Happy Thursday and welcome to May everyone!

This week I want to talk about books that have sports in them in some way (I don’t mean “Football for Dummies” –if there is such a book–, I mean characters involved in professional sports). What do you think about them?

Personally, it depends on 1) how well the author does with them, and 2) how familiar I am with the sport.

For example, in the Sherrilyn Kenyon/Dianne Love Belador series, it takes place in Atlanta. It doesn’t involve baseball at all, but of course Atlanta is the home of the (dur) Atlanta Braves and I am, or was, a HUGE Braves fan. In the very first book, they reference the Braves’ baseball stadium as being Fulton County Stadium. That threw me entirely out of the book (for a very brief time, mind) because I knew the Braves moved in to Turner Field at the start of the 1997 season and the stadium itself was demolished in 1997. So it was jarring a little for me. Not sure how they could have made such a basic error, unless that one little detail was something they changed in the universe they created.

Obviously the above isn’t a sports-heavy book example. However, Bianca Sommerland has a series about the Dartmouth Cobras (an ice-hockey team with a very … interesting shared interest). I know nothing about ice hockey other than hockey players use a different kind of blade than figure skaters (thank you The Cutting Edge). The sport is a big part of the books, because some of the main characters are owners of the team, the heroes are always MEMBERS of the team, and frequently parts of the plot circle around whatever’s going on in the hockey world. Knowing nothing about the sport, I can’t speak as to how accurate Ms. Sommerland is about the sport, but I can say it enhances the whole “real” feeling to the book, having such devoted sports players.

I bring this up because of a book I just read (Skin in the Game, review coming toward the end of the month) where football was an important facet of the story.

So, what do YOU think about stories (romances specifically) where a given sport plays an important role in the story somehow?

Until next week, have a great time and keep on readin’!

Just a quick topic this week: Spring

Yup, I’m talking about the time of year, peeps. Here in Florida, it’s raining today. The temperatures are in the mid to upper 70′s as highs, and somewhere in the 50′s or 60′s for lows. We don’t currently need the heater or the a/c (much) yet. Spring is truly a great season. I’m fond of autumn for the same reasons.

What’s your favorite season and why?

And just so we can have a book-related topic as well: what are you reading right now? What’s next on your list?

I’m currently reading One Night With a Rake (Marlow/Mason) and Ethan (Burrowes). I’ve got a Keri Arthur book that I’m looking forward to reading too shortly.