Justin
I had the perfect bachelor’s life.
No obligations.
No commitments.
The greatest job in the world, all while being paid millions to do it.
Until I became a dad overnight.
My world turned upside down,
I went from ballfields and bars to dirty diapers and bottles.
I turned to my best friend for help but ended up with his little sister.
Now, all I want is the one woman I can’t … help but ended up with his little sister.
Now, all I want is the one woman I can’t have.
She’s the curveball I never saw coming.
The one woman I’m willing to commit to and change my old ways for.
I just have to show her that we can be a family.
Riley
Indianapolis was my fresh start.
A new place near my family.
When my brother’s best friend ended up with a surprise baby dropped on his doorstep,
I was the perfect nanny for the job.
Everything was falling into place,
If only I could keep my mind and hands off the playboy baller dad.
Working for someone you are attracted to is hard.
But when he’s your brother’s best friend and you live with him?
Talk about impossible.
Fatherhood changed him, but is it enough to give us a chance at a happily ever after?
more
3.5 We Shouldn’t Do This Stars. That was the general theme of the book. JJ and Riley have known one another for a while. JJ and Derek, Riley’s big brother, are best friends and play on the same MLB team. JJ is the catcher, Derek is a pitcher. When an unexpected daughter is dropped on his doorstep JJ’s immediate reaction is to call Derek. After all, Derek has two daughters of his own and another baby on the way. He knows how to do babies. JJ certainly doesn’t. Derek shows up with Riley within a few minutes after JJ’s call. Now the fun begins.
The Curve Ball is sometimes raw, sometimes humorous, sometimes sweet, and always entertaining. There’s not an exceptional amount of drama. Riley is low-key and down-to-earth practical. JJ is kind of your typical all-star athlete but with a side of self-awareness that isn’t often seen in his type. This is a fun and entertaining story with the typical best friend/little sister trope. A good summertime, baseball season read.
Loved this!!! Justin “JJ” is awesome. Yes he was a manwhore but he was young, hot and a playboy ball player. So it’s not like it’s unexpected. But he completely did a 180 when his unknown baby was dropped on his doorstep. He called Derek he best friend a fellow ball player for help. He showed up with Riley his sister. This morphed into a Ry being her nanny. They were instantly attracted but held off because of the nanny role and being told ‘not to touch his sister!’ By Derek. Lol. They were so cute and Evie is adorable. Loved the steamy scenes. And them as a family. Loved seeing Reese and Austin. Adorable ending and HEA!!
JJ gets the surprise of his life when a baby is left on his doorstep. He calls in reinforcements and Riley comes to his rescue. A fantastic story about unexpected things leading to the way it was always meant to be. Loved it!!
Who doesn’t love a good sports romance? Baseball, brothers, and brother’s best friend? That is ALWAYS a story that I am going to dive in to!! The Curve Ball has it all – secret baby, single dad, best friend’s little sister/big brother’s best friend, and sports romance all in one!
The Curve Ball is the second story in the Indianapolis Lightning duo, so if you have not already, I encourage you to go read The Perfect Pitch first, but, book 2 will still be ultra enjoyable if you haven’t read book 1. The Perfect Pitch is a second-chance HEA, and it is swoon-worthy!!
Justin “JJ” Johnson is the star catcher for the Indianapolis Lightning, and life is going great. He has the best job in the world, is being paid millions for it, and is loving life. Then he wakes up one day to find out that he is the father of baby Evie, and Erica, the mom, wants nothing to do with either of them. JJ has no idea what to do, but if you read The Perfect Pitch, you will remember his best friend’s sister Riley, who happens to be in a state of change in her own life. Riley recently moved in to big brother’s apartment, and although she isn’t the one JJ turns to for help, she is the one who answers the call! Riley falls in love with Evie upon their first meeting, and steps in to save the day. This sets us up for the perfect nanny situation!!
As Riley and JJ both keep falling deeper in love with Evie, their own feelings for one another continue to grow as well, but neither want to mess up what they have going right now, as it is working for everyone. JJ has gone from confirmed partying bachelor to single dad of a secret baby overnight, and he isn’t sure what else he can add to his life right now. Riley loves both Evie and JJ, but she isn’t looking for a one-night stand and is afraid that JJ will always see her as his best friend’s little sister.
I am not going to give away too much, but this is a steamy, sweet, sexy summertime read!!
I highly recommend both The Perfect Pitch and The Curve Ball, as well as Samantha Lind’s other books. If you like sports romance, her hockey books will make you fall in love!!
