Catching Her Heart

Baseball. You had me at baseball. Add in kidnapping within the first chapter, an MVP All-Star catcher, and a naughty grandma and you’ve pretty much got it all. Did I mention baseball?

Catching Her Heart is a fun, quick, and perfect sports romance set during the end of the season for the Nashville Slammers. They are about to make it into the playoffs, a feat no one thought was possible. It’s a terrible time for Sawyer’s knee to start acting up. He’s just arrived in town at Nashville airport and all he wants is to get home, ice his knee, and relax. Little does he know he’s about to be kidnapped and auctioned off to the highest bidder. Being the good guy that no one thinks he is, he goes along with it all. And that’s when the fun really starts. What starts out as a tit for tat kind of thing quickly turns into much more as Sawyer and Addie get to know one another.

This is pure entertainment and a great summer read. There is a lot of heart in this book. If you love sports romance, especially baseball, you’ll love this one!

So sweet and adorable, this clean romance has all the feels and a connection between the characters that you can feel from the very beginning. I loved this charming sports romance, which pairs a jaded pro baseball player with a woman who only sees potential for good in the world. The story follows Addie, the new wellness advisor of sorts for a pro baseball team. She’s trying to help raise money for MS and promised to bring a celebrity to an event, but a last minute cancellation leaves her desperate to find a replacement. Knowing that catcher Sawyer (who is notoriously shy of events) is arriving at the airport, she poses as his driver and brings him to the event under duress. Sawyer believes there must be something in it for her, but once he realizes that Addie is just out to do good, he can’t help but want to spend more time with this woman who seems too good to be true – even if it’s only to prove himself right. As they begin trading favors and spending more time together, Sawyer’s walls slowly come down and he learns to trust in Addie’s goodness.

I read a lot of sports romance, and this one is done in a truly unique way. Yes, Sawyer is a commitment-phobic former playboy, but circumstances have made him that way. His life is not as ideal as it seems to the world, and that has broken him down over the years. He only has eyes for Addie in this, and I loved how smitten he was from the start. It was great to really see him come into his own, and the book follows their relationship in real time, with all the highs and lows that come with that. If you’re looking for steam, this isn’t the book for you but the connection between these two opposites is fantastic and easily felt without any explicit details. There’s a sweetness to the writing that makes even the heavier scenes feel light, and ultimately it’s a really feel good book. Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I can’t wait to see which player falls next.

Jody Holford’s “Catching Her Heart” was a cute, sweet story and a lovely follow up to the first book in this series. It is a complete stand-alone, but characters from the first book do make cameo appearances. It’s not necessary to read the books in order because the author does a good job of providing background for readers new to the series, but I’m glad I read the previous book first. I think it helped me understand Addie, the female main character, a bit better since she was such an important secondary character in the first book.

Addie came across as very outgoing and confident in the previous book, which is one of the reasons I liked her so much. However, in the early part of this story, she seemed much less confident and spent a lot of time second guessing herself, especially in regards to how she convinced Sawyer, the male lead character, to help with her charity event in the first chapter. Fortunately, Addie seemed to regain her confidence fairly quickly, and her passion for helping people was clear. On the whole, I found Addie to be a very genuine, likeable character, and it was easy to root for her to find happiness whether it was with Sawyer or on her own.

As for Sawyer, I found him to be somewhat difficult to figure out at first, but it turned out that he was just a very private person, and for good reason. He had lived in the public eye for many years by that point and accustomed himself to keeping things close to the vest in order to keep his private life out of the press. He had also developed some trust issues because of the way his mother and brother took advantage of his wealth and fame, while at the same time struggling with a difficult decision about the future of his career. Given those circumstances, I could understand why it took some time for Sawyer to learn that he could trust Addie and share his thoughts and feelings with her. When he finally did let Addie in, I liked the way their relationship grew from an “exchange of favors” into a real romance. It was nice to see how supportive Addie and Sawyer were of each other as their romance blossomed.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and hope that the author plans to continue writing more books in this series. I would really like to see Liam’s sister Talia get a story of her own.

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A first time reader of Ms. Holford and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I really enjoyed this.

I love baseball, and I really love sports romance, and this one has it all. At first it was a little confusing, trying to figure out the plot to the story, but once you get into; it’s like any other really good book. You can’t put it down until it’s finished.

Sawyer is the catcher for a MLB teamed based out of Nashville and is the best in the business. Now when you think baseball player, you think smiles, happy and ready to have fun. Well Sawyer is none of those things, he is quiet, mean mugged and cranky.

