THE DEVIL IN DENIM – Melanie Scott
New York Saints Trilogy , Book 1
St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN: 978-1-250-04042-8
September 2014
Contemporary Romance

New York City – Present Day

Maggie Jameson has breathed baseball all her life as the only child of the New York Saint's team owner, but when her father suddenly sells the team to Alex Winters, she is distraught and angry. She felt she would be tapped to run the team when her father retired, but now it's all gone. She is drunk in a bar when Alex finds her, and she lets her anger show to him, but he just seems amused. He asks her to help with the transition, which brings them into close contact with each other, and to her surprise, he asks her to stay on. Dare she consort with the man she considers the enemy? How about the fact that she suddenly finds herself attracted to him?

Alex finds Maggie intriguing and attractive, but he doesn't plan to mix pleasure with business because he first has to get the sale approved by the owners, and Maggie has made it clear she doesn't like him. They quarrel like an old married couple, yet the more they do so, the greater he finds her desirable. Alex isn't into relationships, and getting involved with Maggie could only end badly. But the battle between them soon turns into heated kisses. Maybe a fling is in order to scratch the itch?

It's a battle of the sexes, baseball style, in THE DEVIL IN DENIM by Melanie Scott. Maggie had expected that she would take over the running of the team, and it's been her whole life. The sale has thrown her for a loop, and Alex is the easiest target of her anger. He's laid back and bent on running the team his way, yet he's going to need the help of an insider, so Maggie is his first choice. The fact that she's beautiful and isn't afraid to challenge him just turns him on even more. Their chemistry sizzles right from the first pages of THE DEVIL IN DENIN as Maggie rages (while drunk) at Alex about “stealing” her livelihood. But soon they're working together to ward off a threat to the takeover because a new interloper may be worse than Alex. But if Alex fails, is there a chance her father would get the team back? Is Maggie bedding the devil to help Alex…or herself?

There's a sexually charged atmosphere in THE DEVIL IN DENIM as Maggie and Alex strive to ignore the attraction between them, but it soon can't be denied. If the press gets hold of any hint of a romance or sexual alliance between them, it may ruin the sale and bog down the team's future, especially since it's already struggling financially on and off the field. Alex's goal is to make it work, even if it means asking the one person for help who hates him for buying the team: Maggie. But as THE DEVIL IN DENIM gains steam, it's more than working together that's going on.

A sizzling tale that adds in the battle of the sexes in the sports world and makes THE DEVIL IN DENIM a must read for romance lovers. It's steamy and edgy, with the right amount of emotion to pull readers in. Maggie and Alex started off as adversaries, but by the end of THE DEVIL IN DENIM they're both working for the same goal in making the team—and their own future relationship—the best.

Patti Fischer