I’m loving the Indianapolis Lightning from Samantha Lind! Justin and Riley were the perfect follow up to Derek and Jillian.
Justin “JJ” Johnson is the playboy of the Indianapolis Lightning until a fling from his past drops a baby at his door. Justin did the only thing he could think to do and called Derek. Derek calls his sister Riley and she agrees to be Evie’s nanny.
Justin and Riley are perfect for each other. Their attraction is evident from the every start, their chemistry jumps off the pages. And Riley is absolutely amazing with Evie. The bond Riley and Evie share is just amazing.
Dating your brother’s best friend can be an issue, but once Derek got past the initial shock he was fine. When you see the way Justin and Riley love each other you just can’t argue with them being together.
The Curve Ball is exactly what I would expect from Samantha Lind. She had me hooked from start to finish. I could not get enough of Riley and Justin. Lind always delivers fantastic, addicting, well-written books. I can’t wait to see what she gives us in book 3!
This is a super cute, sweet book that will have you reading from start to finish without you wanting to stop. It has all the goodness you expect from an amazing romance book. I absolutely love this series and I can’t wait to see what happens next. I also want to see more from this sweet couple and baby Evie.
The Curve Ball!
This book is the second in Samantha Lind’s Indianapolis Lightning series. Although, I did not read the first book, it didn’t take long to decipher the characters and their relationships. In this case, Justin (JJ) is best friend to Derek. JJ is a player who has no desire to settle down and is commonly seen partying when he’s not on the field playing baseball. He is stunned when a woman from his past drops off a baby and tells JJ she can’t be her mother any longer and the baby is his. JJ doesn’t have a clue what to do, so he calls his best friend knowing he and his wife have some experience with babies. Instead of Derek’s wife Jillian accompanying Derek to JJ’s rescue, Derek’s sister Riley is there. Riley steps up and takes over the majority of Baby Evie’s care. JJ and Riley have chemistry, but she’s his best friend’s sister! And Evie’s nanny! As they work together to give Evie’s the love and stability she needs, their own love grows.
I enjoyed this book generally. The plot moved along fairly well, making me want to move through to discover how things would work out between these three. I found a bit of the writing was stilted particularly when written in the first person, almost like an instruction manual. If you can get past this, the story is enjoyable. I am looking forward to trying another book written by Samantha Lind, as this was my first experience by this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I really, really enjoyed this book so much. Justin and Riley were so dang great together. I just absolutely couldn’t get enough of their story from start to end.
This was a really cute book, no drama, sweet and swoon worthy moments!
I have to say, I really enjoyed this book! It has all the feels, a surprise baby, and falling in love, what more can you ask for! I really love Samantha’s books, they are fun, sexy and sport based, my favorite! I love how these characters evolve throughout the book. The H is a very immature playboy bachelor, who has a baby dumped on his door, and has to grow up quickly, which he does in the most wonderful way. The h is just adorable in her jump in and take no prisoners approach to showing JJ just how good he is at being a dad. I just loved this book! Cannot wait to see what is next in the Lightening series.
Book 2 in the Indianapolis Lightning series. Loved this secret baby/best friend’s little sister/sports romance. Justin needed help after the baby he didn’t know that he had was dropped off outside his door. He didn’t back away from his father duties but he needed help so he called his best friend. Riley moved back to be close to her brother and sister in law and was the perfect person to help him. Loved watching him learn to take care of his daughter while falling in love with both her and Riley. Great story, wonderful characters and plenty of chemistry and swoonworthy moments that will leave you with a smile and possibly fanning yourself when you are finished. Loved it and can’t wait to read more.
After reading the perfect pitch by Samantha Lind I thought things couldn’t get any better but boy was I wrong.
She wrote a real page-turner with this one and Alpha Male Justin just sets the pages on fire with innocent (not so innocent) Riley. The heat reaches another level with those two. I loved every minute of it. The end of the perfect pitch started of this book a littele but the beginning just blew me away, how Samantha describes the feelings of a new dad and everything that happens with that is wonderfull. The details are fenomenal, you can just relate to Justin and Riley in everything that happens.
Again a lovely book, 5 stars for this one, would’ve give more if possible. A 9 out of 10 !!!! Can’t wait to read the next one.
“Evie might have turned my world upside down in a matter of minutes when Erica dropped her on my doorstep, but it was Riley that threw the curve ball I never saw coming.”
Awww… this was such a sweet story. I mean, who doesn’t love a man who is so totally out of his element, finding love with the woman who came to his rescue?
