Book Blurb:
I’m the coach’s daughter. Falling for one of my father's players was never the plan.
Especially not Decker Davis.
Chicago Colts third baseman.
Dependable. Steady. The guy everyone trusts.
And the man who’s spent years keeping his distance—especially from me.
We have history. The kind that ten years and a thousand miles can’t touch.
So, this time, I promised myself I'd be smarter.
No getting attached. No blurred lines. And definitely, no falling.
He broke every last one within the first week.
Because Decker doesn’t just show up for me. He shows up for my daughter.
Because he fits into our lives like he was always meant to be there.
Because he looks at me like I was never something he wanted to lose.
And suddenly, the walls I've spent years building don't feel nearly as solid as they used to.
But if I let him in, I’m not just risking my heart—I’m risking hers too… and I already know what losing him costs.
I won’t let my daughter pay that price.
*Hambright PR ALC/ARC *Sports Romance (Baseball) *Childhood best friends
*Family Drama *single parent (FMC) *Green Flag book boyfriend *Brother's Ex *Second chance *disjointed narrative/time line *long past history *Found family
*Miscommunication/no communication *Slow burn
*Coach's daughter *Close proximity *Spice *State Challenge Illinois (Repeat)
Thoughts:
This is the 3rd book in this series and while it can be read as a stand alone I do wish that I had read the previous books in the series first as the characters from the previous books make appearances into this book as well.
This story begins with Penelope (FMC) Single mother moving to Chicago to be closer to family (her father) who is the coach for a MLB team. Penelope just wants to settle down her life with her daughter and maybe start dating again... only there is on big problem and that is she is now thrown into a situation where she has to be in regular close proximity to the man she has been pining for most of her life at this point, Decker to make matters worse her father is still his coach and they have a long past history of things never being the right time.
Decker is a baseball superstar he is under a lot of pressure this season (more so than previous years) to perform well and keep his spot on the team he's about to be a free agent and his contract his going to be up meaning he could be moved anywhere... and he will have to go with the flow if he wants to keep playing and he still has at least a few good years left. He is now on a team with his twin brother Foster and they have been working hard to repair their relationship after some things happened in the past that Decker was once worried would be beyond repair... he can't let anything get in the way of this progress and he really doesn't need any additional stress.
In comes the coach to wreck his plans of no extra stress... he has been voluntold that he needs to work closely on a project with none other than the woman he has been in love with most of his life... Penelope... oh no he can't do this.
Throughout the book we see that their past history which was once that of close friendship there was always bigger feelings that they were always holding back for one reason or another with things never being the right time... and now there are outside factors where they know they could never be together without ruining other relationships that are just now mending... so even with the strong pull they have always had for each other can they ever really be together?
But Decker begins showing up for Penelope not only for their joint project but he also starts making time in his busy schedule for her daughter to help her reach her goals... it's really hard for Penelope to not feel everything for this man when he is not only not keeping his distance from her but he is also burrowing further into her heart.
The pacing of this book felt off to me it took awhile to actually get going where for most of the story our couple is not together. I was unsure of the timeline of events at any given time due to the story swapping from past to present with snippets of the twin brothers therapy sessions thrown in. Once the couple finally got "together" there wasn't much time left in the story so it made everything else feel rushed. They spent so much time not together that I didn't feel fully invested in their relationship.
I appreciated the segments with the brothers together going to therapy it helped them through their unresolved issues with each other I think it helped them see each other and their past history in a different light which ultimately helped them to get over their discrepencies. I wish there had been more scenes in the book with the brothers outside of therapy or work.
I get our couple has a complicated history... but with so much of the story being back and forth long term pining, the wrong "time" etc... it was a relief when things finally started moving forward with our couple actually being a couple I was wondering at points if it would ever happen for them!
This was my first book from this author and while it took me a bit to get into I did end up enjoying it enough to check out the rest of the series.
I loved the multi cast narration and I truly feel like it helped me enjoy this story so much more.
Thank you to the author and Hambright PR for this ARC/ALC copy
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