The Winning Season

A docile caretaker raising her brothers after her parents’ death finds far-fetched love with a retired baseball star in this unconvincing romance from Alers (the Hideaway Legacy series). Zoey Allen has been taking care of her brothers, Kyle and Harper, since she was 18. Now 28, Zoey might finally have the chance to live the life she put on hold 10 years ago. Kyle’s enlisted in the army and Harper only has one year left in high school. Zoey plans to see Harper off to college, then follow her dream of attending nursing school. But her plans are complicated by Harper’s rebellious streak. When former professional baseball player Sutton Reed moves in next door to the Allens, Zoey’s instantly attracted. And when Sutton catches Harper attempting to break into his sports car he turns Zoey’s world upside down by agreeing to mentor the troubled teen instead of having him arrested. Zoey and Sutton grow closer through a series of subtle, intimate encounters that lack the substance or chemistry to be believable. Alers repeatedly tells the reader that these two characters belong together but fails to make her case in their stilted, surface-level interactions. The result is a disappointingly forced contemporary romance. Agent: Nancy Coffey, Nancy Coffey Literary & Media. (Aug.)