Heavy Hitter

A Novel

By: Katie Cotugno

Narrated by: Callie Dalton, Andrew Eiden

The beloved New York Times bestselling author of Birds of California hits it out of the park with this smart, sexy, thrilling take on the celebrity-athlete story—a funny, sizzling, ripped-from-the-headlines romance between an international pop star and a major league baseball player who thought his best days were behind him.

Taylor and Travis. Jennifer and A-Rod. Marilyn and Joe. When a professional athlete and a megawatt star fall in love, the world is obsessed . . .

With four chart-topping albums, Lacey Logan is a superstar whose life no longer feels like her own. Her every move is photographed, videoed, and dissected online, and her carefully curated Instagram feed studied by fans worldwide. To maintain her privacy, Lacey skillfully controls her narrative, showing fans and paparazzi what she wants them to see.

But when Lacey discovers her boyfriend is hiding two devastating secrets—a bad cocaine habit and a pregnant girlfriend—she begins to lose confidence and control of her own story. Then big-shouldered baseball player Jimmy Hodges, a former Rookie of the Year when Lacey was in high school, walks into the bar where she’s venting to a friend. With his shaggy beard and unfashionable button-down, Jimmy is the opposite of the picture-perfect guy Lacey thinks she wants. Soon, sparks fly and inhibitions go out the window when Lacey dares to take some chances.

Lacey and Jimmy are polar opposites. But could this be the forever after they both need?

©2024 Katie Cotugno (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Home Run ❤️🎤⚾️💙

I liked this book about a baseball star falling for a famous pop artist, but I think it would have been better as a dual first person POV instead of 3rd person. I just got tired of hearing the name, “Jimmy” all the time. I would have rather enjoyed listening to them speak of themselves in the first person.

Jimmy and Lacey have chemistry from the first time they meet, but it takes a while, and difficult circumstances for them to realize what they really have.

I can’t imagine how difficult it is to live in the spotlight, but I think the author does a good job of showcasing what life must be like when you have no privacy and you truly want something more with another person.

I liked how Jimmy and Lacey figured it out, and while the book is HFN, it feels like they will make it.

Both narrators do a very nice job.

Written in third person.

Written in third person, so hard to follow and annoying when listening to the audiobook. Narrator voices were well done, storyline was fine, POV ruined it.