Review: The Grumpy Player Next Door

The Grumpy Player Next Door by Pippa Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THIS BOOK! I was the epitome of the rolling on the floor laughing emoji while reading this book! That shouldn't be a surprise, but it surprised the hell out of me because I wasn't sure that Pippa Grant could top my previous favourites, and yet...

It was great going back to Shipwreck and seeing the insanity that is the Rock family - especially when Tillie Jean and Cooper's teasing/pranking is on full display. I love pirates, so really any mention of pirates and I'm sold. Shipwreck is top in my books!

This was Tillie Jean and Max's story - I could wax poetic about them all day and how I laughed so hard my coffee shot out my nose during one particular roof scene involving my other favourite animal character - Long Beak Silver is the BEST, I said what I said! I love how even though there were some serious issues dealt with for Max predominantly, the laughter never felt forced or ill timed. And I did laugh A LOT throughout this book. Like a LOT. I think I need a new keyboard based on how many times I spit out some kind of liquid because I was laughing too hard even though I KNOW not to drink and read Pippa Grant books. That's a dangerous combination folks, don't do it! Your electronics will thank you!

The best way for you to experience how it's totally possible to stick two people who have some serious issues (some of them worse than others) together and wonder if they'll come out the other side with a happily ever after is to READ THIS BOOK!

Normally I would give you some of my favourite lines and some incredible gif action here - but I have to do this one on my phone and that makes that sooooo much harder for me to do accurately (the gifs) and I can't quote nearly an entire book. Seriously, you should see my highlights - there are so many there is barely any clear text in the book. I'm trying to narrow it down - so when I have the ability to get on my computer and make that happen I will circle back and add a handful.

One-click this baby today! You're going to love it, I swear.

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Review: Real Fake Love

Real Fake Love by Pippa Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I feel like this book is almost a love story for the stereotypical romance reader everywhere. No, wait, before you go running away... IT'S NOT A CLICHÉ! This isn't just your average very sad, lonely girl meets boy and falls in love story. I mean, it borrows things from that concept but doesn't every romance do that in a way?



Real Fake Love brings us back to the Copper Valley Fireballs (hellllllloooooo baseball!!!), namely one Luca Rossi who's sworn off love, marriage and commitments altogether - and how one very determined (if a touch lonely) romance writer named Henrietta Bacon becomes the reason he learns how to love when he's supposed to be teaching her how to deny love.



Luca's not the best player, he's not horrible obviously because he's in the major leagues, but he's not swinging his bat in the all star game every year. He's also been traded a whole bunch of times and now to the worst team in the league. The man has a chip on his shoulder a mile wide, and really, his well meaning Nonna is totally right. He just needs to be loved and supported. But first he wants to help the Fireballs make a huge comeback and how can he do that when he's under threat of a curse that the consequences of would shake any commitment-phobe to their core? That's where Henri and the most ridiculously lazy cat, Dogzilla, come into play.



And Henri! I feel like Henri is this conglomeration of Pippa's hilarity and wackiness and all of the romance readers out there who fall in love with love at every turn. Hey, who hasn't fallen for the wrong person? Or had a broken engagement or two? There's something so very hopeful about Henri, so optimistic in the face of everything that combats Luca's pessimism at every turn. There were so many moments where that sad, lonely part of me resonated with Henri's desire to be loved.

“Love itself isn’t wrong.” I tuck my hands under my head and stare up at the soft darkness. “But you need to quit loving people who don’t love you back.”

“What if no one ever loves me back?” she whispers.

Tears - she broke me! BROKE ME!!!!! Because she's usually so happy! She seems to embrace her quirks - and no matter what she has this never ending belief in the beauty, and necessity, of love but there were moments in this story that I watched all the little doubts I've always had play out on the page and it made me love Henri even more. I thought I loved the incredible Mackenzie who was wacky and weird and just sooooo much fun, but I always love the heroines who are just super smart and super quirky (*ahem*Felicity fits this bill too!)

