Saving Maverick by Debra Elise Pages: 250
Published by Bloomsbury Spark on April 4, 2016
Series: Outlaws of Baseball #1
Genres: New Adult, contemporary, Sports Romance
Source: eARC from Publisher
Maverick Jansen and Kelsey Sullivan fall into a complicated game of PR strategy by day and searing passion by night where they both find a new meaning to fast and hard.
STRIKE ONE Days before the biggest game of playboy pitcher Maverick Jansen’s career, his brother is killed in a horrific car accident. Determined not to let his teammates down, Mav pushes through his grief only to lose control of his signature pitch—and the series.
STRIKE TWO Still dealing with the backlash of his once adoring fans, Maverick learns his team’s owner plans to move the ball club to small town America. During a night of hard drinking Mav rails against the move to “Hicksville” while a fan records the entire tirade. His career takes another hit when the video goes viral right before spring training. Kelsey Sullivan, Media Consultant, is hired by the team’s owner and her childhood friend, Thomas Scott, to help restore Maverick’s image and find a way to get his mojo back. As the daughter of a former minor league ball player who walked away from her and her unstable mother, Kelsey breaks her main client rule—no male athletes—to help her friend and gain a coveted position with the ball club.
STRIKE THREE, or…? Persuaded to pretend they’re a couple against her better judgment, Kelsey and Maverick begin dating as a last ditch effort to secure his place on the team, fix his public image and prove to an unstable groupie who’s begun posting doctored photos on the internet that he’s taken. In order to convince Kelsey what they have is more than just soul-shattering sex, Maverick digs deep, overcoming his commitment phobia and unexpected news to prove to Kelsey love can save them both.
Can Kelsey bury her long-held belief that a bad boy baseball player isn’t the happily-ever-after type so they both can make the call of a lifetime.
Saving Maverick is the first book in the new adult Outlaws of baseball series by Debra Elise. I love the bloomsbury spark line, but for some reason I was under the impression that it was for more young adult line of books, but this was most certainly a new adult romance. I am really excited that the spark line is branching out into (or maybe has always done) new adult romances as well. Saving Maverick is a really yummy first book in the Outlaws of baseball series. It is a fluffy romances with depth. And I can’t wait to read some more of the players stories. I already have a feeling as to another pairing, and if I am right, it is going to be a great one!
Saving Maverick is told in dual narrative between Maverick and Kelsey. I really liked both Kelsey and Mav. I love a guy that knows exactly what he wants and goes after it relentlessly. I admired the heck out of Mav for just that. He never once wavered in his goal- getting Kelsey, and he was never dissuaded. He is a loyal guy. And I liked Kelsey a lot too. She is brought on to the team to raise Mav’s horrible public image. And while she ended up fake dating him to raise his reputation, my one complaint about the book is that we never really saw too much PR in play. We didn’t see how their relationship affected his reputation, and I didn’t see her doing too many things to help his reputation, other than having him work with the kids (but that wasn’t really publicized)
The bulk of the story in Saving Maverick was centered around Mav and Kelsey’s relationship. For that reason, I think this book will resonate a lot more with character driven readers than plot driven ones. I think there were a couple of areas, like the one I mentioned above, where I would have liked the plot to have been fleshed out a bit more, but the relationship aspect of this book was wonderful. I really loved getting to know Mav and Kelsey and both of their pasts. Mav totally surprised me at the end of the book, when he found out some bad news. Up until that point I had thought of him as a really strong guy, but the way he reacted was a little disappointing to me. Then again, it was not a light matter that he was dealing with.
Bottom line: if you are a character driven reader and you love a good sports romance, Saving Maverick and the Outlaws of Baseball series is a going to be a wonderful book for you to check out. I think you will completely fall for Maverick.
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