Thrown By a Curve (Play-By-Play, #5)

by Jaci Burton

[Cocktails and Books]

I loved the first three books in the Play by Play series, partly because of the type of men Jaci Burton created. They were Alpha males (capital A intended) who loved sex, were a tad bit emotionally stunted by things that happened in their life and had to find a woman that would let them be Alpha when they needed it but helped them get in touch with their emotional side. In PLAYING TO WIN, I felt like Cole didn't fit into the mold Jaci had created in the first three books. So I was a very happy woman when I met Garrett in the first few pages of THROWN BY A CURVE and found that Alpha male I grown to love in the series.

Garrett Ryan is trying to recover from a shoulder injury the previous season. None of those on his rehab team has been able to get him to a place where he could start pitching in the upcoming season. That is until Alicia Riley steps up and tells her boss, the River's team manager and the team's star pitcher that she could get him pitching if he followed her treatment plan. Garrett's decides to go with Alicia's plan, because what he wants more than anything is to pitch again. What neither of them count on their working relationship turning into something more.

Alicia has got to be my favorite heroine in the series so far. She doesn't cut Garrett any slack. Even when they started sleeping together, she stuck to what she needed to do to get Garrett where he wanted to be. She fought with crossing the patient/therapist line with Garrett and worried about what their relationship would mean to not only their working relationship, but with their employer. She didn't get all starry eyed because she was sleeping with the hot shot pitcher, but instead kept thing in prospective and was honest with herself.

Garrett may have whined and complained when it came to doing what he needed to do to rehab his shoulder, but you knew it was because he was afraid of where his career was going. But the man had a sweet side that would make any woman melt. He willingly went shopping, he made vegetarian meals and (most of the time) was very aware of Alicia and her feelings. He may not have always shown Alicia how much he appreciate what she did for him or how he felt about her, but when it mattered he got it right.

My only complaint with this book was having to wait for Garrett and Alicia to finally have sex. The sex is an on-going character in this series, so having to wait until midway through the book was a bit disappointing. However, when it did finally happen it was just as I would expect from the series. Garrett may not be quite as dirty as Mick, Gavin or Ty, but he was closer to what I've come to expect.