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Hard Ball #2

by Abigail Barnette

When Javier Vargas was traded from the Portland Pioneers to the Grand Rapids Bengals, he didn’t just leave his team behind… he turned his back on the love of his life. Now, a year later, short stop Zach Martin is playing for the Bengals, as well, and Javier can’t believe he ever walked away from the scorching heat between them.

Being a Bengal brings its own complications for Zach, who’s tired of never setting down roots. Playing beside Javier, Zach is constantly reminded of their passionate nights—and the pain of his loss.

Javier screwed up one chance with Zach, and he’s not about to let a second one slip by. With scandals swirling all around the team, he has to choose between his career and his heart, and in the end, he might have to sacrifice both

Genres: Romance, M M Romance, Gay, Sports, Contemporary

68 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 27, 2012

About the author

Abigail Barnette is the pseudonym of Jenny Trout (alias Jennifer Armintrout, an author, blogger, and funny person. Jenny made the USA Today bestseller list with her debut novel, Blood Ties Book One: The Turning. Her American Vampire was named one of the top ten horror novels of 2011 by Booklist Magazine Online. As Abigail Barnette, Jenny writes award-winning erotic romance, including the internationally bestselling The Boss series.

As a blogger, Jenny’s work has appeared on The Huffington Post, and has been featured on television and radio, including HuffPost Live, Good Morning America, The Steve Harvey Show, and National Public Radio’s Here & Now. Her work has earned mentions in The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly.

She is a proud Michigander, mother of two, and wife to the only person alive capable of spending extended periods of time with her without wanting to kill her.

Reviews

[Smith Barney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Appreciated the nice baseball slant and dressing to this sports/themed romance but way too short to even get anything started.

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Professional baseball players, like other athletes, have a harder time than many professions when coming out and that reality provides extra obstacles for Javier and Zach. The many baseball details give this book a solid setting, the characters felt real (including all the stupid mistakes people make), and the two main characters , Zach and Javier, each had their own reasons why they behaved the way they did. Their situation made me mad and I felt for them.


Please find my full review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

[Gretel · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the author announced that this book was going to be re-published a few days ago (it came out today), I didn't know this was m/m romance and boy, was I happy! Sadly, she also said she wouldn't write an M/M romance again: "Though I no longer write M/M for various reasons, including staying in my own lane [...]"
That's just sad because I love her books and I would read hundreds of gay romance novels featuring two hot men writte by her.

The only reason I didn't five star this is because it was too damn short! It was hot, had two lovable and sexy protagonists, amazing chemistry, an entertaining plot, believable conflicts and a perfect amount of heartache and angst. The story was so good, it could have been a full-length novel and that would have helped flesh out some aspects that needed to be short due to being a novella.
Hell, I could read a whole series dedicated to Zack and Javier, that's how much I liked the writing, plot and characters!

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Professional baseball players, like other athletes, have a harder time than many professions when coming out and that reality provides extra obstacles for Javier and Zach. The many baseball details give this book a solid setting, the characters felt real (including all the stupid mistakes people make), and the two main characters , Zach and Javier, each had their own reasons why they behaved the way they did. Their situation made me mad and I felt for them.


Please find my full review of the second edition on Rainbow Book Reviews.

[Julesmarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another one I'm having a hard time deciding a rating for. There were some things I liked and some things I didn't, so it makes picking a star rating difficult.

What I liked:
--Zach and Javier were definitely believable to me as a former couple who still have feelings for each other. The emotion between them was well done: I really felt their sadness, regret, attraction, and finally hope as the story progressed.

--I also really liked that Zach chose to not take advantage of his open relationship with Domenic. When it seemed like he was about to, I started getting upset that he was being unfair (completely my opinion! I'm not comfortable with the concept of open relationships) both to what he and Javier used to have and what I was hoping they could have again. It just seemed like if Zach had slept with Javier while he was in a relationship (even an open one) with another man it would have cheapened everything with Javier.

--I also really liked that Javier got to be there when Zach was watching Domenic's announcement on the entertainment program. I felt like it made him more immediately involved in Zach's life and brought them closer than it would have if he's just been told about it later.

--I know it feels familiar, but I loved that Javier came out in order to protect Zach. I loved that it felt like he'd finally found a gesture big enough to make up for his idiocy in breaking up with Zach in the first place. I liked that I felt like Zach finally believed Javier really did still love him after he found out why Javier had come out the way he had.

What I didn't like:
--This may be because I didn't read the first book (Goodreads doesn't list this as part of a series, but there's a m/f book that precedes this one) but I didn't feel like I got to know either Zach or Javier as well as I would have liked to.

--I felt that having Domenic turn out to be such a dick was a little too simplistic. It seemed like taking the easy way out to free Zach up to get back with Javier.

And speaking of simplistic, I didn't really buy Javier's reason for breaking up with Zach--especially if he never acted on his freedom.

Okay, so my final reaction seems to be more positive than negative. I think I'm going to settle on 3.5 stars, and say that the elements I did like in this story totally made up for the ones I didn't.

[Kelly_Instalove · Rating 3 out of 5]

He picked up his bat and reminded himself that the butterflies in his stomach were uncharacteristic at-bat nerves, not anything to do with Zach. And men didn’t get butterflies, anyway. They got…bats. Or something else bad ass.

The set-up:

A trade to the Grand Rapids Bengals puts shortstop Zach Martin back on the field with Javier Vargas — the catcher who broke his heart a year earlier.

The hits:

Two — count ‘em, TWO! — beta heroes; more great ballplayer interaction; and some swoon-worthy non-sex romance.

The misses:

Repetitive backstory; over-the-top unseen villain; and a lot of angst about “open” relationships that kept dragging down the relationship-rebuilding.

The final score: C

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was fortunate to win the first three ebooks in the Hard Ball series in a giveaway the author had on her blog. They're the first contemporary baseball romances I've read (is that even a genre?). They are novellas, so the stories move right along. I like the variety of relationships that get focus: m/f (Long Relief), m/m (this book), m/f/m (Triple Play). I'm glad I had all three, as I think reading just one wouldn't satisfy—I certainly wished they were longer, that we'd gotten to know more about the characters and see more of their amorous activities.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Argh.....too freaking short.....It was nice to see a bit of Chris and Maggie's story in this novella too!

[Jessica G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever read a romance with two guys. Very well written!