Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Audiobook: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 Spice: 🌶️🌶️

by KT Hoffman (April 9, 2024)

Many thanks to @prhaudio @thedialpress and @squashgoblin for the gifted audiobook of this absolutely amazing feel-good story of baseball, love and self-discovery.

Gene has loved baseball his entire life. Currently playing for the minor league Beaverton Beavers, he is the first openly trans player in the MLB. He doesn’t have major-league dreams; he loves his minor-league team and is living his dream. That is until Luis, a former college teammate and current rival, is traded to the team and completely throws off Gene’s game. Their lack of teamwork and trust in the middle infield leads to a disastrous losing streak to open the season. As the season goes on, they begin to find their groove, their on-field chemistry begins to turn the season around, and their chemistry begins to spark off the field. However, a trade or call-up is always a phone call away, and as their relationship grows deeper, Gene begins to wonder if, with Luis by his side, he could dream even bigger.

I LOVE baseball and have been searching for that swoon-worthy, heart-warming, baseball-loving book that brings my favorite sport and genre together – and I finally found it! This is a feel-good rom-com about being out in professional sports, falling in love with a teammate, definitely not having your $h!t together, the pressures of expectations, and learning to believe your wildest dreams are possible. In the acknowledgments, Hoffman writes about how both being a queer trans person and the sport of baseball require optimism in the face of steep odds. I found that to be a powerful and important message that a sports romance can bring. Thank you, KT, for this fantastic book! The audiobook narrator sounded a little younger than the characters they portrayed but that wouldn’t dissuade me from the audiobook and I’ve already preordered a physical copy because I know this is one I’ll want to read again!