Title: The Player
Author: K Bromberg
Publisher/Year:  JKB Publishing 4/10/17
Length:   302 Pages
Series:  The Player #1

Overview

Baseball has never been sexier in an all-new novel by New York Times Bestselling Author, K. Bromberg.

Easton Wylder is baseball royalty. The game is his life. His passion. His everything.

So, when an injury threatens to end Easton’s season early, the team calls in renowned physical therapist, Doc Dalton, to oversee his recovery. Except it’s not Doc who greets Easton for his first session, but rather his daughter, Scout. She may be feisty, athletic, defiant, and gorgeous, but Easton is left questioning whether she has what it takes to help him.

Scout Dalton’s out to prove a female can handle the pressure of running the physical therapy regimen of an MLB club. And that proof comes in the form of getting phenom Easton Wylder back on the field. But getting him healthy means being hands-on.

And with a man as irresistible as Easton, being hands-on can only lead to one thing-trouble. Because the more she touches him, the more she wants him, and she can’t want him. Not when it’s her job to maintain the club’s best interest in regard to whether he’s ready to play.

But when sparks fly and fine lines are crossed, can they withstand the heat, or is one of them bound to get burned?

My Thoughts

I’m a fan of this author – Ms Bromberg has always brought us entertaining and engaging stories that really suck us in.  What we have here is another of the same, the introduction to a new set of characters that have their own struggles in life.

As the summary says, we have Easton, the star of the Austin Aces, and a guy who’s still on the DL list because he was injured in a dirty play a few months back.  Surgery was successful, yet rehab hasn’t done it’s magic and there’s only one man who can help him – Doc Dalton.

That’s where we get Scout – Doc’s daughter and the heir to his kingdom.  She’s an amazing and accomplish PT in her own right but being a female always has its setbacks.  Easton’s quick to assume that she’s a stripper and part of a prank, but quickly realizes his error, and starts to see what she’s able to do not only for his shoulder but for his heart.

So you assume that everything will come up ok for these guys right?  well of course there’s more.  Scout’s father is terminally ill, and this last job is the final star that he needs in order to deem his career a success.  Healing Easton will give him a contract with the Aces which is something that he’s not had before.  Then there’s the fact that Easton himself has a bit of a struggle in the form of Santiago – the catcher that injured him and clearly has a vendetta.

Add to that the fact that there’s a growing relationship and budding romance that has to be kept a secret and you know that things are going to get complicated.  Easton and Scout have so many barriers up that it’s amazing that they are able to get even a bit past them on their own, but we know that there’s going to be a shoe to drop at some point and when it happens, it’s a doozy.

All that put together, you can imagine that things will get dicey.  What happens in the end isn’t what we expected and at the same time exactly what we expected.  While we want there to be a happy ending in this story, MS Bromberg would not be a great author if that’s what we got so that means that we’re left on a cliff for everyone involved at the last turn of this story – teasing us to get book 2.

The good thing here is that we know that along with the great plot, we have a lot of steamy chemistry, some great scenes between these two main characters and a lot of humor from the supporting characters.  we want to root for everyone to come out on top, but we know that it’s impossible, so we’re forced to read on to see at least what may happen for the majority.  Enjoy!