ARC review Sierra Dean – Pitch Perfect

The first book in the Bad Boys of Summer series, to be published August 6, 2013. Available as ebook at Samhain.
Genre: contemporary romance / sports romance
Cover: nice, but the models are way too young



She’d be the perfect catch if he could take his eye off the ball.

Emmy Kasper knows exactly how lucky she is. In a sport with few opportunities for women at the pro level, she’s just landed her dream job as head athletic trainer for the San Francisco Felons baseball team. Screwing up is not an option.
She’s lost in thought as she pedals to the spring training facility, her mind abuzz with excitement as she rounds a corner—and plows head-on into two runners. The end of her career dances before her eyes when she realizes she’s almost run over the star pitcher.
As Tucker Lloyd watches the flustered Emmy escape with his bandana tied around her skinned knee, the view is a pleasant change from worrying about his flagging fastball. At thirty-six, the tail end of his career is glimmering on the horizon. If he can’t pull something extraordinary out of his ball cap, the new crop of rookies could make this season his last.

The last thing either of them needs is a distraction.
The last thing either of them expects is love.

Warning: Contains a down-on-his-luck pitcher, a good-girl athletic therapist, chemistry that’s out of the park and sexy times that’ll make them round all the bases.


For me to write a recap about this book, would mean talk baseball. I can’t do that. I hate sports. I loathe sports on t.v.. So, why on earth did I want to read a sports romance? Good question. I have asked myself that question while reading the book, and I did want to quit a few times. But I did not. And why is that, you want to know? Well, I started reading it because it is a Sierra Dean book. And Sierra did what she does so well: write amazing characters. I kept reading because I fell for the main characters, and I did like the slow romance part. Just like Sierra kept me reading the first Secret McQueen books, when it got at times too scary for me, and I still could not stop reading.

If you do like baseball, and you like reading romance novels, this book will be like heaven to you. It is very big on the baseball things. From the start of the training season, to the games and everything that is necessary to have a functioning team.

So, what exactly did I like about this one? For starters, the heroine. Emmy is 32 and a very capable woman. She is one of the best athletic trainers there is, with a higher degree than most men in her profession. And she has snagged her dream job. She loves baseball passionately, and now she has been hired as the head athletic trainer for the San Francisco Felons baseball team. She was allowed to hire her own assistant, and she chose her good (gay) friend Jasper. They were fun together.
Emmy does have a boyfriend, but it did not take a genius to register that that relationship was doomed before the book even started. A long distance relationship between two people who both value their career more, will never work. They just did not miss each other enough for it to be real love. And when Emmy literally falls over Tucker Lloyd and his best friend Alex Ross, the team’s catcher, she was done for.
But Emmy does not let her feelings get in the way of her sense of honor, and her professionalism, and I totally admire her for that. She doesn’t want a relationship with somebody she has to work with daily, and I do understand that. And of course, she was officially still with Simon.

And then there is the hero, Tucker Lloyd, 36 year old and just recovered from a major elbow surgery. His most important body part as he is the team’s star pitcher. He is afraid he won’t be as good as he used to be, and that he is getting too old for the sport. Newer team members are recruited right out of college, as he was. But he is determined that this will be a great year for him and the team, and he is not ready to be cast aside.
So what he does not need, is a woman he can’t get out of his head. He is very attracted to Emmy, and sure, he does want her in his bed, but he knows she is taken. And she does work wonders with his arm, improving his pitch. So for now he will be friends with her, even though it is not easy to keep at a distance, when all he wants is to kiss her senseless.

What I really liked, is the slow start of the romance part. Emmy and Tucker first become friends, and get to know each other. Attraction turns into love, but they don’t realise that yet. First, Emmy has to end her relationship with Simon, and that takes some more time. But when that has been done, there are some good love scenes between them.

What else did I like? Alex, Tucker’s best friend. He is not the typical athlete, not as tall as the rest of the team and he even has a bit of a paunch. And he is a bit of a lecher, but he is a good man. Jasper, Emmy’s friend and assistant. I really like their friendship, and how Jasper can tease Emmy. He is gay, and they have been competing for men in the past. He makes for some fun scenes. He is also good and dedicated in/to his job.
The other team members are not really fleshed out, the book does focus on Tucker, and a bit on Alex.

So bottom line? I still hate sports. I am totally not interested in learning about baseball. BUT. Sierra Dean really made me anxious about the result of a baseball game in this book! She wrote about it in such a manner, I had to know the outcome of the match. My boyfriend was talking to me, and I totally shut him out. I was completely focused on the pages of my ebook.

Conclusion: Sierra Dean is an awesome writer, who can make me enjoy things I normally hate or strongly dislike. I love her writing style, her characters, and I don’t really care about the genre. Be it paranormal or sports romance, I will keep reading her books.

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian