The Third Baseman

The New York Lions, Book 1

By: Lulu Moore

Narrated by: Mia Madison, Patrick Zeller

Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

My name is Jupiter Reeves, and I am a fraud.

It's not that what's written about me isn't true. I am the greatest third baseman of my generation, possibly ever. I am surly and unapproachable. I do have a constant scowl with an armor of tattoos.

To the outside world, I play my role as the bad boy of baseball like I was born to do it. But when the doors are closed, and you boil it down, I'm nothing more than a man who lost his heart too young, with no prospect of getting it back... especially as I still have no idea where its current owner is.

That was until I was offered an opportunity I couldn't refuse: Leave the Los Angeles Dodgers—where I've played my entire career—and join The New York Lions in exchange for tracking down the one woman who's consumed me since the day I first saw her fourteen years ago. Job done.

Now we're under the same roof once again, except Marnie Matthews wants nothing to do with me or my heart. So, along with winning the Commissioner's Trophy, I have the added challenge of winning back the only woman I've ever loved before the season ends and convincing her to stay in New York with me.

I might have been stupid enough to lose her once, but I'm definitely not going to do it again. Marnie Matthews is about to become the biggest achievement of my life.

©2023 Lulu Moore (P)2023 Podium Audio

So good!

I mostly came here to say how fantastic the male narrator was. Wow!! So entertaining. Such a spot on performance of the character.

Scoring Position 

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (3/5)
𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 🎙️🎙️🎙️(3/5) 

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:  
Pro-Baseball Romance 
First Love 
Second Chance Romance 
Grumpy-Sunshine 
Touch Her and 💀 
Dual POV 
Dual timeline 
 
𝐕𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬:  
I definitely think I should’ve read this earlier! The dual timeline definitely adds to the story. It was written in the stars - Jupiter Reeves and Marnie Matthews were meant to be together! I didn’t love that it took 14 years for them to find each other again, BUT the angst enhance the spice! and spice. I LOVE that Marnie had an instant girl gang. Reeves choosing to leave the only thing he’s ever known to have a second chance with Marnie - *swoon worthy* Jupiter is absolutely obsessed, and I’m here for it. Marnie’s bookworm tendencies could have painted her as a wallflower, but when the opportunity presented itself, she was not shy about being in Jupiters orbit.  
 
𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 
 
𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:  
Narrated by Patrick Zeller and Mia Madison. 
Patrick has a more mature voice than the MMC. The flashbacks scenes are of an 18 year old, and Patrick’s voice sounds in the late 30-40 year old range. His tone during spicy scenes were distracting. I like Patrick’s voice, but don’t believe this was the best book for him to narrate. With dual narration, I prefer to have all male voices narrated by the male voice actor and vice versa. Mia also sounded more mature than the FMC, but her narration did not distract from the story. Overall the pacing was good for both narrators, but there were times where the volume dilated too much. I missed certain phrases had to rewind. 

All new to me, authors and narrators! Great Job!

Ahh the angst! This book started out with all the feels right away & I was hooked!
This is a second chance, turned enemies to lovers romance. 14 years ago high school sweethearts, Jupiter and Marnie were your typical top athlete and nerdy girl high school couple. Until Jupiter broke Marnie’s heart and took off for the major leagues. I fell in love with these two and with the mystery of why Jupiter did what he did to her all those years ago. The Third Baseman goes back and forth from past to present. The past was sweet, they were truly crazy for each other and both determined to reach their future goals. The past really showed you Marnie’s love for the stars and planets and her dreams to work for NASA. The present was emotional for them both. Jupiter was a Major League Baseball player, he was at the top of his game. After moving MLB teams he had one contract condition and that was to bring Marnie back to him, to give her a job with the new team and give him a chance to win her back. Marnie had her dream job with NASA but unfortunately she was fresh off a divorce and when a new job to work for the MLB presented itself, she couldn’t pass it up. Now they were both in New York and Jupiter was determined to win her back, if she was aware of it or not.
Patrick Zeller narrated Jupiter and did a fantastic job. He brought to life Jupiter’s bad boy persona, but also voiced his true feelings towards Marnie, and his regret for breaking her heart and letting so much time go by. He had such a unique voice that made me really vision what Jupiter looked like with his epic tattoos and all. Mia Madison narrated Marnie perfectly. she gave Marnie the maturity and sass she needed to stand up for herself and voice her emotions. I love a second chance romance & loved the baseball aspect of it all.

Amazing performance

* Sports Romance
* Second Chance
* Soulmates
* Workplace / Forced Proximity

Audiobook review - narrated by Mia Madison and Patrick Zeller

4 stars for story
5 stars for performance

This story was so much more than your typical sports romance. The story starts with Marnie moving to New York for a new job with The New York Lions baseball team only to learn her childhood sweetheart plays for the team. Thanks to the expertly placed flashbacks, we learn that Jupiter left a heartbroken teenaged Marnie on the porch of her house just after getting drafted straight out of high school. The rest of the story is a slow burn, angsty journey to see if these two can make their way back to each other despite working together and trying to navigate their relationship. I absolutely love the dual POV and the flashbacks, as mentioned, are perfectly placed to give us the story of how two people, who were seemingly made for each other, didn't make it all those years ago.

When I say Patrick Zeller is an excellent narrator, please know that it's not an adequate description. The way he performs Jupiter's character with so much emotion is something that I haven't experienced in a long time. There were times I felt he was actually experiencing the scenes he was portraying, that is how good he was in this book. Mia Madison was also amazing as Marnie. Her character goes through so many emotions and everyone of them is felt through her narration.

I can't wait to see what's in store for the next Lion.

I’m in love with Jupiter Reeves!

Wow! This story was incredible!

I love a good second chance romance as much as the next gal, but this was perfection!

I absolutely loved all of the flashbacks so that we really got to know Jupiter and Marnie then and now. The way they both dealt with the loss of each other was so realistic and relatable.

I was enthralled from the beginning and can’t wait to continue the series!

What a great start to the series!!!

I have found a new favorite narrator, Patrick Zeller really sold me Jupiter. Both Natrators are amazing and give you all the feels.Now for the story; June and Marnie, what can I say. This two were perfect for each other. After a long, and I mean a long 14 years, so much has happened in their lives, but one thing is for sure, Jupiter never stopped loving her.
Now to get her back, is a journey to Jupiter and back… Haha! ( see what I did there)
This was a slow burn, get your girl type of read and I love it. I also was amaze with all the little references to the starts/planets that were made that just made it more special.
Ready for more of this series!

Narration 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Story Line 🎧🎧🎧🎧
Over all 4.5 🎧 Listen

An excellent series starter

These narrators were so perfect for this story. Patrick captures Jupiter’s confidence and heartbreak perfectly in every chapter and stole the show for me.

I’ve been a longtime fan of Lulu Moore and I’m absolutely thrilled that her books are audios now. This story was so good. I love a second chance romance and Lulu nailed this one.

So upset

I can’t believe a guy can say he loved someone and do what he did. He never apologize never took any responsibility and although she didn’t put up a fight in the beginning once he admitted everything oh now it’s all her fault? B.S she was a kid and he had 14 years to do something about it and now all of a sudden he needs to get her back? Lame. I just wish his reason was more earth shattering and his redemption made him improve as a person which I never saw.