The Walk-Off by Megan Cousins: Book Review

 *Book received for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

Emma:

I have a decision to make: Do I stay where I am, living a quiet life, content as a librarian and fill-in soccer coach? Or, do I take the offer my agent keeps bugging me about? A chance to get back into the game after injury nearly ended my career. A chance to play the game I love once more, to retire on my own terms. Should be an easy decision, right?

I thought so.

Until an errant baseball changed my life.

Jax:

It’s been over a decade since my wife left, leaving me with our – my – daughters, and all the responsibilities that go along with raising them. Games and recitals and doctors appointments, and I’ve managed it all just fine, thank you very much. But as the girls get older, I’m realizing there’s so much that we’re all missing out on.

When one particularly lousy batting practice session sends Emma stumbling into our lives, I wonder if she’s the missing piece of our puzzle.

The Walk-Off is a closed door, contemporary, single dad romance, featuring own voices/lived experience depictions of ADHD and chronic pain. The Walk-Off is the fourth book in the Wild Pitches series, but can be read as a standalone.

Megan is a Michigan native who loves books, board games, baseball, and her family - not necessarily in that order. She loves books with wit and banter and scenes that wouldn’t make her grandma blush...so she wrote one.

Megan’s stories are filled with humor and heart, sometimes obscure baseball references, swoon-worthy heroes, and heroines who aren’t afraid to speak their mind.

Connect with Megan on Instagram: @authormegancousins

Or Twitter: @Meg_mcuzz

The Walk-Off is the fourth and final book in the Wild Pitches series. While couples from previous books make appearances throughout, this could be read just fine as a standalone for the most part. It does however include 4 epilogues to wrap up the series as a whole--- one for each book's couple, so if you haven't read the previous books, they probably wouldn't make much sense. 

I have read many fantastic single dad romances, but I have to say--- Jax is definitely a standout for me in this category! I'd enjoyed seeing him in the background in previous books but was so thrilled to get to know his story better.  I love how deeply he loves his girls and isn't afraid to show it and be emotional about it. As much as I loved his relationship with Emma, his relationship with his girls was just the absolute sweetest! Emma was the perfect match not just for him, but to complete their family... it really just made their love story all that much sweeter. 

One of the things that I've loved about this series is that the books take on various chronic illnesses/mental health issues as well. As someone who also deals with chronic illness, pain and a variety of mental illnesses myself, that's something that I really appreciate. This book was another fantastic example of that, taking on ADHD, anxiety and pain so very well. 

The Walk-Off is a closed-door romance, with nothing beyond kisses and no language.