Ever wonder why athletes make good romance heroes?

If you answered "because they'd be good in the sack," then you're right! And Pamela Aares, author of Love Bats Last, explains why …

Pamela: No doubt about it: All-Star athletes are good in bed.

Because my new contemporary romance series, The Heart of the Game, features All-Star alpha males and the strong women they come to love, I am asked in quiet whispers the question many readers are burning to to know:

What is it about the baseball All-Stars that makes them great lovers?

What is it about the selection process to choose Major League All-Stars that contributes to these men being better than good in bed? What aspects of the performance edge, of the pursuit of athletic excellence, that develop traits and qualities that make baseball All-Stars awesome lovers?

As the old swing song goes, "It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it."

And when it comes to love, it is a bit about what All-Star heroes (fictional and real) do, but it's definitely about the way that they do it.

The performance level that All-Stars achieve requires discipline and practice, it's true. But to get to the Majors in the first place, the boys who become the men in the Majors have to have certain qualities, and it's those same// qualities that are at the heart of the sensual game of love. So what are those elements and qualities?

Great body awareness. All-Stars carry an awareness not only of their own bodies, but a mindfulness of those around them. Top MLB All-Stars have exquisite spatial orientation; they have a tuned-up awareness and a consciousness of the field. These men know where others are, yet not just by being in tune with the physical; the best of them have learned to feel beyond vision and sound.

Exquisite attention. Players at the All-Star level know how to focus. The same extreme focus that they turn to seeing the seams on a fast ball can be turned to the women they wish to please. They've been practicing focus most of their lives. Need I say more?

A love of feedback. The best of these amazing men love feedback. In fact, they crave it. A player needs to accurately scrutinize the body language of his opponents and teammates in order to gauge how they'll respond to the next play. They know that sensitivity to feedback allows them to excel and to hone their game. Refinement toward perfection is a lifelong practice and discipline. A woman's sensual response is fuel to such a man. It's a win-win feedback loop.

An appetite for the intense. All-Stars by nature seek out the climax, the exhilarating moment when energy peaks. That's when great achievements are reached and when players transcend their former level of play. In those moments, all is risked. All is on the line. And the reward is exceptional. Ask any All-Star and he'll tell you that in a team sport it's the energy of an excellent opponent, the pressing up against the drive of another, that takes him to a new level. The best encourage one another to greatness. And the results can be explosive.

Baseball is a game of the heart. Sure, the sheer strength and agility of baseball All-Stars are a plus, but it's the subtle aspects of the mind-body connection that bring it all together, that make All-Stars truly special. And beneath the excellence — under the focus and drive and sheer physicality — it's the heart of the man that makes the difference when it comes to love and loving. These men know what it means to follow their hearts and strive for their dreams. They know how to go the distance. I leave the rest to your very fine imaginations!

Check out Alex Tavonesi, the hero of Love Bats Last, book No. 1 in my new contemporary romance series, The Heart of the Game, debuting today!

Here's the blurb for Love Bats Last:

In Love Bats Last (The Heart of the Game, #1), the baseball diamond isn't the only field for all-star player Alex Tavonesi; he also runs his family's prestigious vineyard. What he can't seem to run is his love life. He's closing in on the perfect vintage and the perfect game, but so far the perfect woman has eluded him.

Veterinarian Jackie Brandon is eluding her aristocratic past and memories of a soccer star who jilted her just before their wedding. She devotes herself to a marine mammal rescue center on the northern California coast, where hundreds of seals and sea lions are washing up dead.

A chance meeting in a midnight storm brings Alex and Jackie together to rescue a stranded whale. Watching her work, he realizes she's the passionate, courageous woman he thought he'd never find—he just has to overcome her deep distrust of jocks. Jackie's passion and courage lead her to discover what's killing the sea mammals. The culprits want to silence her, and Alex is the only one standing in their way. What will he sacrifice to save the woman he loves?

Find out more about Pamela and her books at www.PamelaAares.com.