“This is sports romance at its best! I was hooked from the first page! Cole & Christina’s romance is my new favorite.” – Claire Contreras, NYT Bestselling Author
“The Ninth Inning is a home run! The first book in the Boys of Baseball is classic Sterling- hot baseball players, college antics, lots of angst and a crazy-against-all-odds love!” – Jillian Dodd, USA Today Bestselling Author
… Bestselling Author
Cole Anders is in his last season at Fullton State. If he doesn’t get drafted this year, he’ll be forced to hang up his cleats for good. It’s not something he’s ready to do.
To prove he’s serious about his final season, he’s given up girls. No more casual hookups, dates or one-night stands. But there’s one girl who has always refused to give up on him. One girl who has been there since the start of Freshman year. One girl he stupidly assumed would always be waiting for him when he got off the field, no matter how long it took.
Christina’s had enough of Cole pushing her aside for baseball. She’s grown tired of waiting for him to see what she’s known since they were freshmen… that they are good together. She’s finally moved on- for good this time.
Cole has other ideas, but she refuses to cave. It’s not her problem if he wants her now. Too little too late.
There comes a point in your life when you have to stop the incessant merry-go-round and just get off the ride, right? Try telling that to Cole.
more
I love J. Sterling’s sports romances. This second-generation version is just as good as the first! I love the fight that arises between Christina and Cole. They fight the pull of chemistry, love, and sexual tension that is so obviously linking them together. Christina is a girl that knows the score, but her heart has not followed the rules. Cole is a typical player on and off the field. New experiences, jealousy, and cruel words are tests that they both have to fight, not only apart, but together to overcome the obstacles of love. I liked the turn-around of Cole and his heart of gold. I understood Christina’s attraction and hesitation about Cole. The story is the perfect sports romance, especially, since it contains baseball! I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
‘When a girl liked a guy, we simply wanted him to like us back. And we had a hard time believing that he didn’t or that we couldn’t change his mind.’ – Christina Travers
Cole and Christina are the epitome of college and relationship dramas and miscommunications. Cole is focused on baseball and doesn’t think there is room in his life for more. Christina is done being pushed aside when it comes to Cole’s focus on baseball. One-night changes the course of things for both of them, and Cole decides that he wants to make Christina his for real, the problem is, she’s moved on. Or has she?
Let me start out by saying, that the dedication to this book, gave me literal chills. From that point on, I was connected with this story in a way that I don’t know that I’ve connected before. J. Sterling wrote a book that is so honest and true and beautiful. I’ve been impatiently waiting for this book since J. Sterling announced she was releasing a Boys of Baseball series. She hit this one out of the park! I felt every emotion that Cole and Christina were feeling because J. Sterling painted such a vivid picture with her words, I could see what was happening playing out in my mind. Such a fantastic book, and what I can only imagine is the start of what will be an AMAZING series!
This is sports romance at its best! I was hooked from the first page! Cole & Christina’s romance is my new favorite.
The Ninth Inning is a home run! The first book in the Boys of Baseball is classic Sterling—hot baseball players, college antics, lots of angst and a crazy-against-all-odds kind of love!
An unbelievably sweet and endearing romance. Cole and Christina have a past that takes them on a journey to a happily ever after that was worth all the bump in the road. I adored this book.
Very emotional story
I was so excited when this author decided to write another baseball series; the characters she creates are truly phenomenal and are extremely relatable. Watching Cole realize which priorities were the most important to him was amazing to witness. This story was heartwarming and full of passion.
Good series
This book took me back. It made me remember how much I love J. Sterling’s writing and the world she has created surrounding these Fullton university baseball players. I really loved The Perfect Game Series and this book made me feel as if there hasn’t been years since I read them last.
This story of Cole and Christina is a cute one and I found it to be both relatable and realistic. The chemistry is there from the beginning but the journey these two go on is one that we could all learn from. The writing is beautiful and the story flows. I loved it.
The Ninth Inning is told in dual POV and has a first person narrative. For me personally, this means that I can relate to the characters so much more and I really feel as if I understand all of their choices and decisions.
I know nothing of baseball but this book, and the others within this universe, always make me wish to learn more. Also, the guys seem pretty hot. So there’s that.
