Girl at Heart by Kelly Oram Published by Bluefields on 2019-11-04
Length: 186 pages
Reviewing Kindle from Amazon
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2019 New Release Challenge
As the daughter of a successful Major League pitcher, Charlie Hastings has baseball in her blood. Unfortunately, being the only girl on her high school baseball team, Charlie has always been just one of the guys.
When her best friend, and secret love of her life, asks another girl to the prom, Charlie is devastated. She’s tired of being overlooked by boys because she’s not like other girls. Suffering a massive identity crisis, she decides to hang up her cleats and finally learn how to be a girl.
But with only two weeks until the state championships, the Roosevelt High Ravens can’t afford to lose their star catcher. Team captain Jace King makes her a deal: Don’t quit the team, and he’ll help her become the girl she’s so desperate to be. After all, he’s got four sisters, one of whom happens to be a cheerleader. He knows a thing or two about girls. (And if he can win her heart in the process, all the better.)
From the bestselling young adult author of Cinder & Ella, V is for Virgin, and the Avery Shaw Experiment comes a new sweet romance that's sure to leave you with all the feels! Girl at Heart is a clean and wholesome sports romance that will leave you with warm fuzzies and an itch to watch a baseball game.
Y’all I know better than to start a Kelly Oram book at bedtime. I know better, yet I do it with every release. The lack of sleep was worth it. Girl at Heart is Kelly Oram‘s first release in over two years, and it is perfect! I have never picked up one of her books and not had a smile at the end. Girl at Heart broke my heart, put it back together, and reminded me of the sweet butterflies that come with first kisses and first loves.
“As the daughter of a successful Major League pitcher, Charlie Hastings has baseball in her blood.” This first line of the blurb says it all. Charlie is a catcher, top in her league as her team enters the playoffs. She’s happy with this life, but as a senior in high school, she knows the likelihood of playing in college is low. Baseball is a boys’ sport. She isn’t bitter about it, she accepts it. But she is now having a bit of an identity crisis. She’s always been just one of the boys, her three best friends are boys, and they treat her like a boy, not a girl. But Charlie is a girl, she just doesn’t have anyone to show her the girly things in life. When her secret crush on her best friend is (for lack of a better word) crushed, she’s ready to throw in the towel. Then enters the team captain Jace King.
Jace isn’t like Charlie’s friends. He’s kind and empathetic. As the older brother of four sisters (I think that’s the right number), he gets girls and understands Charlie’s dilemma. Not to mention he may be harboring his own crush. I love Jace. He is exactly what Charlie needs when her world seems to fall in on itself.
The plot of this one reminds me a lot of the movie She’s All That. Now Charlie isn’t the shy nerd from that movie, but the transformation and how her friends react to it are similar. Like all of Kelly Oram‘s books, Girl at Heart explores the emotions and struggles of the character in a realistic, natural way. I knew Charlie, she felt real. I cried with her, laughed with her, and shared her joy as she discovered herself. I may have even fell in love with the King boy. Shhh…don’t tell Brian 😉
Overall I love Girl at Heart. I read it in one sitting and really want to pick it up and read it again. Set in the same world as Robin Daniel’s One of the Girls, it makes for a fun tie-in to the others at Roosevelt High. Not only do you have a cameo from that series, there is at least one easter egg from Kellywood, and I may have squealed and giggled as Charlie learns to do in this one. What makes this book stand out above her others is the relationships that Charlie establishes. Not just with Jace, but with Leila and her dad. I love how well built and real they feel. If you enjoy YA contemporary or you’re looking for a fun, sweet romance, I highly recommend you grab a copy of Girl at Heart.
About Kelly Oram
Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen--a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which her family and friends still tease her. She's obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and likes to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, four children, and her cat, Mr. Darcy.
funny, knowing better than starting at bedtime. sometimes we just can’t wait!
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I think this sounds really good and Charlie sounds like a character that I’d enjoy too.
This definitely looks super cute series with some great characters 😀 awesome that it hooked you.
LOL, I’ve made that mistake to start a book by an author I love late. This sounds fun!
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