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Unwritten Rules #1
Unwritten Rules
Zach Glasser has put up with a lot for the sport he loves. Endless days on the road, playing half-decent baseball in front of half-full stadiums and endless nights alone, pretending this is the life he's always wanted.
The thing is, it could have been everything he ever wanted—if only he'd had the guts to tell his family, tell the club, that he was in love with his teammate Eugenio Morales. Well, ex-teammate now. When Zach wouldn't—couldn't—come out, Eugenio made the devastating choice to move on, demanding a trade away from Oakland. Away from Zach.
Three years and countless regrets later, Zach still can't get Eugenio out of his head. Or his heart. And when they both get selected to play in the league’s All-Star Classic, those feelings and that chemistry come roaring back.
Zach wants a second chance. Eugenio wants a relationship he doesn't have to hide. Maybe it's finally time they both get what they want.
The thing is, it could have been everything he ever wanted—if only he'd had the guts to tell his family, tell the club, that he was in love with his teammate Eugenio Morales. Well, ex-teammate now. When Zach wouldn't—couldn't—come out, Eugenio made the devastating choice to move on, demanding a trade away from Oakland. Away from Zach.
Three years and countless regrets later, Zach still can't get Eugenio out of his head. Or his heart. And when they both get selected to play in the league’s All-Star Classic, those feelings and that chemistry come roaring back.
Zach wants a second chance. Eugenio wants a relationship he doesn't have to hide. Maybe it's finally time they both get what they want.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 12, 2021
About the author
K.D. Casey
11 books251 followersKD Casey (they/she) is a passionate baseball fan, including of women’s baseball. She primarily writes queer Jewish romance. Her writing has been featured in Baseball Prospectus, the BP Annual, the Hardball Times, and other baseball-writing venues.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 376 reviews
February 28, 2022
*4.5 stars*
When I first started Unwritten Rules by K.D. Casey, I wasn't sure what to think. I mean, third person, present tense?? Time jumps between past and present??? Heavy, heavy baseball content, like technicall stuff?? Oy, it was hurting my head and my heart, especially because I was promised a great story from a multitude of friends. However, once I really got into the story, I simply could not put it down.
I have a particular type in romance books, and I love, love, love an MC with a disability, chronic illness, neurodiversity... you give me an out-of-the-box MC and I'm putty. I adored that we got an MC who was hard-of-hearing, even if that actually factored fairly little into the story. I also loved that the other MC was non-white, which makes sense for a baseball romance and I was happy to see it. Plus (!!), a Jewish MC!! I would bet money that the author is Jewish because so many details were done correctly. It's hard to write realistic-feeling Jewish MCs without being Jewish yourself, so I've found, so props to K.D. Casey. I can also tell that the author is knowledgeable and passionate about baseball, which is nice to see, even though I know next to nothing about the sport.
Truly, the time skips were my biggest headaches because I hate those in books, but I was able to look past it to see the beautiful, hard-fought romance. This is an angsty story, and you will get frustrated with Zach, but it's all worth it in the end. I even cried a little at the lovely last few chapters, which made all of the back and forth in the middle worthwhile.
A must-read for those who like Jewish MCs, MCs with disabilities, and sports romances with moderate steam. I can't wait to read more books from this author in the future.
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When I first started Unwritten Rules by K.D. Casey, I wasn't sure what to think. I mean, third person, present tense?? Time jumps between past and present??? Heavy, heavy baseball content, like technicall stuff?? Oy, it was hurting my head and my heart, especially because I was promised a great story from a multitude of friends. However, once I really got into the story, I simply could not put it down.
I have a particular type in romance books, and I love, love, love an MC with a disability, chronic illness, neurodiversity... you give me an out-of-the-box MC and I'm putty. I adored that we got an MC who was hard-of-hearing, even if that actually factored fairly little into the story. I also loved that the other MC was non-white, which makes sense for a baseball romance and I was happy to see it. Plus (!!), a Jewish MC!! I would bet money that the author is Jewish because so many details were done correctly. It's hard to write realistic-feeling Jewish MCs without being Jewish yourself, so I've found, so props to K.D. Casey. I can also tell that the author is knowledgeable and passionate about baseball, which is nice to see, even though I know next to nothing about the sport.
Truly, the time skips were my biggest headaches because I hate those in books, but I was able to look past it to see the beautiful, hard-fought romance. This is an angsty story, and you will get frustrated with Zach, but it's all worth it in the end. I even cried a little at the lovely last few chapters, which made all of the back and forth in the middle worthwhile.
A must-read for those who like Jewish MCs, MCs with disabilities, and sports romances with moderate steam. I can't wait to read more books from this author in the future.
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October 24, 2021
God, it feels like ages since I've been here, who the fuck told me two jobs was a good idea? WHOOOOO??!!! 😭😭
Money that's who. *cries in third world's country economy* 🥲
Anyways, the book... Unwritten Rules was a really nice surprise, it was a second chance story where you actually get the first chance story. The book goes back and forth in time but it never bothered me, I think it was well done and the sport part it was beautifully explained. 🤌🏻🤌🏻
"Baseball is often described as a chess match between batter and pitcher. But it’s more like a chess match between batter and pitcher in which, once in a while, the catcher grabs the board and moves someone’s piece.