As happens many times, I read a book and loved it, then found out it was the second in a series. If the second book was good, the first one should be good too, right? So I went ahead and got it and I’m so glad I did! There’s a lot of forgiveness and understanding in this book and I liked how effective Cole and Christina were with each other.
Cole broke up with Christina seven months ago. He told her to disappear and she did just that. Blocked him from her social media accounts and changed them to private; blocked all his friends too. Not a word and not a sight from her, and he was missing her like crazy. He justified his decision with his need to get drafted on his senior year. He missed the draft on his junior year, then his batting got crappy, and he’s been struggling since. So, he needed to concentrate on baseball and forgo girls.
When Christina appeared at the Sunday night party at the Fullton State University baseball house, he was floored with longing and possessiveness. Seeing her being approached by other guys was the last thing he needed, but when he approached, she rejected him and left.
Cole was dealing with his feelings toward Christina, his frustration with his poor batting average, worried he might not get drafted, and on top of all that, there’s a guy, Logan, who wants his position and will stop at nothing to push Cole out of the way.
The book was intense with the power play between Cole and Logan, the reconciliation with Christina, all the hoops Cole had to go through to get Christina back, and play ball. It was a heck of an interesting book, a page-turner. I loved Christina, she was sensible and tender-hearted, so full of love and understanding. Her best friend Lauren was present and overprotective; always fearing they would be kidnapped into a sex trafficking ring. They were a hoot together.
Cole was, at times, an attentive and considerate boyfriend, and at others an insecure jerk. He has issues from his childhood and they affect his attitude sometimes. He has some growing up to do!
We also get to meet Chance and Mac, whom I knew already since I read book 2 before book 1. I loved that I get to see the premiere, if you’d like to call it that, before their appearance in Chance’s book. Mac is increasingly present in the books, so I hope he gets his story told too! He’s a surfer-type blond guy, yum!
This is my first book i have read by J. Sterling and i already know I’m going to love her other books I am huge fan of sports romance something about them draw me in. i love love love the story between Cole and Christina. And i hated Logan i wanted to punch him myself. I cant wait to read the rest in this series, and dive into the rest of J. Sterling’s books.
Cole has had a relationship with Christina for three years and I don’t think either know where they are as it’s on and off ..
Christina is also in her last year of collage , working as a social media manager .
Cole knows he has to completely commit to Baseball, think baseball and nothing else …
it hurts that he doesn’t have his girl, but sometimes you cannot have it all … unless …….he fights for his girl…
Such an interesting book , it made me realize how much time and effort go into this sport.
“We’ll always be a thing. Look at us. We can’t stay away from each other. We always come back.”
I receive an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
I found the first 40% of the book really hard to get in to. I don’t ever give on reading a book as I always consider a possible slow burn. This in my opinion was one of those. Once Cole and Christina reconnected, the storyline got better. I enjoyed the way Cole had 2 teammates who backed him and looked out for him knowing he could ruin his chances of being drafted. I did find Christina’s best friend, Lauren, annoying as I didn’t feel she helped Christina too much dealing with her night out (I don’t want to spoil anything by saying more). 4
This was a fantastic book! There was so much action, deviousness, and intrigue to keep me interested from the first page to the last. And though originally I thought Cole was a loser, I really warmed up to him once he and Christina got together. I loved their chemistry as it sweet but explosive, and I liked how the story talked about their friendships with Lauren, Mac and Chance. I can’t wait to reach the second book about Chance in Beyond the Plate.
I received an advanced review copy and am voluntarily leaving a fair and honest review.
Cole Anders is closing in on his last season with his college baseball team, and getting one step closer to the big leagues. But this is also where things get really serious, very few make the cut in the draft and he wants to be one of those few… which means he can’t have any distractions and he must focus every spare minute he has on his game.
But what happens when all of a sudden he can’t hit the dang ball, his form is perfect according to his coaches, so it’s likely got to be something on his mind knocking him off his game. And he knows exactly what it is… the girl he can’t forget, Christina. Up and until a few nights ago he hadn’t seen her for seven long months. A seven month separation that was completely his doing, and now he is kicking himself for pushing her away. He thought he was doing the right thing ending their fling… now not so much!
