Kristie J’s review of Playing for the Save (Men of Spring Baseball, Book 4) by Rachelle Ayala
Contemporary Romance published by Amiga Book Press 19 Apr 17
This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but it WILL NOT be the last. I found it wonderful reading. I enjoy sports romances as long as the author gets the sport right and except for one or two questions I wasn’t sure of, Ms. Ayala got this one pretty good.
Our heroine, Jamie, is a harried mother of two young boys, the youngest one, Drew, 5 who suffers from autism and the older son, Ben, 7 who, while loving his younger brother, at times feels left out when meltdowns spoil things for them. Their father couldn’t handle having a son with such issues and leaves Jamie to handle things on her own.
As a special treat for Ben, she wins a special day, spending time with a pro baseball player. She picks our hero Ryan as the baseball player for her older son to spend time with. He’s a relief pitcher and at age 38, he is coming to the end of his career event, though he is doing everything he can to extend it.
Ben is delighted with the time he is spending with Ryan. Ryan tries to include Drew, but notices that something is different with Drew at the same time. He’s also very drawn to their mother, even though he doesn’t want any kind of relationship. But his connection with the boys, along with the attraction to Jamie, keep him coming back.
Jamie, for her part, is kind of leery of Ryan. The attraction is returned, but she is very protective of Drew in particular and doesn’t really take kindly to some of the advice that Ryan gives her in relation to Drew thinking he doesn’t have a clue how to deal with autism. She is also intimidated by her ex, who uses threats whenever he feels Jamie is behaving in a way he doesn’t approve of. But without letting her know how, Ryan is familiar with how to deal with autism.
This is such a good book. The sports angle is played just perfectly. Ryan is such a great hero. There are so many layers to him and the reader can’t help but fall for him. I got a tad tired of Jamie and her unwillingness to stand up to her husband more and her overprotectiveness of Drew, even though I did understand why she was that way.
I love how the friendship develops and the romance almost reluctantly grows. These two people are perfect for each other. While this is the fourth book in this series, it was no problem whatsoever picking up on the happenings and it works quite well as a stand-alone book.
For me, the tell of a good book is when I’m writing a review of it, I want to go back and do another read, no matter how long ago it was when I read it. This is happening to me now. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking I need to go back and read this one again – ASAP.
Grade: B+
Summary:
Veteran relief pitcher Ryan Hudson always saves the game for his team. He’s dependable, focused, and good at what he does.
Which is why he prefers to live alone and not have anything to do with women and all the noise and chaos they bring.
Noise and chaos is all single mother Jamie Rush knows. Working and taking care of her two boys is a full time job, especially since one of them is autistic and she gets no help from her ex-husband.
When her two sons win a day with ballplayer Ryan Hudson, they strike up an odd friendship with the reclusive pitcher. Jamie is wary of the baseball hero, but can’t help fantasizing about him.
Ryan is attracted to Jamie, but desperately tries to hide his past. The only problem, they’re made for one another.
They just don’t know it.
No excerpt available.
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