—Ben Lindbergh, “The Art of Pitch Framing,” Grantland, 2013
My father and my uncle will say hell yes to that quote, and it actually is, it's just boring to watch sometimes. 🤣🤣 Baseball is a very long game with 9 innings and sometimes even more, I have never really liked it unless I'm watching it at the stadium, but in here we don't get bombarded with that stuff, it's just used as a background trope to get some angst, or the relationships going.
"Where he’s from: Indiana, but his parents are from Venezuela".
One of the characters is a first generation from Venezuela and that almost made me stop reading this, not very good experiences with authors that try to use my country in books, but hell this was perfect, Venezuela has A LOT of players in the MBL, like A LOT, and there are camps in Venezuela to train little boys so they can go to the big leagues, so it shouldn't have surprised me, but it did 🤷🏻♀️ but all the facts were right, so it shows that it wasn't that hard wasn't it? To dig a little deeper before writing. 🥲
Anyways, the love was really interesting, frustrating and fulfilling at the end, Zach is so deep in the closet that it hurst, but he made a decision when he was a kid and he never knew how to get out of it.
But love conquers all and in here it wasn't an exception, so yeah, lovely book. 🥰🥰
Money that's who. *cries in third world's country economy* 🥲
Anyways, the book... Unwritten Rules was a really nice surprise, it was a second chance story where you actually get the first chance story. The book goes back and forth in time but it never bothered me, I think it was well done and the sport part it was beautifully explained. 🤌🏻🤌🏻
"Baseball is often described as a chess match between batter and pitcher. But it’s more like a chess match between batter and pitcher in which, once in a while, the catcher grabs the board and moves someone’s piece.
—Ben Lindbergh, “The Art of Pitch Framing,” Grantland, 2013
My father and my uncle will say hell yes to that quote, and it actually is, it's just boring to watch sometimes. 🤣🤣 Baseball is a very long game with 9 innings and sometimes even more, I have never really liked it unless I'm watching it at the stadium, but in here we don't get bombarded with that stuff, it's just used as a background trope to get some angst, or the relationships going.
"Where he’s from: Indiana, but his parents are from Venezuela".
One of the characters is a first generation from Venezuela and that almost made me stop reading this, not very good experiences with authors that try to use my country in books, but hell this was perfect, Venezuela has A LOT of players in the MBL, like A LOT, and there are camps in Venezuela to train little boys so they can go to the big leagues, so it shouldn't have surprised me, but it did 🤷🏻♀️ but all the facts were right, so it shows that it wasn't that hard wasn't it? To dig a little deeper before writing. 🥲
Anyways, the love was really interesting, frustrating and fulfilling at the end, Zach is so deep in the closet that it hurst, but he made a decision when he was a kid and he never knew how to get out of it.
But love conquers all and in here it wasn't an exception, so yeah, lovely book. 🥰🥰
September 14, 2024
I finished this book last night and I'm still trying to gather my thoughts, to find words that describe my feelings and to make sure I can do this book justice. Because this book was an experience. One I won't forget about easily. One that went up to my all-time favorites shelf right away. I'm sure Zach and Eugenio will stay with me for a long time. I have embraced their story and their love with both arms, ensuring them they own a place close to my heart. I truly fell in love with these guys!
I also fell in love with KD Casey's writing. This book is written in present tense and third person, solely from Zach's pov, and I know there will be readers who don't favor this way of story telling, but for me it worked perfectly.
This is a true sports romance in more ways than one. It is clear the author has a great love for this game called baseball. For me, as a non-American, living in a country where baseball is quite a small sport, I was afraid the technical side of the game would lower my enjoyment, but it didn't. Like, at all. I loved to see how sometimes the sport and its terms was used as a metaphor for Zach's behavior and his fear for coming out. It was refreshing and educational at the same time, and highly entertaining as well.
In this story we meet Zach, and from the moment I met him, I just knew I was going to love his story. The writing, being inside Zach's head, the going back and forth in time - everything about it just worked for me. Zach is in his late twenties when he meets Eugenio at spring training. He has known he is gay for quite some time, but he is deeply closeted. Fearing he might not be able to play again when someone finds out, fear for his parent's reactions, because he feels like he's one huge disappointment to them already. He has the occasional hookups when he needs to scratch an itch, but he just doesn't believe a relationship will be in the cards for him.
Until he meets Eugenio. Sweet, loving Eugenio. I fell in love with him too. The way their relationship develops felt very genuine and real. The friendship and the falling in love. Though Eugenio doesn't hide his sexuality, he is forced to keep their relationship secret. Zach tries, he really does, but the effort isn't enough. His fear is always stronger than his intentions, and it's not surprising when Eugenio gets tired of hiding, of Zach's excuses.
I loved how Zach's fear was described, because it felt so legit. Being a straight cis woman, I never had to go through what he had, so I can't relate to any of it, but it wasn't hard to imagine it would be like that. The need to at least have someone to talk to. About the longing to be yourself, about the love of your life just walking out of the door because you are not courageous enough to show the outside world who you really are. Who you love.
