Book Review: "The Backup Plan" by Eden Finley

Y’all know I love my sports romances. Well, Eden Finley is one of the writers who have stoked that love!

Thad dreamed of nothing more than becoming a professional baseball player. He spent so much time playing and practicing, but when it came time for the draft, he was hit with the realization that he just wasn’t good enough. Dream: dead.

Now, angry and bitter, he’s pursuing his backup plan of becoming a sports agent. He’s interning at King Sports, one of the biggest firms working with queer athletes. He’d probably like the job and be good at it if he weren’t so mad. But dealing with athletes who are living his dream isn’t easy.

Kelley is a rookie pitcher and he’s on his way to becoming a superstar. He’s also under a lot of scrutiny: his fathers were the first out football players to win a Super Bowl and his brother is a star quarterback. While news of Kelley’s coming out is met with the usual mix of support and derision, his need for approval and his worry about what people are saying about him is only exacerbating his anxiety.

Thad is assigned to watch over Kelley on a two-week stay out of the public eye and off social media. At first, Thad resents that Kelley, who has everything Thad has ever wanted, is acting this way. But then he realizes how tough the pressure is and how much it feeds into Kelley’s other issues, and then Thad shifts into protector mode. And, of course, the animosity between them shifts into something intense, something deeper.

This was a good story, full of memorable characters, great steam, and terrific banter. It’s also a real examination of anxiety and fear of disappointment and disapproval, and how debilitating they can be. I’ll be waiting for book 2 in this series!

Book Review: "You Should Be So Lucky" by Cat Sebastian

Cat Sebastian’s last book, We Could Be So Good, was one of my favorites of 2023. I love how she built a slow-burn romance between two men despite the fears and possible repercussions of the 1950s. In her new book, she does something similar with equally beautiful results.

Eddie is a young baseball player on the rise in 1960. He was ambushed with news of a trade to the pitiful New York Robins just after a game, and he made some comments to reporters about his new team that he probably shouldn’t have. Now he’s being ostracized by his teammates, he’s afraid to talk to reporters, he’s in the midst of a horrible batting slump, and he's living in a hotel because he's so sure he'll get traded again.

Mark is a newspaper reporter who is barely hanging on following the sudden death of his partner, a relationship unknown to nearly everyone. He is not a sports reporter, but the publisher assigns him to write a series of articles on Eddie which hopefully will endear him to the fans. The last thing Eddie wants to do is talk to another reporter, but he feels a connection to Mark fairly quickly, and trusts the man won’t make him look bad.

As Eddie tries to find his swing again, in Mark, he finds a friend and confidante, and recognizes that Mark is as attracted to him as he is to Mark. However, there’s no way Eddie can be an out baseball player (especially in 1960), and Mark is determined he doesn’t want to be someone else’s secret lover again. He tries to discourage Eddie’s feelings but at the same time, wants him as well.

“Mark always had to be careful, and careful means dishonest; careful means making sure that there’s always a lie at hand that he can reach for and use to paper over the truth.”

This was such a fantastically moving story, full of emotion, hope, fear, and far more acceptance than I would’ve imagined. I loved the supporting characters as much as Mark and Eddie, and was so happy with the way Sebastian let the story unfold. Can’t wait for her next one!!

Book Review: "The Prospects" by KT Hoffman

I am obsessed with hockey romances, and now I can add this baseball romance to the list of books I love. I seriously found myself grinning like an idiot while reading this.

Gene Ionescu is the first openly trans professional baseball player. It’s been his dream for as long as he could remember—his dad was a baseball player, too—but he never imagined that given who he is, he’d have the chance to make his dreams come true.

His happiness is upended when his former college teammate and close friend, Luis Estrada, is traded to Gene’s minor league team. For reasons Gene never understood, Luis just stopped being his friend one day, so their reunion is a bit awkward, even more so when Luis takes over for Gene at shortstop.

The two can barely have a conversation, let alone find a rhythm to play together successfully. But Gene is determined to make their on-field connection work, and after extra practices, they start to become friends again, too. Little by little, as the season moves on, they start to open up to one another, and Gene finds himself hoping—and yet fearing—that Luis’ interest in him is more than just baseball-related.

