Let
Me Love You
By
Iris Blobel
Blurb:
Oliver
Dempsey, pitcher for a Melbourne baseball club, loves the women, and
they love him…
But
he keeps them at an arm’s length, and when he meets Tamara, he’s
unprepared for the attraction he feels for her. Told by his
coach that she’s off limits, only draws him in more.
Tamara
Amis moved to Melbourne to find some distance between her past and
herself…
With
the help of her uncle, the coach of a Melbourne baseball club, she
quickly finds a job, and a place to live. Yet, one meeting with the
handsome pitcher stirs unexpected emotions that threaten to overwhelm
her.
It’s
Oliver’s injury that brings them together, but as they find out
about each other’s pasts, how can they be ready to share a future?
Excerpt:
Sweat ran down Oliver’s back, soaking
his shirt. He’d been on the field for a couple of hours, but
frustration grew in him with every ball he missed. He placed his
hands on his knees and took a deep breath, fixing his stare at the
ground. For Pete’s sake, he was a pitcher, not a hitter, and well
known for his fastballs as well as his perfect curveballs. Alas, he
had neglected his hitting. Today, his swing was below average, and,
unable to focus, he walked over to the bench where he spotted Coach
Becker shaking his head towards him.
Pointing his finger back towards the
field, the coach said, “Head right back out there, Oliver. You need
to improve your hand-eye coordination. I want to see more, and
better.”
Oliver cursed under his breath. “It’s
not going to happen. My shoulder’s killing me. It’s been a long
day.”
Coach Erik Becker rubbed his face.
“It’s not gonna happen today,”
Oliver persisted.
With a grimace on his face, his coach
nodded.
"Righteo,
call it a day. But I want you back out there again in the morning,
though.”
Oliver eased off
his gloves and shoved them into his back pocket, before removing his
helmet.
The coach gave
him a gentle slap on his back. “I need you to concentrate more
tomorrow. Remember what I told you. You need to focus on your proper
stance as well as swinging the bat. Keep your eye on the ball as it
comes towards you. Try to connect the
bat with the ball, preferably at the fat of the bat. We have a game
coming up soon. Go and deal with the shoulder issue. Check in for a
massage.”
Oliver wiped his
forehead with his arm when he noticed a woman standing in the coach’s
shadow. Raising his eyebrows, he nodded towards her as to ask who she
was.
Erik turned
slightly. “Oliver, this is my niece, Tamara. She’s moved here
from Perth. Tamara, this is Oliver.”
Oliver extended
his hand towards her. “Nice meeting you.”
She ignored his
hand and took a step back. Taken aback by her reaction, Oliver
instinctively checked his hand for dirt or sweat. Questioningly, he
looked at his coach.
Erik ignored the
situation and simply said, “Have your shower and see me before you
head off to discuss your training schedule.”
Nodding, Oliver
took another quick look at Tamara. For a brief moment, their eyes
met, and he was puzzled by her expression. It seemed as if her
intense blue eyes were trying to hide something. The distant look in
them was almost mysterious, and combined with her body language, he
couldn’t help but get the impression something was wrong. She was
very guarded.
With one last
look towards Tamara, Oliver turned and left.
As soon as he got
to the locker room, he peeled off his t-shirt. Pain shot through him
the instant he lifted his right shoulder. He’d been ignoring the
twinge during the training session, but knew he had to have it looked
at. The fucking skateboard rider had nearly knocked him over the
previous day when he came out of nowhere. Oliver hadn’t had a
chance to move out of the way fast enough and slammed his shoulder
into a post.
He slowly
stripped out of his track pants before grabbing a can of Coke out of
his bag. Leaning against the wall, he chugged half of the drink while
enjoying the quietness around him. Everyone else was still out on the
field trying to please Coach Becker. He choked a laugh, hoping his
mates would put Erik in a better mood than he had. They had a few
important games over the next few weeks before the season ended, and
for the first time in years, the club was doing well.
As
he walked to the showers, he thought about his training session and
wondered whether his shoulder was to blame for the bad hits, or his
lack of training. But who was he kidding, he always liked to throw
everything he had at people, yet was hopeless in receiving anything
thrown at him. That applied in baseball and in life. When he’d been
to see his first baseball game as a kid in Los Angeles, he’d known
he was born to pitch.
Buy
Links:
Amazon
Australia: http://bit.ly/1Aq2J7r
Amazon
US: http://amzn.to/1AzCCfB
Kobo
Books:
Barnes
& Noble:
Author:
Iris
Blobel was born and raised in Germany and only immigrated to
Australia in the late 1990s. Having had the travel bug most of her
life, Iris spent some time living in Scotland, London, as well as
Canada where she met her husband. Her love for putting her stories
onto paper only emerged a few years back, but now her laptop is a
constant companion. Iris resides west of Melbourne with her husband
and her beautiful two daughters as well as their dog. Next to her job
at a private school, she also presents a German Program at the local
Community Radio.
Where to Find Me:
My
Blog: www.iris-b.blogspot.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/irisblobel
Twitter:
@_iris_b
Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/iblobel/
Thanks for the feature, Penny :-)
ReplyDeleteOf course, Iris. It's always my pleasure to have fabulous authors on my blog. BTW - I think your book sounds terrific and I love your cover!
ReplyDelete