Can you pinpoint a time in your life where you realized you are completely and utterly screwed?
I can. I got the dreaded phone call, the one every baseball player hopes and prays never comes.
I was traded. Yeah, that phone call.
Traded from my long time team of over ten years. And not just to any team, but my childhood rivals; the Chicago Rebels.
Completely and utterly screwed, right? Wrong. … utterly screwed, right? Wrong. The trade was the least of my concerns.
I met a girl. Natalie. Man, she’s perfect.
I swore I would never get involved with anyone during the season. Too complicated. But can you believe I have zero restraint when it comes to this girl? I couldn’t get her out of my head and the more I talked to her, the more I realized I needed her in my life.
So what’s the problem? Why am I screwed? Because, Natalie, the girl I can’t stop crushing on, yeah . . . she’s married.
At least, that’s what I was told . . .
more
NO SPOILERS!
Oh. My. GOSH! These baseball books from Meghan Quinn have been EVERYTHING, and she has gotten better and better with every single one. The Trade blew my mind in the best way possible, and I absolutely LOVED and ADORED the storyline and characters, as well as the author’s writing style and brilliant sense of humor. Meghan Quinn’s storytelling is unparalleled, and I am shamelessly addicted to her books and brand of romance. The Trade was a sexy, swoon-worthy, hilarious, and utterly entertaining standalone sports romantic comedy, and by far one of my FAVORITE Meghan Quinn novels to date!
The storyline and characters were PHENOMENAL. I loved the unique and intriguing plot and was riveted and addicted from beginning to end. Cory and Natalie were AH-MAZING, and I loved them with all of my heart and soul. Cory and Natalie had fantastic personalities and were incredibly lovable, had smoking hot chemistry together, and I loved all of their banter and interactions with each other. However, enduring the conflict was pretty heartbreaking, and I didn’t love that stretch of their story as much, but the conclusion was awesome and made me so pleased and happy.
Meghan Quinn knocked it out of the ballpark (pun intended) with The Trade, and this sexy, funny, highly entertaining, and insanely swoon-worthy standalone sports romantic comedy has definitely been a top favorite from this author, and I am so excited to devour more of her delicious and addicting love stories!
3.5 stars
I’ve been anxiously awaiting for Cory’s book, and The Trade doesn’t disappoint. I like Natalie as a foil for him, and I love that Cory’s personal code is never compromised in his pursuit of her. I think that Meghan Quinn has created a great baseball series here, and I have enjoyed reading them all. That being said, I find that the way that Quinn tends to generate the “conflict” in her stories in this series always leaves me feeling a little (or a lot) frustrated. Especially when there are time jumps that are waaaaay too long to serve their purpose. It’s the same with this novel. This would have been a higher ranking for me if the conflict would have unfolded in a different way.
When it comes to romance books I love the ones that balance a bit of emotional intensity with moments of humor….and Ms. Quinn has become a reliable author when it comes to crafting those feelings. This collection of books, stories set in the baseball world, are particularly entertaining with heroes that are drool-worthy and heroines who are more than a match for them in slow-burn romances.
Cory Potter has devoted ten years to his baseball team, years where he put off living life for himself so he could stay focused on the team. After ten years of being a respected leader, and beloved by the fans, he’s unceremoniously traded to another team that proves that nothing is forever and that he should finally start going after what he wants. And what he wants is Natalie Orson, sister to Cory’s friend Jason (another of Ms. Quinn’s delicious heroes), who through a misunderstanding thinks is married and is the first of many hiccups in their burgeoning relationship. Theirs is a relationship that builds with each turn of the page and brought out a naughty side to the gentlemanly Cory with his talent for dirty talk and scorching moves. He’s a delightful dichotomy that made me fall for him despite my frustration with him late in the story. From the moment readers first met Cory in The Dugout we knew he’d leave a lasting impression and boy did he throughout this book! Early on he was the reliable good guy but starting over with a new team gave him the chance to start over as he realized he wanted more than just baseball in his future…he wants a HEA of his own and will do all he can to win over Natalie.
Natalie’s a likable heroine with an equally likable brother and an understanding of what ballplayers go through for their sport. She understands Cory’s frustrations with being traded and is a good support to him when he needs it most. She’s got her own issues however courtesy of a cheating ex who dealt a blow to her self-esteem and though she’s attracted to Cory from the very start she doesn’t think she’s worthy of him. It just means that Cory will have to work even harder to show her her worth. Through it all Natalie and Cory are an entertaining pair with a few bumps on their journey to a HEA that made for a rollercoaster ride of emotions that had me cheering them on every step of the way.