The Ninth Inning is a wonderfully penned sports romance story that will give your heart a nice little squeeze! In this one we meet young lovers Cole and Christina, and we learn that they are currently on the outs with one another, because Cole thought he didn’t have room in his life for a relationship. But the moment he pushed her away he knew he screwed up royally, and now he wants her back. But convincing her of that fact may be tricky, as she has moved on and doesn’t seem to want anything to do with him. Which spawns a nice little angst filled game of cat and mouse, it was evident they loved one another, but they had so many issues to work through, and of course some hang-ups about relationships to be dealt with too. I really enjoyed this first time read it was brimming with heart-string tugging feels, scorching heat, and attention stealing drama. Once my eyes found the words I couldn’t tear them away… it was so addictive!! Highly recommend this one, it characters are bound to steal your heart the moment you meet them!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.
Don’t miss this series!
Oh the young ones… Cole has been all work and no play for a very long time. Even when he has felt the most comfortable and attracted to Christina, he has been pushing her away. But he eventually figures out that she is not a distraction to achieving his dreams, and he has to make up for all the times he behaved selfishly. It will be trial and error for him but he is finally on the right track. Not that it will be easy with a nemesis aiming to hurt him at all cost to get what he has. Even at the expense of Chistina’s safety. Some of the decisions she makes just unnerves me because she doesn’t use her common sense, when she is smart enough. But the reward is worth all the trouble when it’s clear that these 2 really care about each other. This book has some tension, good friendships nasty people but very good ones between all the rotten ones, and a trusty and valuable relationship between Cole and Christina.
As soon as I heard J. Sterling was writing a new baseball series I couldn’t wait to get my hand on it. Sports romance would have to be up there as one of my top picks and J. Sterling definitely has a knack for writing them. The Ninth Inning certainly did not disappoint!
I loved meeting Cole and Christina and going through the ups and downs of their relationship and getting to see glimpses of their history together. I loved this one and would definitely recommend this story to other fans of sports romance.
So looking forward to the rest of this series!
I love reading sports romance, for some reason a jock is freaking HOT to me. No matter which sport it is, usually men are fit and have the best bodies out there.
Well when I caught site of The Ninth Inning, I knew I had to read it and boy did I enjoy it.
Cole and Christina had a casual relationship which they usually just hooked up whenever and she was always at his beck-n-call which she hated herself for it. But Christina really had feelings for Cole and thought one day he would finally ask her to be his girlfriend but Cole didn’t do girlfriends and he liked the no strings attached kind of relationship he had going with Christina until one day Cole just cut ties with her.
After months of no communication they run into each other at a party again and that’s when Cole realizes that he misses her and wants her back but Christina is no fool and isn’t going to just jump back into Cole’s arms — oh no siree! She made him work for it and let me tell you, she sure made him work for it, and that’s what I loved about Christina. She didn’t give in easily no matter how hard it was for her.
They have a constant back and forth and they also have someone who wants to interfere in their relationship and cause havoc and it’s a typical love story that you will sit down and read in one sitting and enjoy the heck out of it.
I surely did enjoy Cole and Christina’s story and can’t wait to see who we get next.
Cole Anders is the exact kind of guy I would have wanted when I was in college, mostly because he wouldn’t want me the way I wanted him. He is all about baseball and all about what comes next with baseball. Girls are an unnecessary distraction who offer nothing beyond the occasional release.
Except for Christina, the girl Cole can’t quite lump in with the rest. When it turns out that he needs her, it’s a great moment. This guy who believed he couldn’t accomplish his dreams with a woman around actually can’t accomplish them without this particular woman.
The romance is sweet and hot, and J. Sterling gives you the angst you want. I liked Cole a lot. Not all the time, but even when I wasn’t liking him, I knew I would. Christina sometimes felt too good, too flawless. But if Cole liked her, then I would have to make peace with her.
This book made me miss baseball SO MUCH. As I write this review in April, 2020, we don’t know when or how baseball will return. J. Sterling’s book makes me yearn for the sights and sounds of the game, but at least she gave me Cole as a nice distraction.