Guest Post and Giveaway: All of Me by Jennifer Bernard
Jennifer Bernard dropped by the virtual offices to celebrate the release of her latest, All of Me. Check it out!
When I started writing this post, it was supposed to be about my five favorite baseball players, but then I realized that on top of my list was Crash Davis. Don’t know him? That might be because he’s the completely fictional catcher played by Kevin Costner in the movie Bull Durham. I’m still crushed that Crash is not a real person. So I changed things up a little, and now offer you … my five favorite baseball movies!
#5 Million Dollar Arm
Jon Hamm. Need I say more? This movie is about the search for a pitching phenom in the baseball-oblivious nation of India. It’s actually based on a true story, because who could make something like that up? It’s a little (okay, maybe a lot) Disney-fied, but I love India, I love baseball, and besides … Jon Hamm.
Tied for #5 Moneyball
Brad Pitt. Need I say more? Moneyball delves into baseball statistics and backroom deal-making and is oddly fascinating. Besides … Brad Pitt.
#4 The Perfect Game
Also based on a true story, this movie is about a group of boys in Mexico who start up a Little League team in a country where there’s no organized baseball. On a three-day visa, they cross the border to play for a spot in the playoffs, never dreaming they’ll make it all the way to the World Series. By some miracle, they do, and their star pitcher, a skinny, scrappy kid, pitches the only perfect game in Little League World Series history. Baseball is about impossible dreams becoming possible, which this movie captures perfectly.
#3 Pitch Perfect
I know, it’s not about baseball, but it does contain the word “Pitch” and it belongs on any top five favorite movie list I write, so there.
The real #3. 42
The sport of baseball gives true character a chance to shine. When Jackie Robinson became the first black player on a Major League team, he went through a gauntlet of emotions and experiences. This movie shows it all, the good, the bad, and the shameful. It’s worth a rental just for Chadwick Bosworth’s incredible performance, but it’s mostly a compelling story about a proud man proving his skill and ability under almost unimaginable pressure.
#2 A League of Their Own
A classic. I love every second of this movie, even the ones with Madonna. It too is loosely based on the true story of a women’s baseball league formed during World War II, when the male players were unavailable. It’s a riot watching these women try to win over audiences who are completely skeptical about their talent. It’s about friendship, sisterhood, patriotism, and doing what you love.
#1 Bull Durham
Number 1 in my heart, forever and ever, Bull Durham stars Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in a movie about a Triple A team in North Carolina. It’s adorable, it’s romantic, it’s sexy, it’s hilarious, it’s minor league baseball in all its quirky perfection. I freely admit that this movie inspired my new series, Love Between the Bases, which is about a minor league team in Texas. I wrote it because I wanted more of that pure, goofy baseball spirit, more romance and heat and fun and mostly … I still, to this day, want Crash Davis to be real.
What are a few of your favorite sports movies?
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Jennifer Bernard, the USA Today bestselling author of the Bachelor Firemen series, scores another homerun with a brand-new series about sexy, single baseball players.
Playing for the Kilby Catfish is hotshot pitcher Caleb Hart’s last chance to salvage his career after a major league meltdown. But the day of his opener with the minor league team, Caleb strikes out with the gorgeous woman who is delivering a petition to run the unruly Catfish out of town. Now to stay in the lineup, Caleb will need to score big with the feisty brunette he can’t keep out of his thoughts.
After the nasty lies Sadie Merritt’s rich ex-boyfriend spread about her all over town, she’s lucky to have a job at all. She can’t afford to screw it up by falling for the player who is supposed to be helping her change the image of the fun-loving Catfish. But that’s easier said than done when Caleb’s voice alone is enough to make her pulse race. And when he surprises her with a mind-blowing kiss, she knows there’s no turning back.
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Jennifer Bernard is the USA Today bestselling author of the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriels series. She is a graduate of Harvard and a former news promo producer. The child of academics, she confounded her family by preferring romance novels to … well, any other books. She left big city life for true love in Alaska, where she now lives with her husband and stepdaughters. She’s no stranger to book success, as she also writes erotic novellas under a naughty secret name not to be mentioned at family gatherings.
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