Thursday 18 May 2017

★ Mariah Dietz ★ CURVEBALL ★ Excerpt ★


© Bianca Janeane



• 18 May 2017
• standalone
• Contemporary Romance
★★★★
4 Stars

Shakespeare believed there was always humor in tragedy and tragedy in humor.
My life proved his theory as fact.

At eighteen I was a single parent moving to this small town to be with the man I loved. The one who was supposed to love and cherish me in return.

Finding out he had a wife was tragic.
Remaining in love with him in spite of her was more tragic.
My mom and best friend setting me up on a long string of blind dates was an ongoing tragedy.

Nine years later, I’ve learned to see the humor in most situations.

My mom and best friend setting me up on disastrous blind dates.
My son’s jokes.
The fire alarm going off each time I cook.

My constant bright spot always adding to the humor was my son, Hayden. But when Hayden had a life-threatening allergic reaction, the man who came to help my little boy became my own savior. His laugh, his smile, and the way his eyes lit up when he spoke to my son made him a beacon of light in both our lives.

But I wasn’t the only one who noticed him.
When I began having feelings for the man my best and only friend had fallen for, I knew following my heart would once again lead to a fresh round of heartbreak.

Love led me to this town.
Lies kept me there.

Would history repeat itself?
Or had life just thrown me another Curveball?
 
 


Ella is a single mom who is constantly set up on blind-dates by her mom and her best friend Rachel. But none of those dates are even close to being successful.
But then a new guy moves into the house across the street from Rachel.
Coen.
A sexy, sweet and talented firefighter!
And after saving 9-year old Hayden one night, the three of them start spending time together. Just hanging out, having breakfast, throw some baseballs around Coen's backyard.
But Ella knows that her bestie is interested in Coen. She doesn't want to be in the way.
But Coen is only interested in Ella!
And that's not Ella's only problem! The whole town hates her, because there have been so many bad rumors about her being a slut and whatnot throughout the years.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH ELLA & COEN?
WILL THERE BE A HEA??
READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT
 




Hot firefighter???
Hell yes, I'm in!!!


At first I thought ... CURVEBALL ... will this be a baseball romance? I kinda hate those, because as a german person, I have nothing to do with baseball. It's just not a thing over here.
BUT, of course it's not about baseball. Ok, yes, a bit it is - little Hayden plays some ball with Coen!
But this is the story of a single mom trying to make sure her boy has everything he needs to have a happy childhood. And it's the story of a firefighter who is trying to become a part of that mother-son pair.
But of course they both face a lot of problems until they can ride off into their happily ever after sunset.

I really liked the book. But I also had some problems with it.
It was a bit ... tame? Slow? Sweet? Un...? No idea what I mean exactly. PURE!!! That's a good word!!!
It also felt a tiny bit too religious for my tastes - religion is my hardest hard-limit in books. And this book kind of gave me the feeling that the author is a very religious person.

With all this bible study, thanking firefighters for their service, small-town gossip and lots more, I sometimes wanted to spontaneously start singing The Star-Spangled Banner. No idea why. It was just a bit too perfectly all-american. And not in a good way. I looove small american towns, but this was really not a nice town.
And I totally missed the sexiness. I don't know why I was expecting more sexiness. But the cover and blurb kind of made me think that this book would be more somehow.

BUT - please don't let me scare you off. It was a great romance with a great hero and heroine and a cute kid. And an unlikable best friend. It's a bit too obvious that Rachel is not a nice person. I disliked her from the first time she appeared.

I liked the book. But I expected more. It could've been shorter in some moments and longer in others. BUT, I love the cover and I liked the idea of the story. I even shed some tears here and there.

CURVEBALL was a sweet lovestory about single mom Ella trying to find her happily ever after with adorable firefighter Coen!
Run to your nearest amazon for your own fireman - this one is MINE!!!!





ARC received for an honest review

Firefighters? Heck yeah, time to set my house on fire!

Curve Ball was not really what I was expecting.  Though I am not sure really what I was expecting.

Curve Ball is a cute and sweet romance.  And pretty tame and pure (probably says a lot more about what I read than the book that I point this out!)

Ella and Coen's story is very sweet.  The single mum, ostracised by the town she lives in, and the firefighter who can't help but be drawn to her.  They are about the only characters in the book that I really liked.
 
Ella's best friend is a b!tch whom I really disliked from the minute she turned up on the page - a feeling that wasn't wrong.

The town - now, I live in a small town and know the dynamics when you move into a small town, however this town was like a cross between The Stepford Wives and The Scarlet Letter.  OMG the people, they all needed to be high fived... in the face... with 2x4.  They are horrible, horrible people that I may have yelled at as I was reading.

