Extra Innings is a standalone follow-up to Rounding Third. I did read Rounding Third first, so I knew the details of Braxton’s friendship with Crosby and Ella, and the accident from their senior year of high school that is still affecting all of them two years later. However, I didn’t feel it was necessary to have read Rounding Third first, as Michelle Lynn spells out enough of what happened in Extra Innings that it all makes sense.
This was a cute second-chance romance between college baseball star Braxton and premed student Ainsley. They agree to a summer fling, but just as Brax begins to think he’d like more from Ainsley, she breaks it off and completely disappears. Why? Well, she’s been burned by another baller, and doesn’t want to let open up her heart to Brax. But when they encounter each other several months later, Brax is determined to prove to Ainsley that he’s not like the guy she encountered in the past.
I just wish that the reader would have been able to see more of their previous relationship. There’s a 7-month time jump between their first drunken encounter, and then post-breakup where they meet again. I loved the story. I loved how sweet Brax is when he lets his true self show to Ainsley. But I would have been just slightly more invested in them as a couple with even just a few chapters of their initial dating, rather than being TOLD about it after the fact.
But overall? This is a great sports romance with an awesome HEA for Brax and Ainsley and I can’t wait to see which character has his story told next! I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Sunny Shelly Reads 