From the first page to the last this was a delightful romance with a pair you can’t help but be drawn to. There’s bits of angst, a few self-doubts, scorching interludes, a few chuckles, and lots of heart and soul in a tale that was a wonderful addition to Ms. Quinn’s series of baseball romances. I loved seeing couples from previous books with their endearing interactions and the familial vibe they brought to this story. Along with the immensely satisfying romance was the bromance between Jason and Cory. They were a hoot and I had a permanent smile on my face whenever they were together. Readers looking for a sexy rom-com will want to grab this book for their very own as it’s just what we need during this time of chaos.
4.5 STARS
Sports romance full of heart, humor, and tons of HEAT.
Okay, so I thoroughly enjoyed the first part of this book! The misunderstanding and how the characters kept getting thrown together, add in a vacation and some force proximity with a loyal man and I was all in. I know that a lack of communication due to fear or nerves usually propels a story along, but this one just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. And when the big fight happened I was mad at both characters and didn’t like how it was all blamed on one. Despite all that, I really wanted to know what happened and it was interesting to read about the affects the whole situation had on Cory. The side characters, who are from previous books, also brought a lot to the story!
Thank you to Candi Kane PR for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I really enjoyed this one. I’m giving it 4 out of 5 stars. This review is for an ARC, and reflects my honest opinion.
While I loved Cory and Natalie, they weren’t my favorite couple (individually or together). I liked the age gap, and the fact that she was a divorcee, as it was something different to read. I was expecting more Milly and Jason though, but the parts we got with them were good.
I also liked seeing more of the Rebels, and I really want a book featuring Maddox. My heart went out to Natalie. I could identify with her situation a lot, although not completely. I thought Cory was fine overall, and I liked how he had feelings first, but he was also kind of stupid and really stubborn at times. Sorry, not sorry.
Overall, this was a good book. It wasn’t my favorite of the “series”, but I enjoyed reading the love story of Cory F-ing Potter and Natalie Orson. One thing I’ll say is that I expected to see Cory’s assistant since she seemed like a fun character. Also I was actually expecting his love interest to be his assistant’s granddaughter that was mentioned in Milly’s book.
Ohhhhh. Myyyyyy. Goooooshhhhh!!!
Cory Effing Potter…. swoon…
Natalie…. sigh….
I sincerely, wholeheartedly wish i could rewind and start this bad boy over. By bad boy I mean book. Not Cory. He’s a sweetheart with a sexy mouth and a kindness that’s so hot.
Sooooo well written. Sooooo much good depth.
Man. I have adored every one of these baseball tales Meghan weaves!!!
This is the best… boy sees girl. Boy recognizes the other half of his sunshine. Boy finds out she’s married AND she’s a teammates sister. That’s the first chapter. seriously devoured this .
Buckle up. It’s an Ah-mazing ride!
Meghan Quinn
By far THE BEST in the series yet! The banter between Cory and Natalie are absolutely hilarious where I’m busting up out of nowhere. Embarrassing when out in public for sure.
Cory is adorable and hot and you just can’t NOT fall in love with him. He has a heart of gold and cherished everything he is given.
Cory has a lot of hurdles to jump through this story, you see the tension, the inner battle, the constant anguish and love.
He isn’t in it alone, Natalie (Jason’s sister) is in the rough of things right along with.
Now the question is… will they survive?
What tortures me is the time that passes with issues that these characters go though with this series. Each book different but still similar in that aspect. It still doesn’t stop me from enjoying them.
You would be crazy not to pick up this book!
There is also a link at the end for Bonus!!
I’ve loved our Hero, Cory Potter, since we met him in The Dugout, which featured his sister, Milly and Carson Stone. As one of the elite baseball players of his time, Cory, was a fan favorite for his team in Baltimore, all around nice guy, humble, down-to-earth, and the best big brother/friend a girl could have. In his book, his character stays true, but when he’s traded to the bad-boy-imaged Chicago Rebels, the cross-town rivals of the team he grew up loving, The Bobbies, the fans turn on him. At a charity benefit hosted by his teammate, Jason, who happens to be good friends with Carson, he meets Jason’s sister, Natalie, and feels a connection with her he wants to explore, that is, until Milly tells him she’s married. Being the gentleman he is, he tries to keep his feelings platonic, especially when a misunderstanding occurs which puts them into a close contact situation. I truly enjoyed their relationship story. It was the baseball side of the story, which played a major role in the relationship story, that I had a few issues with. The baseball season angst could have been summed up to make the story a little shorter, since all the plot points stayed the same. also would not have occurred. As a baseball fan, a minor baseball detail in the climactic end bothered me a bit but did not ruin the overall story. The epilogues ended the story on a beautiful romantic note.
