Review: Third Base by Heidi McLaughlin

I enjoy sports-centric books, I really do and Third Base is a great example of why.

Our hero, Ethan, is a young star on a young, rebuilding team in his second year in the majors. When we first meet him, he appears to be the stereotypical jock, but it doesn’t take long to learn that he really is so much more. He’s a genuinely good guy that I was thrilled to get to know.

Third base is written from Ethan’s point of view, so we only get to see Daisy, his love interest, through his eyes. From what we do see, we learn that Daisy is slightly younger than Ethan and has had the exact opposite kind of life. Where he has had every advantage, she has had every struggle.

I fell a little bit in love watching Ethan court Daisy. There were several times when I didn’t understand Daisy’s actions, but all of the confusion gets explained in the end. Ms. McLaughlin has crafted a story that is both fun and touching. We get to see a good guy make the transition from slightly overgrown college kid to a man you want to know. We get to see if grand gestures can overcome trepidation, if slow and steady can really when the race, and if love can lend itself to understanding and forgiveness.

This is my first book by Ms. McLaughlin, but based on this experience it won’t be the last.