Eugenio walking away was Zach's wake up call. And even though Eugenio never forced Zach to come out, I also understood why he was done with hiding their relationship. He needed to tell someone too, talk to someone about how he felt, that he was in a relationship with someone he loved. But he couldn't, because of Zach, and I understood he gave up after 2 years.
We witness their love develop in flashbacks, and despite the secrecy of it, it's so sweet and endearing. And you just want to know where it went wrong and how. When it finally does, the heartbreak Zach suffers from is written so beautifully, it tugged on my heartstrings, calling on all my feelings.
So, so touching.
When they meet again after 3 years, when you get to see how miserable Zach was without Eugenio, when you see how, after everything that happened, there's still a lot of love left, you just know everything will be all right. And then you will finally be able to exhale, to let go of the breath you were holding all this time.
Needless to say that I highly recommend this book, specially for the readers who love a well written sports romance. Baseball fans will be delighted with this book!!
I kindly received an ARC through Netgalley from the publisher Carina Press and this is my honest, unbiased review
I also fell in love with KD Casey's writing. This book is written in present tense and third person, solely from Zach's pov, and I know there will be readers who don't favor this way of story telling, but for me it worked perfectly.
This is a true sports romance in more ways than one. It is clear the author has a great love for this game called baseball. For me, as a non-American, living in a country where baseball is quite a small sport, I was afraid the technical side of the game would lower my enjoyment, but it didn't. Like, at all. I loved to see how sometimes the sport and its terms was used as a metaphor for Zach's behavior and his fear for coming out. It was refreshing and educational at the same time, and highly entertaining as well.
In this story we meet Zach, and from the moment I met him, I just knew I was going to love his story. The writing, being inside Zach's head, the going back and forth in time - everything about it just worked for me. Zach is in his late twenties when he meets Eugenio at spring training. He has known he is gay for quite some time, but he is deeply closeted. Fearing he might not be able to play again when someone finds out, fear for his parent's reactions, because he feels like he's one huge disappointment to them already. He has the occasional hookups when he needs to scratch an itch, but he just doesn't believe a relationship will be in the cards for him.
Until he meets Eugenio. Sweet, loving Eugenio. I fell in love with him too. The way their relationship develops felt very genuine and real. The friendship and the falling in love. Though Eugenio doesn't hide his sexuality, he is forced to keep their relationship secret. Zach tries, he really does, but the effort isn't enough. His fear is always stronger than his intentions, and it's not surprising when Eugenio gets tired of hiding, of Zach's excuses.
I loved how Zach's fear was described, because it felt so legit. Being a straight cis woman, I never had to go through what he had, so I can't relate to any of it, but it wasn't hard to imagine it would be like that. The need to at least have someone to talk to. About the longing to be yourself, about the love of your life just walking out of the door because you are not courageous enough to show the outside world who you really are. Who you love.
Eugenio walking away was Zach's wake up call. And even though Eugenio never forced Zach to come out, I also understood why he was done with hiding their relationship. He needed to tell someone too, talk to someone about how he felt, that he was in a relationship with someone he loved. But he couldn't, because of Zach, and I understood he gave up after 2 years.
We witness their love develop in flashbacks, and despite the secrecy of it, it's so sweet and endearing. And you just want to know where it went wrong and how. When it finally does, the heartbreak Zach suffers from is written so beautifully, it tugged on my heartstrings, calling on all my feelings.
So, so touching.
When they meet again after 3 years, when you get to see how miserable Zach was without Eugenio, when you see how, after everything that happened, there's still a lot of love left, you just know everything will be all right. And then you will finally be able to exhale, to let go of the breath you were holding all this time.
Needless to say that I highly recommend this book, specially for the readers who love a well written sports romance. Baseball fans will be delighted with this book!!
I kindly received an ARC through Netgalley from the publisher Carina Press and this is my honest, unbiased review
March 23, 2023
There were a few things that didn't really work for me with this book-
The main one being the back and forth past and present timelines. I don't mind changing timelines, but what I didn't like is that a big majority of the book took place in the past, detailing their initial relationship - but if you read the blurb it gives you a description of their past relationship and why it didn't work. You spend a huge majority of the book reading about why their first time together didn't work, when you already know from the blurb. I really don't like blurbs that give too much information. Reading the past timeline really carried no emotion because you already know everything. Knowing the characters, it is pretty predictable why their relationship didn't work but still maybe a small portion of the book should have been the past with the big majority the present instead. I don't think authors are the ones who write the blurbs so I feel bad lowering my rating for this, but it really took away from my enjoyment of the book, I kept waiting to get to the present timeline, and wish we got more of that instead.
Also, way too much baseball. I'm a pretty casual baseball fan- I love to read while my husband watches baseball so I was excited for a baseball book but this went into so much detail with so much baseball jargon. A lot of reviews mention way too much technical baseball details, so I know it wasn't just me. At times, it felt like the emotional moments in the book were glossed over while the baseball moments were described in excruciating detail.
