Bottom of the Ninth

This book was well written and very emotional. So many happy tears flowing for the last few chapters I didn’t think I’d be able to finish the book.

I don’t normally write reviews; however, this book deserves recognition. The plot, twists, turns, character development were great. Really enjoyed this read-thanks!

Lots of heart. Lots of love.

Very emotional story, but good.

This is the first time I have read a book about baseball and because I love sports romance, it was right up my alley. This can be read as a standalone, but I wish I would have read the other books prior to this one to get the history of his brothers. It is not necessary though, there is enough information given in the book that you don’t feel like you stepped in the middle of something. Zeke is definitely a tortured soul. His family life is all fabricated by his agent and he tries to portray the good guy, stay out of trouble athlete. He is a good guy, but he has so much pain from his past that he harbors that he is now in a batting slump and was traded to Seattle of all places! Both of his brothers play for their respective sporting teams, one plays pro hockey, the other plays pro football. Zeke wants nothing to do with them and tells them so repeatedly. Their family history will break your heart. Paisley is on the run trying to make a new life for herself and her sister’s twins, Sophie and Sadie and her nephew Brayden. Her sister was found murdered and she knows her brother-in-law did it and is currently in jail for another charge, so she got temporary custody of the children and left Idaho for Seattle. Paisley didn’t have a happy childhood either but she was such a positive person. She worked hard to make life better for everyone. This book took me on a journey that made my heart hurt at times. I felt so bad for the characters and all they went through as the story unfolded. They found refuge in each other’s arms and their chemistry is hot! Zeke and Paisley were believable, developed characters and the relationship they had with the children was wonderful. I enjoyed every heartbreaking moment.

You're no stranger to the Wolfe brothers if you're a fan of Jami Davenports sports romances, and now it's the elusive Zeke turn! Great characters and descriptions sweep us up into the story from the start of Chapter One, and don't let us go until the final page! Lots of emotions come to the surface along the way ... sadness, empathy, and finally a huge swell of joy! Newly traded to the Seattle Skookums, pro baseball player Zeke Wolfe is not happy at all to be in the same town as the two brothers he wrote off years ago. He arrives into town in a bad mood, and on the way to his new house, his mood doesn't improve much as the conscience that still lives beneath his fake demeanor forces him to stop and rescue a stranded woman and three kids along the side of the road. Paisley Madison is in dire straights with her nieces and nephew, so when this handsome ball player is suddenly in front of her offering help ... even if begrudgingly! ... she can't kick a gift horse in the mouth! She buries her worries and puts on a bright face and hires herself on as his assistant! Neither of them wants to feel the instant attraction to each other that they do, and at first they try to fight it ... but eventually, it's easier just to give in. Can this ready-made-family actually turn into the real thing, or will their ugly pasts come back to haunt them before all is said and done?

So what does a loner, angry anti-social, baseball star do when he runs across a soaking wet, tired woman and her three kids? Picks them up and takes them home, of course. Zeke Wolfe is a star professional baseball player, who is in a slump and gets traded to a struggling team in a town he hates. Not a good week for Zeke. On his way home, in the rain, he turns a corner and inadvertently drenches a woman and her three kids. Zeke isn’t one to have a big heart and he doesn’t even like kids, but something makes him go back and check to see they are ok. Paisley Madison, her nephew and twin nieces are down to their last $5.00, they are tired, hungry, homeless and now soaking wet. When Paisley’s car breaks down on the side of the road on a rainy night in Seattle she doesn’t know what she will do. With nowhere to stay, no money and no transportation she’s struggling to see the upside to her situation. When an expensive SUV turns the corner and sends a wave of water over her and the kids she is pretty sure she has hit rock bottom. Zeke convinces Paisley to come with him, he will put her up for the night, give her and the kids a meal and send them on their way in the morning. Except he doesn’t. Paisley has other ideas, she convinces Zeke he needs and assistant and she is it. Zeke’s manager jumps on board and Paisley has a job, and a home for her and the kids. But when the team is bought by new management, and they want to highlight Zeke’s life and his relationships, Paisley takes on a new role as fake fiancé. But will Zeke’s hidden hatred of his bothers and Paisley’s past bring down their carefully constructed public image? I liked this book, it was a great addition to the Game on Seattle series. Jami gave us some closure to the Wolfe brothers and we got to keep up with couples from the other books. There was even a wedding! I recommend this book, if you read the previous books or if you are just looking for a really good fake fiancé turned real story. You won’t be disappointed. **I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

Bottom of the Ninth is a great addition to the Game in in Seattle series. Zeke is the last of the Wolfe brothers to have his story told. He is running from his family and trying to avoid them and any relationships at all costs. Paisley is running from her past trying to protect her nieces and nephew from their abusive father. On fateful rainy day is Seattle brings their lives crashing together. They all must face their demons and understand they are who they chose to be. A story filled with love, passion, hidden pasts, fear, family, and believing in yourself. A great read!

I have been waiting for Zeke's story and I wasn't disappointed. Reading this book was like visiting family in Seattle. Zeke is such a good man he just doesn't see it, he can't care for anyone or believe anyone can care for him because of the mental and physical abuse from his father. He believes he is his father's son and will hurt anyone close. Paisley is in survival mode needing to put a roof over her dead sister's kids heads. The love story between Zeke and Paisley (and the kids) is rocky, just as rocky as Zeke's troubled relationship with his brothers. I enjoyed this being a baseball book with lots of baseball in it. This book is well written (as all of Jami's books are) and the characters so well developed, I feel like they are part of my family. Easy to recommend this book and can't wait for the next one.

Zeke brings new meaning to the term lone Wolfe. As the youngest Wolfe brother he is the one that others talk about but no one is able to talk to because he has shut his brothers out completely after they left him alone with their psycho father. Zeke had been successful so far living far enough away playing baseball and they are doing their own things in Seattle, so he is not amused at all when he is traded to the Seattle Skookums who are at the bottom of the league. The first night there he ran into another problem, well he ran into a large puddle that soaked a woman and 3 kids standing on the side of the road as their car had died. Being a true man he took them in for just ONE night but then the next day his agent decided to turn it into something longer when he was presented with a plan by Paisley. Paisley Madison has her own issues to deal with, she is struggling with temporary custody of her nephew and 2 nieces and is making sure they are kept far, far away from their dad/her brother in law who just may have been the reason that their mother died. When she met Zeke on that dark and stormy night and then saw the old house that he had purchased she realized that he could be her ticket. Now she just had to work on showing him that not only could she do the job but they could also be exactly what he needed in his life. While there was an instant attraction between the two of the them, Zeke denied it completely because he was worried about being exactly like his father. What he was least expecting was after being given an ultimatum by the new owner of the team to help improve their image, he realized that maybe that longer need to turn into something permanent because he actually did need to let his past go and have a family in his life. Not just this instant family but also his brothers as truly did need to be all together. Jami has hit a home run with this book. All too often we get this story of perfect people being with each other when in true life it is nothing like that. Dealing with violence and abuse is something that we want to deny happens in our hearts but we know in our heads it does. Being able to put this story in a way that was so realistic and comforting was exactly what I expect from this author. So when you read this book, make sure you have a few tissues close by just in case because you might need them as this will hit you hard.