Hot to Handle
The Boys of Summer # 2
Blurbreturns for a delicious double-header—with the story of total opposites who are
drawn to each other like moths to a flame.
Case is no fan of baseball. Her ex gambled away a fortune on the sport, and now
her PR firm has tasked her with cleaning up the league’s most notorious bad
boys. The New Jersey Sonics are known for wild womanizing and booze-fueled
brawls, so Nikki expects the worst. Her first stop in the battle to win hearts
and minds is star hitter Jake Baldwin—a legendary ladies man so smokin’ he
threatens to melt her tough-girl armor.
his teammates prank her without mercy, Jake admires the way Nikki gives as good
as she gets. She may be the queen of frost, but there’s kindling beneath those
sultry curves—and he’s just the man to ignite it. But when a PR nightmare lands
the Sonics in headlines across the country, Nikki is ready to walk. Only then
does Jake realize how important she is to the Sonics’ success—and that winning
the love of a good woman is no game.
3.5 Stars!
I had a great time reading this book. I love baseball and any book
that features baseball players immediately appeals to me. This was a nice
light romance with very likable characters. This is the second book in
the Boys of Summer series but it reads just fine as a stand alone novel.
I haven’t read the previous book in the series and didn’t feel like I was
missing anything in this story.
This story focuses on Nikki and Jake. Nikki is the new PR person for
the New Jersey Sonics and she seems more a little uptight. She has been
tasked with cleaning up the teams image and hopefully improving ticket sales.
She has her work cut out for her with this rough group of ball players.
She immediately puts some rules in place to help this team achieve an
All-American image. Jake is the shortstop for the Sonics and one of the
star players on the teams. He has a reputation as a player and ladies
man. After making a bet with some of his teammates, Jake sets his sights
on Nikki.
We soon learn that Nikki isn’t quite as uptight as she first appears and
Jake has a whole other side that nobody really sees. The chemistry
between the pair grows as they spend increasing amounts of time together.
I really liked Jake a lot in this story. He ended up being suck a nice
guy who didn’t seek any kind of reward for any of his good deeds.
The story was a bit predictable but that didn’t take anything away from the
enjoyment of the story. A couple of times in the story I felt that the
author’s word choice felt awkward. Even though a word may have the same
meaning as another word, I think that it is important to choose the right word
for the story being told. A baseball coach masticating his gum just felt
out of place to me. Thankfully, this only occurred a couple of times in
the story.
In the end, I really enjoyed this romance. I adored the scene at the
charity auction and though that the relationship between Jake and Nikki felt
completely authentic. I would recommend this book to romance fans that
love a sports romance. The baseball team really adds to this story.
This is the first book by Katie Rose that I have had a chance to read and I
look forward to more in the future.
I received a copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group –
Loveswept via Net Galley for the purpose of providing an honest review.
contemporary debut with the Boys of Summer novels, Bring on the Heat and Too
Hot to Handle, which combine Katie’s true loves: baseball and romance! When not
watching baseball, Katie is at her lake house in New Jersey, hard at work on
her next book.
Card to Choice Book Seller, Loveswept Mug and Romance at Random Nail Polish)
shirt and Dockers. Nikki saw that he wore a Rolex, and a heavy gold ring with a
diamond center. He gave her a professional smile, but something in his eyes
told her he wasn’t entirely happy to see her. “I’m John Palmer, the—”
hand. “Pleased to meet you. I assume we will be working closely together to coordinate
events and press conferences?”
functions, I understand that Jeffrey felt we needed some additional help.
Welcome to the team.”
threatened because Caine had gone outside the organization for assistance. She
was certain it was no indictment of the way he did his job, but politics just
made everything that much harder.
working with you. I understand you’re one of the best in the business.”
all over her. “Maybe you and I can have a drink sometime. Talk about strategy.”
knew a come-on when she heard one, and she was determined to nip this in the
bud.
“That sounds fine,” he said briskly, and then walked away.
Fanning herself with her clipboard, Nikki wished she had thought to bring a
bottle of water with her as she sat in the sun to watch the game. The air was
as thick as a steaming wet blanket, and she could feel the sweat trickle
between her breasts . . .
front of her, tempting her. Nikki put aside her clipboard and accepted the
treat, looking over her glasses at Jake.
silly female would think he was attractive. He had a little-boy quality that
could be perceived as endearing, something she could use with the media. And he
was damned good at what he did; he was considered one of the best shortstops in
the league, according to Sports
Illustrated. He wore his clothes well, his hard-muscled body evident even
in a loose jersey. Unwillingly, she noticed how buff his arms were, how
absurdly hard his torso was. And when her eyes went lower . . .
Thank you for hosting TOO HOT TO HANDLE!
Thanks for letting me be a part of the tour! This was such a fun book to read.
Omg, I love baseball, I love that cover, and I love the title! Adding this to my TBR now! (:
Pearl @ AsteriskPearl's Book Blog