And lastly (and possibly spoilery)
.
.
.
Then, the book just ends. I'm not saying every book has to give us a look into the couple five years in the future. But after all the build up, it should give us a bit more. There are a lot of questions about their futures that go unanswered. Maybe you have to read book 2 to find out more? Idk, and I'm not sure I'll be reading book two so I guess I'll never know how their story ends.
The main one being the back and forth past and present timelines. I don't mind changing timelines, but what I didn't like is that a big majority of the book took place in the past, detailing their initial relationship - but if you read the blurb it gives you a description of their past relationship and why it didn't work. You spend a huge majority of the book reading about why their first time together didn't work, when you already know from the blurb. I really don't like blurbs that give too much information. Reading the past timeline really carried no emotion because you already know everything. Knowing the characters, it is pretty predictable why their relationship didn't work but still maybe a small portion of the book should have been the past with the big majority the present instead. I don't think authors are the ones who write the blurbs so I feel bad lowering my rating for this, but it really took away from my enjoyment of the book, I kept waiting to get to the present timeline, and wish we got more of that instead.
Also, way too much baseball. I'm a pretty casual baseball fan- I love to read while my husband watches baseball so I was excited for a baseball book but this went into so much detail with so much baseball jargon. A lot of reviews mention way too much technical baseball details, so I know it wasn't just me. At times, it felt like the emotional moments in the book were glossed over while the baseball moments were described in excruciating detail.
And lastly (and possibly spoilery)
.
.
.
Then, the book just ends. I'm not saying every book has to give us a look into the couple five years in the future. But after all the build up, it should give us a bit more. There are a lot of questions about their futures that go unanswered. Maybe you have to read book 2 to find out more? Idk, and I'm not sure I'll be reading book two so I guess I'll never know how their story ends.
August 18, 2023
this book hurt my feelings :)
May 24, 2022
Really conflicting thoughts on this one.
On the one hand, I thought the writing overall was really excellent. I very much enjoyed the representation here--Jewish MC with partial deafness and a first-generation Venezuelan-American, all of which felt really realistic and well-researched and authentically incorporated into the story. I enjoyed the characters and really felt their chemistry. BUT, this book had two things I generally dislike, second-chance romance and a heavy reliance on flashbacks/dual timelines, and unfortunately I really struggled with them here.
The past/present timelines were the biggest issue for me. The author really heavily relied on the past scenes to tell their story, to the point where I felt like I was reading two books, and I honestly just didn't care about the past shit, I wanted to know how they were gonna get together *now*. The blurb of the book basically tells us everything we needed to know about how their past relationship went, to the point where I felt like the past stuff was almost *entirely* unnecessary, and I actually would have really preferred maybe a small handful of past scenes, and then a much deeper dive into the present and making their relationship work. I actually felt a lot of the present-day resolution felt a little rushed and surface-level, and I wished the author had made it more of a focus.
There's also a lot of focus on some very specific catcher/baseball stuff, that lost me a bit. I'm familiar enough with baseball that I hadn't expected to be lost, but there was some deep diving into the specifics of catching and pitching that I thought were a bit confusing and honestly not the best choice because I'm guessing most of the audience of this book aren't super geeks about baseball.
Despite the rocking chemistry, the smut actually didn't do much for me--I felt like the dynamic we got in bed didn't actually match up with the dynamic that the author was giving us in the lead-up, like a weird bait & switch. Minor quibble, but it did annoy me.
Overall, I liked this book, but I didn't love it, though I'm very much planning to keep an eye out for this author's future books, as I do think much of what didn't work for me here was a function of this specific story being told.
On the one hand, I thought the writing overall was really excellent. I very much enjoyed the representation here--Jewish MC with partial deafness and a first-generation Venezuelan-American, all of which felt really realistic and well-researched and authentically incorporated into the story. I enjoyed the characters and really felt their chemistry. BUT, this book had two things I generally dislike, second-chance romance and a heavy reliance on flashbacks/dual timelines, and unfortunately I really struggled with them here.
The past/present timelines were the biggest issue for me. The author really heavily relied on the past scenes to tell their story, to the point where I felt like I was reading two books, and I honestly just didn't care about the past shit, I wanted to know how they were gonna get together *now*. The blurb of the book basically tells us everything we needed to know about how their past relationship went, to the point where I felt like the past stuff was almost *entirely* unnecessary, and I actually would have really preferred maybe a small handful of past scenes, and then a much deeper dive into the present and making their relationship work. I actually felt a lot of the present-day resolution felt a little rushed and surface-level, and I wished the author had made it more of a focus.
There's also a lot of focus on some very specific catcher/baseball stuff, that lost me a bit. I'm familiar enough with baseball that I hadn't expected to be lost, but there was some deep diving into the specifics of catching and pitching that I thought were a bit confusing and honestly not the best choice because I'm guessing most of the audience of this book aren't super geeks about baseball.
Despite the rocking chemistry, the smut actually didn't do much for me--I felt like the dynamic we got in bed didn't actually match up with the dynamic that the author was giving us in the lead-up, like a weird bait & switch. Minor quibble, but it did annoy me.
