Julie Cross

Whatever Life Throws at You by Julie Cross Life loves a good curveball... Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas's life is completely upended the moment her dad returns to the major leagues as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Now she's living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports. But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet...and one starring the Royals' super-hot rookie pitcher. But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad would kill them both several times over. Not to mention Brody has something of a past, and his fan club is filled with C-cupped models, not smart-mouthed high school "brats" who can run the pants off every player on the team. Annie has enough on her plate without taking their friendship to the next level. The last thing she should be doing is falling in love. But baseball isn't just a game. It's life. And sometimes, it can break your heart...

Whatever Life Throws at You

Jaclyn

*4.5*

AWWWW THAT WAS SO SWEET!!!! 

  "You are intimidatingly handsome. I'm just now getting used to looking at you." 
"And you are intimidatingly pretty."  

Really loved this one! It follows 17 year old Annie who's father become a baseball coach set to train super hot 19 year old Jason Brody! It's a story about baseball, romance, family, and self growth. And it's got an extremely sexy pitcher who has officially been added to the book boyfriend list like Jason Brody, can you be more perfect?! *drools*

  I don't know when this happened, but I know for sure tonight I've developed a big fat crush on Jason Brody, and unfortunately there's a club forming and membership is growing with every inning he pitches.   


So obviously I loved the romance between Brody and Annie. The way they meet is hysterical and I was dying of laughter and butterflies so many time during this book! But initially, they don't really hit it off. On the surface, he seems as if he gets around all time, he's apparently an "ex convict" and somebody she should stay clear off. But in reality, he's not a bad guy AT ALL! And I loved how they became friends first and got to know one another before jumping right into it. It was an extremely well developed relationship. Clearly, they have a spark and mutual attraction immediately but Julie Cross took the time for the characters to build a friendship and then have it turn romantic and it is literally the CUTEST THING EVER! THE BANTER, the text messages!! Ahhhh!!! And it has that summer romance feel too it, that just makes you SWOON! 

But they hide their relationship because she's the coaches daughter, and he's on his way to becoming Rookie of the year. It's a very sweet romance and it has that forbidden tone to it. 

  "I think you're a good person," I say quietly, before slipping the bed to retrieve my clothes. He exhales, and his eyes meet mine. 

"All I know is that I want to be the person you and your dad think I am.Maybe even more than I want to be a great pitcher."   

I also LOVED the BASEBALL aspect!! Baseball is one of my favorite sports so it was really cool to read about her describing the game, watching Brody play and work his way up. It was very intense and some of the highlights of the story for me (next to the romance of course) 

  Pressure is just that-pressure. It's all in your head. It has nothing to do with what you can or can't do.   

Another part that I loved was how important family was. Annie's relationship with her father is truly something special and was really great to read about. I loved all that she learned from him and how they were there for one another. And her friendship with Lenny was really nice to see too! 

The only thing that frustrated me as I was reading it was this constant "age" mention and how kept being brought up! He's only about 2 years older! It's really not a big deal but I guess her being in high school,I can see how it's a big deal to her. But as a 24 year old, i was like "it's not that bad, why do you keep talking about it?!" Annie continues to strive not to look like a child to Brody, but like seriously he's not THAT much older that you! I can see from her perspective but it was still a little annoying to read. I did appreciate her character growth though and that ending was ADORABLE!!! 

Overall this is a great summer romance book to get lost in and you've got to meet Jason Brody!

"Loved this book! Great characters, great story, & so much swooning!" –Cindi Madsen, USA Today bestselling author Life loves a good curveball... Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas's life is completely upended the moment her dad returns to the major leagues as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Now she's living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports. But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet...and one starring the Royals' super-hot rookie pitcher. But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad would kill them both several times over. Not to mention Brody has something of a past, and his fan club is filled with C-cupped models, not smart-mouthed high school "brats" who can run the pants off every player on the team. Annie has enough on her plate without taking their friendship to the next level. The last thing she should be doing is falling in love. But baseball isn't just a game. It's life. And sometimes, it can break your heart...

Becky

** spoiler alert **
           This is the first book I've finished since September! And it was so very enjoyable and nothing like I expected.

I was fully invested in Annie and Brody getting together. I actually picked it up that I would hate him because he seemed so full of himself... but turns out Annie and I were very wrong. He was sweet and charming and it was so lovely reading their story. 

I will admit this book had flaws. The flow of the story was a little all over the place. It seemed to rush through with a really good bit of plot and then we jumped over a few weeks and I didn't realise until they mentioned something which I thought was a long way off. And I also didn't like how we didn't get more of Brody's past. It was hinted at but never fully explained and I hate being left with unanswered questions. The same thing happened with Annie's mom, why was there not more about why she was leaving all the time? And why didn't we have more on her dad? And then there's her best mate, Lenny, where was her story? Does she get her own book? I want her to have her own book. 

