romance / contemporary / mature

sports romance, romcom, baseball, love, afterdark, steamy, happy ending

@

Home has never been a place for me. Not the space where I sleep or the walls that surround me, but instead, the people that surround me. The ones that make me feel like me. Like I don't need to hide. My brothers, my best friend. It's a small bubble, sure, but one I'm damn happy with. I might be a little lost at times-I mean, who isn't? - but I always know where to go when I need to find myself. It's safe, comfortable, familiar. My home.

Until he falls into my lap. No, literally. Into my lap. That beer I spent the last of my money on? Gone. All over me. Damnit. I'm wet, and I'm... Oh. Oh, dear God. Tall and broad. That surfer hair and those sparkly blue eyes. Cheeky grin and southern drawl that makes a girl wanna drool. All those rippling, tattooed muscles. Oh, yes. Mitchell Hudson, baseball superstar, you may fall into my lap any day, kind sir. Except then he starts making a home inside my heart. And that vital organ? Well, I'm not sure we're ready for what he offers. His home is tied to a place thousands of miles away, and mine? Well... mine is right here. The man hits more homeruns than I can count, and that's exactly what I'm afraid he's going to do: run home and take a piece of my heart with him when he goes. ** You do not need to know anything about baseball or even really like the sport to read this story. But if you like athletic men who like to throw their strength and alpha sides (and their women) around, this might be the story for you! **

Meet Isla. Your typical twenty-something pretty girl next door with ginger hair and freckles and who can literally eat her whole pocket-sized body weight in pretzels washed down with beer. Isla's a girl who apologizes constantly for no reason in particular and who openly cries at the National Anthem. She's confident but shy, courageous but scared, and when she loves, she does so wholeheartedly and gives her all. Her circle is small, comprising her loud and proud man-eating friend Zoe and her brother Blake, but she's happy with her life. It's quality, not quantity, that matters at the end of the day. Isla has her own inner demons, which, day by day, she's trying to battle and overcome as independently as she can. Isla doesn't want to be a burden to anyone, even if that means sacrificing the perfect job offer.

Meet Mitchell. The first baseman for The Toronto Jays. A swoon-worthy blonde-haired inked adonis at the top of his game and with a southern drawl that, well, quite literally, turns the fairer sex into melted puddles at his feet. A superstar sports hero with offers coming from all the top clubs, including his home team. As a family boy at heart, will he return to Georgia at the end of the season, or will he stay in Toronto? Decisions, decisions.

How do they meet? Well, Mitchell quite literally lands in Isla's lap at a baseball game. Is it fate? You betcha life it is! But he has his work cut out for him trying to convince the more pessimistic Isla that they're meant to be together forever. I mean, why would a world-class athlete who can have any beautiful woman he wants choose a girl who wears beat-up Converse and who's barely tall enough to reach his chin.

Do Mitchell and Isla get their happily ever after? Do they find home? Eventually. And I loved being part of their journey. Their end is so worth the wait.

I binged this novel from start to finish. Once you pick up this book, I guarantee you will not put it down. I was a mixture of glowing with happiness and emotionally wrecked by the time I turned the last page. I cried when it was all over so I immediately went back to the beginning and started again. It's a rollercoaster-of-emotions kind of read. It gives you ALL the feels. I cried with laughter, sadness, and happiness.

Slow clap to the author for her fabulous storytelling and for gifting us a novel that contains just the most perfect balance of cliff-hangers, tension, tear-jerking moments, feel-good factors, romance and smut—it's a real jam-packed page-turner.

: I'd so love to see a future novel based on Zoe and Josh. As is the case with many best friends, Zoe is the complete opposite of Isla, and I adore her craziness. Her and Josh? Well, that has to be fate. At least, I hope so. Elijah needs a happily ever after, too—hopefully with Calla.

Beckamack loves to write swoon-worthy romances with alpha males and the women that make them fall to their knees. Toss in some humor and a side (or 10) of drama, and she's good to go! She's a firm believer in happy endings, which is why all of her stories will end that way (though she's 100% going to drag you through hell on the way there). Let me tell you; she never disappoints and delivers every single time.

Perfect title. Beautifully written. Captivating storyline. Bravo author.