Overall, I liked this book, but I didn't love it, though I'm very much planning to keep an eye out for this author's future books, as I do think much of what didn't work for me here was a function of this specific story being told.
October 7, 2021
rep: Jewish hard of hearing gay mc, Venezuelan American bi li, sapphic side characters, Jewish side characters
tw: internalised homophobia
ARC provided by the publisher.
Sometimes, all you need in life is a gay sports romance. They just hit differently, and that’s a fact. Unwritten Rules delivers all the best parts of one.
So what makes a good romance? Compelling characters - check. Great chemistry between them - check. Some pining (because deep down we’re all here to hurt a bit) - also check. A believable plot is a great bonus, I would say.
Characters’ personalities are always something one person will enjoy and another won’t, but the thing we can all agree on is that both Zach and Eugenio feel like real people with real problems. And that’s what makes this such a good book. Personally, though, what I enjoyed the most is that there isn’t a single part of their characterisation that was introduced and then simply forgotten. Zach’s hard of hearing and that plays a role throughout the whole story, he’s Jewish and it’s visible in more than a random mention of him going to a synagogue (actually playing a giant role in his family, as well). And the same goes for Eugenio’s Venezulean roots.
Yes, it’s a second-chance romance, but frankly, first of all it’s a story of a gay guy finally and slowly coming to terms with his sexuality. This isn’t to say the romance is weak, since the literal opposite is true. Rather that the whole time, even in their honeymoon phase we get in flashbacks, Zach’s internalised homophobia is ever present. It’s in the tiny things, like rethinking texts he sends out of fear someone will hack his phone; in double checking no one is around before kissing Eugenio; in his desperate need to touch Eugenio in public and not being able to. In a way, his inability to be open about his desires allows the first part of the book to be full to the brim with pining. And isn’t that what we’re all here for?
Unwritten Rules is a captivating romance, with amazing characters who work hard to resolve their issues. And as a cherry on top, the writing is absolutely gorgeous. Not a book you want to miss out on!
tw: internalised homophobia
ARC provided by the publisher.
Sometimes, all you need in life is a gay sports romance. They just hit differently, and that’s a fact. Unwritten Rules delivers all the best parts of one.
So what makes a good romance? Compelling characters - check. Great chemistry between them - check. Some pining (because deep down we’re all here to hurt a bit) - also check. A believable plot is a great bonus, I would say.
Characters’ personalities are always something one person will enjoy and another won’t, but the thing we can all agree on is that both Zach and Eugenio feel like real people with real problems. And that’s what makes this such a good book. Personally, though, what I enjoyed the most is that there isn’t a single part of their characterisation that was introduced and then simply forgotten. Zach’s hard of hearing and that plays a role throughout the whole story, he’s Jewish and it’s visible in more than a random mention of him going to a synagogue (actually playing a giant role in his family, as well). And the same goes for Eugenio’s Venezulean roots.
Yes, it’s a second-chance romance, but frankly, first of all it’s a story of a gay guy finally and slowly coming to terms with his sexuality. This isn’t to say the romance is weak, since the literal opposite is true. Rather that the whole time, even in their honeymoon phase we get in flashbacks, Zach’s internalised homophobia is ever present. It’s in the tiny things, like rethinking texts he sends out of fear someone will hack his phone; in double checking no one is around before kissing Eugenio; in his desperate need to touch Eugenio in public and not being able to. In a way, his inability to be open about his desires allows the first part of the book to be full to the brim with pining. And isn’t that what we’re all here for?
Unwritten Rules is a captivating romance, with amazing characters who work hard to resolve their issues. And as a cherry on top, the writing is absolutely gorgeous. Not a book you want to miss out on!
May 9, 2022
There was a lot I loved about this but unfortunately, the unnecessary length took away some of the magic.
One of my favorite aspects was how the author portrayed Zach being Hard Of Hearing (HOH) and his use of a hearing aid. I really appreciated that being HOH wasn't something Zach heavily focused on or wanted others to focus on. His disability is just part of who he is and as long as people accommodate him in certain ways, him being HOH isn't a big deal. It was great seeing a variety of different reactions to Zach's disability and how their behavior towards him instantly changed when they realized he's HOH. Overall, the way the author wove Zach's disability and his use of his hearing aid into the story was really well done without feeling heavy handed. When conditions were optimal, nothing reminded readers that Zach is HOH because that's the point - if things are set up well, then Zach's disability is no longer a disability. But when things weren't optimal (ex. a loud party where the hearing aid picks up too many voices, Zach having to take out his hearing aid when showering/swimming etc), Zach has problems and readers get to experience the adjustments he has to make and the frustrations he deals with as he tries to get things back on track.
