REVIEW: Screwball by Linda Morris

Screwball by Linda Morris: Willow and Paul have a one night stand in Florida, never expecting to see each other again. When Willow needs to write a story for the blog she works for, she decides to fly to Indiana to write her story on Thrashers baseball team. When she goes to meet the team’s president, she has a shock–it’s Paul.

Willow has a secret she’s keeping from him, and she goes back and forth between telling him and not telling him. She blows hot and cold with him, which he can’t understand.

Paul wants to pick up where they left off, but Willow fights him on it. He spends time with her, much to his father’s chagrin, and takes his time to develop a relationship. Only he can’t understand what’s keeping her from fully investing in what they could have.

When Paul finds out the secret she’s keeping, he’s understandably angry. And that’s where I have an issue with Willow. She kept putting it off and putting it off until it accidentally comes out. In the process, Paul feels hurt and lied to. She should have acted like an adult and told him the truth in their initial meeting in his office.

I liked some aspects of the book, but I felt Willow dragged it down. Paul’s father also dragged it down. As the owner of the team, how could he not see that not taking care of the stadium and the team’s bus not only endangered his players, but also turned people away from attending the games? Paul had some great ideas, yet his father refused to listen to them. I was happy when Paul finally decided enough was enough and stood up to him. Towards the end his father, who seemed throughout the whole book to only care about himself, did a one-eighty, but at that point the sudden change of attitude just wasn’t believable.

Screwball wasn’t my cup of tea. I think if Willow hadn’t been so wishy-washy when it came to revealing her secret and was honest from the beginning, and if Paul’s father wasn’t such an egomaniac, I would have enjoyed it more.
 

Book Info:

Publication: September 15, 2015 | InterMix | Hard Hitters #2

Paul Dudley, president of the Plainview Thrashers, is spinning out of control. Preserving his family’s baseball legacy in these tough times takes everything he’s got, and constant clashes with his father have left him struggling for authority over the team and even his own future. So when sports reporter Willow Bourne, a one-night-stand from a year ago, walks back into his life, he knows he can’t give into his feelings for her—no matter how strong they are.

Willow never expected to see Paul again, and she’s got her reasons for keeping her distance. Except the more time she spends around Paul, the harder it is to hide her secrets—or stop herself from falling head over heels.

As the sparks between them fly, Paul discovers what Willow has been concealing from him, leaving him with a difficult choice—keep the team his top priority or make his own legacy by following his heart…