Rating: 4.5🌈
Line Drive is Lindsey’s actual third story in the series about a fictional MLB team, the Denver Vikings and it’s LGBTGIA players.
Line Drive is the romantic story for the Denver Vikings star pitcher, James “Scooter” Harney. A man with an extremely troubled upbringing he’s risen above, James is both a driven ball player and successful businessman. He’s got a group of teammates who are family and a well known bar. Everything but a relationship.
Lindsey crafted Harney as a person who’s abandonment as a adolescent and trials to feed his sister led him to poor decisions and traumatic jail time as a teenager. Thankfully, those experiences are not mentioned but only guessed at by the reader. Those formative years turned him into a person who doesn’t understand relationships.
Until a feisty teen, Phoenix, challenges him on his latest purchase of a bookstore and changes everything.
I have to admit that Phoenix and his interactions with James also further pulled me into the book. I adored these two and honestly wished for more time of them both together. That was some genuine chemistry there.
Phoenix is a stellar character who’s introduction and personality is just so remarkable that I won’t spoil anything about them here other than to say they have CP . How that disease is woven into the storylines and the character of Phoenix is also one of the best things here.
The other half of the romantic equation is Phoenix’ dad, Ridley Holland. A former minor league baseball player who was sidelined by a injury, he’s now a high school baseball coach and divorced dad barely keeping it together.
Sigh.
I really have a issue connecting with characters that have martyr complexes. And Ridley has those in spades. I was right there with Phoenix most of the time frustrated as well with Ridley’s suffocating, helicopter parental controls. So it was quite the effort to see my way to liking that aspect of the story as much as I enjoyed James buying the bookstore, enlarging his view of his future and letting people like Phoenix (and Ridley) into his small group of trusted friends .
I did eventually turn it around but James and Phoenix will remain my favorites of this story. Beautifully written, fully dimensional, and when it came to the end, and , yes, happiness exudes for all , the three of them enjoy a well deserved life together.
Any issues? A few. Some misspelled words that should have been caught. Existing instead of exiting, that sort of thing.
And one more that struck me. If you have a manager, then precisely told that manager to hire someone of a certain age with special needs while disregarding her arguments about duties and age limitations, then you should have followed it up later to help everyone succeed instead of being surprised the person had started. The way this was handled in the story bothered me. A sharp order that was rude and borderline derogatory, that took away this woman’s responsibility without a discussion. I found this small element very disrespectful and odd . And it stands out in a story about respect.
There were a few other minor things but these were my main issues.
Line Drive (Hit and Run Book 2) by E.M. Lindsey was a very enjoyable and rewarding story. I was still thinking about it hours after finishing it and that’s a mark of a wonderful book for me.
The next novel is coming out in December, just in time for the holidays. I can’t wait.
I’m highly recommending this series and the remarkable characters you’ll find within Line Drive!
Hit and Run Series:
✓ Nothing Ordinary #0.5
✓ Switch-Hitter #1
✓ Line Drive #2
â—¦ Double Play #3 – Dec 5, 2022
https://www.amazon.com › Line-Dri…Line Drive (Hit and Run Book 2) – Kindle edition – Amazon.com
Description:
James “Scooter” Harney is good at two things and two things only:
Pitching…
…and running away from his feelings.
So, when he comes face to face with a high school baseball coach who gets under his skin like no one ever has before, James isn’t quite sure what to do about it. After all, Ridley is smarmy, annoying, ridiculously good looking…
And worst of all, straight.
Then, James’ world is turned upside down one evening when Ridley admits that he’s been having thoughts. Thoughts about James. Thoughts that are making him question his own identity.
James knows he won’t make a good boyfriend, but the way Ridley looks at him, the way Ridley trusts him, makes James realize that maybe—just maybe—there’s something worth fighting for.
Line Drive is the second book in a fictional MLB series featuring a smarmy pitcher good at annoying his teammates and stroking his own ego, a team ready to win no matter what it takes, a lost single dad who just wants to know he’s doing a good job, and an agreement that wraps both of their hearts into a tangle. Each book in the Hit and Run Series stands alone, contains no cheating, and has a happily ever after.
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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 