Home Run

McLaughlin knocks it out of the park with her second Boys of Summer sports contemporary (after Third Base). Ainsley Burke, raised by a single mother who’s always warned her daughter about the danger of falling for an athlete, has sworn not to date the baseball players who train in her Florida hometown. Then Cooper Bailey, a player for the fictional Boston Renegades, comes to town. While on a media day at the zoo where Ainsley works, Cooper asks Ainsley for her number. She refuses, but her coworker slips him the info, and Ainsley and Cooper begin a red-hot relationship. Soon, though, Cooper’s game starts to worsen—and his overbearing, obnoxious father blames Ainsley, leaving the lovers to make some tough choices. This novel goes above and beyond the typical sports romance with a hot, complex hero and a gutsy, multidimensional heroine, as well as a stellar cast of supporting characters. McLaughlin keeps the pace lively throughout, and just when readers think they have the finale figured out, she throws them a few curveballs. This novel will appeal to McLaughlin’s fans and win her many more. Agent: Marisa Corvisiero, Marisa Corvisiero Literary Agency. (June)