Rowena’s review of The Devil in Denim (New York Saints #1) by Melanie Scott.

Life Just Threw Her A Curveball.

As the team-owner’s daughter, Maggie Jameson grew up in the New York Saints’ stadium—glove, cap, hot dogs, and all. Baseball’s in her blood, and she’s always dreamed of the day when she would lead the Saints to victory herself. That was before her dad had to sell the team to Alex Winters. The fast-talking, fiercely attractive businessman has a baseball pedigree that’s distinctly minor league. Maggie wants to hate him but his skills of seduction, however, are off the charts.

Will Love Be A Home Run?

Alex could never have imagined how much this team means to Maggie. He needs her to help show the players that they’re still a family…even if he and Maggie are at the verge of exchanging blows. But her fiery determination and gorgeous looks prove irresistible to Alex. And much as he wants to relegate their relationship to the playing field—and get the Saints back in the game—Alex just can’t help himself: What he wants to win most is Maggie’s heart…

I’m not a completely huge baseball fan but I do love me some baseball romances so when this book came up for review, I was in.  This book follows Maggie Jameson and Alex Winters as they bicker their way toward their happy ending.

Maggie thought that she was going to grow up and inherit her father’s baseball team as her own but when she shows up for a meeting and learns that Alex Winters and his buddies have bought the team from her father, her dreams of the future she always envisioned for herself are dashed.  Needless to say, she’s devastated. And pissed off.

Alex Winters is happy as a clam to be part owner of the New York Saints and he’s even happier that he was able to buy the team with his two best friends. But as happy as he is, to make this new venture of theirs work, they need Maggie Jameson because the Saints organization is a family based company and that family is completely loyal to the Jamesons, Alex and his friends? Not so much.

This book was a solid read. There were times when I didn’t like Maggie much because her thought processes were annoying and she blew hot and cold, which is something I’m not a fan for. I understood why she was acting the way that she was but over the course of the book, it took its toll on me and I rolled my eyes down the street and back a few times because Maggie was acting like such a bitch.  She comes into her own in the end and I was glad for it because in the beginning, she had this whole entitled attitude going for her and I didn’t like it one bit. The way that she bossed everyone around, from the doorguy to the bartender, she talked at people, not to them and I was glad to see that change as the book progressed.

What I did like in this book was Alex freaking Winters.  I want my own Alex Winters. He was a fantastic hero, one that I just fell in love with. I loved the way that he tried to keep everything together, I loved that he was living his dream with his buddies and that he was trying to make everything work. I liked him as a person and I just liked….him.

This was a good start to a series that I’m interested in reading. There were times in the beginning when I didn’t think I’d want to continue reading because Maggie on my nerves but in the end, I’m glad that I finished this one. The cast of characters were great and I’m very much looking forward to the next book in this series.

Grade: 3 out of 5

This book is available from St. Martin’s Press. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.