The Perfect Game

The Perfect Game

by J. Sterling

 

Blurb:

He's a game she never intended to play.
And she's the game changer he never knew he needed.

The Perfect Game tells the story of college juniors, Cassie Andrews & Jack Carter. When Cassie meets rising baseball hopeful Jack, she is determined to steer clear of him and his typical cocky attitude. But Jack has other things on his mind... like getting Cassie to give him the time of day.

They're both damaged, filled with mistrust and guarded before they find one another (and themselves) in this emotional journey about love and forgiveness. Strap yourselves for a ride that will not only break your heart, but put it back together.

Sometimes life gets ugly before it gets beautiful...  

I went into this book knowing full well it would impact me. J and I had talked about it and so I was prepared. At least I thought I was. I have to admit to those of you who are reading this though, that I have never...I repeat NEVER...been more unprepared in my life! This book brought me to my knees. I'd like to tell you that it brought me down figuratively, but that would be an out and out lie. This absolutely spectacular book brought me down literally as much as figuratively. I can assure you that this will be a book that I will return to over and over again.

When The Perfect Game starts, we're introduced to Cassie, a beautiful headstrong girl, who is determined to make her own way in the world, secure her dream job, and live a happy life doing what she loves. Taking pictures and sharing her craft with the world. The last thing she wants is to tie herself to someone whom she can't trust or give her heart over willingly to allow someone to break it and then hand the shards back to her. It's just too bad that a chance encounter on the way into a frat party changes all of that, and that encounter comes in the form of Jack Carter, the star pitcher of the university baseball team, MLB hopeful, and the world's biggest play boy. Much as she tries to heed her best friend Melissa's warnings to not get involved with the likes of Jack Carter, Cassie can't shake him, and he's not going away until she agrees to do something for him. One date. Just one. If she doesn't like it by the time it's over, he'll walk away and she'll never have to worry about him again. If only it were that easy. Thus begins a journey into the unknown... For the both of them. 

I have always liked the saying, "Trust is like a sandcastle. Build it without water, and its nothing but a mound of tiny grains that mean nothing and can be easily washed away in the rising tide or blown away on the breeze. Build it with water, far enough from the shore and reinforce it, and it will harden and stand even as the tide rises around it and the wind whips fiercely." Don't ask me who said it, I couldn't tell you, but the fact is that throughout this book, I wanted to crawl into the pages and give both of them, especially Cassie, that little morsel. I think they'd have both fared well knowing it. However, trust is a finicky thing, and when you've never been able to depend on someone in your life, it's pretty hard to build to begin with.

I loved Cassie. To death. I felt her pain, and more times than not, I wanted to take it from her, but most often I wanted to castrate Jack. I'm not even kidding. I literally felt a sort of bond with Cassie, a sisterhood if you will. And like Cassie, I loved Jack fiercely and I caught myself a few times praying for the release of the pain for the both of them.  As I said earlier, while I thought I had been prepared I most definitely was not, and while I didn't cry, it didn't stop me from wanting to. I honestly think that had I been listening to the right playlist while reading this book, I'd have certainly been in tears on several occasions. This book is powerful, beautifully written, and incredibly put together...beginning to end. If I'm being truthful, I found myself dreading the end, because I knew the second my Kindle said I was at 82% that it wasn't going to be enough once I finally hit 100%. It wasn't, it isn't, and I fear that it never will be. 

My favorite part of this book is hands down the quarters. It's sweet, beautiful, and spectacularly original. If you'd like to know what I'm talking about, read this book. You'll understand.  

So... It is with great pride, and huge amounts of pleasure that I recommend that you read The Perfect Game. Well done, J. Very well done! I <3 you more now than I did when I finished reading Chance Encounters. Tell Jackson that he's still my number 1! *grins*

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