Boys of Summer

Pure fluff book but being someone who enjoys attending professional sporting events it was kind of fun to read a baseball book. Usually I'm not a huge fan of short stories but I really liked how this book was done with 3 stories each by a different author. Each story was about one of three good friends who decided to seduce a baseball player before the end of the season. Of course they all ended up falling madly in love with their intended targets and getting happy ever after but it was nice to dream with them! :)

This was one of the better little collections...maybe it was the hot, athletic men. But the men and women were fun characters with romance and hot sex...a fun quick read!

I love baseball.

I have always been a bit wary of anthologies, wondering how much justice can be done to characters' relationship in 50-page segments. However, this book may have just changed my feelings on that!

A wonderful trio of entwining stories that effortlessly flowed into each other and could have passed as being written by one author.

I liked the third story a little less than the first two but still definitely an all-round enjoyable read.

3 stelle scarse

Lettura scorrevole ma troppo frettolosa nelle parti finali dei racconti.

Baseball shorts. Yup.

Slinding Home by Leslie Kelly. For now, I just read this one. The heroine made a pact with her 2 friends to seduce her fantasy guy who just happens to be Riley, the star pitcher of the baseball team. Riley meet Janie at his grandpa's Retirement Village residence. She was "just Janie" then. He was intrigued but he didn't act on it. To seduced him, Janie's friend helped her to a makeover but Riley wasn't really seduce because, first of all, he didn't recognize her at first, then he took her for a groupie but when he understood that despite the pact she made with her friends, she really like him as a man, not as a baseball player. I like a lot of the ideas of the story and I was ok with the fact that it was a novella.

Setting: Diamond, four-star restaurant; Round the Bases, memorabilia shop; Sweet Spot, specialty ice cream shop; Louisiana Sluggers;

Theme: baseball team, will they stay?; old loves; new loves, shy loves;

Characters:
Callie Andrews: grew up on the wrong side of the tracks; fell in love with a rich, honorable man whose dream to own a baseball team; married, he thought she’d be happy when he could give her all money could buy, as they traveled/partied with the team; but she wanted roots, wants to stay in one place, and asks for a divorce… and he can see she’s unhappy, and agrees, giving her a good settlement; which she uses as seed money to open a restaurant ; and he brings the team for dinner after home games, wanting to continue to see her; but the team’s presence brings in customers/fans – and the food is great – and it is doing well;

Donovan Ross: last summer, he signed a deal with a sketchy, Las Vegas friend for quick infuse of money – in trade for signing over his team if he doesn’t pay the loan back within a year; he used the money to buoy up his father’s business/retirement that a trusted exec made bad business choices … but it looks like it will be close as to whether he can repay the money on time - he needs the team to have a great box office season; but his sketchy friend leaks it to the press, outraging the city… and he needs… so he takes himself to Diamonds for dinner, and to see his ex;

Babe Bannister: Callie’s friend; owner of the Sweet Shop next door; she excels at creating interesting combos of ice cream flavors and naming them after the Slugger’s players – and the players often have ice cream after dinner at Diamonds; she is a bit plump; she has a big heart; parents highly into sports, named their 3 girls after baseball players – Mickey, Babe, and ? – and older sister did great in sports, married a sport’s agent, had 3 sporty sons – younger sister is gorgeous, cheerleader in high school, and now owns a gym – Babe, clumsy, plump, but knows a lot about sports; she wants a night of out-of-the park sex, and has targeted the Slugger’s short stop; she has regular visits from Coach Jessup, whom she grew up next to, and they are good friends;

Brodie Jessup: grew up next to Babe; growing up, no dad, mom absent a lot, he would spend every night practicing his pitching while Babe sat on the fence watching him, and coaching him – helping him; great pitcher for the Sluggers, until an injury took him out; now he is a young coach, working the last 6 years to prove himself; stops at the Sweet Shop to talk shop and have a scoop of vanilla ice cream 3 or 3 nights after practice, as the shop is closing up;

Janie Nolan: big hearted, somewhat plain woman; she has taken over the running of her brother’s dream sports memorabilia shop, even though she knows nothing of sports while he serves in the army (he joined up after his girlfriend dumped him); she gets the best business advice from the 78 year old grandmother’s boyfriend at the ‘Community for the enlightened years’ aka retirement home; after meeting the boyfriend’s grandson – current pitcher for the Sluggers – and he makes a flirty comment about her picturing her rear in tighter jeans, she has fantasies of hot sex…

Riley Kelleher, aka Riley the Rocket: pitcher for the Sluggers; half dozen years ago, taken to the laundry by an exwife who only wanted his money/fame, and a year of manwhoring it, he has kept to himself most days. He is intrigued by ‘Just Janie’ whom he meets when visiting his grandfather, but thinks she is too young.

Summary:
Three stories, three women, three sports men, three authors; the three women decide a night of high passion in the uncertain times of whether their businesses would survive if the Sluggers moved to Las Vegas… each to fulfill it beyond their wildest dreams;

Callie and Donovan – when he comes to her in true need, she can only respond… and though thinking she’s only offering him a night of passion (and he already realizes he wants more) – when he tells her the truth, of the deal to save his father’s business, while protecting his father… and the thousands of employees in his father’s company, she staunchly stands by him… pestering him to tell the public the truth, involving his parents – who make a public statement… and their 2 weeks together, and the public confession on opening day… leads to great sex against the owner’s box specially treated/shaded window … and a new commitment between two people who always loved;

Babe and Brodie: Babe is trying to get up the nerve to proposition the shortstop (not knowing he is in the process of moving in with his girlfriend he met at the strip show club), and after she lost her nerve, she confides in Brodie what her plan is… and Brodie decides to help her learn all about the shortstop – though his intention is for her to not like him… and as they spend time together… he finds he is attracted to her… and thinks she is reciprocating… and she is going to practice her seduction techniques… and oh my… they realize they’ve loved each other for a long time…

Janie and Riley: Riley is tired of women using him, and is keeping his heart closed off; he is a bit intrigued by Janie the couple of time he runs into her at the retirement home… but… and Janie’s friends treat her to a makeover… and dressed to the nines, Callie gets her a table near Riley’s – they exchange some heated looks, but he figures she’s too much a groupie, and leaves without dinner before he succumbs; he goes around the corner for a hamburger… and going back to his car, he passes the open door of the back of the shop, hears something fall, and steps in to make sure whoever is okay… and comes across the woman from the restaurant, except now she is in jeans… they talk, they flirt, she (who is very good at oral sex), gives him a blow job to end all blow jobs… but when he asks for her name again, she tells him Just Janie and he finally figures out why she is familiar… and he walks out… the team loses a few games… he flies home between away games and tracks her down, and makes up… and they have a month of great sex… and great games… they overcome their last trust hurdle… and when he offers to ease her burden of the shop, she says no (too independent)… and in their stock tryst, they knock down a box of baseball cards a woman brought in for $50 with turn of the century cards… making her brother/shop a millionaire - ahhhh