REVIEW ~ The Practice Proposal by Tracy March

Practice makes perfect, but can a fake romance lead to real love?

 

Liza Sutherland isn’t looking for love.  Not from a charity-auction date she didn’t even bid on and especially not with Nationals first baseman Cole Collins, the guy she obsessed over as an awkward teenager.  She won’t get involved with a notorious player, no matter how attractive Cole is.

 

Cole Collins is up for contract renegotiation, but after too many late-night parties, he’ll need some positive publicity before he can make the roster.  His agent, Frank, pitches Liza as the perfect prop…only Cole didn’t account for Liza no longer being just a teenager with a crush.  She’s gorgeous and smart and he’s instantly hooked.

 

When Frank makes Liza a deal she can’t refuse—a bet she will fall in love with Cole or a cool half mil goes to charity—the game is on.  But neither bet on the real feelings that surface.  Could a fake fling turn into an official forever?

REVIEW

I was looking for a comfort read and a book to make me enjoy reading again and I found both in THE PRACTICE PROPOSAL by Tracy March.

Liza Sutherland is a twenty-seven-year old who is “happily” living in her own little self sustained bubble.  She’s happy to watch her beloved Orioles, co-owned by her parents, and work for BADD (Be Aware of the Dangers of Doping) Athletes Foundation, founded by her mother.  For the past two years her parents, John and Sylvia Sutherland, her best friend Paige, baseball, and BADD have been her life.  She doesn’t date and she isn’t interested in it, after the death of the love of her life, Wes.

Cole Collins is the playboy of MLB.  At twenty nine, Cole is the Nationals’ All-Star first baseman, who by all appearances has everything a man could want.  Cole has a great career, dates actresses and models, and women everywhere adore him.  For the past seven years, Cole has overcome a lot and fought hard to get where he is. But something is missing.  He is on the cusp of having the Nationals award him a very lucrative contract.  Problem... His wild ways have just caught up with him, in the form of his recent arm accessory and him driving drunk, with her having drugs in her purse.

Liza and Cole originally met each other eleven years previously, when Cole was one of the boys attending BADD’s summer baseball camp.  They struck up a good friendship.  In fact, Cole was Liza’s teenage crush.  Cole looked at Liza’s parents as the parents he never had.  To him, they were his family, until it became time for Cole to get drafted into MLB and something went wrong.

This time around, Liza and Cole come together in what I can only say is destiny.  This is the story of two people who start off using the other for gain, but somewhere in the process find the missing piece in their lives.  These two have emotional baggage, but together they overcome it.

Pace of the story: Perfect!!!!

Positives:  The characters are ALL likeable if not loveable.  Liza and Cole make a great team and couple. Cole is a great guy despite his past. He does simple romance like no one else.  And when the guy proposes, he does it like no one has ever done before.

Negatives:  Are you kidding?  There AREN’T any!

Do I Recommend the book:  Heck yeah.

Bottom Line:  Tracy hit it out of the ballpark with this book.  She even threw in a curveball, for good measure.   (Puns intended.)  You might need a tissue or two.  I can’t wait to read more of this series.

Rating: 4

Release Date: March 11, 2013

Book Length: 166 pages

Source: Entangled Publishing via NetGalley

Reviewed by: Kim

Reading Format: Available only in eBook

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