Wednesday Wonders: HOT CORNER MAGIC by Carol Malone

Today's Wednesday Wonders features 

Hot Corner Magic 

by Carol Malone 

About Hot Corner Magic: For the Love of the Game...

For the love of game!

Think The Natural meets The Bad News Bears...

During the hot ’49 summer baseball season, the Sox’s hot corner – third baseman – Ruby Fleming, fouls out, and slides into the bottle, landing himself in a minor league team in Texas.

Can a bull-headed, tough-talking manager and a dark-haired angel named, Rebecca, coach Rudy to swing for the fences to save his career, his life, and get the magic back at hot corner?

Excerpt:

Rudy, still woozy from a night of celebratory drinking, held the bat with trembling hands and stared down at a blurry, weaving Bearden. "Whatcha got, Traveler? Lemme see yer best."

"Big cheese, ain't ya?" Jim Hegan, crouched behind the plate grumbled. "Well, Harvard, you're just a cucumber whose pickled himself too many times."

Rudy spun around, bat raised, ready to pound Hegan into oatmeal mush. "Take that back."

The umpire stepped between both players. "Stop bustin' Fleming's chops, Hegan. You take your stance, Fleming. Play ball."

Seething, Rudy faced forward again, swinging the bat around then took his batting stance.

Bearden reared back, threw heat, a fastball down and away, Rudy managed to hold up.

"Ball," the ump boomed.

Bells clanged in Rudy's head. He held up his hand and called for time. Stepping out of the batter's box, he glanced down at the third base coach who relayed a signal from the manager.

Bunt.

Not a chance in hell. He wouldn't do it. This was his time to be a hero--the champ he'd been while playing ball four years at Harvard, while earning his mechanical engineering degree.

Rudy stepped back in the batter's box, whirled his bat, hooking it above his shoulder. The crowd of 33,000 surged to their feet, their shouts deafening.

Williams took his lead off first.

Staring down at Bearden, Rudy's eyes flew in and out of focus, his tongue felt numb, his hands shuddered. He had to stop hitting the sauce--right after the Sox won the Series.

Bearden wound up, his foot kicking high, his long arm behind him. Whoosh. 

More heat.

Rudy swung with every ounce of muscle and sinew. The horrible pop of the ball smacking leather reverberated throughout the stadium. The entire crowd went silent. The only other sound was the umpire calling, "Strike threeeee. You're ooooout!"

My Book Review:

This was a great story of redemption. I really enjoyed reading about this young man full of himself to the point he refuses to recognize his self-destructive behavior. He is given a wake-up call when he is sent back to the minors to work under the tutelage of a grizzled old coach, Buzz, who takes no nonsense. He works Rudy to death, but will not let him play until Rudy decides for himself to stop drinking. That "kick-in-the-backside" encouragement, along with the love of the coach's granddaughter provides incentive.

I loved the folksy language of the story, typical, I understand, of pulp fiction. I felt it added immensely to the flavor of the story. The author wrote excellent, believable characters, and the story had a great plot. This is a delightful story, no matter your usual reading genre.

About Carol Malone

Carol & husband-L.A. Dodgers fans

An award winning novelist, Carol Malone writes new-pulp-fiction suspense kissed with romance that rockets readers into the past. In her novels, she encourages women (and men) to overcome doubts and fears. If not hammering out new tales, Carol is reading, watching the Dodgers, (sob!) and Hallmark on TV. Her sci-fi author husband can't understand how Carol can read and watch TV at the same time. She loves to talk sports and romance and invites all to chat with her on her website.

Be sure to read the short introduction on Carol’s website that explains how she got her start writing pulp fiction romances.

 

Connect with Carol:

Website | Facebook | Twitter 

Carol's Other Books:

Fight Card Romance: Ladies Night
Fight Card Romance: Ladies Night Christmas