Most of the time, I really did feel that I wanted to scream at Ella to grow a set and tell the people in this town to STFU. The way she cowered from any confrontation - yes I kind of understood why, but knew that things would have been better if she fought back. Gah!

I adored Ella's boy Hayden - he really does steal the scene every time.

So whilst Curve Ball may have been a little tame for me, it is a cute and adorable romance.



♥ EXCERPT ♥

I stand on her doorstep and knock. The window into her house shows there’s a light on in the family room, so I know she’s awake. Ella’s head pops around the wall, her short hair pulled back at her neck. Even with her glasses on, I can tell she’s squinting, working to recognize me. I wave as if that will help her place me, but she doesn’t until she’s halfway to the door. Her shoulders fall, and a smile replaces her frown that had been created by concern.
“Hey,” she says, opening the door.
She’s wearing a pair of pajama shorts and an oversized sweatshirt and socks, and with her glasses on and her hair pulled back, she looks like she could pass for being in college, maybe even high school.
“Sorry, are your parents home?” I ask.
“Shut up,” she mumbles, tucking a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear and taking a step back to invite me inside.
“Seriously though, how old are you?”
She eyes me, tilting her chin and narrowing her eyes like she does when she’s debating how to respond. “How old do you think I am?”
“I may not look very bright, but I do know better than to answer that question.”
“Are you sure?” she asks. “’Cause you did just ask me how old I am and I’m pretty certain there’s a golden rule about asking a woman that question.”
“Golden rule?”
“Unspoken rule. Common sense…”
“I’m thirty,” I volunteer.
“Twenty-seven,” she says.
“I bet you still get carded.”
“I bet you don’t.” Ella smiles as I cry out with feigned offense at her insult.
“What are you doing tonight?” I ask.
“Making a mess of my living room.” Ella’s shoulders sag with her response. She leads me into the family room where the built-in shelves that line each side of her fireplace are sitting bare, the contents scattered around her living room.
“You prefer that just-robbed look?”
“I was rearranging some things,” she says.
“Why? It looked good before.” I look around, realizing it wasn’t just those shelves she cleared. The couches have been moved, and the bookshelf on the far wall has been cleared. “If you were bored, you should have come over. I have lots of stuff that needs organized.”
She laughs. “That’s because you just moved. I was just tired of looking at the same stuff.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I’m tired of looking at boxes and random crap in my house since moving, but I can’t think of a time that I’ve gotten tired of looking at things when they’ve been put away.”
Ella laughs, but it’s too high, and her eyes flit across the space, revealing it isn’t genuine but out of nerves. “Sometimes I just need change,” she admits.
“What else do you get tired of?” I ask.
The same nervous laugh clears her lips before she licks them. “Everything … I guess…” She scoffs, shocked she just admitted this to me. “I mean, don’t you ever just get tired of people and things?”
I chuckle. “You get tired of people too?”
One brow goes up as she nods while releasing a deep breath. “I’m so difficult. You’ll learn this quickly, so I may as well tell you.” She flashes a smile that is so honest and genuine it knocks me off balance and rids every sarcastic remark I’d been thinking. “I once stopped eating waffles for three years because I was so tired of eating them,” she admits. “Sometimes I feel like if I had the opportunity to do that with some of my co-workers, I may not see them again for a decade…” This time both of her brows go up, and her head tilts with thought before she purses her lips. “Or maybe ever.” She looks at me as she admits this, and for some reason the level of honesty she’s sharing makes me like her even more. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Rachel. She’s the sister I never had, but sometimes I even need breaks from her.” She shrugs again. “It’s no one’s fault. It’s just how I’m wired, I guess. I’ve always been fairly independent, and then after Hayden was born, I was forced to be. Now I’m probably too independent. It used to drive my ex absolutely crazy.” Her gaze sweeps to the floor, making me question if she meant to bring up the topic or if it’s painful for her to.
“Being independent is a good thing,” I tell her. “And like you said, you’ve had to be. I can’t imagine what it takes to be a single parent. You probably fear nothing.”
Her blue eyes are narrowed with hesitancy as they meet mine, but she smiles, and I know it’s simply to appease me. “The opposite actually. I fear way more now that I’m a mom because I know what I could lose.”

 LiNKS TO THE BOOK & AUTHOR 
 
  
  







Mariah Dietz lives with her husband, two sons, and two four-legged children who are the axis of her crazy and wonderful world.

Mariah grew up in a tiny town outside of Portland, Oregon where she spent most of her time immersed in the pages of books that she both read and created.

She has a love for all things that include her family, good coffee, books, traveling, and dark chocolate. She’s also obsessed with Christmas ornaments and all things Disney.