MVP by C.E. Gray

MVP
by C.E. Gray
Pages: 160
Date: 2001
Publisher: The Athenaeum
Series: None
Fanfiction: Xena
URL: http://xenafiction.net/scrolls/ce_gray_mvp1.html

Review
Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0
Read: August 4 to 7 2016

Cody Madison is a six foot tall baseball player (with long black hair and blue eyes) on a 'fairly new MLB baseball team' named the San Diego Warriors. Cody is the only female on the team.

The first team these Warriors face is the Saint Louis Cardinals. And I only know two of those (well, I stress the I part) - a MLB team, and a former NFL team (they are now the Arizona Cardinals). Though the part wherein we are suddenly inside the pitchers head and he's thinking back to the fact that the last time he faced a woman at the plate, she bady sprained his hand. Considering that thought that was revealed in that scene, there are more than just Cody out there as female players, though only one on the Warriors team.

The book was put out there into the universe sometime around 2001. There's a moment when Mark McGwire Jr. appeared - whereupon the lead character noted that his father had retired years ago in 2007. So, this is set in some unknown year when 2007 is years ago and women play, supposedly, in the MLB. Ah. It's 2017.

I expect, considering everything, that the other main in this story will be the 'small blond woman with green eyes' who Cody spots sitting at 'her table' at her favorite bar & grill with a small 5 year old named Jeffrey. - That would be 25 year old Jennie Donavon and her son Jeffrey Donavon. Who, at their first meeting, didn't recognize Cody as Cody (though had heard stories about this 'Cody' person).

So - this one will involve family issues. What with Jeannie having a son, and Cody having a brother who calls begging for money (though he had disowned her 12 years ago right after their father had died). Oh, though it will not involve, directly, Cody's parents, because both are dead. Though Jeannie's two parents are alive, and, apparently, the mother keeps trying to set up Jeannie with dates with men.

heh. That's one of the problems of writing a book in 2001 and setting it in 2017. Jeannie's apparently not out as a lesbian with her family because 'that'd go over like a lead balloon'. 2017 and still worrying about the reactions of parents, and of your own son. mmphs. heh. (and yeah, in real life everything isn't pretty ponies and chocolate candies, people still have deep issues, I'm not attempting to over look that, just noting that apparently women breaking the barrier of the MLB is seen by the book as being more realistic than an out lesbian mother).

Jeannie, to round things out, works in a day care. While Cody is a rich athlete baseball player.

Actually, to 'round things out', I should probably mention Garret, since he helped Cody when Cody's parents up and died, and owns a bar & grill that COdy likes hanging out it - oh, and they are close and stuff. So . . he's an important side character. So I should mention him.

So, as expected, there's Romance. And the two leads, Cody and Jeannie, seemed to like each other immediately.

--
Updated (8/7/16):
You can tell that this started life as Xena fanfiction by the numerous times that the two lead characters are referred to by physical characteristics. 'The blonde one' (or more likely 'the young blonde'), and the 'tall one' (or 'dark haired one'), plus numerous mentions of eye color. Vaguely annoying but that's life.

This is one of those books that had two people (well three since one had a kid) come together relatively smoothly and get along quite well. Then . . . ANGST! DRAMA! SPLIT! WHY AM I IN ALL CAPS?

Well, the 'point of conflict' is different than I've seen before. Which is saying something since this book is from 2001. The conflict, which I cannot elaborate on too much because of spoiler concerns, involves a forced separation by outside forces. It is true that I've read several (many? I forget now) that had some kind of 'forced separation' but those books were set long after that point when a 'second chance' can/could occur. Not here. Here the forced separation occurred mid stream, as it were. As in, we are not meeting people 15 years after the split, we meet people before they were ever together, then with them together, then with them split. Story is not told through a bunch of flashbacks.

--
This is/was a rather good book. It kind of sneaked up on me - everything was going a certain way and suddenly everything felt deeper, more important. Well, I do not really know what I'm talking about or rambling about. It be 3 am. Me talk funny now. Was good book.

August 7 2016