ARC Review: Hard to Hold by Katie Rose

Hard to Hold is a spinoff of Katie Rose’s Bad Boys of Summer series. Here we have New Jersey’s soccer team The Hurricanes. This first book is focused on Logan Hart and Isabella Bennett, if you have read the Bad Boys of Summer the last name Hart should ring a bell. Logan is one of Jessica Hart’s, from The Heat of the Moment, many athletic brothers. In fact we see Jessica and Gavin as well as a few of the other characters from the other series in this book. Like her other books Katie Rose has created a team that needs work, they are a talented bunch but their arrogance, egos and sport politics are getting in the way; there are some I really look forward to reading about. I liked the book it is just as good as her other series, romance with a touch of heart break and misunderstanding and where insta-lust quickly turns into love. I really liked the characters, Logan is supposed to be a playboy but you really don’t see it but he is used to getting his way and woman falling at his feet. Isabella has a strong enough personality that she easily proved she has what it takes to not just handle Logan but everything that comes with it.

Logan just returned from playing a year on the European circuit, he’s glad to be back home and playing for The Hurricanes. But one one-night stand before he left to Europe and now he’s a Daddy. The poor baby girl, Cinnamon, was abandoned by her mother and left in the care of her father. Logan isn’t even sure that baby is his but he takes her anyways, he doesn’t want her to go in to the foster care system. First thing he does is call his sister, Jessica rushes over after buying some essentials and gives him the name of a nanny agency.

Isabella is expecting the worse when she is assigned the job and when she gets there it is pretty much what she expected, Logan is in over his head and the baby is crying. Isabella acts quickly setting Logan straight and taking care of the baby. Isabella is however surprised when Logan takes to being a dad like a duck to water. He is eager to learn even when the whole mess is still unresolved, Logan isn’t sure of Cinnamon’s paternity and her mom has vanished. Logan at a loss of what to do he asks his Dad for advice, Logan then hires a PI to track down Cinnamon’s Mom. All the while Logan is falling more in love with Cinnamon as well as her nanny, Isabella. Isabella has fallen in love with the both of them too but she has a secret one that ruined her last relationship and Isabella is afraid to commit to anything with Logan for fear that he will find her lacking for it. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. The romance between Logan and Isabella is nice and little baby Cinnamon is sweetheart. Logan isn’t afraid to admit when he’s wrong or even to apologize and Isabella well she has issues to work out. I look forward to more.          

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: The Heat is On by Katie Rose

The Heat is On is my first book by author Katie Rose, but it is actually the fourth book in her Boys of Summer series. Each book is a standalone story with interconnected characters. I have to admit that I am a sports-romance junkie, so this book immediately drew my attention. While there was a lot to enjoy here, I did have a few things that left me with mixed feelings. 

Catcher Connor Jackson gets traded to the New Jersey Sonics and heads back home with more than just baseball on his mind. He plans to retire at the end of the season, hopefully with a World Series ring, and settle down with the woman he left behind. But Tracy Coleman has changed since they were together in college. Newly single, Tracy has four young children that she is raising on her own. Even though Connor wants to settle down, can he take on Tracy and four small kids that aren't his own? 

I liked both Connor and Tracy. These two had a connection from when they were in college, and it was clear to see that they split because of Connor's decision to play professional baseball. He was determined to be a great player, and that isn't exactly conducive to long-term relationships. But Connor and Tracy obviously still cared about one another and it was so easy to see that their feelings for one another had never gone away. These two had great chemistry, and I enjoyed them together. It was good to see them getting to know the people they were now, as well as seeing them become a family with Tracy's kids. 

I will say that while I liked these two together, there was a ton going on and at times their relationship seemed to take a backseat to all that was happening. It felt like these two were apart more than they were together, and I think that their relationship struggled a bit because of that. It was hard as a reader to feel fully invested in their connection when there was so much else going on and they were apart more than together. They were also kind of wishy washy on actually being together, although that was mostly Tracy. Part of that was understandable seeing as how it would be difficult to try and bring someone into your children's lives, but after awhile the back and forth and second-guessing just got tiring. 

The other thing that I had problems with was the way things were worded sometimes and things were randomly thrown into the story. The biggest example was when they were going to the zoo and there was an entire paragraph that was giving facts on the zoo. It read like a pamphlet giving the zoo's history, and was so dry and out of place. It didn't make sense at all and it wasn't like the characters were discussing it with the kids or anything. It was just this completely random paragraph that didn't fit at all and was so noticeable that I even went back and tried to figure out if I had missed a conversation or what was going on. There were a few other examples of things like that, but that was the one that stood out the most to me. While I did enjoy the baseball elements and the characters, I just think that this one could have used a little work and editing. It was okay, but the potential was there for it to have been so much better. I am interested in reading more in the series though, and I liked the secondary characters a lot. If you like single parent romance stories or sports romance stories, you might give this one a shot.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

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Guest Post with Author Katie Rose and Giveaway

Meet Katie Rose author of The Heat of the Moment.

Award-winning historical author Katie Rose makes her contemporary debut with the Boys of Summer novels, Bring on the Heat and Too Hot to Handle, which combine Katie’s true loves: baseball and romance! When not watching baseball, Katie is at her lake house in New Jersey, hard at work on her next book.

| Site | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |

ARC Review: Too Hot to Handle by Katie Rose

This was my first time reading Katie Rose. “Too Hot to Handle” was the second book in the Boys of Summer series. The story centers on a baseball team- The New Jersey Sonics. Their image is in need of repair and Nikki Case is called in to help turn the team’s image around. The Sonics are unpolished, they constantly get into fights and they have a bad rap.

Nikki is a PR Guru. She is tough and confident. She was previously married but when her husband developed a gambling problem and racked up debt it ended in divorce. Since then, Nikki is focused on rebuilding her life and starting her career. She is all business and no nonsense. Needless to say the bad boys of baseball don’t want their imaged repaired and they definitely don’t want to play by Nikki’s rules. Nikki is not going to be intimidated, she gets the team to polish their image and gets them into better shape. Although the management is happy the players are not.

One player in particular, Jake Baldwin- the shortstop, is fascinated with Nikki. When one of the players challenges him that he can’t win over Nikki Jake takes up the challenge. Jake is very laid back. He has an image as a ladies man but he is also a great leader for the team. When Nikki doesn’t fall all over herself when he pays her any attention he is even more intrigued.

Nikki and Jake had fun chemistry. They were both fun characters to read about. Nikki tries to resist Jake but eventually she convinces herself that a small fling won’t harm anyone. She also convinces herself that all she wants is a short fling. Jake realizes that things might get complicated for him and Nikki if they get involved but he doesn’t want to miss an opportunity with her.

This was a cute story. I really liked the characters and the writing of the author. I personally think that Nikki gave in too quickly to Jake. Also, I wasn’t too happy with how the author handled Jake’s cold feet. Throughout their entire relationship Jakes was really into Nikki until all of the sudden he realizes that she deserves a white picket fence and a serious relationship. I wasn’t convinced about how this was a conflict. Also, I didn’t get how Chase and Darcy didn’t progress in their relationship. They were in the previous book but it seemed that their relationship was not that serious. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by the author.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N |

Interview with Author Katie Rose and Giveaway

Meet Katie Rose, author of Bring On the Heat.

Award-winning historical author Katie Rose makes her contemporary debut with the Boys of Summer novels, Bring on the Heat and Too Hot to Handle, which combine Katie’s true loves: baseball and romance! When not watching baseball, Katie is at her lake house in New Jersey, hard at work on her next book.

Find Katie at:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |