I know nothing about baseball 🫶🏻

I’ve never had much luck with second chance romance but thought this was done pretty well! Their break up made sense considering the pressures they faced as famous pro athletes. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s villainizing closeted characters, but this was handled maturely and with compassion for both characters, acknowledging the toll it took on both of them. It was also refreshing to see the compassion extended to the diverse cast of characters, acknowledging the discrimination and microaggressions faced by anyone who might not fit into people’s traditional expectations for baseball.

I could be making this up but the book itself reminds me of a baseball game with its slower pace and the patience you need, considering the book’s dual timeline. While I had the patience throughout, once it got to the end, I felt like maybe we didn’t get enough time with them in the present. However, one of my issues with second chance romance is having to accept the fact that these characters were once in love without really receiving much explanation why. That definitely wasn’t the case here. Their initial relationship was fully fleshed out, and maybe there could’ve been a bit more time dedicated to the present timeline, but it also like we were only meant to get a glimpse of what was to come for them.

It is a bit angsty just with the reality of being a queer pro athlete, but it ends on a bright note.