An Unexpected Catch by Abbey Downey Review

 

I loved this second book in Abbey Downey's Adventurous Hearts series. When I first learned about An Unexpected Catch I was intrigued by the thought of a story of women's baseball in the early 1900's. And I really enjoyed the first book, An Uncertain Road. So I jumped at the chance to be on the launch team.

This story is told from both the point of view of Bea Curran and Emmett Worland. Bea is working as an umpire in Chicago's city league though she has dreams of working in the women's athletic department at Western College where she hopes to expand physical education. She needs to keep herself above reproach and prove that she can make something of the women's baseball team at the college. 

Emmett has unfairly gotten the reputation of being a womanizer and his grandmother demands that he change his reputation if he wants to continue receiving her support. I felt awfully bad for him because he didn't feel like he had the love of his grandmother, the woman who raised him. Plus he was dealing with a malady that threatened his career in baseball, where he really wanted to prove himself. 

Bea and Emmett are thrown together both in the city league games where he is pitcher and she is the umpire, and at the college where it is suggested he help with the women's baseball team. While trying to remain professional and keep their reputations on the up and up, there might just be some feelings developing. But can Bea get past the stories of Emmett being a womanizer? She can't risk losing her future and isn't sure if she can chance any kind of relationship. 

This story sure made me realize how far we have come with women's rights. Imagine worrying about not being able to have your dream job just because you want to fall in love. And also watching poor Emmett suffer made me so thankful for the advances in medicine in the past century. I just loved how the author brought this time period to life. And I loved getting to know Emmett and Bea and Emmett's grandmother, and their friends and colleagues. This was an intriguing story and I loved the way the characters overcame adversity and how they trusted in the Lord. 

I highly recommend this story.

I received an e-copy of this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.