Valericain Press

It’s the start of a new season for professional women’s cricket team The Scorpions. 

Acclaimed batter Ellie, 32, is returning to the game after a long injury, determined to regain her form and her place in the England squad. This is her last chance, and she won’t let anything stand in her way.

Cricket fan Adam, 34, an artist and photographer, has followed Ellie and the team through highs and lows. He’s drawn to her talent, athleticism and public persona - but is content to be a face in the crowd, cheering her on. He’d never date a famous person, anyway.

When events on and off the pitch bring Ellie and Adam together, friendship blossoms, and their careers initially soar. Yet, with romance in the air, Ellie loses focus, jeopardising her dream. 

What’s more important to them both - love, or cricket?

The story echoes the film “Notting Hill” – the challenge of love between a ‘star’ and a ‘normal person’. The book touches on the good and bad sides of fame, and seeks to shine a light on the women’s game—the mental and physical challenges, pressure of relentless media attention, community outreach, fan engagement, and the finite nature of the career of professional athletes. Above this, it is, of course, a love story.

With the sport’s momentum, now is the perfect time to add women’s cricket to the sub-genres of romance fiction. This book is the first of a trilogy, with central characters as batter, bowler, then keeper.

A share of the book’s royalties will be donated to pertinent clubs and organisations who champion the development of grassroots, girls’ and women’s cricket. 

"I have never been able to understand cricket, and I certainly didn’t imagine that I was someone who would be able to find a description of a match (not even watching a match, but reading about it) exciting, and yet you have managed to give me that experience. Ellie is a brilliant protagonist – I have talked before about how nice it is to see a confident, together, mostly happy woman who has some demons in her past but is overcoming them on her own terms, and I don’t think there’s a single point in the book where I’m not wishing for good things for Ellie." - Editor