Baseball Fiction

Just one short season ago, major league center fielder John Roper had it all: the looks—and personal life—of a sports hero and the public’s adoration. But this hot property’s lucky streak has run out. After a World Series disaster, fans diss him, shock jocks mock him, and his dysfunctional family hassles him for money he really can’t spare. Now it’s up to him, and Hot Zone publicist Amy Stone, to get his life back on track.

During the spring and summer months, Melody Carrick lives, eats, and sleeps baseball. As a Baltimore Blue Birds season ticket holder, she attends every home game to enjoy the action. When a foul ball hits her in the face and knocks her out during the season opener, the last thing she expects is for the handsome rookie who caused the mess to visit her in the hospital. Injuring a fan during his first game in the majors is rookie Carson Lawrence's worst nightmare. Knowing he won't be able to clear his conscience until he's assured she's not seriously hurt, he visits the woman in the hospital.

Miller Spurlock might seem like a laid back man on the outside, but piss him off, or violate his trust, and he'll show you the meaning of pain. He was a Navy SEAL. He could kill a man a hundred different ways and not break a sweat. He's also a police officer and member of the SWAT team, which means he has the knowledge and skills to get away with it. Rage boils in his gut when he witnesses what happens to the beautiful Mercy Shepherd during a SWAT op from hell. Miller becomes the one shining beacon of light at the bottom of Mercy's pit of despair.

All it takes is one ill-fated foul ball, and George Hoffman, Lumberjacks center fielder, falls head over heels in love with Wrigley Field - and yes, that is her real name. From that point forward, George and Wrigley fall into a fast whirlwind love that ends with them eloping to Vegas. And he has his potty-mouth, titty-bar-owning, pain-in-the-ass grandmother to thank for it. Not that he's complaining or anything. Who wouldn't want to be married to a woman that made his heart race like he was in the final game of the World Series?

Baseball is life - the rest is just details. Everyone who's played the game has heard those words a time or two. But Hancock has heard them his entire life from his parents. His family has lived and breathed baseball even before he started little league. Hancock "Parts" Peters has a name that inspires grins across many faces, but the moment those faces get their first look at him, those grins slide away. Hancock is gruff, filterless, and doesn't give a crap who he offends. He is the only man in baseball who doesn't care if he gets an endorsement or not. He's there to play the game.

Lachlan Downy was a lover, not a fighter. Okay, he wouldn't lie, he was a fighter, too. But nobody had to know that. Especially not Memphis Tennessee Conner and her stuffy attitude when it came to cops and "men like him". Memphis knew cops. Her daddy was a cop. He was also the president of a motorcycle club. Needless to say, he's about as alpha as they come, and she's tired of overbearing men who think they know how to run her life better than she does.

With a baseball scholarship to Easton University and awesome family and friends, my life is pretty golden. Except, things have never come together for me in the romance department. Until Kellan Crawford walks onto the field as the team's newest bat boy. Bells and whistles go off in my body, and just like that, I'm totally crushing on a guy for the first time in my life. Too bad he's the coach's son and officially off-limits.

Nico met the love of his life when he was 17. Immediately, he realizes that the gap in their ages is too significant to make a move on her until she's legal in the eyes of the law. So he joins the United States Navy, killing time until he can come home to her again. But a tragedy strikes while Georgia is alone and vulnerable, and with no other recourse, Georgia leaves, disappearing without a trace. He finds her, but quickly realizes that she needs the time to herself to work out her problems. He leaves her be, knowing that if she ever felt anything for him, she'd come back home to him.

On his 11th birthday, Jackson is nervous about moving up to middle school where he knows he'll be bullied by older kids, so he makes his wish, "I don't want to grow up!" When his 12th birthday rolls around, he discovers his wish came true: he's still 11, and he's starting fifth grade (again). At first, this is the perfect life. Jackson is the smartest kid in his class, the best on his baseball team, and the star of the school band. But after a few years of being eleven, he realizes his life is passing him by. 

