Book Review: The Trade by Meghan Quinn
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The Trade
by Meghan Quinn
Categories: Contemporary Romance, Sports Romance
Tags: Baseball, Humor, Sports
Kindle | Paperback
Rating: ★★★★
Finally…Cory F-ing Potter! He wins the top prize as one of the sweetest, nicest guys in all of romance as Meghan Quinn knocked it out of the park with yet another amazing baseball romance book.
The Nice Guy
I knew Cory Potter was one of the good ones when I first met him in The Dugout. Quinn could not have written a better brother than Cory is the best brother to his sister Milly. But not only is he the ultimate brother, turns out he’s quite the all-around nice guy.
Lucky for Natalie Orson whom Cory falls for instantly with just a laugh and a smile (Ok, and a good ass as well). The kicker – Cory finds out that Natalie is married which unfortunately puts the brakes on any advances he really wanted to make, but it doesn’t necessarily put the brakes on his thoughts about her.
Turns out however that she’s NOT married. But of course Cory being the nicest guy ever doesn’t find that out for quite some time and being the nice guy keeps his distance.
Come on man, sometimes you have to make a move and USE YOUR WORDS! Oh how things could have been different for you if you’d have just used a few words and communicated. 😊
The Sexual Tension
Again, because he’s a nice guy and is set on starting a relationship, the tension between him and Natalie was really building to the point I wanted to yell at my Kindle “USE THE FREAKIN ROOM!” Thank God they finally listened.
I will say this about Natalie too – if Cory is the nice guy, she is a saint. She is a saint because she had to display some major patience to get some. You have patience in spades girl!
The Sibling Love
A good part of this story that I loved was the close-knit sibling relationships. Cory, as I already knew, is so tight with his sister and best friend, Milly. But Natalie was equally as close with her brother Jason – which was hinted at in The Lineup and great to see again in this book.
I don’t have a brother so I can’t say if this is standard or not, but these pairings sure did love to share their feelings about the person they were lusting after and then dating. You go Cory that you can bear your soul to your sister and same to you Natalie about sharing your feelings with your bro.
What was hilarious was the many instances where Milly and Jason’s sex lives with their respective partners are thrown in Cory and Natalie’s faces or highly suggested at. “Too far” was a common saying in this book because who wants to hear what their sibling was getting up to in lovely detail?!
The Conflict
Of course everything can’t be smooth sailing in a romance book even for a nice guy because that would be boring and probably untruthful. I actually liked the dilemma facing Cory, and I thought Quinn did a great job reflecting how intense stress can affect someone not just mentally but physically as well.
There’s some genuine struggle there for Cory who is suddenly and without warning traded to not just another baseball team but a rival team to the one he’s idolized growing up.
That trade, mixed with his less than stellar reception, must have really hurt and I think his reactions through it all were spot on. Of course, I’m happy that he and Natalie got their happy ever after in the end after all.
I can understand Natalie’s struggle as well. She needs to feel valued and that her needs are put first in a relationship after the way her marriage had ended.
My True Love
I loved Natalie for Cory as they were a perfect fit for one another and had great banter back and forth. But I also loved Natalie in this book because it gave me more Jason! Oh Jason, how I love you – from the moment I read The Lineup and even more now.
With all of our Jason cameo’s in this book (not only because he’s Natalie’s brother but because he’s also Cory’s teammate), you get signature Jason, laugh out loud moments. I mean, laugh out loud, tears coming down my face because he is just so freakin’ hilarious.
So hands down I love this book for all of my Jason moments (and the snippets of Caron and Milly too whom I love from The Dugout).
This is another must read by Meghan Quinn (though aren’t they all I’m finding). There’s a lot more baseball in this one too so if you love baseball romances, and romances with SUCH a nice guy – then Cory F-ing Potter in The Trade is your man.
Do you like the nice guys in romance books? Share in the comments below.
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