Customer Reviews

Double Play (Berkley Sensation)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Double Play by Jill Shalvis is a perfect summertime read of steamy romance and the love of Americas favorite pastime.

Pace Martin has a charmed life as the ace pitcher for the Santa Barbara Pacific Heat. Baseball has been his whole life but now he may have a season ending injury. To make matters even worse the PR dept. saddles him with a nosy reporter. Pace thinks he can keep Holly Hutchins under control but she is slowly getting under his skin.

Holly Hutchins has a weekly blog that she does stories of national interest. She gets talked into doing one on the baseball team in town. Holly is so out of her comfort zone on this subject but she is willing to learn. Getting ace pitcher Pace Martin to set down for an interview is becoming a challenge. Holly's initial conception of Pace changes with every time she is with him.

Pace and Holly relationship starts with saucy flirting and grows to an all out scorching passion. But someone is leaking secrets to the press and this puts a strain on all involved. Can Holly convince Pace and his teammates that she is not the person that is doing this?

Double Play is the absolute best book to celebrate the boys of summer. Jill Shalvis blends the action on the field with the action off the field seamlessly. She makes you feel like you are right there with the players on the field. The chemistry between Holly and Pace is tantalizing and leaps off every page. Jill Shalvis delivers another winner that every romance reader must have.

I really like Jill Shalvis for the most part, but this book just didn't do it for me. The story of Pace and Holly was interesting, but didn't capture me and I found myself putting the book down and coming back to it rather than doing a straight through read.

Pitcher Pace Martin is facing a career ending injury and Holly Hutchins in writing a blog that she no longer one hundred percent believes in. These two characters come together and find each other. I really liked Pace's character. He is conscientious, but not boring. Generous, but doesn't brag. He was on the quiet side with a big big heart as evidenced by his generosity with his stalker and the kids he supports in a not so good part of town. Holly I found to be a bit unrealistic in her expectations of trust from Pace and others. She seemed to think she should automatically be trusted even though she was a reporter with a reputation for writing hard hitting stories. I also thought she was a bit of a nag--always on Pace about his shoulder.

This is a good beach read. And if you like Jill Shalvis and are fond of baseball then this book will be one you won't want to miss.

I had a difficult time immersing myself in the story because I did not like the female lead and the relationships felt contrived. I usually enjoy books by this author but this one falls short.

I didn't hate this book, but I didn't like it either. I didn't understand why Pace & Holly were into each other in the first place. There was no chemistry or connection between them & the next thing you know they're making out. Pace has a very bland personality & can't seem to make up his mind about how he should react to major changes in his life. Even the way Holly is described physically is very middle of the road & she seemed like a sad sack. How am I supposed to root for either one of these people when I can't even decide why they should be together in the first place?

That being said, even though it was a very slow start the story eventually picked up & even threw in some personal angst & heat to give the relationship more development & credibility.

The great thing about this book is the first half of the book. I love Shalvis's writing style. She engages the reader and has a very easy writing style. I loved Pace from the first sentence of the book and that love only grew throughout the book. Holly was a bit tougher to love.

I love the professional athlete type story line, but in my opinion Susan Elizabeth Phillip's Chicago Star's football series has ruined me for all others. I felt like I had happened across something special when I started this book. Pace and Holly had amazing chemistry and I loved that Pace was experiencing hardships that many professional athletes experience. It made him more human to me and I loved his quick wit. Then, about halfway through things went wrong. Drug use in baseball was explored ad nauseam and Holly turned into a "I'm a reporter and I have to report the news" type of character. The chemistry that had burned between them seemed to fizzle out amongst all the mistrust, injuries, and superstitions.

It's too bad because the first half of this book is as good as it gets!

This is my first Jill Shalvis book-but won't be my last! I loved Pace & Holly's story and can't wait for the series to continue. What's not to love about a hot baseball player falling hard for a girl!
It's been a while since I've read a REALLY good book-but this was it-had everything I look for in a romance!

Pace Martin is baseball, has always been baseball. Unfortunately, now that he is at the height of his career he also realizes that he is nearing the end of his career, especially now that he has a bad shoulder that is either going to need major surgery or extended rest if he keeps playing with the pain. But, he won't say anything and hides it from his coaches as he knows his team, the Santa Barbara Pacific Heat, needs him to pitch as they make a playoff run.

