Novel Review: Sweet Spot (Richmond Rogues, #5) by Kate Angell

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.

Spoilers?: Very minor.

Goodreads Synopsis:

 Score
James "Law" Lawless is the star second baseman for the Richmond Rogues, the wildest group of free swingers ever to barnstorm their way through the big leagues. So when he hooks up with a seductive stranger at a costume party, it feels like he just hit the winning run of the World Series.

Extra Innings
Catherine "Cat" May was the hot number in that skimpy Wonder Woman costume. But she's not about to let Law know it--especially after he hires her to help him expand his off-the-field business empire. But how's she going to keep her identity secret when his every touch urges her to make him her very own. . .

Review:

I’ve read all of this series by Angell, and have really enjoyed each book. (Oh, well, excluding the short story in that anthology, because I can’t find it in a bookstore, damnit.) It bothers me that her books are so hard to find, as I think several of them are out of print, or at least most stores don’t seem to carry them, because they’re so good. I found the first one in the series, luckily, at the used bookstore in my town, just on accident. It was in the wrong section, I’d never heard of her before, but it sounded interesting. If I hadn’t seen it there, I probably still wouldn’t have heard of it, either, so I’m glad I did.

Anyway, about Sweet Spot. This one… wasn’t my favorite, but was in no way bad. It focuses on James Lawless (Law), who’s a second baseman for the Richmond Rogues baseball team (and, while I know nothing about sports, any sport, I don’t mind reading about them so much, particularly when they’re in the romance genre). He’s been with the Rogues since the beginning, I think, but we haven’t seen much of him till now. He decides to expand his investing, and ends up with Cat working for him, who he unknowingly romanced at a masquerade-esque Halloween club.

This goes pretty much where you would expect it to, and it does it in a good way. They work together, have a bit of a hard time accepting it but do fall for each other, the whole having a fling thing is revealed, happily ever after. It’s a sweet story, and there’s very little sex in it, as there usually is in Angell’s stories. The one thing that bothered me with their story was that, at one point, Law reveals some of his past without really meaning to. He's barely known the girl, even if he has a connection to her, and after telling her something personal, he wonders why he did that. This is a ploy that has been done before, but is never really done all that well, including here. Because, if the character isn't the type to tell others personal things, why would they with someone they barely know? And making them wonder, afterward, why they would say so much, doesn't make it any better. You can get the point that they have a connection with each other in a different way, and probably already have several times already (including with that 'pretty, magical' writing, and maybe some sparks flying between them).
There's also a side story romance between another baseball player, Brody, who's a major playboy, and his old sweetheart who he kind of got engaged to but left behind and never talked to again, Mary. There wasn't a lot of this story, and it was just okay at first but did grow on me. And, again, this goes pretty much where you'd expect.

I think this is the last Rogue’s book, which sucks. She has some other books out, though, and I hope to get them at some point, but they’re so hard to find! Ridiculously hard.