A second chance, sports romance that had me feeling a ton of empathy for the heroine.

Christina and Cole have been in a yo-yo type of relationship since Freshman year of college. A relationship where Cole actually held the yo-yo and Christina was the string that he tugged back and forth at his command.  

For Cole, baseball was always his first and foremost concentration, which Christina did respect and understand, but Cole also put Christina in the bootycall category even when he knew deep down she was something more than just the other random hookups he had while attending Fullton. In his mind, he associated a girlfriend with fulltime work, so if he kept Christina at arms length then he wouldn't feel pressured and he would be able to focus on baseball. Instead he actually found his senior year game less than satisfactory and his mind on her all the time, perhaps his plan wasn't working like it should.

Christina had finally had enough of Cole playing with her months before Senior year. His yo-yo game with her heart was finally enough. However, when he asks for another chance, this time a real chance and not just a late night hookup, she has to think if her heart can take it. Can she forgive him? They already have years of actual history together, but is it enough to repair the damage to her self esteem?

I was able to empathize with Christina so easily in this story. Many years ago I dated someone who kept me in a yo-yo cycle and it played havoc on my emotions and bruised my self esteem hard. I know what it's like to jump into something you want to believe in so hard only to get damaged over and over again. That self destructive pattern is so easy to follow, but that is why fiction is so much better than real life.

That being said, The Ninth Inning will take you on an emotional journey. One that I definitely identified with.