Carolina Waves

Sabrina Kelly has worked too hard and waited too long for this promotion to let anything derail it. All she has to do is rehab the Waves' injured center fielder and get him back on the field. The catch? That center fielder is Dan McMullen, her college ex and first real heartbreak.

She can be professional about this. She has to be.

Dan McMullen has loved two things his whole life...baseball and Sabrina. One he conquered, the other he lost. Now she's his physical therapist, her promotion depends on his recovery, and he's got one shot to prove he's not the man who broke her heart.

He's not wasting it.

She needs him healthy. He needs a second chance. And somewhere between resistance and recovery, the line between professional and personal becomes impossible to hold.

The first time he broke her heart, she barely made it through. She can't afford to let that happen twice.

Jack Reagan has one rule: baseball first, everything else never. But when his ex-girlfriend publishes a tell-all book, even he has to admit he needs help.

Enter Hannah Adams, the Waves' PR professional who knows this team inside and out and is his best shot at salvaging his reputation.

Hannah has spent years watching Jack prove repeatedly that talent and judgment don't always go hand in hand. She knows exactly who he is. Fixing his image is just part of the job, and that annoying crush she's been ignoring for years is nobody's business but hers.

But the more time she spends with him, the more she realizes she didn't know him at all. Turns out the hardest part of this job isn't fixing his reputation, it's protecting her own heart.

Maybe Jack Reagan is more than a waste of handsome. The question is what she's going to do about it.

A pink beach house in the Florida Keys. A hurricane bearing down. And two people who absolutely did not plan on sharing either.

Rusty Russell needed one thing this All-Star break — somewhere quiet to figure out why his pitching has gone sideways. His mom's boyfriend's empty vacation house seemed perfect.

Ivy Sherman also needed one thing — somewhere to hide from her spectacular run of bad luck while she figured out what to do with her life. Her dad's vacation house seemed perfect.

Neither of them knew the other had the same idea until Ivy walked in on Rusty in the shower.

Now they're stuck together in a pink house on the Gulf with nowhere to go, nothing but time, and an Irish Setter who has already decided he likes Rusty better than Ivy does.

Rusty has never met anyone quite like Ivy. She's chaotic, funny, and completely impossible to ignore. And Ivy is starting to think the man she walked in on might be exactly what she didn't know she needed.

If only his real life wasn't waiting on the other side of the storm.

Cal Chase never expected to get a real job. Signing a major league contract out of college was the start of everything he'd worked for since he first picked up a baseball. After more than a decade in the majors, his marriage fell apart and an injury ended it all. Having nothing to do is nice until it's all you have to do. So he took an executive position at the bank that sponsors the stadium he once played in.

Then Barbara Murphy walks into his conference room.

Barbara ended things with Cal when he was in the minors. She loved him, but when her mother died, she didn't want a life on the road. At the time, staying put felt like the only thing that would keep her together. Eventually she built a career from the ground up, survived a painful divorce, and kept moving forward.

She wasn't planning on Cal Chase sitting across the table from her. She definitely wasn't planning on what came next.

She knows what she wants. He knows better than to want it back.

Penny Montgomery has unexpected time on her hands and a plan — enjoy the Florida sunshine and finally do something about the undeniable attraction between her and Kenny Hanover that's been simmering for an entire baseball season.

Kenny has noticed Penny. He's been noticing her for months. But getting involved with a player's sister whose life is permanently on the road isn't something he's willing to do — not after a seven year relationship ended the moment his girlfriend chose her career over coming home.

Keeping his distance made perfect sense before they ended up staying next door to each other in St. Pete.

Now they're kayaking to deserted islands, sharing the best French toast in Florida, and spending entirely too much time together for Kenny's resolve to stay intact.

Dale Montgomery never did relationships. As a first baseman for the Carolina Waves, life was simple and uncomplicated...exactly the way he liked it. Until he met Karen.

He's been asking her out for two years. She keeps saying no.

After losing her husband, Karen focused on one thing...being the best mom to her son Jeremy. Romance is a distraction she can't afford, no matter how persistent Dale Montgomery is.

Her friends keep telling her that men like Dale Montgomery don't come along every day. Maybe they're right.

She's spent two years saying no. After saying yes once, she's starting to wonder why.

She never forgot him. He never stopped regretting how he left.

When Jimmy Chavez walks back into Abigail's life, she's not sure whether to slap him or kiss him.

Probably both.

Twelve years ago, he was her first love — and the first person to break her heart. One letter and he was gone, leaving her with no real explanation and a lot of unanswered questions.

Now he's back, playing for the hometown team, and apparently determined to make things right.

Abigail isn't sure she wants to hear it. But when a storm strands them together with nowhere to go and no distractions, Jimmy finally gets the chance to explain what really happened back then.

And the truth changes everything.

Because the boy she loved didn't abandon her to chase his dreams. He made a sacrifice she knew nothing about — and he's spent twelve years wishing he'd handled it differently.

Getting snowed in with your first love, your first heartbreak, and a whole lot of unresolved chemistry was never part of the plan.

But some things are worth a second chance.

 

Trey Youngman built a reputation playing baseball in New York, just not the kind he wanted. Gifted on the mound and difficult everywhere else, he burned through his shot with his first team and got sent down to the minor leagues. Getting called up to pitch for the Carolina Waves is his second chance...at his career and at becoming someone worth knowing.

Romance is nowhere on his radar. Then fate drops a pink-haired mural artist into his rideshare.

Nori has a type she avoids...wealthy, entitled, and convinced the rules don't apply to them. Trey Youngman is exactly that. Or so she thought.

He's spent years building walls. She's spent years painting over them. Somewhere between the life he's trying to leave behind and the woman he can't stop thinking about, the game has never felt this complicated.

They fought hard to find each other. Now they have to fight just as hard to stay together.

Penny Montgomery and Kenny Hanover got their happy beginning in Throw Like a Girl. Now comes the harder part.

After almost a year together in their own little love bubble, reality has arrived — and it's a lot less romantic than they'd hoped. Penny's softball career is back in full swing, the Olympics are on the horizon, and the distance between them is taking a toll neither of them expected.

Kenny is all in. He's always been all in. But between his demanding father's expectations at work and Penny's grueling schedule, finding time together has gone from difficult to nearly impossible.

And Penny, who has never let anything shake her focus on the field, is struggling in a way that scares her. She loves Kenny more than she ever thought possible — but with the biggest competition of her athletic career approaching, something has to give.

Everyone thinks love at first sight is a fairy tale, until it happens to them…

Phil is a pro baseball player, and dating has always been easy for him. But love? That's another story entirely. With his fortieth birthday approaching, he was starting to think the kind of instalove everyone in his family had lucked into just wasn't in the cards for him. Then he saw her. She caught his heart as easily as she caught his line drive. Was it fate? All he knows for sure is he's now terrified of screwing up the best thing that's ever happened to him.

Romance was never a priority for Chloe. Her job kept her on the road…until it didn't. Getting downsized made her realize it was time to set down some roots and follow her dream of opening a bakery. And while she set up shop, being a part-time bat girl for the Carolina Waves seemed like a great idea. Then she saw him. Suddenly everything she thought she knew about love went out the window. Could he really be her happily ever after? Or is she about to slide head-first into heartbreak?