Hard Pass

Usually I’m a fan of the bad boy or the guy that somehow works on the girl’s self esteem. This, however, is NOT how the story goes in Hard Pass.

Noah is a famous professional baseball player that has self esteem issues. Don’t think this is going to be a woe is me type story because if anyone can write these types of stories, Sara Ney can.

Enter Miranda, a girl that needs fast cash and has a set a valuable baseball cards to sell.

These two are cute and fun and slightly awkward (but it’s fun watching(reading?) them experience their awkwardness). They compliment each other very well. Miranda is sassy and outspoken where Noah is quiet and an overthinker.

This was such a fun read! I loved how Sara Ney wrote this one. It was completely fluid the entire read. There wasn’t a million and one problems that kept getting in the characters way.

If you are a fan of romcoms, this is a must read!

Sidenote – Buzz totally redeems himself in the end. I can’t wait until someone gets a their claws in this man child!

I didn’t realize this was a first in the series but boy am I glad. Not because I think it needs work but because there are so many characters that have me wanting their stories as well. I loved these two and the secondary characters as well.

He is gun shy when it comes to women. He has been burned badly and his self esteem is in the dumps. She can easily be overlooked but she is more of a go getter. Miscommunications, misunderstandings, nasty people and more will all work against them and boy what a good story. I couldn’t get enough and was just waiting for it all to come crashing so they can possibly pick up the pieces.

This makes me happy to see more are coming. This is definitely one that many will enjoy and I definitely recommend it. Its cute, steamy, a book that will have you getting invested and completely addicting.

A different kind of romance.

Noah is a famous professional baseball player with very little self-esteem. He is an average looking man not a pretty boy like his fellow teammates. He was jilted to his face after a one night stand after he asked the woman if he could see her again. Her answer? “HARD PASS.” He is also described in the tabloids as “Ugly.” All this hits Noah hard and he vows to be a recluse and never date for the rest of his life. Enter Miranda who needs seed money to build her own business. Miranda decides to sell her dead grandfather’s treasured baseball card paraphernalia to accomplish this. Noah sees the ad and texts her to make a deal. They make a deal and agree to meet somewhere. Noah likes Miranda very much and is fearful of her rejection when she actually meets him. So, Noah sends “Buzz” his womanizing, crude, socially inept teammate in his place; as “Noah.” Miranda doesn’t like Buzz/Noah at all after he shamelessly hits on her. Miranda texts Noah again calling him out on the way he acted. Noah is angry at Buzz because he really likes Miranda and wants to keep texting her and not just for the baseball card collection. Will Noah be able to smooth things out with Miranda before it is too late? I really loved this book. It is a breath of fresh air from all the pretty boys/woman romances. It was a real romance set in real life. lol. I loved the characters and learning about their loves, and insecurities as well as their friends. Mirandas and Noah’s friends “Buzz” and “Claire” were supportive, helpful, and even sympathetic towards the couple. They encouraged them to get together. I loved that. It is well-written and fun. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and will not be the first. Shes gained a new fan. lol. I will be looking out for her book on Amazon.com as well as Goodreads.com in the future. I didn’t receive this book from my usual book reviewer outlets. I purchased this book with my own money after a recommendation from Goodreads.com. lol.

A short and sweet story about a surprisingly insecure baseball player, a woman trying to start her own business, and a mistaken identity. It’s fast, fun, and entertaining. There are a few times where you really have to use your suspend-disbelief powers, but isn’t that all part of the fun?

I’d like to think when Miranda was on her date with Noah that her jean jacket had embroidered french fries on the back!!! I absolutely fell in love with this book!!! The story if you take a minute to really think about it, it’s absolutely heartbreaking! Poor Noah! I swear it made me want to be more sensitive to all sexes as we all battle something that can F us up in some way or another!! So Sara Ney I appreciate this coming out when it did since I was supposed to be packing my house up but took a day off to relax and enjoy one killer story!

I loved this book! First time I read a book about a male character who is ugly and insecure. Although, after some reading, I don’t think he’s all that ugly, he’s just got a huge Roman style nose. Anyhow, Noah Harding is so insecure and has been abused by groupies about what he calls his ugly mug, that he’s reticent about appearing in public. Therefore, he’s a recluse. Luckily, he has a teammate, Buzz Wallace, who’s adopted him, invites himself to his house, and helps himself to all his food, all the time. He’s a fantastic comic relief in the book, but he’s a good friend. He’s also gorgeous as heck and knows it and flaunts it!

“Buzz Wallace thinks he’s the real life version of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast and I’ve never been one to argue with him.”

So Miranda inherited a baseball cards collection from her grandfather, and it’s worth a mint. She wants to sell it to subsidize her new business, but also feels guilty over selling something her grandfather priced so much. Noah Harding salivated as soon as he saw the online ad selling one of the cards, but instead of going himself, he sent his friend Wallace.

“As far as she’s concerned, I am Buzz Wallace, heartthrob of the Chicago Steam—when in reality, I’m Noah Harding, shortstop and recluse. The guy known for avoiding the limelight, always taking the back door out of the restaurant, interviewing only when it’s contractual. I’m not here for the fame; I’m here for the game.”