Enter Addie, the woman to see him for more than his flaws and money. Addie with her soft smile, loving personality and the hope for a better future.

All in all this was such a happy read, I would love to see more of her work.

You know a book that starts with a kidnapping and a date auction is going to be a wild ride!!

I loved Addie in the first book in this series and was so excited to learn more about her. She’s the absolute best part of this book. She’s so driven and caring. She makes connections with everyone she meets and infuses her passion for helping people into every aspect of her life. Sawyer has been through it and over the course of this story, I thought that things would never turn around for him.

These two are so perfect for each other. I loved the insane way their relationship started and how it grew. They can lean on each other and support each other when things don’t go the way the should. I love all of these characters and have all my fingers crossed that the rest of the team gets their HEA!

A kidnapping as a meet cute?!

Addie needs an huge favor but she’s not sure how to ask it of someone she’s never met so she decides to take action first and ask questions later. Sawyer isn’t sure why Addie has all but abducted him but he is sure there’s something special about her.

The shift from weary acquaintances to friends to lovers was so fun and definitely fit the story perfectly as both Addie and Sawyer had some self discovery to do.

My only issue with the book was that the baseball knowledge was a little lacking (ie playoffs instead of postseason and the first round being a seven game series instead of five) but it’s possible those were fixed for the final version as hopefully was the identity of his grandmother, she his maternal and paternal grandmother at several different points in the story.

I’m hoping the next book in the series is Talia’s!

I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.

Such a fun, sweet sports romance. Addie and Sawyer’s first meeting is epic. Addie has a true heart of gold and is always doing things for others. Her job to help the players and families for the Nashville Slammers is geared to giving them all-around wellness to make their lives easier off the field. But many players are resistant but she always perseveres. She is also very involved in charity work which is how she met Sawyer, the star catcher for the team. Of course, kidnapping him to be auctioned off for charity might not have been the best first meeting. Sawyer is surprised by Addie and her constant smile and optimism. He keeps looking for the angle, what’s in it for her, but can’t find the tarnish to her beliefs. He doesn’t want a relationship and finds himself facing an injury that has him uncertain about his baseball future. Of course, he can’t seem to stay away from Addie. I love how these two connect and trade favors. This becomes Rick’s game so he keeps seeing Addie. But can the jaded ball player really let all the light and joy Addie carries into his world? Or will he revert to type and push her away? It was a fabulous ride to find out! I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.

I’ve come to love this author, and this particular series. I read Isla and Liam’s story in book one, so it was a no brainer to continue on with the second book. I think I liked this couple more than the first! Sawyer is the jaded catcher for the Slammers, his only true family is his Grams (tug at the heartstrings) because his mother and brother are only after one thing, his money in the big leagues. Addie is Isla’s best friend, and really sees no fault with anyone, especially the hot and sexy catcher for the Slammers, whom she’s just kind kidnapped for a MS charity event to help being in big money so she can help those in need. I truly loved this couple, Sawyer definitely being the challenging one, but there’s something about these two that just tips it over the edge on routing for them to overcome the obstacles. Loved the storyline, loved the intimate details on how these two just worked, and loved Addie’s support system, which included Grams. Overall a great, well written story, can’t wait for the next installment.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC copy of this book.

Catching Her Heart is a fantastically cute read. I loved this one so much. Addison is a delight. She is someone you can see being best friends with. I love her attitude toward helping everyone. Sawyer, he is sexy and sweet and you just want to get to know him more. I love the chemistry between Addie and Sawyer. I love Sawyer and his grandma’s relationship. I love the changes in Sawyer throughout when it comes to how he is with his family and his career. Addie and Sawyer are just a fun couple that will have you giggling at times. If you are a baseball fan you will just love this book. Jody Holford is fast becoming a go-to one-click author for me. I just love what she brings to the pages and I’m never disappointed. I loved Catching Her Heart and you need to one-click this one.

Catching her Heart by Jody Holford a four-star read that will catch you. This is a for Love of the Game Romance but they can be read as stand-alone, in some places this deserves five-stars, but then it seemed to lack in a couple of others. Addison Carlisle is a whirlwind of a woman, she is so busy helping others, that she missed herself sometimes, but it’s what pushes her to be the woman anybody would be proud of. On the flip side Sawyer McBain is someone who hasn’t had anyone in his life for a long time who does things for other people, will Addie be the one who can show him that people really care and they will do things without wanting anything , or is the mistrust already too deep? When you throw in some amazing secondary characters you get a great story.