I especially loved how Eugenio reacted to Zach being HOH. He started out by asking Zach what he (Eugenio) should do during day-to-day interactions that would make it easier for Zach to hear him and then he always did the things Zach asked for (ex. always facing Zach when speaking). There are lots of little ways in which Eugenio figured out how to help Zach without ever making Zach feel like a helpless victim or that Eugenio is doing him a favor. Doing things like using discreet hand squeezes to let Zach know when his name is called in a loud stadium, weaving an interview question into his own answer when he knows Zach didn't hear the original question or automatically turning the closed captions on while they're watching TV were all wonderful little touches that made it clear that Eugenio understood what Zach needed in order to get the most out of life without reducing Zach to just being a walking/talking disability.
The other thing I loved was Zach and Eugenio's relationship. Having them go from friends to lovers at a slow, realistic pace allowed me to get to know both characters as they were getting to know each other, which was great. The author included tons of great opportunities for them to spend time together and learn about each other so their slowly developing relationship felt very real. Another benefit of showing their developing relationship in the past timeline was using certain references in both the past and present timelines and how their existence in both added much more meaning to them. For example, Zach mentions his plants multiple times (ex. how they're suffering in Florida's constant A/C environment, how he drove to Florida from California with the plants in his passenger side seat). It starts out being nothing more than a nice addition to Zach's character...until we get to the part in the past timeline where we learn that it was Eugenio who had given Zach each plant throughout their 2 year relationship. All of a sudden, Zach being very fond of the plants and continuing to care for them even after he and Eugenio have broken up takes on a whole new meaning. There were lots of little references like that, which I loved and it added tons of emotion to the story.
I also loved the circumstances surrounding their break up and their second chance. During their past relationship, Zach's complete refusal to budge on anything regarding his sexuality made me sympathize with Eugenio and I fully supported him leaving Zach at that point. I'm not a fan of coming-out ultimatums, but that's not what was happening here. Eugenio didn't necessarily want Zach to be out and proud, but he hated seeing Zach completely push aside his own happiness in order to appease his family or baseball (a sport which hadn't treated him well in the first place). Eugenio felt that Zach's sacrifice and loyalty hadn't been earned by those he was giving them to and he was upset that Zach was hurting himself for such little pay off and Eugenio didn't want to continue being part of that. I loved how complex this situation was.
I also liked that Zach fully threw himself into being a better partner during their second chance. Instead of prioritizing his family and baseball, he realized he needed to prioritize himself and Eugenio and I loved the many different steps he took and that some of those steps had nothing to do with his sexuality. He'd learned that he needs to work on all aspects of his life in order to be happy and that depending on Eugenio to supply all of his happiness isn't fair or a healthy choice. It was really cool how the author brought together many things that had been introduced earlier in the story to show all the chances Zach makes that aren't related to his sexuality (ex. decorating his apartment, supporting Marti's baseball career, learning Spanish so he can help his Spanish-speaking teammates etc).
Now for the negatives. Just as an aside, I want to point out that the extremely technical baseball-talk in the book flew right over my head and I skimmed most of the baseball action because I didn't understand what was happening, but I'm not reducing my rating because of that. My ignorance about a topic isn't the author's fault and this level of technical writing is something I adore in hockey stories (a sport I'm more familiar with), so I'll leave that on the side.
My main problem was the length of the story and the narrative choices the author made regarding the past timeline (showing Zach and Eugenio going from friends to lovers to breaking up) and the present timeline (showing the second chance romance). The magic of a second chance romance (IMO) lies in making readers understand why the couple got together in the first place, what their relationship was like in the past, why they broke up and most importantly, how their second chance goes. The most important element is the second chance part. This is where the main focus of the romance should be and unfortunately, that's the opposite of what the author did here. The majority of the story focuses on telling Zach and Eugenio's first relationship with the second one only coming into focus in the last 25%.
The reason this doesn't work well is because a couple's past relationship doesn't include any tension or potential for interesting drama if readers already know that this relationship didn't work out - hence, the need for a second chance in the first place. I liked seeing how Zach and Eugenio got together, but I didn't need to see the rest of that relationship play out on page because I already knew why/when/how they would break up. As a result, many situations that should have been interesting and tense actually weren't because I knew how the situation would work out before it even started. For example, the lengthy scene of Eugenio visiting Zach's parents for the fundraiser was a waste of time because I knew none of the problems explored in that scene would be resolved at that point. I knew Zach wouldn't come out to his parents or tell them that he's in a relationship with Eugenio and I knew Zach wouldn't tell his mother to stop trying to set him up with women. Why? Because I already know that Zach's refusal to come out is what led to Eugenio and Zach breaking up later on and I knew in the present timeline that Zach still hadn't come out to his parents. So that entire scene and the author trying to make it meaningful and tense fell flat and was a waste of time.
This pattern continued and made this part of the book drag. Ironically, the fact that these scenes weren't needed is never more apparent than when the length of this book is taken into account. It's 25% longer than average romance novels and funny enough, I found that the 50-75% section (from the time Eugenio and Zach get together in the past until they break up) could and should have been removed entirely. This section was a needless slog because readers already know what was going to happen, when and how and the small references that readers had to know could have easily been incorporated through flashbacks.
