Life loves a good curveball…
Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas's life is completely upended the moment her dad returns to the major leagues as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Now she's living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports. But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet…and one starring the Royals' super-hot rookie pitcher.
But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad would kill them both several times over. Not to mention Brody has something of a past, and his fan club is filled with C-cupped models, not smart-mouthed high school “brats” who can run the pants off every player on the team. Annie has enough on her plate without taking their friendship to the next level. The last thing she should be doing is falling in love.
But baseball isn't just a game. It's life. And sometimes, it can break your heart…
.jpg)
Whatever Life Throws At You was another great baseball book. I am a die hard baseball fan and love reading books about baseball. Julie Cross did an excellent job as always in describing what I would think a baseball players life would be like. This story is about young love, family struggles, heartbreaks, suspense , comedy and oh so plenty swoon worthy moments. It definitely had the perfect amount of romance with some twists and turns. I fell in love with Jason Brody right away and since its baseball season and my team is in the chase I find myself picturing what it would be like for Mr. Brody to be among them....yeah it was that good. I would give it a 4 stars!
Jason and Annie meet for the first time when Annie's dad accepts a position as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Although there first meet and greet was a little devious on Annie's part it starts a tidal wave of emotions and cravings from both of them. They will deal with not only Annie being seventeen and Jason being 19 but the pressures of him being famous and her semi famous because of her dad. They find themselves falling hard for one another no matter how hard the push each other away... there is a pull and neither will keep fighting it and give in to temptation.. when they give in its explosive. But what happens when there secret comes out.. will the press break them apart, or will Annie's dad keep them apart? Or can there love conquer it all?
Pick up this book ASAP! I have read a few stories by Julie Cross and will continue to follow her journey. Thanks for a great story and look forward to much more in the hopefully near future!
.jpg)
Whatever Life Throws At You by Julie Cross is not your run of the mill baseball romance; it is so much more. I fell in love with Jason Brody the rookie hot-shot pitcher for the Kansas City Royals just as Annie did and I can guarantee that you will too! I give this book 3.5 strike-out stars and recommend that everyone pick up this book because you will not be disappointed.
Annie was content in a life that lagged excitement; living with her Dad and helping to take care of her Grams in the absence of her flighty mother who appeared and disappeared from their lives quickly; often leaving her dad sitting on the bench wondering for months after. So when her father's old friend from his extremely short major league baseball career comes to dinner and offers the chance of a life-time she encourages her father to take the job and move her family to the cold mid-west; never anticipating Jason Brody to become her world.
Jason Brody is a nineteen year old pitcher currently playing for the Royals farm team with the potential to be one of baseball's greatest pitchers of all time. He is dubbed a "problem" by the team owner for his less than moral background but he works extremely hard to earn the chance to be a permanent member of the roster.
Annie and Jason meet on her very first day in Kansas City while touring the stadium. Being the fiesty fire-cracker that she is; she poses as a reporter and asks Brody some interesting questions as he stands there in a towel looking ever the sexy, hot professional athlete that he is. Discovering that she is the seventeen year old daughter of his new pitching coach, Brody begins to tease her about the "interview" every chance that he gets and so their friendship begins.
While Annie tries to make a life for herself at school at St Teresa's, she joins the track team and begins to train for the state championship meet. Brody becomes a part of their lives in more than just being a player that her father coaches; he comes for personal training at their house, having dinner with them and even goes as far as to go running with Annie in the mornings. It is Annie that gives him the encouragement that he needs before his pitching debut on opening day; where he is expected to fail but instead proves everyone wrong, except those who always believed in him, Annie and her father.
The story continues with their friendship becoming closer and closer and Annie develops feelings for Brody, feelings at times she believes that he may reciprocate and other times believes he sees her as the little sister he never had. Struggling to push her feelings aside and be the friend that he needs, Annie works hard to help Brody off the field as her father helps him on the mound, by working with him so that he can get his GED.
It only takes one kiss for everything to change. Although the first time Annie kisses Brody, he pushes her away, it is after a celebration during an away game that he texts her and says "wish you were here" which is where it all changes for them. Will Brody put his career on the line for Annie? Will Annie risk her father getting a permanent contract with the Royals to be with Brody? You will have to read this World Series winning book to find out.
I'm the author of the YA sci-fi trilogy, the Tempest series (St. Martin's Press). I'm also the author of the YA contemporary novel, Letters To Nowhere.
But even more importantly than the above, I'm a fan of books and an avid reader/reviewer. Keep in mind, however, that a review is just one person's opinion, one perspective. My goal is to show as much bias in my reviews as possible because this makes it easier for you to decide if your perspective is similar to mine or different. Everyone's tastes are different. I like books with emotion and believability. I don't mind edgy and heavy themes. I also like humor and quirk. I like weird characters in odd situations.
I have low tolerance for insta-love, flowery sex scenes, or mushy declarations of feelings. Not a fan of possessive/controlling male characters who get the girl in the end. When I recommend books, I always ask about favorite current reads and cater to each person's taste.
I believe every book plays an important role whether I love it or hate, it's having an effect on society. It's changing, shaping, and molding the future of publishing. Regardless of my feelings about a book, I value the author's time and effort put into creating their work. I only rate books available for purchase (or soon-to-be available) and consider those books as published works and their creators as professionals in their field therefore I treat them as professionals, giving my honest opinion on the work itself and not the person producing it.
If I rate a book and don't provide any written review and you'd like to hear my thoughts, feel free to comment on the review and if I can, I'll explain my reasoning behind the rating. I don't mind authors commenting on any review I post - negative or positive. Also happy to email to discuss Juliecrossauthor (at) gmail (dot) com please alert me if I misled readers or given false information (accidentally of course) and I'll correct the situation as soon as possible.
Connect with Julie!
