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Calling It
By: Jennifer Doyle
Releasing April 11, 2016
Carina Press
Blurb
Baseball player Nathan Hawkins needs to get away from Chicago. After a near career-ending car accident and with paparazzi surrounding his penthouse, Nate can only think of one place to
go: home. But when he finds his old apartment occupied by a half-naked woman wielding a baseball bat, he’s not sure what to think…except that maybe his luck has finally changed for the
better.
Librarian Dorie Donelli never thought she’d get to meet her fantasy man in person—much less while she’s wearing her bathrobe. To her surprise, her nearly naked run-in with Nate leads to
more unclothed encounters. But Dorie is sure their fling is only temporary. As long as she remembers he’ll be gone once his life gets back on track, she won’t get hurt. In the meantime,
she throws herself into enjoying their three weeks together before he has to report for spring training and go back to his old life.
For Nate, being with Dorie is the only time in months that he finds himself smiling. Laughing. And he has no intention of letting that go. He might even be falling in love…if only Dorie will let
him say the words. What they have isn’t just a dream, but the start of a dream come true.
Review:
Nate is a handsome bunch of goodness. His reputation had taken a hit because of no fault of his own, and he needed a break. Dorie, the youngest- and only girl- in her family, is a sports fan dream, but her six-older brothers are a man’s worst nightmare. The cute-meet was very cute, and I was excited about seeing how the relationship would develop.
Dorie could hold her own, and that attracted Nate to her, especially once he realized she did in fact know who he was, but yet she made no play for money or commitment, the later which started to irritate him tremendously. He fell for her fast, and although the feeling was mutual, Dorie was intent on guarding her heart. No one could blame her for that, but I have to say, after a while, I grew tired of her resistance and saw her behavior as a direct contradiction of who she was. She appeared strong and confident in every other regard, except when it came to Nate’s feelings for her. At first I understood, but after he bent over backwards to prove how he felt, and she continued to deny her feelings, my mood changed, and I no longer wanted him with her.
Of course the winds turned north again, and I kinda started liking her again, although I wish she had been the one doing the work to get him back instead of the other way around. Especially since she’s the one who set the date for everything to end.
There were many enjoyable moments- the poker game, the library, when Courtney arrived. I wasn’t sure how that last one was going to play out, but definitely wasn’t what I expected, and I’m glad for that. Unpredictable is good.
I have to say, the first 2/3 of the book had me deeply involved and extremely entertained. The last 1/3, not so much so, but it was still good. The characters are well-developed, and the secondary characters were a treat, as well.
I’d say it’s worth the read.
Rating system: Cups of coffee (The less the better)
0: You won’t need any coffee to stay up for this one. It’s intriguing enough all on its own.
1: You’ll stay up late, but not all night. Brew one cup.
2: You’ll read as long as you’re not tired. If you are, two cups should do the trick.
3: I hope you got plenty of rest; you’ll need it, or at least 3 cups.
4: If the cable goes out, read the book. It’s better than nothing, I guess. Oh, don’t forget your brew!
5: Find anything else to do- it doesn’t matter what it is. Don’t waste your coffee. Too much caffeine is bad for you.
My rating: 1 1/2 cups of coffee
A big believer in happily ever afters, Jen Doyle decided it was high time she started creating some. Jen is a member of the Romance Writers of America, as well as a member of the New
England, New Jersey Romance Writers and Music City Romance Writer chapters of RWA. She is represented by Sarah E. Younger of the Nancy Yost Literary Agency. She has an M.S. in
Library and Information Science and, in addition to her work as a librarian, has worked as a conference and events planner as well as a Communications and Enrollment administrator in
both preschool and higher education environments (although some might say that there is very little difference between the two; Jen has no comment regarding whether she is one of the
“some”).
CALLING IT is her first book, the first of two which will be published by Carina Press in 2016. It was the winner of The Beacon, the Finish the Damn Book, and the Melody of Love 2014
contests in the Contemporary Romance category, and was also the Contemporary Romance winner as well as the Grand Prize Winner of the 2014 Gateway to the Best contest.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Excerpt
It wasn’t until Nate looked down to turn off the phone that he remembered where he
was—that the woman who lived here was down the hall. Hell, she’d probably barricaded herself
in the bathroom in order to keep a locked door between her and the stranger who’d barged in on
her in the middle of the night.
And ate her dinner, he thought with a quiet laugh.
He’d give her back her phone and let her know he was leaving. Nowhere to stay, but he
had a very expensive tiny car he could sleep in.
He found her in the bedroom, changing the sheets, which he would have told her she
didn’t have to do if his heart hadn’t just lodged itself directly into his throat, cutting off any
possibility of speech. Her pajama pants and T-shirt weren’t nearly as revealing as the robe had
been, but her bending over the bed and straightening out the corner stirred up something deep
inside of him. And now the only thing running through his mind was how soft her hair would be
when he wrapped it around his hand; how warm and wet she’d be when he buried himself inside
her.
“Christ, woman,” he groaned. He grabbed the doorjamb above his head and he clutched
it so hard he practically splintered the wood.
She gasped as she straightened up and spun around, her hand flying to her chest. “I
was… I was just…”
She bit her lip and sank down until she was sitting on the edge of the bed. Her eyes met
his, and he had to tell himself he couldn’t take her right here. He needed to focus on climbing
out of this hole—he didn’t have the time to fall further in, no matter how enjoyable that might be.
But he couldn’t look away.
Her eyes were a deep dark brown, the same color as the hair piled on top of her head.
He wanted to trace the golden skin along her collarbone to the hollow of her throat, wanted his
tongue on every part of her. And the glasses she now wore almost undid him.
If she’d been wearing those with the robe? When she’d hiked that bat up over her
shoulder?
Holy. Shit. Turned out he liked a woman who would take him on without even blinking an
eye. Who knew?
He especially liked it when her interested gaze traveled down his chest, past his waist…
He liked it too much, actually. Only the quickly summoned thought of David Ortiz slamming into
him at home plate stopped him from embarrassing himself in a way he hadn’t since he was
practically a kid.
Even that almost wasn’t enough when she said, “I, um, changed the sheets. So you can
take the bed.”
All control vanished as the words just came pouring out of his mouth. “The only way I
take the bed is if I take you in it with me.”
His heart nearly raced its way out of his chest in the seconds before she replied, “I bet
you say that to all the girls.” Laughter danced in her eyes and a wicked grin came over her face
when her eyes again dropped to his cock and then quickly came back up. She bit her bottom lip
before whispering, “Hungry?”
Miguel Cabrera. Adrian Beltre. Derek fucking Jeter.
He gripped the doorjamb tighter.
“I could eat,” he answered as evenly as he could manage.
For a moment they just stayed where they were, staring.
When she stood and walked toward him, he almost blinked. This was a dream. It had to
be. Or some elaborate setup that Pete had come up with in order to get Nate’s mind off
everything else. Put this fantasy of a woman in front of him—feisty and looking so innocent and
cute while she offered up anything he wanted to take—until he was so goddamn spent he could
finally get over himself and start living his life again.
Except then she brushed past him as she walked out of the room, pausing only to
whisper into his ear, “I think you need another minute.”
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Thank you for hosting and reviewing CALLING IT today!
Crystal, Tasty Book Tours
It was my pleasure. I just love Nate! I’d like to revisit some of the characters. 🙂