Story Number 7 in the Series. Zeke (The Streak) Taylor had it all -- power, speed on the bases and a.300-plus career average..And he played centerfield like the reincarnation of Tris Speaker. Then he met a woman unlike any of the legion of bimbo-blonde groupies with whom he had wasted the past decade. But she was so different from any woman he'd ever known that Zeke couldn't be certain they could make a relationship work. He knew he was going to try.
Size: 234 KB (43,652 words)
Genre: Romantic
Sex Contents: Some Sex
Tags: Ma/Fa, Consensual, Romantic, Heterosexual, Interracial, Safe Sex, Oral Sex, Petting, Slow
Review by Quasirandom [other reviews by Quasirandom]
Reviewed: - (Review Updated: )
ObDisclaimer: I don’t like baseball, but I do enjoy Tony Stevens’ baseball stories. (Mitsuru Adachi is the only other comparable author I’ve met.) His ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ series is Great Stuff, being sweet and sexy romances with young adults where it just so happens at least one partner is involved with the game.
This story is installment #7, but that number means little — the series has a shadow of an overall arc, but each story stands alone and can be read in any order. You can also read it knowing little (like I do) to nothing about baseball — the sport is important in the story only because it’s important to the characters, and the emotional significance of sportsball events is always made clear.
Many of these stories begin with players in the minor leagues or their rookie year. This one, though, Zeke starts out already a star power-hitter and outfielder, albeit one now moving to a new team. But he’s got a fair amount on his mind, including what he can do to make a personal difference. Meeting hospital administrator Angela gets him focused on what that might be, leading to lives running somewhat in parallel, leading to romance. There’s a few sticky wickets (to mix in a metaphor from a related sport) along the way, of course, but all hurdles are eventually leapt over (okay, fine, that sport’s not remotely related).
A little more exploration of Angela’s faith as a former nun could have added a little more depth, but what we see does reads authentic. Then again, the racial issues (he’s black and she’s white) arguably give it enough depth as it is.
A sweet and spicy romance that’s well worth your time.
(And yes, the title phrase does get poked at, hard, by Zeke himself — thank all the heavens.)
Oh, and one final note: this story is Premium, which makes it one more reason to support this site by getting a Premier membership.