Their roller coaster of crazy love story is brought to you with special appearances by... the Copper Valley Fireballs players (and the Thrusters!!!!!!!!), the Lady Fireballs, a team fanbase attempting to choose a mascot, a pooch with a fabulous collar, a clothes wearing lazy bones cat, a rainbow haired social media star, an inconvenient mother, a foul mouthed pirate parrot, and enough emotional and mental torture in the form of comparing lives instead of being uniquely yourself to make you want to wrap everyone up in blankets.

Here - you should have some of my...


Favourite Lines -

“You say potato, I say Lamborghini."

“Do you want to live, or do you want the stairs to eat you?”

“Left!” he yells. “Your other left!”

“I’m a writer, not a truck driver!”

Love is my superpower.

It’s my blessing and my curse.

Because every time I fall in love, I’m not good enough.

I’m never good enough.

And it freaking hurts.

“What is that?”

“She’s my cat.”

“I can see that, but what’s she wearing?”

“She felt like a unicorn today.”

“I can hear you thinking, and your language is atrocious today.”

“I make things up for a living, so if I say it’s a thing, it’s a thing!”

Teaching her how to not fall in love feels like teaching a rainbow how to not sparkle.

An unpredictable, chaotic, klutzy rainbow, but still a rainbow.

“Would yours involve a flaming asteroid made of toilets?”

Luca: Who named your cat?

Henri: Confucius.

Luca: Your…made-up character?

Henri: He’s very real in my head. And no, I don’t need to see a therapist. This is normal for writers.

“Do you also use magic truffle salt and water made with the tears of unicorns?”

My run-down castle with the queen who shines so bright that she makes it feel like Buckingham fucking Palace.

Fuckingham Palace.

Yeah. That’s what I’m renaming my home.

I write books.

Words are tools. And if I want to use the fuck word, I will use the fuck word.

Henri falls in love.

Not only with men, but with the world.

Every. Single. Day.

This book has everything that you would expect from a Pippa Grant story. You will laugh, you'll cry (usually while you're laughing but there are a few very emotional moments), and by then of this one you might even believe in love almost as much as Henri does. I can't wait to see more of the Fireballs - I mean, I'm dying for some Thrusters again, but it's summer time so I'm thankful for all the BASEBALL books because 2020 sucks and I've been denied for a while and this tiny season doesn't count.

Run out and one-click this baby today! You won't regret it!



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Review: Jock Blocked

Jock Blocked by Pippa Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Do you know what I love the most in the world, other than coffee and donuts at least???

THE BOYS OF SUMMER BABY!!!! Baseball!



So you can bet this was an automatic HECK YES for me to read, but let's get into the why…

What happens when you're the losingest (yeah, yeah, I know it's not a word but it's perfect for this one) team in baseball and their newest, and arguably hottest, player is about to ruin their chances of winning again by finally losing his V-card?



Don't know? Well, let me tell you! You get Jock Blocked by the exceptional Pippa Grant!

Mackenzie has soooooo many things that make you just laugh and sob a little for her, but come on! This is Parker's brother Brooks' book and YOU KNOW that means a return of the Elliott family group texts!!! These were just priceless moments in the story - THANK YOU FOR THAT!!!

I'm on Team NO SPOILERS, but you must know that this return to Copper Valley for a Fireballs story was EVERYTHING I was hoping it would be and it turned the virgin trope on its head! How many books have you read where it's the young, naïve girl who’s the virgin?



The correct answer is TOO FLIPPING MANY!!!!



I have read maybe one or two other stories where it's hero who's the virgin and not the heroine in M/F Romance and this was something so very needed because a) he's not super young and naïve, and b) IT'S THE HERO and Brooks is a super hot ball player so you'd think he'd be getting laid at every conceivable opportunity!