Cory stole my heart!
Out of all the guys in these standalone books Author Meghan Quinn has created, he is my new favorite!
Literally had me wanting to trade all the book boyfriends to be with him always.
Well he belongs to Natalie who I loved how their story came to be. It was totally a slow burn to get where they got to but I loved every minute of it.
Soo much love, humor, sexy and loads of family togetherness that totally had me smiling while reading.
This book is it & you must go get it!
Be ready to fight claiming Cory Potter as your own!
Go One Click it!
5 popped!
The Trade by Meghan Quinn is now live and free in KU! If you’re a sucker for sports romance, this one has a baseball player with alpha swoon. (Standalone)
YES!!!! OMG! All I can think is YESSS! I loved this book so much!
Cory Potter’s life just turned upside down, in the worst way! In the process of being traded to his childhood rival team; he obtains a whole slew of absolutely hateful fans, a detestable media….only upside is he’s back home close to family AND he meets the girl of his dreams. The problem is she’s taken so he does everything he can to just keep clear…until he finds out she’s not but then a whole new problem arises.
Holy hotness, I love him so much and yes…I even love him when he’s at his worst. After reading about Natalie in her brother Jason’s book I needed for her to find someone that would be amazing for AND to her and THAT IS DEFINITELY CORY! It’s not just the attraction between these two characters that’s off the charts but also the connection that these two immediately feel between each other that seals their fate.
Cory is EVERYTHING and Natalie deserves someone who will treat her like a Queen!!
That is exactly what Cory Potter wants to do, make Natalie his Queen!
I feel like each book from this series that I read leaves me more in love with this author’s characters and words from this world than when I first started it. Meghan Quinn has this quirky humor that just bleeds onto the pages and creates the best kind of romantic comedy novels out there! The laughs that bubbled from me while reading this book had my husband asking multiple times WHAT? ARE YOU OKAY? Until he found out I was reading. But it’s not just the humor within these pages that I love, I’m just so invested in this entire crew! I remember each couple from previous books and I remember their love stories, the laughs, the struggles, the pain and how they each healed. Man! Meghan sure knows how to pull on my heartstrings too. Every single one of the books from this series has made me tear up but they have made me laugh more than anything.
My FAVORITE part of this series…You don’t have to read them all in order to read this one. You can read this one and then go back to the others if you wanted to. This is a series of standalones.
A list of the connected books in case you want to read any of them:
The Locker Room
The Dugout
The Lineup
Finally…Cory F-ing Potter! He wins the top prize as one of the sweetest, nicest guys in all of romance as Meghan Quinn knocked it out of the park with yet another amazing baseball romance book.
The Nice Guy
I knew Cory Potter was one of the good ones when I first met him in The Dugout. Quinn could not have written a better brother than who Cory is to his sister Milly. But not only is he the ultimate brother, turns out he’s quite the all-around nice guy.
Lucky for Natalie Orson whom Cory falls for instantly with just a laugh and a smile (Ok, and a good ass as well). The kicker – Cory finds out that Natalie is married which unfortunately puts the brakes on any advances he really wanted to make, but it doesn’t necessarily put the brakes on his thoughts about her. Turns out however that she’s NOT married. But of course Cory being the nicest guy ever doesn’t find that out for quite some time and being the nice guy keeps his distance. Come on man, sometimes you have to make a move and USE YOUR WORDS! Oh how things could have been different for you if you’d have just used a few words and communicated
The Sexual Tension
Again, because he’s a nice guy and is set on starting a relationship, the tension between him and Natalie was really building to the point I wanted to yell at my Kindle “USE THE FREAKIN ROOM!” Thank God they finally listened. I will say this about Natalie too – if Cory is the nice guy, she is a saint. She is a saint because she had to display some major patience to get some. You have patience in spades girl!
The Sibling Love
A good part of this story that I loved was the close-knit sibling relationships. Cory, as I already knew, is so tight with his sister and best friend, Milly. But Natalie was equally as close with her brother Jason – which was hinted at in The Lineup and great to see again in this book. I don’t have a brother so I can’t say if this is standard or not, but these pairings sure did love to share their feelings about the person they were lusting after and then dating. You go Cory that you can bear your soul to your sister and same to you Natalie about sharing your feelings with your bro.
What was hilarious was the many instances where Milly and Jason’s sex lives with their respective partners are thrown in Cory and Natalie’s faces or highly suggested at. “Too far” was a common saying in this book because who wants to hear what their sibling was getting up to in lovely detail?!
