Blog Tour: Single by Collette West

Single by Collette West Stockton Beavers #1 Publication Date: April 22, 2016 Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Sports

 

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Underdog Luke “Single” Singleton is yearning to make a comeback. After getting hit in the neck with a pitch—an injury that nearly cost him his life—he has one last chance to play for his hometown team, the Stockton Beavers. But his mom has Alzheimer’s, and he’s all she has to depend on. How can he pursue his career, much less someone special? Personal care aide Roberta Bennett is done dating baseball players. Having had her share of heartbreak, she heads to Stockton hoping for a fresh start. But after she finds Luke’s mom outside, lost, and alone, she can’t refuse when he hires her on the spot. Unbeknownst to Luke, Roberta is all too familiar with the violent tendencies of the pitcher who hit him. Now that they’re living under the same roof, the last thing either of them is looking for is a relationship. But it’s not long before they find themselves drawn to each other. And right when Luke is thinking about finally making a change to his single status, a secret from Roberta’s past emerges with the power to tear them apart.

A sob rises up in my throat. "Luke, don’t you see? I can’t give you what you want. What’s done can't be undone.” The tears start flowing in earnest now, and I can't hold them back. "It’s just, at the time, I convinced myself that I was okay with it because I never thought I'd meet someone like you. I gave up on life, on ever falling in love again, on ever being happy again.” I take a shaky breath. “And now, I have nothing left to offer you.”

"Don't say that," he cries, getting up and reaching for me. "You're everything I could ever want and more. Don’t you know that?"

I shy away from him, not allowing him to pull me into the warmth of his embrace. "And do you really think I could be happy, knowing that you threw away your future on account of me? Luke, I refuse to hold you back. I want you to have everything you’ve ever dreamed of because you deserve it. That’s why I want you to tell your manager yes. You owe it to yourself, your mom…your dad…to go and play in New York.” I sigh deeply. “If you don’t, I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive myself.” Hugging my arms to my chest, I slowly back my way out of the kitchen.

"Roberta…" he whispers.

But with silent tears streaming down my face, I keep going. Once I get inside my room, I lock the door before throwing myself down onto the bed, tugging the sheets around me that are still warm from his body.

Luke Singleton is unlike any sports star I've read about lately. He's struggling to come to grips with the possibility of never playing again after an injury while also having personal problems in trying to care for his mother, who's got alzheimer's.  When he's offered a second chance at baseball, Luke wants nothing more than to take it, but not at the risk of his mother, not without having someone to help take care of her.  He made a promise, that she would be taken care of, in her home, and that's what is going to happen, even if it means he has to make sacrifices. 

Roberta came to Stockton to get away from her past, to hide for a little while and start over new.  She knows of Luke and his past, and she feels guilt over it.  She's sworn off baseball players and intends to avoid complications, but when she finds herself involved with Luke via his mother, all bets are off. 

Single is full of drama, and romance, and a sweet amazing couple that will lure you in and grab hold of your attention.  Luke proves that not every player has to be a player, and that real genuine good men do exist, and sometimes life hits them the hardest.  Roberta shows us that sometimes our strength is hidden when we try to portray ourselves as something less.   

The real life struggles these characters face within the pages of this story are very real, making you feel as if these things could be happening right next door, that even though these characters are apart of a team, they could be your neighbors, they could be your friends.  I laughed, I teared up, I swooned, all while falling in love with these characters and their story.  

About Collette West

Collette West grew up as somewhat of a jock-nerd hybrid. Entering the world three weeks premature, her dad nearly missed her birth because he had seats behind the dugout for a sold-out, highly-anticipated match-up between two of baseball’s biggest rivals. Not to be outdone, her book-loving mom taught her how to read by the time she was three. A love of the game coupled with an appreciation for the written word were instilled in Collette‘s impressionable brain from a young age. No wonder her characters believe in the philosophy: sports + romance = a little slice of heaven. Splitting her time between the Pocono Mountains and Manhattan, Collette indulges her inner fangirl by going to as manygames as she can from hockey to baseball and downloading every sports romance novel in existence onto her iPad. When she’s not clicking away on her laptop, she enjoys walking her dog in Central Park, satisfying her caffeine craving at the Starbucks on Broadway and keeping an eye out for Mr. Right. But above all, she loves dishing with her readers. Email her at collette_west@yahoo.com. She is the author of the New York Kings series which includes: NIGHT GAMES, GAME CHANGER, GAME ON, PERFECTGAME, INSIDE GAME and GAME WINNER.

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