Recent graduate Hayley Carter is thrilled to be working for a non-profit organization in Washington, DC. Having spent a lot of her life in the background due to family circumstances, Hayley is eager to step up and be heard. With romance on the shelf, it's time to focus on herself and new career. Armed with a workbook to help her improve on a personal and professional level, Hayley is ready to become a better version of who she already is. But will a baseball player for the Washington Soaring Eagles challenge her thoughts on not only dating, but the person she thinks she needs to be?

Bennett had the world in the palm of his hands when he was 16, then he allowed his dick to do the thinking for him. That one night changed him forever, giving him a child that would forever alter his life. With the help of his parents, he went into the Navy, becoming the SEAL he always wanted to be. However, with that came a price, a price he wasn't willing to pay anymore once his little girl started to realize why he wasn't there. So he came home and joined the local SWAT team, starting his life anew, just his daughter and him. Then he meets the cute physician's assistant.

Michael was that guy. The one that everyone was cautious of. Maybe it was the tattoos. Maybe it was the way he gave off a "don't screw with me" vibe. Maybe it was because he just told them to leave him the hell alone. Regardless, people gave him his space. He was screwed up, and everyone knew it. He got tattoos because he liked the pain. He was standoffish. He didn't have many friends outside of work. And the only thing he had going for him was that he was a good cop.

Rhys Rivera is the star short-stop for the Longview Lumberjacks. Many know him, even more love him. He has a pretty face, a quick smile, and an air of danger about him that everyone seems to adore. He's not known as the bad boy of baseball for nothing. It all started with his father, who decided to be a criminal mob boss, then died. Fortunately for his uncle, Rhys wants absolutely nothing to do with the family business and runs before anyone can figure out which way is up.

I've never been in love myself, but that doesn't stop me from secretly matchmaking for my friends. Who would suspect me, a world-class athlete, of meddling in other people's love lives? I love love, especially when it's not me who's doing the falling.... "No thanks." That's what Hollis Westbrooke said when I asked her on a date. Well, propositioned her, actually - but it was all a big joke; one she doesn't think is funny.

One fateful night four years ago, Destiny Rose Porter gave in to her desires and ended up with a shattered heart. A heart that, with time, learned to heal and guard itself. But when Jefferson James Briggs returns to their small hometown of Wishing Well, Texas, memories of that unforgettable night come back with him.... JJ Briggs knew he had started something he couldn't finish four years ago. But now, he was back to set it right. The sexy Major League pitcher never forgot about his fiery redhead. The love and passion he felt for his "Pip" never faded.

It's another season of Renegade baseball and, as they say, the boys are back in town. All except for all-star pitcher Hawk Sinclair, who has returned to his hometown and back to the ranch he grew up on to rehab after shoulder surgery. Real-estate agent Bellamy Patrick feels like she's failing at being a single mom. Her son is having a hard time fitting in, and she's hoping that playing baseball will be the answer. When he doesn't make the team, she's willing to do anything to help him...except that! And that's exactly what the little-league coach expects.

Mr. Boorschmidt's Stupendous and Unexcelled Circus is back in town. This time one of its attractions is really out of this world. In the big ring are six Martians and their flying saucer! But Boorschmidt doesn't stop there. He wants something even more spectacular to offer the audience, so he asks Freddy for help. Freddy knows what to do. He organizes an amazing baseball team.

Chance Carter is the son of local baseball legend Jack Carter. Now in his junior year at Fullton State, Chance is facing challenges he never saw coming. Failing a class will stop his draft season short, making him ineligible to play and pushing his goal of professional baseball even further away. In steps Danika, a mouthy tutor from New York, who only wants to help him pass his class...not get in his pants. But try telling that to Chance. He doesn’t trust girls, and he definitely doesn’t trust his new tutor. A lifetime growing up as a Carter taught him that.

I have one more year of baseball eligibility left. One more year to show the major league scouts that I’m worth it. That I’m good enough to play professional baseball for them. But honestly, I’m not sure that I am. So far, not a single scout has approached me.

Two things I love: baseball and Lacey Stark. Back in college, I had them both. But after graduation, I made the biggest mistake of my life. I let Lacey go. Five years later, I can't complain. A Cy Young winner, I've achieved what I set out to do - pitching in the Major Leagues. Life is great. Until it's not. And the day it all went south? The day Lacey Stark appeared at my post press conference.