**ARC REVIEW** I was honored to receive an ARC of Loving the Legend by Kit Grey. This is the first book in a forthcoming MM sports romance series about professional NBA players who are navigating their team rivalries, exploring their sexualities, and diving deep into the tumultuous waters of mental health, homophobia, racism, and other challenges. 

Loving the Legend follows Ty “Pretty Boy” Washington on his journey from promising high school basketball phenom to the #1 draft pick in the NBA. His story is not all glory and accolades, however, and he finds a kindred spirit in his rival Sid “The Wonder Kid” King. The two develop a fast friendship, but intense feelings grow into something more and soon they find themselves falling deeper and deeper. But can their intense relationship survive their troubled pasts and lead them to a future together? 

It’s rare to find an MM book that dives so deeply into grief and mental health the way that this book does. Ty and Sid’s stories dug themselves deep into my soul and I found so much of my own experiences with grief, anxiety, and depression reflected back at me that at times it felt almost unnerving and uncomfortable. But that only shows how beautifully Kit Grey can weave a tapestry of both love and sadness, happiness and grief, together to paint a deep and thoughtful portrayal of two people who were meant to find one another and guide each other through their darkest days. 

While Grey’s depiction of love through healing is beautifully done, I do wish we spent some more time with Ty and Sid outside of these heavier moments, to see how their friendship and soulful connection really solidified their bond, rather than just their shared experiences with trauma. I also wish we had more time with some of the supporting characters, such as their respective teammates, to really bring the “found family” to life more, though I suspect we’ll see more of them in future books in the series. 

All that being said, I literally devoured this book in less than a day, despite the heavier subject matter. I just HAD to know every detail of Ty and Sid’s story and how it played out, and I was not disappointed. Loving the Legend is thoughtful, soulful, challenging, sexy af, and oh so satisfying. I can’t wait to see what comes next in the series.

Kinks: somnophilia, intercrural s-x, c-ckwarming, breath play, s-xting, and edging.