The Winning Season

By: Alison Packard

Narrated by: Jane Pfitsch

Kelly Maxwell has finally landed her dream job as publicist for the San Francisco Blaze. But the team's newest member, handsome bad boy catcher Matt Scanlon, is refusing every interview. She's got to get him to open up before the season ends, or she may not be back next year. And after everything she overcame to achieve her dream, Kelly's not about to let that happen.

Matt Scanlon just wants to be left alone to rebuild his life and his career. After a year of masking the pain of a recent loss with hard partying and fast women, he finally hit rock bottom and was traded to a team he's loathed his entire life - a team with little to no chance at the post-season.

Butting heads is getting Kelly and Matt nowhere but annoyed, and with the team's schedule on the road, they can't avoid close quarters - or their surprising attraction to each other. As the season winds down, Matt finds his growing feelings for Kelly have brought his numbed emotions back to life. But when betrayal shatters their fragile trust, winning it all seems more impossible than ever.

©2013 Alison Packard (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Surprise

I thought this would be another sappy love story, but I was pleased it had some layers and was worth the listen! I will listen to it again!

Second in series...

I loved about 75-80% of this book: watching Matt and Kelly go from two people who can barely stand to be in the same room to two people who can't be apart for the space of a road trip was fantastic. Great chemistry, and fabulous dialogue galore! Both hero and heroine have issues in their past that they end up sharing with each other--again, awesome--and if you've read Love in the Afternoon , Kelly's Kayla's sister and Matt's Sean's best friends, so you'll appreciate seeing them pop up in this story too.

However...

The relationship's "black moment" really rubbed me the wrong way. Okay, it was an issue Matt was extremely sensitive about, I get that. And yeah, he'd only shared it with a very select few people. But why on earth he'd immediately suspect Kelly of causing the problem made zero sense to me. Nothing she'd done up to that point indicated that she'd be capable of doing anything even in remotely the same neighborhood as what he accused her of doing, and that bothered me to no end that he was so quick to assume and acted so hatefully. It was pretty obvious to the reader what had happened, but it felt like Matt was just looking for the easy way out and that was aggravating.

Cute ending, but he should have done waaaaaaaay more grovelling to make up for his asinine accusations. On the strength of the majority of the book, though, I'm continuing with the series--for the most part, I do enjoy Ms. Packard's writing.

Narrator did a good job with the story--it was enjoyable to listen to.

Rating: 4 stars / B

Wonderful second book!!!!

First let me say that this book is the SECOND BOOK in a series. The first book is called Love in the Afternoon.

I have been waiting for this book for more than 2 months and it was worth the wait! This book had "real" problems the characters dealt with, not fake ones or exaggerated problems. Nothing ticks me off more than when the "drama" in a book is based on a main character obsessing over something small and making it bigger than it is, this book had actual realistic problems and great characters.

There was a lot of tension in the book, the chemistry was off the charts and there were a few steamy scenes but the book was driven by the story of a lost soul, who hit rock bottom and somehow learned to live again, and lots of baseball! It was heartwarming and fun and I couldn't stop listening!

Wonderful listen, highly recommended!!!!

Very Fun Second Book in a Series

This is the second book in this series, though you don't really have to have read the first one to enjoy this one. I bought the first one in one of the surprise $4.95 library sales and when I got around to listening to it, I completely enjoyed it. This one is just as enjoyable with a completely different storyline. The storyline was believable and seemed real and I really liked the characters. It was nice to see some of the characters in the first book briefly. The narrator was good though I could hear her breathing and swallowing occasionally. She isn't one who I would go seek out other books read by her but I would definitely listen to her again.

A fun romance with a great narrator

I enjoyed Packard's LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON and decided to give the next book in the series a try. The book stands alone very well, with great characters with complicated lives. Funny and well-paced, the book flies by. Packard's characters are easy to like. Pfitsch is the perfect narrator for this book, delivering a snappy performance that perfectly matches the book.