One thing he never counted on in the mix is ace reporter Holly Hutchins. When she is assigned to interview him and expose the team secrets he never counts on wanting to expose her heart. Holly definitely never counted on having anything more than lust for the poster boy pitcher. She absolutely never counted on finding him to be the one person who understands how important she takes her work, even if he doesn't like her subject.

But, when she does find the secret that no one really knows, that members of the team are hiding, what will happen to their relationship? Can it withstand the fallout from the articles, and can their hearts forgive each other?

Double Play will make even those baseball skeptics enjoy the journey of Pace and Holly. As usual Ms. Shalvis does not disappoint and tackles some tough issues while also dealing with potential real life situations. Double Play will make you think about recent events in the news about sports and where some lines are/or should be drawn. I loved how she was able to have the two strong characters be able to work through their issues and realize what and who is the most important to them. If you are a baseball fan you have to pick up Double Play, and if you are a Jill Shalvis fan this is a must read. For all of you who are neither, you need to take a chance on Double Play as you will not be disappointed.

Tanya
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Review by Mary: An out of the park grand slam home-run hit from cover-to-cover!

When you make your work your life and don't allow anything inside to interfere with your goals what happens, basically nothing because life isn't work. Pace Martin has had baseball pumping through his veins for so long he doesn't know how to do anything else was eat, sleep and breathe baseball. The games he has won as the star pitcher for his expansion baseball team or lost due to an off day. When Pace and his single-minded goals meet reporter Holly Hutchins the official game off the field becomes one of control and conquer.

Holly is dedicated to her career as well as has been assigned the job of reporting on Pace, his team and unearth any secrets along the way. What Holly too quickly discovers is that there are allot of secrets but one truth, this is a team with heart of it in the form of their pitcher, Pace. He keeps the group motivated and moving toward winning a pennant and hopefully the World Series and carries the responsibility right on his shoulder, which is a problem since he may have an injury. Pace will never admit to any pain and knows the lessons his father taught him about staying focused and never losing control are imperative. But can Pace keep this injury to himself or will Holly and her cute investigative nose figure out what is going on?

Pace wants to trust Holly but when facts about the team that no one should know come to light, the feelings he has for her make him question what her real purpose in his life is? Yet the more time Pace spends with her and realizes that there is a life outside baseball with something beautiful happening between him and Holly he starts to trust. This is imperative because he has fallen in a love reveals itself to be true and everlasting.

I haven't been having the best luck with books lately. This one is no exception. I enjoyed it, but it felt like it took me forever to read. I want to say I started it sometime last month and just finished it this morning.

"Double Play" is the story of Pace Martin, ace pitcher for the Pacific Heat baseball team, and Holly Hutchins, a reporter/blogger for an online publication with a knack for ferreting out secrets. She is doing a series on the Heat and their winning season. Along the way, she starts looking into the use of banned stimulants.

I liked Pace and thought he was sexy, who doesn't like baseball players? And I liked Holly, I thought she was tough but soft. She and Pace had chemistry and I liked their scenes together. Their relationship progressed at a nice pace and kept me reading.

However, the rest of the story didn't grab me and the characters seemed very one-dimensional. Not much was said about Holly's life aside from the few snippets about her mother. Nothing was known about Pace aside from his love for baseball and the bad relationship he had with his father.

I also felt like too much of the book involved baseball. I enjoy the sports-themed romance novels and have read several of them about a variety of sports. But I'm finding that the more successful ones treat the sport as a job, not the focus of the book. If I wanted to read about sports, I would subscribe to ESPN magazine. But I do find athletes sexy and have and like when the authors imagine how they would spend their time off the field.

My favorite parts of this book were when Pace and Holly were playing baseball with the kids in the sandlot.

Overall, I liked this book. I found it well-written and will probably read "Perfect Game."

I am a great fan of Jill Shalvis and have loved everything I have read written by her. There is some good sexy pages in this book and I really liked Pace and Holly. The book did not let us know much about their background which I think might have helped a little. Its a great read though and I would recommend it.