This one releases Sept. 27 through Waterfall Press, and I’m so excited about it. It was possibly my most challenging book to write so far, mainly because of all of the baseball details I got wrong on the first and second and third and…drafts. Research is hard. I have no idea how authors write historical fiction or anything that requires real facts. Just make it up, that’s my motto. But turns out you can’t make up baseball facts (even though I tried), so…I had a lot of help, I think we’re good now, and I love love love this story. I hope you like it too.
Baseball star Will Vandergriff knows any number of women who would happily pretend to be his girlfriend. In a last-ditch effort to restore his good standing with his team’s higher-ups, he enlists the help of his neurotic, goody-goody neighbor. Schoolteacher Olivia Pratt might be a bit quirky and a bit of a loner, but she’s a lot more inviting than she knows. Will hopes that bringing her to his next game might revamp his reckless reputation and help get his career back on track. The only problem? The plan works a little too well. Not only do the higher-ups love Olivia, but Will plays his best game yet. Suddenly his losing streak is a thing of the past, and Olivia is his new good-luck charm. Will feels anything but lucky.
After years of keeping the world at bay, Olivia Pratt is pulling off the ultimate performance—not only reluctantly posing as Will’s girlfriend but also insisting that she’s oblivious to his major-league appeal. But she can only lie to herself for so long. Being by Will’s side feels good. Really good. Maybe it’s finally time to make a pitch for everything she really wants—and to find out just how exhilarating love can be.
