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17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
A Cool Drink of Water on a Hot Summer Day Jun 04, 2009
By S. Thomas
"BB and the `Baller" was a sweet love story that managed to engage my imagination despite some minor flaws. Sara Mosby is a history professor at a small town university. While she is lecturing her class one day, she spots an attractive man listening attentively outside the classroom door. The man in question is Joshua Weathers, a NBA player who is checking out a few classes in this small town where he won't be recognized. Sara's lecture peeks his curiosity in history and upon further acquaintance, his curiosity in Sara, the woman is also engaged. What follows is an old fashioned love story about this unlikely pairing.
Sara is an intellectual with absolutely no interest in fame or sports. She is resigned to the fact that at 33 she probably won't find the love of her life, but feels that her life is still full and rich. Her friendship and then romantic relationship with Joshua came as a complete surprise. Book smart doesn't necessarily mean smart in love, so Sara had to grow and stretch out of her comfort zone in order to make things work with Joshua. I found that her reservations and insecurities were understandable and realistic. She made some mistakes along the way, but she only had a couple "too stupid to live" moments.
Joshua was a dream as a hero. Smart, handsome and sensitive, he intuitively knew the right way to approach Sara. He knew when to push and when to back off. He also was aware that his being in the NBA was not a mark in his favor, but something that had to be overcome. I found myself liking and respecting him, as well as Sara.
Characters that I can like and respect are great, but the pairing also has to have chemistry. While it took awhile for their relationship to turn physical (which made sense), these two characters had loads of chemistry from the moment they met. Joshua and Sara loved each other deeply and by the time they got together, it was a natural extension of their relationship.
While I liked the book overall, there are a few minor quibbles. At almost 400 pages, I thought it was a little long. The pacing was a little slow in parts (Joshua and Sara don't even discuss having a more than platonic relationship until almost 100 pages in) and there was a mystery/suspense element that wasn't that interesting to me. There is also a large supporting cast, which is usually confusing, but the author manages to handle them all pretty well.
Quibbles aside, it was a sweet book and a quick read for me. In some ways, the tone of the book reminded me of "Rock Star" and "My Angel", which are among my favorite IR romances. This was a simple "boy meets girl and they fall in love" type of story which was as refreshing as a cool drink of water on a hot summer day.
12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
 A sweet and passionate romance Jun 09, 2009
By Vixenne Victorienne "Kymberlyn Reed"
At 400 hundred pages, BB and the Baller may be long but it feels natural, as does the slowly blossoming relationship between a bookish history professor and a professional basketball star.
Joshua Weathers (called Newt by his teammates and the fans) wants to complete his college education but doesn't want to deal with the notoriety his presence on a big campus would generate. He finds the perfect school up in Denton Harbor, WA--small enough and out of the way enough not to attract attention. What he ends up finding is a dynamic and beautiful college professor whose obvious love of teaching attracts him in a fundamental way.
Sara Mosby has no time for athletes. She finds them spoiled and obnoxious and hates the way they're often catered to by the faculty. She loves teaching, and though she's tough, the students love her and her courses are some of the most popular. Unfortunately, she's discovered the down side of a professor's life--seeking tenure--which requires the kind of politics and assertiveness she's just not into. Her nemesis, Dr. Marsden, is determined to do all he can to send the popular instructor packing.
The relationship between Josh and Sara has its bumps and bruises along the way. Josh can't seem to find the right time to tell Sara what he really does for a living, since she has made it quite clear that she doesn't like sports nor athletes. When it all comes out in the wash, she's upset, but then comes to realize that Josh is nothing like the self-centered jocks she's had to deal with in the past. However, Sara's not quite ready for prime time either, and the notoriety of being "Newt's Lady" would further complicate her quest for tenure even more. Still, love will not be denied and Josh is the missing piece of her heart.
Race comes up maybe once or twice, but in a more offhanded manner, rather than the focal point. Sara's problem with Josh is his fame, not his color.
BB and the Baller takes place in the Pacific Northwest--namely Seattle and its environs. Most IR's tend to be set in the South (with its attendant issues) or the midwest. Few are set on the West Coast, where attitudes about interracial dating and/or marriage aren't quite so loaded. Also, Sara as a more book-smart heroine is a refreshing change from the often sassy type, though she's definitely no shrinking violet when it's crunch time. She has her moments where I wanted to shake her for being so stubborn. And what can I say about Josh? The ultimate beta male who can Iverson on court and off when it comes to the woman who's stolen his heart...BIG sigh! This is a sweet and passionate romance for those looking for something fresh in the IR genre. Normally, I'm a spicy-type romance kind of girl, but BB and the Baller was a wonderful read.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Great Read Jan 13, 2010
By Louisa May
"bookkeeper"
This was one of the best romances I have read in a long time. Both the main characters were relatable and I enjoyed the verbal interaction between them. There was a lot of pages with little interaction between the two main characters, but I didn't mind that at all. The entire plot line was very well crafted and held my attention. I also really enjoyed reading an interacial romance that was not 90% about sex. While the attraction between the two was instantaneous, the relationship was allowed to evolve. I got a sense of the characters as real people and felt the passion the felt for their careers. This book is a definite keeper and I expect to read it many times in the future.
8 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 LESS IS SOMETIME BETTER..... Aug 08, 2009
I am all about a book with subtance.....this particular book had a little to much. The concept for the story is and was great...but one can never really get to the meat of the story because of the other unnecessary information shared. I often skipped pages to get the main characters'story. Some of the verbiage was over the top....I'm a graduate student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University(yes I am bragging :-) and had to break out the dictionary to look up the definitions of some of the words to follow the dialouge. If I wanted that I could just have done my homework.
One review stated that the story flowed naturally...it did not. the story would have been better with out so much background given about the characters and less pages. The author should have focused more on the love story of the characters with the education factor fading more into the background. The ending was not quite right...the main antagonist in the story becomes violent at towards the end of the story yet there was no indication of him being so throughout the story. The heroine was often a little to reserved...the hero did fit the basic formula of hero but could have been a little more aphla. The heroic rescue at the end just did not fit and wasn't believable.
I am unsure if this was the author's first time being published or not but overall the book was just alright.
5 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Killing Me Softly... Dec 01, 2010
By Avid Reader
First of all, the author is a good writer (grammatically speaking). Too many authors have so many typos and just don't know how to write properly that it just takes away from a story. Having said that, this was a "G" rated story which in itself is not a bad thing. But I have read enough books to know that the author does not need to be vulgar in expressing the intimate relationship between two people. Frankly, I'm surprised these two even got together and kissed. It was just weird when they did get together.
I agree with the reviewer who said that less is sometimes more. This is SO TRUE. I don't mind reading books that have quite a few pages; in fact, I look for books with substance. An example Diana Gabaldon's Outlander Series. Her books are over 600 pages, but there's a reason why those books have such high reviews. Those books are excellent reads but they are not for everyone. If a book is too short, I feel like the author didn't put enough time into writing the story. If the short story is really good, I wonder why the author didn't write more to develop it. However, I was just struggling to read this book! In the beginning, I was more focused on how long the paragraphs were than the actual story. I started skimming through the pages too just to finish it. This is not a good thing when the reader does this. I was disappointed with the story. It was so much drawn out information that did not really have any bearing on the story between the two main characters. This was the first book by this author that I have read and it will take a WHOLE lot for me to try another book by the author.
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