Brooks is trying desperately to lose his V-card now that he's been traded from New York to the Fireballs since he doesn't see where him playing any worse could be detrimental to the team and their chances of getting fans back and winning games. Enter Mackenzie Montana, the Fireballs' biggest fan (FIERY FOREVER!!!!) who knows her baseball and believes in superstition, good luck, and curses to cock block him in a flaming meatball mascot costume. Ridiculous? NO, it is PERFECTION! The fan culture that's brought into this story are not only hilarious, but totally on point. If you're a serious baseball fan you know you have superstitions and rituals that you have to go through for each game to keep your team's streak alive. Mackenzie nails these, she also nails how I felt when my singular mascot became several for my team.



Aside from the virgin trope, I had a hard time classing this because they're not really friends to lovers, at least not at first. They become friendly eventually, but their feelings are winning out by this point. They also aren't really enemies to lovers, but kind of because they seem to start that way - especially with how hard she's trying to cock-block Brooks just so he can keep hitting the ball! It's kind of a slow burn, but with laughter and some amazing moments with friends that show just how deep of a world Pippa has created. Whatever you want to class this as, make sure you class it as EXCELLENT and 100% worth your time!

Honourable mention for scene stealer awards go to Mackenzie's daddies (in and out of drag!), Coco Puff the dog because it's Pippa and it's an animal and she does those ridiculously well and we all know that, the Mascot Alternatives that are *NOT* Fiery (FIERY FOREVER!!!!!!), and the Elliott Family Text Messages.

Favourite Lines:

Oh, god, baseball forearms.

They’re lethal to women’s panties everywhere, because baseball forearms.

Plus you don’t want to know what the internet is saying about echidna penis. You really don’t.

Adrenaline surges in my veins, and before I can think better of it, I knock his phone away, kick it down the hall, shove him, and yell, “Fiery forever!”

And then I take off at a dead run.

This is the most insane conversation I’ve ever had, and my brother’s married to a woman who knows over a thousand euphemisms for penis and uses them liberally, and my sister’s autocorrected text messages need their own museum.

What happens at the club during curse-breaking stays at the club.

“How is a thing with a four-headed penis family-friendly?”

Tripp chokes on his drink, and the two owners share a secret look.

Dammit.

I want a secret look-sharer. Is that too much to ask?

Opening day should be a federal holiday, especially when opening day happens at home.

“What are you doing here?” I growl.

Yes, me. Mackenzie Montana. Growling at a baseball god.

Do not fuck with my family.

It’s not enough to cock-block him.

I have to make him believe the Fireballs can go all the way.

Dingo Bazookarooka hey macarena.

If you didn't know this was text from Parker - please for the love of all that's holy - go read Stud in the Stacks RIGHT MEOW!

I might’ve been actively invited to the de-cursing night at spring training—nope, still not telling what we did with the dildo—but I don’t know which of my new teammates is most likely to put bubble gum in my helmet or which one most deserves to have his car parked in center field before a game.

“You want to be a Fireball.”

He shifts his seat to face me again. “I am a Fireball.”

That’s a morning shot of joe straight to my clit. There is nothing sexier that a man could ever say to me. Ever.

I’m in for better.

I mean, not sex better. I still need him to hit a ball. But gah, am I tempted, because he did hit the ball after we masturbated together.

So tempted.

Honourable mention to Coco Puff's collar -

"I love you!"

"Smiling cures everything!"

"You're a winner to me!"

"Are you tired? Because you've been running through my mind all day!"

Lingering Thoughts…

I would read the heck out of a novella bout Mackenzie's daddies and how they came together. Stick that little plot bunny in your basket!




Go on and grab this baby today! Just because we can't watch baseball right now doesn't mean we can't read some excellent romances that touch on baseball culture. You won't regret one-clicking this one. Go on! Grab it!!!





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Review: Clutch Endgame, A BASEBALL ROMANCE

Clutch Endgame, A BASEBALL ROMANCE by Tarrah Anders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Baseball… BASEBALL PEOPLE!!!



