Sliding Home (Richmond Rogues, #4) in Alpha Heroes & Spitfire Heroines

Aug 21, 2009 Auntee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sports-romance, 2009_reads, i-ll-buy-for-the-cover-alone

I loved this book--and I'm not entirely sure why!:) There was nothing particularly new or exciting about the plot, no great suspense, no epic love scenes...but I just fell in love with the characters. Something about them just spoke to me--it just shows how important it is to have really, really likable charcaters for the reader to care about. I loved the hero and heroine, and I even loved their dogs, who were important characters in their own right! You don't have to be a baseball fan (or even I loved this book--and I'm not entirely sure why!:) There was nothing particularly new or exciting about the plot, no great suspense, no epic love scenes...but I just fell in love with the characters. Something about them just spoke to me--it just shows how important it is to have really, really likable charcaters for the reader to care about. I loved the hero and heroine, and I even loved their dogs, who were important characters in their own right! You don't have to be a baseball fan (or even a sports fan) to enjoy this book either--it's not overloaded with sports scenes. But baseball fans should certainly enjoy it--I didn't find anything objectionable about Kate Angell's depiction of MLB or the players, nothing that raised my eyebrows and made me think WTH?--so kudos to her for getting the whole atmosphere right.

The plot is pretty straightforward--Kason Rhodes, millionaire loner outfielder for the (fictional) MLB Richmond Rogues, returns home after six weeks of spring training to his double wide trailer (on 1,000 acres) out in no-man's land, only to find that a sexy, tomboyish squatter has taken up residence. And she refuses to leave.

Dayne Sheridan's getting over a bad, humiliating break-up with her DJ snake of a fiancee (who uncerimoniously dumped her on-air) and looking to hide out far away from Baltimore in order to lick her wounds and 'move on'. She stumbles upon what she thinks is an abandoned trailer, and sets up housekeeping, stocking the trailer with tons of bulk foods that she bought from her new job at a warehouse store. The trailer in the middle of nowhere is the perfect place for Dayne to collect her thoughts, heal, and figure out her future. Her life may have hit another bumpy patch, but she's not ready to give up. Her mantra is: breathe in; breath out; move on.

While taking a shower in the trailer, she's surprised by an intimidating looking stranger--a trespasser! Dayne's not going to let this hulk of a man who claims she's the one who's trespassing, get the better of her. She refuses to leave unless he can show her the deed to the trailer or some kind of proof that he lives here. This puts the gruff, sexy stranger (Kason) in a bind. Clearly the little tomboy doesn't recognize him, and he'd like to keep it that way. Kason is one anti-social man, and he doesn't want anyone to know where he spends his off hours. So they come to a sort of uneasy truce, and Kason lets Dayne stay just one more day, and then one more day...Eventually Dayne finds out just who Kason really is, and she's shocked and embarrassed that he would let her think that he was some down on his luck, jobless guy. She's ready to move on, she can't deal with a relationship with another 'public' person no matter how much she's attracted to him, but Kason convinces her to stay with the presentation of three little gifts...and then things really heat up.

Oh my, Kason was such a hard, wary, closed off man with a sad, sad childhood, and my heart went out to him. He had a nicely detailed backstory, complete with examples of the abuse he suffered from his unfeeling stepfather...no little boy should have to go through that. Because of his past, he became an island, relying only on himself, and letting no one inside. No woman, no teammate...no one but his Doberman named Cimarron. But when stubborn Dayne stepped into his life and refused to leave, gradually working her way into his heart...(*sigh*)it was a beautiful thing to see. This guy badly needed someone to care about him--and Dayne, with her bulk foods and butterscotch pudding, found a way to get through to him.

I loved Dayne as well. She was just so darn quirky and likable, and she didn't have an easy childhood either. I admired her self sufficiency, thought she was perfect for Kason, and did not want to see her get hurt again. She got a raw deal from her ex, and I was just hoping that Kason would not let me down and realize what a jewel she was.

The book was filled with some wonderful descriptions and dialogue, which made the characters jump off the pages. Everybody seemed so real, from Kason's colorful teammates on the Richmond Rogues, right down to the two dogs who played an important part in the story.

While Kason and Dayne had an adversarial relationship at first, with Kason trying to figure out how he could get Dayne to leave, gradually you could see their friendship develop, and you could see that they were becoming more and more attracted to each other and even needed each other. Their sexual tension certainly steamed up the pages! Things didn't actually get consumated until about 2/3 into the book, but it hardly mattered--the story was so compelling and the slow build up of sexual tension actually worked. Kason and Dayne needed to develop a friendship and trust before them hitting the sheets could go anywhere. And when it did...awesome. Very steamy. There was a few moments of doubt in my mind if being just friends and lovers was all Kason had to give, but c'mon, this is a romance with a HEA, so no worries there! It turns out that Kason knew a good thing when he saw it, and there was a nice big, romantic scene where Kason seals the deal (which made me tear up for both of them)...nice romantic moment.

I almost forgot--this story has another little romantic subplot, between one of Kason's teammates and a woman who works for the Rogues, which was equally steamy and at times almost upstaged the romance between Kason and Dayne. Very nicely done, with some humorous moments (involving some poison ivy) as well.

This was one of the most entertaining and satisfying contemporaries I've read all year. It was filled with great, lovable leads and colorful supporting characters (with unique names such as Psycho, Risk, Zen, and Rhaden), some behind the scenes baseball stuff, lots of funny and racy dialogue, and some steamy scenes and romantic moments that will melt your heart. It may even have you wishing to live in your own little trailer in the middle of nowhere, as long as you're living with a quiet, lone-wolf hunk-with-a-heart like Kason Rhodes! Now I need to go backwards and read the rest of this series and meet Kason's teammates...5 stars. ...more

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Sep 16, 2009 鈾arlyn P鈾� rated it it was amazing

Shelves: published-2009, steam-hot, genre-contemporary, read-2009, genre-humor

Such a great romantic story. I never read the first three in the series, and you don't need to. It's a great stand alone. For a quick, light romance read it had a surprising amount of depth (and heat!). One of my favorite scenes was near the end, so I can't share that with you. But it was all good, I can see why so many have raved about it. I'll need to get the rest of the books in this series. ...more

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Sep 17, 2009 Amanda rated it really liked it

This was the fourth book in the series that I have read. Even though I fell hard for Zen and Psycho in the first two books and I really loved Brek's story to; and Psycho still remains one of my favorites, right up there with Zen nobody can seem to compare to Kason. He was strong, brooding, a loner. I loved that this story gave him time to truly know Dayne. That he fell in love with her and you believed it. This is a fast paced book that went right along with previous ones in the series. I loved ...more

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Aug 21, 2009 Shawna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 4-to-5-stars, hero-antihero-gamma, i-read-no-longer-own-sold-swapped, 2009-reads, 丑别谤辞-补濒辫丑补鈥�, heroine-abused-traumatic-past-rape, im-a-cover-hottie-ho, sizable-packages-size-matters, sports-romance-hot-jocks, contemporary-romance

4 陆 stars 鈥� Contemporary/Sports Romance

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Oct 07, 2009 Jenni J. rated it it was amazing

I found that I really loved this book. I really enjoyed how the hero and heroine butt heads but eventually succumb to the heat that sparks between them. I didn't like so much the side story that was within the main story. It got me distracted from Kason and Dayne and i got tired of reading the side story. But other than that, I loved the story and loved the characters. ...more

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Sep 15, 2009 Anne OK rated it it was amazing

This entire baseball series has been really fun to read. I've liked each book and enjoyed the players and their HEAs. Looking forward to the next one! ...more

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