Wallace is a player and not very respectful with women. He’s so accustomed to having a banquet of groupies salivating over him, he’s entitled and crass. So the sale happens but Miranda is not impressed. She blasts Noah by text on his lack of manners and poor Noah is then forced to face her next time. Then we have the confusion of who is who and who did what.

There are some hilarious scenes in which Wallace literally pushes Noah towards Miranda and forces him to chat. But Noah is so insecure and shy that he comes out as an asshole. They get along better when they chat, because then Noah is not as self-conscious. By text they chat like great friends, in person it feels like pulling teeth from Noah’s mouth.

Luckily, when things get sticky, Buzz is a good friend and helps unstick the situation. Just like Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!

I loved all the characters, Miranda is a hoot, brave and sincere and a straight-shooter; Noah is shy and reticent and somewhat insecure in his personal life, a star in baseball; and Buzz is funny, irreverent, crass but his heart is in the right place. All the bickering between Noah and Buzz is hilarious, they sound like an old married couple.

This book was fun and entertaining, and now I can’t wait for Buzz’s story.

Oh my gosh!!!! This book right here is why I ADORE Sara Ney!!!!

It had all the elements I have come to love about her….great characters, romance to make you swoon, and Ney’s trademark sense of humor.

I LOVED Noah and Miranda. Noah is a professional baseball player. He is young and already a huge success. Unlike his teammates, he is in it strictly for the game…not the money, women, or the attention. In fact, he hates the attention. He also doesn’t have the best self-esteem because of his past with females. Some weren’t very kind to him. It broke my heart sometimes because he didn’t see how really special he was. Fortunately, Miranda does show him how special he is. She is like a breath of fresh air. Like Noah, she is determined to succeed. I loved that she made him smile and forget about his self-confidence issues. This girl had the best sense of humor EVER!!!!!

Ney knows how to write a romance that gives you butterflies and warms your heart. The way that these two first meet was sweet and entertaining. From their first text messages, I could feel the chemistry between them. As they get to know one another, the chemistry just builds. It was the perfect combination of steam and sweetness.

What makes Ney’s books so good is that her sense of humor comes through in her characters. The banter between Noah and Miranda was hysterical, and Noah’s friend, Wallace, just made the book. The friendship between him and Noah was the icing on the cake!!! I really, really hope he gets a chance to share his story with us.

If you are looking for a quick read that you will finish in no time, you can’t get any better than this one!!!!

Noah is a professional baseball player, and you would think because his a athlete he would have all the women, but the total opposite. He is not lucky with women. The last women he slept with made some very unkind remarks about his looks.
Hard Pass

Now he spends his time in his big house and sticking to playing baseball with makes him seem a bit off.
Miranda is selling her grandfathers baseball cards as she needs the money to start her own business. And she has finally found a buyer, Noah. But the guy she talked to on the phone is the opposite of the guy she met when she handed over the card. Something isn’t right…

I have to say I loved Noah. This is the first time I have read a book where the guy isn’t the hot and sexy jock and i have to say that I fell in love with him. And I loved Miranda. I loved that she saw him for the person he was and not tmjuat the jock everyone else saw. I loved the slow burn romance they had and Noah was just a shy sweet hero.

4 stars

I love a good sports romance, especially if there’s some funny thrown in, Sara Ney’s Hard Pass has all that and more.

Noah Harding is sort of famous. He’s a fantastic professional baseball player but he’s notoriously shy and hates the limelight. He’s not the model gorgeous ball player that the paps and press drool over and as the trashy paparazzi and press often do, they pick at his appearance and are nasty in their comments. In turn, he avoids going out in public, which kinda makes him a disaster with girls! So when he makes a deal to buy a rare baseball card, he sends his idiotic friend to make the deal and disaster ensues.

Miranda hates parting with her beloved grandfather’s baseball card collection but knows he left it to her so she could make her dreams come true. She begins an adorable interaction with an anonymous buyer but when he shows up, he acts completely different! Weird, right?

There was a lot to like about this book; I’ll be honest and say there were a couple things I didn’t care for though. The interactions in text were funny and cute but the interactions in person were downright painful. Honestly, I didn’t understand why Randi kept giving him chances when his personality was so so so different from the texts. Lol. Socially awkward, I get but there were times when he was rude, in my opinion and I doubt in real life she would’ve gone back for that. Aside from that, the book was cute and a quick read! I’ll probably stick around just to see what that idiot Buzz does next!

AnnMarie – Alphas Do It Better Book Blog

This is my first book from this author and I really enjoyed it. The blurb drew me in because it’s not often you read about a guy with insecurities.
Noah is a famous baseball player who has been “played” one to many times by women who only want him for his money and fame. He isn’t drop dead gorgeous and woman and the press always remind him off that. Miranda is a college graduate looking to start her own business. Her grandfather leaves her an extremely valuable baseball card collection. Of course Noah answers her ad, but he’s to chicken to meet her. Thus begins a comedy of errors.
I really enjoyed the book, however I’d does end with a happy for now , and I wanted more! At least an epilogue with little baseball players running around