In addition to the past relationship taking up way more page time than it needed, I also got frustrated by many pointless side characters getting too much page time. While I liked Marti and the side plot regarding women in professional baseball (which is one of the only sports that still insists on making women play a completely different sport - a bizarre concept to me as a hockey fan) and I liked Zach's family, I felt many other side characters were pointless. The publicist Stephanie felt like a Marti clone with way less importance, Zach's mentor role with various pitchers got repetitive and annoying and I couldn't keep track of the many teammates because of the two timelines and Zach having played on so many different teams. Due to this book already being unnecessarily long, I wish many of these characters had been cut entirely in order to keep the focus on Zach, Eugenio and the people who impacted their plotlines.
On a formatting note, I also got confused by the formatting choices made for the past versus present timelines. Sometimes multiple chapters would take place in one timeline but only the first chapter of the sequence had a timeline heading so if I took a break and picked the book up later, I would sometimes be confused over which timeline we were in. I also hated that the months were used as timeline references because the constantly jumping back and forth and the skipping of time meant I could never keep it straight what month each timeline was supposed be on anyway. In a past/present situation, I prefer a much cleaner setup with either alternating chapters or very clear indicators on each chapter that easily lets me track when/where we are.
Overall, I think this was a pretty solid romance that could have used a much better editor. If the narrative had been tightened up through changes to the presentation of the past timeline and if an axe had been liberally applied, there's no question that this would have been a 5 star read for me.
One of my favorite aspects was how the author portrayed Zach being Hard Of Hearing (HOH) and his use of a hearing aid. I really appreciated that being HOH wasn't something Zach heavily focused on or wanted others to focus on. His disability is just part of who he is and as long as people accommodate him in certain ways, him being HOH isn't a big deal. It was great seeing a variety of different reactions to Zach's disability and how their behavior towards him instantly changed when they realized he's HOH. Overall, the way the author wove Zach's disability and his use of his hearing aid into the story was really well done without feeling heavy handed. When conditions were optimal, nothing reminded readers that Zach is HOH because that's the point - if things are set up well, then Zach's disability is no longer a disability. But when things weren't optimal (ex. a loud party where the hearing aid picks up too many voices, Zach having to take out his hearing aid when showering/swimming etc), Zach has problems and readers get to experience the adjustments he has to make and the frustrations he deals with as he tries to get things back on track.
I especially loved how Eugenio reacted to Zach being HOH. He started out by asking Zach what he (Eugenio) should do during day-to-day interactions that would make it easier for Zach to hear him and then he always did the things Zach asked for (ex. always facing Zach when speaking). There are lots of little ways in which Eugenio figured out how to help Zach without ever making Zach feel like a helpless victim or that Eugenio is doing him a favor. Doing things like using discreet hand squeezes to let Zach know when his name is called in a loud stadium, weaving an interview question into his own answer when he knows Zach didn't hear the original question or automatically turning the closed captions on while they're watching TV were all wonderful little touches that made it clear that Eugenio understood what Zach needed in order to get the most out of life without reducing Zach to just being a walking/talking disability.
The other thing I loved was Zach and Eugenio's relationship. Having them go from friends to lovers at a slow, realistic pace allowed me to get to know both characters as they were getting to know each other, which was great. The author included tons of great opportunities for them to spend time together and learn about each other so their slowly developing relationship felt very real. Another benefit of showing their developing relationship in the past timeline was using certain references in both the past and present timelines and how their existence in both added much more meaning to them. For example, Zach mentions his plants multiple times (ex. how they're suffering in Florida's constant A/C environment, how he drove to Florida from California with the plants in his passenger side seat). It starts out being nothing more than a nice addition to Zach's character...until we get to the part in the past timeline where we learn that it was Eugenio who had given Zach each plant throughout their 2 year relationship. All of a sudden, Zach being very fond of the plants and continuing to care for them even after he and Eugenio have broken up takes on a whole new meaning. There were lots of little references like that, which I loved and it added tons of emotion to the story.
I also loved the circumstances surrounding their break up and their second chance. During their past relationship, Zach's complete refusal to budge on anything regarding his sexuality made me sympathize with Eugenio and I fully supported him leaving Zach at that point. I'm not a fan of coming-out ultimatums, but that's not what was happening here. Eugenio didn't necessarily want Zach to be out and proud, but he hated seeing Zach completely push aside his own happiness in order to appease his family or baseball (a sport which hadn't treated him well in the first place). Eugenio felt that Zach's sacrifice and loyalty hadn't been earned by those he was giving them to and he was upset that Zach was hurting himself for such little pay off and Eugenio didn't want to continue being part of that. I loved how complex this situation was.
I also liked that Zach fully threw himself into being a better partner during their second chance. Instead of prioritizing his family and baseball, he realized he needed to prioritize himself and Eugenio and I loved the many different steps he took and that some of those steps had nothing to do with his sexuality. He'd learned that he needs to work on all aspects of his life in order to be happy and that depending on Eugenio to supply all of his happiness isn't fair or a healthy choice. It was really cool how the author brought together many things that had been introduced earlier in the story to show all the chances Zach makes that aren't related to his sexuality (ex. decorating his apartment, supporting Marti's baseball career, learning Spanish so he can help his Spanish-speaking teammates etc).
