Heavy Hitter

Bestseller Cotugno (Birds of California) delivers a sweet and spicy romance that feels ripped from the headlines about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Internationally known pop star Lacey Logan and pro baseball player Jimmy Hodges meet cute at a hotel bar in Manhattan and start a very newsworthy romance. As a teenager, Lacey had a photo of the then-rookie hanging on her bedroom wall—but that was before she became the most famous musician in the world, or “the benevolent dictator of a densely populated nation comprised entirely of screaming girls,” as Jimmy, who is five years older, opines. Jimmy, who’s insecure about his age and impending retirement, struggles to understand what she sees in him. Meanwhile, Lacey’s most recent relationship went down in flames after her live-in boyfriend got another woman pregnant and revealed a well-hidden cocaine addiction, so she’s understandably a little cautious about men—but she can’t resist Jimmy’s charisma and self-deprecation. Though their chemistry is immediate, how will they build a relationship when they’re rarely in the same time zone? Cotugno answers that question with some creativity and plenty of spice and gives readers a tantalizing peek into the world of the rich and famous, with both the perks and the downfalls illustrated in painstaking detail. Readers won’t be able to resist this charmer. (Aug.)