Title & Author: Whatever Life Throws At You by Julie Cross

 SYNOPSIS: (According to my husband, who has NOT read the book —  see how well he listens to my bookish ramblings)

 The athletes in these books are always SO SEXY!  The main characters are never pigs like real professional players commonly are.  They are always DIFFERENT and they change as soon as they meet a great girl who is also SO SEXY!  I’m not buying it, but if you do buy it, you will love this one!  Betty bought it.  She always does.  

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•  THE KISSING –  I swear to you… any time a couple is made up of athletes, the sex appeal is always through the roof, hot!  Honestly, the book felt more like NA– there are some really sexy scenes, especially one in the lake!
• THE SWOONING - JASON BRODY makes his first appearance in a towel.  OMG…. he’s got this mega toned baseball body– the kind of muscles that you can see shift beneath a t-shirt every time he moves.  Yeah, SEXY.  He is part hispanic– mixed people are so beautiful and he is no exception!  He is a beast on the pitching mound… hellooo 100mph fastball!  He is vulnerable and doesn’t toss around the “L” word.  The guy is HOT.  You need this book boyfriend asap!
• THE SWAGGER - I’m a sucker for sports romances, but baseball is my true weakness.  Both Brody and Annie are athletes, as is Annie’s father, so the sport aspect of the book is always present!  In my opinion, forbidden love is the best kind– risky and fun!  I could not stop reading.
• THE OH SNAP! –  1. Baseball  2. Running  3. Forbidden Love  4. Bone Cancer  5. The Royals  6. Family  7. Professional Sports Lifestyle  8. Sneaking Around  9. Alzheimer’s
• THE UMMMM WHAT?? -  No eye rolling from me!

ENCORE:

This book was a win!  Of course I loved the forbidden romance between Aly and Brody.  There is something really sexy and exciting about sneaking around!  When I was a teenager there was nothing better than the adrenaline caused by messing around with someone I shouldn’t be messing around with!  They had awesome chemistry and I absolutely adored them together.  Beyond the romance, the book had great secondary plots and characters.  It was interesting to see the facade put on by Lenny’s family when they are actually incredibly broken.  The relationship between Annie and her dad was developed beautifully.  They were never afraid to tell it like it was, whether it was about Annie’s mother or her relationship with Brody.  They work through it and come back stronger.  Gram was hilarious!  This part of the story hooked me because my grandfather recently died of Alzheimer’s.  I remember watching him go through the various stages of the disease– the silly comments and the out of the blue aggression.  Julie Cross approached this issue extremely well and I appreciated that.

Overall, a really solid contemporary romance!  My only wish would be more of a resolution between Brody and his mother, but that might have been a little too Disney, so I’m over it!

RATING: