind of thing and gets quite flustered when trying to crash, only to be rescued by hero Jake Coronnado. He makes her his plus-one guest and they have a good time. Sparks fly and much against her will, Jodie ducks out of the wedding with him for a more intimate conversation. She is getting off on playing the mysterious femme fatale and even refuses to give Jake her name. While, for the most part, it’s cute, she does get a bit annoying with her insistence on being so secretive. They have a very hot one-night stand, neither figuring they will ever see one other again, only to discover each other once more when Jake is best man to the fiancé of Jodie’s sister. And if I found her slightly annoying before, she really starts getting on my nerves with her “No we can’t have sex, we just can’t, can’t, can’t. Well, maybe we can………nope, we can’t, can’t, can’t, can’t. OK, maybe we can have sex after all, but that’s all it will be, I’m making it a condition. No feelings are allowed on either side if we are going to do this.”
This goes on All. The. Time. and no real reason is given. Yes, I get that she was traumatized by her previous boyfriend. And she had had a very sad childhood. But Jake had suffered a great loss too and he recognizes that he has luckily found something special with Jodie – though why he wants a relationship with her is beyond me. I can’t figure out one reason for her putting off a great guy like Jake. And, trust me, Jake is a great hero. He is patient, understanding, loyal, successful at his career, and quite good looking. It’s tough to give high marks to a book when I don’t really care for the heroine.
There is also a bit of a mystery about a box and finding a key that will open it. This is, apparently, a running theme throughout the series; so, of course, Jodi finds the key, opens the box, and finds a bottle of perfume that only she and Jake can smell. It gives off incredible pheromones, so the fact that Jake can smell and go crazy over her makes him her ‘one and only.’ One minute she buys into that, the next she dismisses it. It’s another yoyo characteristic about Jodi I find most annoying. So for me, that bit of the paranormal adds nothing to the story.
I do love Jake, though I am also disappointed that this isn’t a ‘sports romance’ per se. Jake does play professional ball, though it’s in the off season, so there really isn’t any baseball. I’m going to have to read another baseball romance to get my October playoff fix.
I picked up this book because the price is pretty good. I looked at others in the series by this author and they are higher priced, so I’m sad to say that I don’t think I’ll be continuing.
Grade: C
Summary:
A jilted bride meets a superstar baseball player in this newest Stardust, Texas novel from New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde.
Just uttering the word “wedding” makes Jodi Carlyle break out into a cold sweat. So a year after she’d been dumped at the altar, and two days after turning the big 3-0, she decides to break some rules—by dressing to the nines, hiring a limo,and crashing a swanky wedding . . .
. . . Where she catches the eye of the Dallas Gunslingers’ new star hitter Jake Coronnado. He’s hot. He’s sexy. He sticks by her side all evening. He’s the perfect fling. After a wild weekend, where they do everything and then some, Jodi thinks she’ll never have to see him again . . . hey, she’s even told him her name is Gwendolyn! But she thinks wrong.
Because guess who’s the best man at Jodi’s sister’s wedding? And guess who’s still as seductive as ever? And guess who’s determined to turn their one-night fling into happily-ever-after?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
