Hardball by CD Reiss

Item: HardBall
Rating: 4
Author: Lily

April 8, 2016 Lily Book Review 0 ★★★★

HardBall by C.D. Reiss
Published by Flip City Media Inc. on March 29th 2016
Pages: 200
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Perfect ass.
Perfect arms.
Perfect swagger.
They call Dash Wallace the Diamond King.
He’s the hottest commodity in baseball and in the bedroom.
When he runs the bases, every woman’s eyes are glued to his stunning body and a smile that puts the night lights to shame.
I’m no queen. I’m a regular girl with a regular job. I just watch him on TV and from the bleachers, season after season.
Girls like me grab a guy like that one in a million times.
My number just came up, and he is as spectacular in bed as he is on the field.
But there’s not a woman in the world who can distract Dash Wallace from the game. Not for a moment. Not even me.
Until the night I do. And everything changes.

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

Hardball starts off with a frustrated Vivian taking a group of children on an excursion to visit the LA Dodgers at their signing day being held for underprivileged children. Dealing with one dilemma after another, the day doesn’t go as smooth as she imagined it would. Apart from her duties for the day, she hoped she could get a souvenir ball signed by the famous Dash Wallace. For a devoted fan, this was a big day for her. The events of this day turn Vivian’s life around in a way she never dreamed it would. For Dash, it was another day when fate was not on his side.

Dash’s life was dictated by superstition to the point where it was starting to cripple him. He never strayed from his beliefs in maintaining control and adhering to his routines made him the success he was. His talents went beyond the pitch resulting in some steamy moments!

The steamy moments begin soon after he seeks out Vivian to question her about an important talisman that went missing…coincidentally on the day he met her. He finds himself mesmerised and before he knows it his original plan is all out the window. Vivian being a Dodgers fan is star struck but thinks this hotshot is out of her league.

I had the image of a gorgeous woman standing next to a poker player unable to move to ensure her good luck maintained the player’s winning streak as I read Hardball. But this was no poker game, Dash plays baseball at a professional level.

I’m at a loss as to how to articulate that while I enjoyed reading Hardball, there were times it also fell short for me. The focus was clearly on Dash and Vivian, and while this was hot…apart from a couple of eyeball rolling moments that caused me to stop, take a break and get back into it again, it missed out on being a lot more by not fleshing out more of the secondary storylines that in my opinion were begging to be aired. It’s not often I encounter a book that goes between having me hooked at the same time being interlaced with moments that lose me as well. The sections where I began to lose momentum were, fortunately, far and few between.

In the end, what I read was a fun yet serious story depicting how two people made a good go at turning around a difficult, bordering on an impossible situation, into a relationship enabling opportunities to flourish.

What I struggled with:
• The obsessive need for luck
• Wanting the story to reach broader than their relationship
• Vivian and her father’s interactions. It was a sweet relationship, but it also was different to what I would expect of a father / daughter.

What I loved:
• Dash’s efforts to impress Vivian
• Vivian’s good-hearted and caring approach to life
• The subtle humour

Lily’s Rating: 4 Home Run Stars!