Review: sweet baseball romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 17, 2013
The Practice Proposal (Suddenly Smitten) Tracy MarchI received this via Netgalley in return for an honest review. I don't gush and give false praise - I don't believe that helps readers or authors so what you read is what I truly feel about a book.I love a good contemporary romance where there's a decent storyline to keep me engaged and I wasn't disappointed in this book. The characters are enjoyable and feel real and I wanted to know what would happen to them.Liza is a lovely lady - I felt for her past tragedy and understood why she was unwilling to date again yet. However her mum - mums, they do stuff like this... - had entered her in a draw to win a date with Baseball star Cole. Liza knew Cole when they were younger, and had a teen crush on him but they had drifted apart over the years and he now has a reputation as a playboy. His agent worried that it was affecting his career had suggested that having more than one date with Liza, and forming a relationship, even if only a temporary one for the press, would improve his chances of a Nationals contract. Ever ambitious,Cole quickly agrees, Liza is a pleasant girl and he genuinely enjoys her company. Of course then his agent needs to find a way to persuade Lisa its a good idea without giving away Cole's motives. Liza needs to raise her game when it comes to keeping her job as a charity fund-raiser so he promises half a million dollars if she doesn't fall for Cole by the end of the season, a bet she feels is easy as she has contempt for his current lifestyle.  Frank seems to have created a win win situation for both of them but..it is a simple as that? Of course not : )As with all the best romances things go well to a point and then disaster strikes and there are tears and a breakup. Can they get it together again or not. Cole hadn't banked on falling for Liza not she for falling for him and they are both very careful of their feelings to begin with. Will love triumph after all? Can deception be forgotten and just what is the secret of the split between Cole and Liza's parents, after such a happy relationship when he was a teen. There's not just the one main romance plot here but lots of tiny side ones that add up to create an interesting and believable love story.Its well edited and at 166 pages for 2.63 its reasonably priced if this is the sort of romance you enjoy and would read again. For me its a one off read, I really enjoyed it but it won't go in my keepers file.Stars: solid four, a good enjoyable realistic read, with gentle humour and a touch of angst.