So, we have Justin, “JJ” Johnson, catcher for the Indianapolis Lightning baseball team. Player extraordinaire both on the field and off, he’s not one for putting down any roots with anyone. Then, in the blink of an eye, his past knocks on his door and forever changes his future. A baby? He has absolutely no clue what to do, right? Enter Riley, his best friend’s little sister. If he thinks baby Evie has changed his life, he has no idea what Riley is going to do to it!
Riley swoops in to help JJ out when he unexpectedly becomes a single father. He’s clueless and she knows just what to do. But the live-in nanny position only fuels the attraction she feels for him until one day – KABOOM!! She knows his reputation of playing the field but she can’t help herself. If he hurts her, she’ll never survive. Not only would it mean losing JJ, but losing Evie too. Can JJ change his ways, or is all of this a bad idea?
I enjoyed this story. No real drama, no angst, just a sweet story of meant to be.
Another hit. I haven’t read any of this authors books and not enjoyed it and this was no different at all. I was pulled in straight away and desperate to see how the story unfolded, I loved how it developed and the characters were amazing. Another brilliant read.
I am so in love with Justin and Riley also little Evie.
What started out as a surprise dad in need of a full time Nanny, enter Riley, ends in the perfect relationship for all three of them.
Evie was dropped off by her birth mom at Justin’s house telling him she couldn’t do it and the baby was his to care for and raise. Of course he had no idea how to care for a baby so after a quick phone call to his best friend and teammate Derek who rushes right over but instead of his wife he brings his sister, Riley.
This book has all the feels of a couple falling in love as they care for his child that was abandoned by her birth mother.
Of course no relationship is without bumps and this one is no different when Riley sees a news article with a photo of Justin with two women in a very compromising position. Riley is heartbroken but Justin quickly makes a phone call to her and soothes her nerves. And that is how the first I love you’s were said!
Grab a copy of this book, a glass of wine, put your feet up and enjoy!
JJ (Justin) is a playboy, cocky, arrogant and a baseball player. He gets the surprise of a lifetime when a sweet baby girl is left on his doorstep. JJ has no clue on what to due when it comes to raising a child so he calls his best friend Derek who happens to be his teammate and asks him what he should do. Riley offers to be the nanny for Evelyn (Evie) and JJ and Riley agree to a one month trial with her staying at his place (I mean what can possibly go wrong?) The chemistry and attraction between these two is so hot that you can feel it coming off the pages as you read but there is a slight little problem and that is fact that Riley is the sister to Derek who happens to be JJ’s teammate. These two start off as friends but there relationship grows into so much more than that and seeing JJ spend time with his daughter is heart warming. This was a great addition to this series and I can’t wait for the next book.
I received an advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.
An unexpected curve ball of a love story! Ashley @ Carolina Chic’s Read
Justin the playboy of the team get thrown an unexpected curve ball when he has a little girl dropped off on his door step! Riley, Justin’s best friend’s sister comes to the rescue to help take care of his little girl. Will these two leave this relationship to employee/employer, hands off the best friends sister or will they cross the line? This book has all the emotions and all the feels. I love that Justin’s little girl is loved from the start and makes these two take a look at life! I am loving this new series from Samantha and can’t wait for more books to come!
This was such a cute and fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed. We start with Justin who is this famous baseball player who is a huge player. He thinks he has his life planned out and never wants to settle down in a serious relationship any time soon, then life throws him what he thinks is his biggest curve ball. He is in way over his head but thanks to some amazing friends and his best friend’s little sister, Riley, they help him so much. Riley is a sweetheart that looks at most things in life with the glass half full kind of attitude, she offers her help to Justin and you know immediately these two have instant chemistry even if they refuse to acknowledge it. The tension between them continues to build and as the reader you can almost feel it, but they try so hard not to react on it, until they reach their limits and it consumes them. Although, they are attracted to each other and spend steamy time together can things truly work out between them? Will the media have a field day with the drama they create? Or will this all come between friends and family? I loved this story, all the characters, the family dynamics, and all those that helped a friend that was in need.
I loved this story! JJ is the typical playboy baseball star in his way out when he gets the surprise that will change his life! Riley comes in to help and that’s when the magic starts. The story follows them as they figure out how to navigate the new life they were thrown in to while ignoring then exploring their feelings for one another.
A great addition to the Indianapolis Lightning series and even loved the cameo from her other Indianapolis sports series! Can’t wait to see what’s next!!!
What a really sweet love story. It had sweet scenes and some very steamy scenes. But loved that it was a best friend’s little sister turned nanny trope. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing their relationship develop and where it went in the story. Really a wonderful read.