Title: The Lucky Charm (Portland Series #1)
Author: Beth Bolden
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Publication Date: April 30, 2014
Event Organized By: Literati Author Services, Inc.
Synopsis
IT ’S THE BOTTOM OF T HE NINTH . . . Izzy Dalton’s about to strike out. Her new job as the sideline reporter for the Portland Pioneers major league baseball team is problematic on several levels:- Baseball is her least-favorite sport. Falling behind golf, tennis, and maybe even curling.
- What Izzy knows about baseball could fill about three minutes of airtime.
- Her last experience in front of a camera was in college. Six years ago.
- The Pioneers’ second baseman has a wicked sense of humor and even wickeder blue eyes.
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Sunny's Review:
At the beginning I am not going to lie. I was annoyed and frustrated with Izzy. I don't get people that think baseball is boring. So I wanted to just yell at her. Other than that I really liked her. She is strong willed and goes after what she wants but you also get to see that even though she puts up a strong front she is a little bit insecure. Of course having a boss that tells you constantly how horrible you are will do that to you. Jack was really kind of great. He is describe as almost average. He is not the normal super hot, make your teeth sweat looking at him type. He has brown hair and blue eyes, pretty short for a baseball player. Just almost normal. I like that he was not automatically oh I am God's gift to sports. He knew he had to work harder than anyone else to get where he was and was not all about the money and prestige. This is a really good book. I am not going to go into all the little things but I love that they were friends first.
I am giving this book 4.4 stars out of 5. If you want super sweet mixed with some hot awesomeness this is your book.
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EXCERPT:
“Izzy Dalton reporting from Sarasota Florida, at the
Portland Pioneers Spring Training facility. I’m here with Noah Fox, starting
center fielder for the Pioneers, and Jack Bennett, starting second baseman.
Thanks for joining me today.”
Jack
had to give Izzy credit for how bravely she faced the camera, especially since
he’d discovered she’d never done much
on-camera work. The first hundred or so times that he’d come face-to-face with
a camera, he’d froze, which pretty much explained all those inane interviews
that he’d given. When you had no idea what to say, sometimes the worst possible
bullshit came out of your mouth.
“Welcome to the Pioneers, Izzy.”
Noah smiled, ladling the charm on thick, and Jack resisted the urge to elbow
him hard in the ribs.
Her
first few questions were all to Noah—about his College World Series title, how
he felt about the upcoming season. Izzy was pretty stiff, but Foxy seemed to
settle her down after a few minutes.
He’d expected her to take her time
with Noah. After all, he was a great interview; he acted like he actually wanted to
be here. It wasn’t
any big surprise that Toby would pick Foxy for Izzy to break her teeth on.
Instead, she switched her attention to him after only three questions, her
focus narrowing in on him until he felt like the entire world was going to see
him perspiring—every glorious bead of sweat in high definition.
“Jack,” she said coolly, though by
this point he’d figured the wintry act was all a big lie. She wasn’t cold;
inside, she was a volcano, and because he was inevitably masochistic, he wanted
all that icy self possession to melt away. “What’s your goal for this team?”
“Hell, we’d love to have made the
playoffs last year, me more than anyone,” he admitted, and for the first time,
he could think about the collapse last year without his vision going all red
and blurry with rage, “but good things are worth the wait. This year, we’re not
only going to make the playoffs, we’re going to the World Series.” He paused,
and was so strangely, innately comfortable, he couldn’t help poking a bit of
fun at her. It wasn’t mean, he told himself, just…playful.
Never mind that he wanted to play with her. The intelligence and spirit in her
eyes challenged and intrigued him so much that he couldn’t seem to help himself. “You know,”
he said conspiratorially, “that’s the Super Bowl of baseball.”
She
froze in place, her expression nearly panicked, and then he watched as she
forced herself to relax, molecule by molecule. He wanted to make her melt, and
unearth the woman beneath the stiff facade until he discovered her real smile. “And how important is making your
World Series debut with the Pioneers? Wouldn’t it be easier,
don’t you think, to play for a team
that’s been there before?”
“The Pioneers were my first-choice
team and it was a great day when they picked me in the draft. Going with this team
to the World Series is the only thing I think about,” he said, as if he could feel any
differently. “A World Series is a World Series, but the Pioneers are near and
dear to my heart.”
Her
expression was a mask. “Have
you heard the rumors about Ismael Butler moving the team to Las Vegas?”
Jack
could feel everything inside of him still and then speed up rapidly, his heart
beating so fast he was sure she could see it through his thin T-shirt. This was
why he hated interviews; there was always a question that managed to work him
up. This time she’d
unearthed the one
question
that not only made him see red, but freaked him the fuck out.
“That’s crap,” he managed to croak
out. “The team isn’t going anywhere.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” she said and he
wanted to hate that she was the lightest, most relaxed at the moment she’d made
him the most uncomfortable. “But Mr. Butler was
in
Vegas last week.”
But
even though he’d just
met her, hate wasn’t anywhere in the equation.
“Mr. Butler has a lot of business in
Vegas,” Jack shot back.
“I’m sure that’s true,” Noah added
with a hopeful voice and Jack wanted to smack him for not sounding more
confident, but he supposed the damage was already done.
Deep
down, Jack suspected that point of no return had already come and gone long
ago, maybe even the moment he’d
opened the door to the media trailer to find Toby, and had discovered Izzy
instead.
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