I love baseball! It may be America's game, and I may not be an American, but I am a baseball loving girl! Opening day is a ritual in my home, whether my Blue Jays are playing or not. My kid puts up with my obsession with the game, as well as my obsession with hockey, but that's neither here nor there.

Let's get to the real story here - the steam that came off the pages for Gunnar and Sawyer!



So, part of this story may be familiar to you if you were fortunate enough to read Rounding Third: A Baseball Anthology. If you weren't fortunate enough to grab a copy, sadly, it's now out of print but that doesn't mean all the stories have vanished. Maren Lee, Jess Bryant, and Lynsey M. Stewart have made their works for the anthology available to you and now Tarrah Anders has given us Clutch Endgame, A BASEBALL ROMANCE featuring the original story and a glimpse four years down the road at Gunnar and Sawyer's relationship.

This story is the best of both worlds - it’s the short, but very messy and very steamy - contribution to the anthology followed by a revisit to their lives four years later where they should be riding off into the sunset of fluffy happiness. Oh, there is fluffy happiness but fluff doesn't hook you. There has to be some kind of conflict, and it was headed at them from so many directions!



Gunnar Reynolds is the catcher for the San Diego Hornets at the beginning of the story. What brings he and Sawyer together is an Ultimate Fan contest promotion. Most people picture the winner to be a kid, but considering that Gunnar loves the cleat chasers and the rookie playboy life scene, he was ordered to tone down his antics for his Ultimate Fan's visit the next day. He could not have been less prepared for Sawyer Rotham if he tried!

Sawyer and Gunnar have an instant connection and by the end of his day with his Ultimate Fan, the steam coming off the pages is palpable. This is something that doesn't change in their relationship over time. In fact, they seem to get sweeter and steamier as the years pass by.



This is one thing I love about Tarrah Anders - steamy, romping, sexcapades! She builds beautiful chemistry between her leads and that leads them into some hotttt moments. If you don't believe me go read Your Neighborhood Bartender and find out!

In the shower…



In the kitchen…



In the bedroom….



Phew, this book was HOTTTTT! Even with the passage of time and the potential stress of being traded in the future for their relationship, it was still a romp to remember!

The only thing I could have stood for something a little more in this one? The resolution of the conflict during the whole trade/moving debacle in the future. The resolution to the conflict didn't really do enough for me. I felt like there should have been a definite singular person/entity to put the blame on rather than the paparazzi as a whole. The first media scandal they had during part one was cleaned up really well and I guess I was just hoping for something a little more in that department from the second seeming scandal. Being the external conflict, its resolution wasn't as important as the internal ones that pressed on their relationship and those had a satisfactory resolution so that works for me!

Favourite Lines -

"Are you calling my cock my brain?"

"Isn't that usually what men think with?" she retorts.

"Not all the time," I defend. "It's cock, stomach and then brain."

"I'm going to make myself a sandwich, you want one?" She calls over her shoulder. Ladies and gentlemen, I've just found the woman of my dreams.

"Furniture is a funny word. I love that too. Do you think that the word road is pronounced weird…? It should be ro-ad. I love words, they're nice."

"It snows in Boston. It's hot as sweaty balls in Arizona and it rains in Seattle."

Normally, he's eating healthy and on balanced diet, but when he's hungover, he will gorge out on all the good stuff.

"You sound like a Hallmark card, are you still drunk?"

"And hot as balls, don't forget the hot as balls part."

"Like a sweaty arm pit."

"Molten lava."

"Like a sauna."

"You guys are baseball players; you have to run those bases as if you’re chasing a fast moving cupcake."

"Yes, dear." He says placating me.

"Ah, look you're learning. You're definitely going to be a good husband if you can remember those two words."

Make sure you one click this one! It's sexy with laughs and some incredibly sweet moments tied in. You won't regret it and you'll love the ending!

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