Laura’s Review of Better Than Perfect (More Than A Game, #1) by Kristina Mathews

If you’ve read and enjoyed Baby Be Mine (Johnny Be Good, #2) by Paige Toon, Slow Heat (Pacific Heat, #2) by Julie James, and Squeeze Play (Richmond Rogues, #1) by Kate Angell then you will LOVE this book!!!

Basic Summary

           

     The woman he left behind and the son he never knew are tougher opponents than any he’s met on the field.  Pitcher Johnny “The Monk” Scottsdale has won awards, been named an All-star and has a perfect game to his credit.  Known for his legendary control both on and off the field, his pristine public image makes him the ideal person to work with youth players in a preseason minicamp.  Except the camp is run by the one woman he can’t forget…the woman who made him a “monk.”  Alice Harrison’s three strikes include an unexpected pregnancy, a marriage of convenience and young widowhood.  She once traded her dreams so Johnny could have a chance at making it to the Majors.  Johnny comes back into her life just as she’s ready to resign as foundation director and pursue her own dreams of finally earning her teaching credential.  Her plans may go on hold, though, depending on the reaction when she confesses she may have kept a major league secret from Johnny and her son.  With the minutes ticking by until Johnny will leave for spring training, they’ll need to let go of the past and work together in order to win the game of love. 

First Impressions

                I really like this premise and I like the fact the characters are older more mature people rather than wild twenty year olds that are in most of the romances like this.  I really like Alice as the lead in the book; she’s very down to earth and relatable.  Right away the sadness between these two characters was pouring off each page and right away you just want Alice and Johnny to be happy.  You find out pretty early on that Zach, Alice’s son is probably Johnny’s and not her dead husband’s.  Johnny also is a really great lovable character who had a really hard life and worked his way to get to play baseball in the Majors.  I love male leads that have had it really rough in the past and are successful now and appreciate the fact they worked so hard. 

                I do have a problem with the details in this book so far, it’s been kind of hard to get a real lock on the characters physical descriptions.  I knew pretty early on that Alice had straight blonde hair but that’s about it, I don’t know how tall she is, if she’s skinny or curvy none of that is really given.  Johnny and Zach’s descriptions don’t come till about 22% of the way through so for some time I had no idea what Johnny looked like.  Also there’s no description of Alice and Zach’s house at all, I don’t know the layout or what about that house reflect the personalities of Zach or Alice.  I definitely would like this book more if I had more details.  

What I Loved

       

         I really liked the plot in this book, and I love how the characters were written.  This book is written in the 3^rd person which made the switch between different point of views seem organic because each one lent their thoughts and actions to create a whole story.  I love that one of the point of views was Zachary, because most romances don’t really include the child’s point of view and when they do it’s usually just a paragraph or two.  It was great to see that the decisions of Johnny and Alice weren't just affecting their lives it was affecting Zach’s as well.  Zach’s point of view was a new component that can separate this book from other romances in a good way.  I always look for things that make a book unique from the simple generic romances and adding a kid’s point of view to the story definitely does that. 

                Romances that include an athlete will guarantee there will be some hot scenes and this book did not disappoint in that category.  Johnny is hot hot hot and I want more!  There was definitely tons of sexual chemistry between Alice and Johnny and I couldn't wait for them to get down to business.  When they finally did it was definitely not disappointing in anyway. 

                I like the characters Alice and Johnny they are definitely down to earth real people that are easy to relate to.  Even when Alice realized the mistakes she made in her past you still are able to really understand where she was coming from and why she did what she did.  The same goes for Johnny you just instantly love him and root for him in every possible way.  He’s such a great guy and it’s refreshing to read a book that involves a sport player that didn't play the field while he was single.  It’s nice to see a book break that typical mold of famous guy being a male slut until he finds the love of his life.

Not So Much

                I had a hard time emotionally connecting to this book, I kind of felt like the ups and downs throughout the story were hard to latch onto because it would just be stated with no actions to back it up, it would just be a sentence and then nothing.  I like books filled with drama and this book had parts that could’ve been way more dramatic than they were written.  Alice would be upset one minute and then the next like nothing happened, and for me that didn't feel organic.  The flow of the book felt stunted because the characters emotions and actions were very short lived and not followed up enough for me.  The character development at times felt kind of robotic rather than human.  This is the first book though in the series and I got as an ARC so maybe those things will change.   

                Like I said in the first impressions I would have like more details, for example, Johnny takes Alice to a gala and all I know about her dress is that it’s blue.  I don’t know if it’s a ball gown, a mermaid cut, what fabric it’s made out of, the neckline of the dress, any accessories she was wearing with it, or what her hair looked like.  I needed more details like that to really get into this story to make me feel like I was there with them.  But I get that this is a new series and the very first book in the series so I hope as this series goes on the details will get better.  Also I would've liked more details towards the end of the book, maybe an epilogue that took place 5 years into the future, if this series goes on and involves other stories with other baseball players than I would've liked to seen more into their future.  If this series is just about Alice and Johnny than I get it but I have a feeling that is not where this series is going which is cool.  I really liked the Bryce character and would like to read a book involving his love story. 

Overall

         

  I really enjoyed this book; overall it was an easy read that went pretty smoothly.  There were some parts I felt like things were going a little too slow and then other times where I felt important things were skipped over.   I liked the characters in this book because they seemed more down to earth rather than too good to be true.  I also really liked that they were older people more established in their careers and their lives.  It’s nice sometimes to break away from the typical twenty-something romances.  The ending of the book was really cute and how can you not love a happily ever after?  Like I said before the details were scarce and I hope when the book is released there are added in there because it would've made the story even better.  The flow of the book wasn't quite right, sometimes I felt like actions should’ve been described in the book rather than the reader assuming what they characters were doing.  If you’re looking for a cute baseball player romance then this is totally the book for you!