Basically, this was an enjoyable book I didn't want to put down and was fully enjoyable.... but I did have a few things I wish were wrapped up better.

Kelly Casey

Where do I start? A romance between a 17 year old girl in high school and a major league baseball player. Yikes. I tried so hard to get past this, but I just found it so cringe-y. They are less than 2 years apart which is a totally acceptable age difference. I am 2 years older than my boyfriend. But in this case when she is still in high school and very immature, and he is an ex juvenile delinquent and a major league baseball player who is way more mature than her it just is so bad. The author could have easily written the book so that the plot has the main character about to turn 18, and then with the time jumps she is an adult by the time they get together, but that's not the plot she chose. That would have been a perfect way to do the age difference in a reasonable way. I'm sure when this book came out in 2014, and I was only 19 years old I would have loved this. Now, that I am much older I can't help but get very creeped out and on edge reading about this young girl alone with an older guy losing her virginity to him while sneaking around and lying to people. They knew it was wrong, the author knew it was wrong, so why is this considered a good love story. Sure, I liked it well enough, but I just can't get over how wrong it felt.

Danni’s Badass Books

⭐ 5 Stars ⭐

Wow this was such a great read! I don't really like sports all that much but that didn't stop me from absolutely loving this! 

The baseball part of the book was still enjoyable as it wasn't too big of a focus. You don't have to know anything about baseball to know what's going on in the games, it does explain for anyone that is completely new to the sport though so I could follow along which was nice. 

I loved the characters, they were amazing and worked really well together especially the main two, Jason and Annie. It was also great to see family was an important aspect of the book as it's a huge part of my life as well. 

If you like the romance genre I suggest reading this even if you don't like sports, I promise (hopefully) that you'll enjoy it!

Find this review and more at 
  kimberlyfaye reads
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Believe it or not, Whatever Life Throws at You is only my second Julie Cross book. (The first was Third Degree.) I love-love-loved both of these books and am taking it as a very clear sign that I need to examine her backlist and find my next favorite book. I thoroughly enjoy her characters and her writing style and am kicking myself for not reading more from her sooner.

I had high hopes for Whatever Life Throws at You from the minute I saw the *first* cover several months ago. The blurb sounded fantastic and I had a total case of grabby hands over this one. I love sports romance books, and even though baseball isn't a sport I particularly enjoy in real life, I've read a few baseball books in the past. This is, without a doubt, my favorite in the genre though. Billed as young adult, it definitely deals with some mature themes that some might think are better suited for new adult, but I like it as a YA book because of the focus on school (or school sports), family and first love. There is some language and sexual content, but it's not graphic. I wasn't sure where this story would go and I hoped it wouldn't fall into the trap that so many other sports romances to – girl falls for guy, guy cheats on girl, blah blah blah. And I'm pleased to say it didn't.

As much as I loved the storyline, I loved the characters even more. Annie was likable and believable. A real girl. She wasn't a prima donna or a total tomboy. She fell somewhere comfortably in the middle for me. And Jason Brody? *swoon* Thank you, Julie, for sharing him with readers. Jason's destined to become one of my favorite book boyfriends of the year. The kid was young to be dealing with the pressure and expectations that come with being being a sports star, but he was in it for the right reasons and didn't let his fame go to his head. I've read one too many conceited, off the rails athlete books and again am ridiculously excited that Julie didn't take us down this path. Instead, she gave us a book with real and likable characters... and a bit of forbidden love. Or, at the very least, frowned upon love. And I, for one, love that trope. 

One of my other favorite things about this book was Annie's relationship with her father. No, it wasn't always perfect, but it was realistic. Her dad was a fantastic character in his own right. A former baseball player who lost a leg (and his chance at true sports glory) thanks to cancer, he saw a lot of himself in Jason Brody. His own past was complicated and he didn't always do the right thing either. But, the love between Annie and her father was evident. He supported her at her track meets and really had her best interests in heart when it came to Jason. (Or, you know, so he thought.) Annie's mother, however, was a total piece of work. She only comes around when she's hurting for money or attention and Annie is sick of watching her dad suffer because of it. So, as proud and protective as he was of her, Annie was just as proud and protective of him. 

This book gave me feels and warm fuzzies galore. I laughed and, yes, I definitely teared up a bit. There wasn't a HUGE amount of drama, but what was there definitely felt believable. I have a total book crush on everything about Whatever Life Throws at you. From the characters to the dialogue to the story, it was absolutely perfect in my eyes. Books like this are why, even at 30+ years old, I just can't give up young adult contemporaries. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Whatever Life Throws at You

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