THROWN BY A CURVE – Jaci Burton
A Play-By-Play Novel , Book 5
Berkley Sensation
ISBN: 978-0-425-25345-8
March 2013
Contemporary Romance

St. Louis, Missouri – Present Day

St. Louis Rivers star pitcher Garrett Scott is facing his career coming to an end unless he recovers from his injury. Garrett has been under the tutelage of the team's top sports therapist, but when another therapist, Alicia Riley, speaks up and suggests she could do a better job, Garrett takes her up on that challenge. The spunky red-head is soon putting him through some hard work, but it's Alicia herself that really attracts his interest.

Alicia loves her job, and to get involved with a player she's rehabbing would be career suicide. Yet she can't deny there is sexual attraction between her and Garrett. His playboy reputation is well known, and she doesn't want to be another notch on his bedpost and then lose her job in the process. But the more they're around each other, the harder it becomes to resist the other. Garrett understands Alicia's restraint, so can they have a secret affair that ends when his time with her is up? Is it just sex they want…or will something more, like love, get in the way?

Alicia is thrown by her attraction for hotshot pitcher Garrett Scott in Jaci Burton's THROWN BY A CURVE. She's well aware of Garrett's reputation as a lothario but figures if she keeps their relationship on the “business only” plane, then she won't find herself underneath him on the bed. But her body betrays her and soon they're locking lips. Alicia tries to keep Garrett at a distance, but that's hard to do when she has to use her hands to touch his body—all in the name of physical therapy! The sexual chemistry between Alicia and Garrett rockets off the charts, yet is there any kind of future for them? Garrett isn't into relationships, and Alicia's employers frown on employees consorting with players. They're locked in a détente of sorts—is it sex only they want, or can they ignore their deeper feelings for each other?

THROWN BY A CURVE is another steaming hot tale in Ms. Burton's Play-by-Play series about athletes finding love when they least expect it.  Garrett is used to being a top pitcher, and his injury has left him feeling down and wondering if he'll ever play again. Alicia offers him a challenge to ramp up his rehab and, while he resists at first, he's soon gaining steam in his recovery, even as they steam up the bedroom. Alicia is a topnotch therapist who is caught between her sizzling attraction to Garrett and the threat of losing her job if it's discovered by management. Add in Garrett's reluctance to take the next step—permanency in a relationship—she wonders if she is just throwing her career away in a crazy moment of lust.

Stellar storytelling and red-hot sex scenes highlight THROWN BY A CURVE and make it a book I highly recommend for readers of ultra hot romance.

Holly Tibbs