{"product_id":"third-strike-smitten-paperback","title":"Third Strike Smitten - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSusan Renee\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery sports columnist in the Pacific Northwest will tell you I'm the cocky ace pitcher of the Portland Lagers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat they don't know is that I've been barely holding it together for years. On the outside, I'm the grumpy pitcher with a chip on my shoulder. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the inside, I'm one bad inning away from believing I'm not good enough to wear this jersey at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYeah. Anxiety and I have been teammates for a long time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe only person who's managed to get inside my head is the cute redhead heckling me from behind home plate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIsla Fallon is relentless, sarcastic, and entirely too good at making me smile when I should be spiraling.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLucky for me, she's also the new flight attendant on our team charter, so when the front office starts whispering about \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etrading me because of my attitude, fake dating the woman who's been roasting me from the stands suddenly seems like a pretty solid PR strategy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut between the kisses for the cameras and the conversations nobody else gets to hear, she sees me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd I see her too.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe's been running from her fears for years, and I understand why. The problem is, I'm falling for her, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand with the season coming to an end, I'm not sure I'm enough to make her stay.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis wasn't how the season was supposed to go and I'm certainly out of my league here, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e but if I've learned anything in this career, it's that games are never won in the first inning.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSometimes the entire game comes down to the final pitch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 372\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.93 x 8 x 5.25 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 26, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49377437712523,"sku":"9781964930282","price":36.78,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0670\/2579\/7259\/files\/USOKqDGHk59781964930282.webp?v=1789620661","url":"https:\/\/thetaletrade.com\/products\/third-strike-smitten-paperback","provider":"The Tale Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}