The Conflict
Of course everything can’t be smooth sailing in a romance book even for a nice guy because that would be boring and probably untruthful. I actually liked the dilemma facing Cory, and I thought Quinn did a great job reflecting how intense stress can affect someone not just mentally but physically as well.
There’s some genuine struggle there for Cory who is suddenly and without warning traded to not just another baseball team but a rival team to the one he’s idolized growing up. That trade, mixed with his less than stellar reception, must have really hurt and I think his reactions through it all were spot on. Of course, I’m happy that he and Natalie got their happy ever after in the end after all.
I can understand Natalie’s struggle as well. She needs to feel valued and that her needs are put first in a relationship after the way her marriage had ended.
My True Love
I loved Natalie for Cory as they were a perfect fit for one another and had great banter back and forth. But I also loved Natalie in this book because it gave me more Jason! Oh Jason, how I love you – from the moment I read The Lineup and even more now.
With all of our Jason cameo’s in this book (not only because he’s Natalie’s brother but because he’s also Cory’s teammate), you get signature Jason, laugh out loud moments. I mean, laugh out loud, tears coming down my face because he is just so freakin’ hilarious.
So hands down I love this book for all of my Jason moments (and the snippets of Caron and Milly too).
This is another must read by Meghan Quinn (though aren’t they all I’m finding). There’s a lot more baseball in this one too so if you love baseball romances, and romances with SUCH a nice guy – then Cory F-ing Potter in The Trade is your man.
Check out this review and all my romance book reviews and romance book lists on my book blog, She Reads Romance Books: http://www.shereadsromancebooks.com
Cory was stunned! After years playing for his team, he was traded mid-season. Wouldn’t you be depressed too?
With a new season around the corner and still struggling to fit in with his new team, I think Cory was very vulnerable. After all, he is not a player and his idea of fun is staying home and watching sports. Trying to fit in, he agreed to attend a charity event sponsored by one of his teammates. Little did he know Cupid would also be there. Yep! That arrow struck him right in the heart!
Natalie was going through a tough divorce. No one knew except her family because she did not want to be pitied. Her brother Jason’s charity event was the one outlet she had to mingle with people who would help monetarily with this good cause. As always, she would make an effort to make the best of it. Meeting Cory was a bonus. Too bad he did not make a move to see her beyond the event.
This is emotional and empowering romance. Anyone who is shy or an introvert will relate with these characters as they journey to a permanent relationship.
I am voluntarily reviewing this book. Thanks to the author for sharing a copy with me.
Omg what a wonderful story.
Loved the storyline and the connection between Cory and Natalie. I needed the tissues at some of the storylines but wow I couldn’t put this book down.
I love this series but this book I felt was the saddest one so far with what Cory had to endure.
Nevertheless it was another brilliant book by Meghan
She’s my teammates sister. The first girl who couldn’t care less that I’m a pro baseball player.
I’m determined to make her mine . . . until I’m told she’s married.
Or is she?
Teammate’s sister
Vacation fling
Slow Burn with an EXTREMELY hot end
Baseball player with all the ALPHA swoon
Romantic Comedy that will melt your heart
Meghan Quinn knows how to please! She never lets the reader down and keeps coming up with stories that are different and all consuming! I need a Carson, Cory, Knox, Milly, Dottie, Natalie, & Emory all in my life. Now she introduces us to a few new characters that I can’t wait to read about as well in the future! This book was all I could hope for with regards to Cory and his life. I do recommend reading the books in order as there are characters that pop up and you will want to know the backstory on them – it just makes the story all the more rewarding!
Teammate’s sister
Vacation fling
Slow Burn with an EXTREMELY hot end
Baseball player with all the ALPHA swoon
Romantic Comedy that will melt your heart
YESSSS!! OOh baby give it all to me! (I hope you sang that in your head and that you read this book!)
Sports romance full of heart, humor, and tons of HEAT.
5 stars for The Trade by Meghan Quinn. I am a huge fan of Meghan Quinn and if you read this book you will understand why. Cory Potter is amazing, I just love his character. Cory is being traded to the rivals of his favorite team growing up. Cory attends a charity event for his teammate Jason. This is where he sees Natalie, but he is told she is married. Natalie is recently divorced and looking to get back into the dating game. Cory and Natalie have an ease about them. They have an instant chemistry. While they both have issues they are dealing with , they still seem to lean on each other. I loved getting to read about the rest of the gang. This book is adorable and make you love, love and love falling in love.