A review by simonereads40
The Baller by August Jones

5.0

The Baller is the second installment in August Jones's Manhandled series. It's a M/M slow-burn, erotic, baseball player/team owner romance. It's told in a first person, dual point of view. It does deal with some very sensitive topics, so please ensure you review the content and trigger warnings and take care of yourself when reading.

Sawyer Townsend is known in Hollywood as the king maker. His biggest client is musical superstar Gideon York, who also happens to be the ex that broke his heart. For the past seven years, Sawyer's been incredibly lonely, miserable, and drowning in alcohol. One lesser-known aspect of Sawyer's extensive portfolio is ownership of the L.A. Flames major league baseball team. After a stint in rehab, the Flames' rookie pitcher, Adam Haas, recognizes Sawyer. Adam's fighting tooth and nail for his sobriety, and he's so beautiful and vibrant that Sawyer can't help but be enamoured. Their relationship is forbidden at best, and Sawyer is afraid he'll be considered a predator once again. Could they possibly be one another's forevers, or is Adam just another mistake that Sawyer is doomed to repeat?

This boy is trouble. I feel it like a universal truth.

After reading The Handler earlier this month, Sawyer definitely wasn't my favourite character. However, those always seem to be the ones you end up loving in the end! I was thrilled that the next installation in the series was only a few weeks away after that, and my goodness, I wasn't disappointed.

Similarly to The Handler, this book was a gritty, slow-burn romance. August Jones really has a knack for capturing the emotions of the characters in such vivid detail, it feels like you're standing next to them. Although Adam and Sawyer do get their happily ever after, they have to fight for it and deal with some difficult emotions in the process. There were times when I wanted to reach into the book and give them both a good shake, and other times where my heart broke for them. Also similar to The Handler (and yes, we got some Gideon and Jax cameos which made my heart happy), this book touched on some of the raw and gritty emotions surrounding the industry as well as Sawyer and Adam's respective approaches to their sobriety and mental health struggles. Nothing was sugarcoated, and I really appreciated that.

The spice in this book was also phenomenal! The passion and pure lust between Adam and Sawyer absolutely shone through. They were completely vers in the bedroom, and their struggle for control and willingness to contend with surrender was decidedly beautiful to witness and I thought it contributed very well to the overarching plotline of this book.

These characters and this series is so special, and August Jones has such a gift for writing these perfectly imperfect characters that you want to root for. Even if you won't always like them at times, I promise you'll be in it for their happily ever after which they more than deserve! I can't wait to see what's next!

"You'll find this out eventually, but one thing I can tell you about me right now is I take care of what's mine. And that's you, player."