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4 Stars / Contemporary / Review

Review: Curveball by Nicole Rodrigues

Their young love ignited rapidly but diminished in the blink of an eye. A heart wrenching, second chance romance, that will make you believe, that everything happens for a reason.

Charlotte Daniels is still as sassy as I remember her eighteen years ago, but now, she has a bite to match that bark. It doesn’t help that she grew into an irresistible woman, that I can’t keep my hands off of, not that I ever could.

Except now, there are two, very good reasons to keep my hands to myself. Yep…sometimes when people say they do something, they don’t.

A mistake I thought we made, comes barreling back into my life, but the way I’m looking at it now, it doesn’t seem to be a mistake. It seems like a blessing, like the raft that could pull me out of the deep waters, that have been dragging me down for a very, long time.

***

I’ve always been sure of two things:
1. Passion is dangerous. It will suck you in quickly. It will make you feel euphoric but then burn you; slowly and painfully until you’re left empty and abandoned.
2. Gabriel Gavinwood was my passion.

I’ve cut him out, not wanting to watch the train wreck, that replaced the boy I loved all this time. Fate has other plans though, and now our lives collide and there’s no going back.

When life throws me another curve ball and I run into said boy, literally, can I ignore that passion that once consumed us? Should I even try? Can we move on from our toxic past, build a future together and have our happily ever after?

Title:Curveball
Author:Nicole Rodrigues
Series:Double Play Series (Book 1)
Pages:239
Category / Genre(s):Contemporary
Trope(s):Second Chance Romance
Surprise Baby
Point of View:First Person, Present Tense, Dual Viewpoints (H & h)
Location:US
HEA:✔️
Release Date:14th December, 2018
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An absorbing, involving romance

Nicole Rodrigues is a new author to me – and a fairly new author in general. This appears to be her third book but the first in the Double Play series. But never fear – this novel is completely standalone and has no annoying cliffhangers.

This story is written in first person, present tense – which not being my go-to type of novel, normally takes me a while to get into. Not so with this book – it took about 1 paragraph and I was hooked. Those pages practically turned themselves and at a fast rate, to boot.

We get the story from both Charlotte and Gabriel’s points of view – which really gives us a rounded picture of what the pair are thinking and feeling. However, we only get Charlotte’s point of view for the first wee while and when it came time to swap into Gabe’s head – I didn’t want to go. It says a lot that after such a short while I was 100% behind Charlotte and didn’t want to hear anything about that good-for-nothing former ball player!! Even though I softened my stance towards Gabe as the story moved on, I was still 100% team Charlotte. She was sassy but sweet – peeved at Gabe but still honest about her feelings towards him – good and bad. I loved her Southern charm and the language she used – all y’alls and drawls. But the fact that she was the same age as me yet had 18 year old children blew my mind. I am way too immature to be having grown-up children!

Gabe was a little bit more of an enigma to me. As a boy he was a cutie and as insecure as any other teenage boy; we didn’t really get a sense of his character until he was a grown man. And as a man he was a little bit alpha, a little bit possessive and a lot confused about his feelings and what he should be doing about them. At times he annoyed and frustrated me – and, like Charlotte, I really didn’t want to forgive him at the beginning. But the handsome rascal won me over and I couldn’t help but fall for his persistent charms – particularly in his dedication to Charlie and doing right by her and the twins.

“It’s sexy, sassy and just a little bit dirty – great fun to read.”

The story was fast paced and I found myself thinking about it and the characters even when I’d put the book down. I wanted to know what happened and I felt involved with the story and the romance. It was never a chore to get back to reading and I just gobbled this book up.

The sexy scenes were on point and just dirty enough to get my pulse racing. Loved how Charlotte was a Southern belle in the streets and a dirty wee minx in the sheets. And of course, the alpha Gabe just had to be an insatiable beast when it came to his woman. Mmm hmm!

There were a few too many typos and grammatical mistakes to not make mention of but I honestly do think it’s down to new author excitement. Try not to let them blight what is an excellent piece of story telling.

While I did say at the beginning that there were no cliffhangers – we are shamelessly teased about what I’m assuming will be the next book in the series (hopefully) featuring Savannah and Jackson. Man, I cannot wait to read that one and uncover all their secrets.

If you love a second-chance romance or want to read about an alpha male working hard to win back his girl – then I would recommend this romance to you. It’s sexy, sassy and just a little bit dirty – great fun to read. Ms. Rodrigues has a new fan in me. 4 stars.

Nicole Rodrigues is the best-selling author of over 20 sexy, sassy and swoony stories.

When she’s not kissing a bearded, tattooed man or wiping little butts, she’s writing steamy contemporary and new adult novels.

She lives in Nashville with her husband and young family.

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Double Play Series:

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