The closer they draw to one another, the more the line blurs between their relationship and their ambitions. Does love mean giving up your dreams for a safer path, or is love worth the risk of pursuing what you want? Can they have everything they want, personally and professionally, or is that too much?

I couldn’t love this more if I tried. It’s sweet, sexy, funny, and hopeful, and although this situation is more fiction than possibility right now, it’s fun to dream of this kind of world. KT Hoffman has made me a fan of his for sure!!

Book Review: "The Baseball Widow" by Suzanne Kamata

Suzanne Kamata's The Baseball Widow is a well-written exploration of family, belonging, connection, and, of course, baseball.

Christine has longed for connection, for purpose, to belong. When she meets Hideki, a teacher, she thinks their relationship will sustain her, but it isn’t until after she goes abroad to help Cambodian refugees that he realizes how much he needs her.

Once she returns to Japan, they get married and Christine gives birth to two children, including a young daughter with multiple disabilities. She needs her husband more than ever. But Hideki serves as a coach for his high school’s baseball team, a responsibility he takes very seriously, so he spends more time with his team than he does his family.

When Christine and Hideki’s son is bullied in school, a neglected and overwhelmed Christine takes the children home to the United States, thinking they might be safer there. But while she might have more help at home, she also has more temptation—in the form of Andrew, a friend from high school whose service in Fallujah left him emotionally and physically scarred.

Will Hideki realize that he may lose his family before it’s too late? Will Christine realize what’s most important to her? What sacrifices will both need to make?

This was a beautiful, thought-provoking book about being caught between two cultures. Thanks to Suzy Approved Book Tours, Suzanne Kamata, and Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing for inviting me on the tour and providing a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!

The Baseball Widow publishes 10/5.

Book Review: "The Secret of Clouds" by Alyson Richman

It takes a talented storyteller to get you completely hooked on a story even if you can pretty much predict everything that is going to happen. It takes even more talent to make you get all choked up even when you know what is coming.

In her new novel, The Secret of Clouds, Alyson Richman proves she has exceptional talent, because even though the plot moved as I expected it would, I was hooked on this book from the very start, and I found myself sobbing late last night as it ended.

Maggie Topper is a teacher with a true passion for what she does. She loves the feeling of reaching her students, of making connections with them, and inspiring them. She looks at each school year as a new challenge, and tries not to fall prey to the cynicism that often plagues her fellow teachers.

At the start of a new school year, Maggie is asked by the principal to take on an extra task—to tutor a student, Yuri, whose heart problem hampers him from being able to attend school on a daily basis. Maggie is reluctant at first, because the thought sparks painful memories from her own childhood, but she realizes that Yuri deserves to be inspired and challenged just like every other student she teaches.

Yuri at first rebuffs Maggie's attempts to connect with him, until she realizes she may be trying too hard. She finds the key to Yuri's intellect and his heart is through baseball—even though he cannot play the game, he is a diehard Yankees fan like his father, and has tremendous passion for the players and the stats. Little by little, she realizes how much wiser and more insightful he is than a typical sixth-grader, and he opens Maggie's eyes to the need to live life to the fullest.

Maggie and Yuri's relationship deepens, and she begins to understand just how his parents, Katya and Sasha, who emigrated from the Ukraine in the mid-1980s following the Chernobyl disaster, are torn between wanting to protect him and wanting him to be a "normal" kid, between believing he will get better and fearing for the worst. But Yuri seems to give everyone the strength he so desperately needs for himself, and touches people in ways they never quite expected.

"We can't be so afraid of experiencing pain that it interferes with the things we love."

The Secret of Clouds is in many ways, a love story—romantic love, the love between friends, parental love, the love of baseball, and above all, the love of life. Richman has created some beautifully fleshed-out characters and tugs at your emotions without being too maudlin (most of the time). Maggie's mother also is supposed to be an amazing Italian cook, so it's best not to read this on an empty stomach! (She does provide a recipe along with the acknowledgments at the end of the book.)

You may not be surprised by the book's plot, but I hope you'll be moved, and that you'll think about these characters long after. I know I will.