Now for the negatives. Just as an aside, I want to point out that the extremely technical baseball-talk in the book flew right over my head and I skimmed most of the baseball action because I didn't understand what was happening, but I'm not reducing my rating because of that. My ignorance about a topic isn't the author's fault and this level of technical writing is something I adore in hockey stories (a sport I'm more familiar with), so I'll leave that on the side.
My main problem was the length of the story and the narrative choices the author made regarding the past timeline (showing Zach and Eugenio going from friends to lovers to breaking up) and the present timeline (showing the second chance romance). The magic of a second chance romance (IMO) lies in making readers understand why the couple got together in the first place, what their relationship was like in the past, why they broke up and most importantly, how their second chance goes. The most important element is the second chance part. This is where the main focus of the romance should be and unfortunately, that's the opposite of what the author did here. The majority of the story focuses on telling Zach and Eugenio's first relationship with the second one only coming into focus in the last 25%.
The reason this doesn't work well is because a couple's past relationship doesn't include any tension or potential for interesting drama if readers already know that this relationship didn't work out - hence, the need for a second chance in the first place. I liked seeing how Zach and Eugenio got together, but I didn't need to see the rest of that relationship play out on page because I already knew why/when/how they would break up. As a result, many situations that should have been interesting and tense actually weren't because I knew how the situation would work out before it even started. For example, the lengthy scene of Eugenio visiting Zach's parents for the fundraiser was a waste of time because I knew none of the problems explored in that scene would be resolved at that point. I knew Zach wouldn't come out to his parents or tell them that he's in a relationship with Eugenio and I knew Zach wouldn't tell his mother to stop trying to set him up with women. Why? Because I already know that Zach's refusal to come out is what led to Eugenio and Zach breaking up later on and I knew in the present timeline that Zach still hadn't come out to his parents. So that entire scene and the author trying to make it meaningful and tense fell flat and was a waste of time.
This pattern continued and made this part of the book drag. Ironically, the fact that these scenes weren't needed is never more apparent than when the length of this book is taken into account. It's 25% longer than average romance novels and funny enough, I found that the 50-75% section (from the time Eugenio and Zach get together in the past until they break up) could and should have been removed entirely. This section was a needless slog because readers already know what was going to happen, when and how and the small references that readers had to know could have easily been incorporated through flashbacks.
In addition to the past relationship taking up way more page time than it needed, I also got frustrated by many pointless side characters getting too much page time. While I liked Marti and the side plot regarding women in professional baseball (which is one of the only sports that still insists on making women play a completely different sport - a bizarre concept to me as a hockey fan) and I liked Zach's family, I felt many other side characters were pointless. The publicist Stephanie felt like a Marti clone with way less importance, Zach's mentor role with various pitchers got repetitive and annoying and I couldn't keep track of the many teammates because of the two timelines and Zach having played on so many different teams. Due to this book already being unnecessarily long, I wish many of these characters had been cut entirely in order to keep the focus on Zach, Eugenio and the people who impacted their plotlines.
On a formatting note, I also got confused by the formatting choices made for the past versus present timelines. Sometimes multiple chapters would take place in one timeline but only the first chapter of the sequence had a timeline heading so if I took a break and picked the book up later, I would sometimes be confused over which timeline we were in. I also hated that the months were used as timeline references because the constantly jumping back and forth and the skipping of time meant I could never keep it straight what month each timeline was supposed be on anyway. In a past/present situation, I prefer a much cleaner setup with either alternating chapters or very clear indicators on each chapter that easily lets me track when/where we are.
Overall, I think this was a pretty solid romance that could have used a much better editor. If the narrative had been tightened up through changes to the presentation of the past timeline and if an axe had been liberally applied, there's no question that this would have been a 5 star read for me.
February 7, 2023
4.5 stars
I find good sports romances incredibly comforting. They are so insular, in the sense that the sporty MC's life is so dominated by the physical, logistical, and emotional demands of the sport, the team, and the rhythm of season and off-season, training and competing. Regardless of what else is going on in the story, there is such a sound, predictable framework for the action. It's so soothing.
They are also chock full of competence porn, which will always make me weak at the knees. And of course, let's not pretend that it's not also about hot bodies casually doing things that would cause most people a trip to the ER. When entire industries are built around hot bodies doing hard things, we don't have to pretend not to ogle.
When it comes to MM sports romance, unless it's written in an AU where there's no homophobia problem in sports, coming out is one of the major tropes. Because, well. The numbers of out gay men in professional sports speak for themselves. Meaning that any sport romance set in a pro league in a recognizable world will likely have to navigate the closet/coming out issue, because professional men's leagues and the associated sporting and fan cultures are still in many ways deeply conservative and wallowing in toxic masculinity, misogyny and homophobia.
And such is the case here. Zach and Eugenio are both catchers: Zach is somewhat more established with 4 years in the majors at the time the book opens, while Eugenio is a rookie but an old one, someone who's been grinding it out in the minors for years and is finally getting a chance at major league spring training. Zach is deep in the closet, not out to anyone including his family; Eugenio had a longtime girlfriend for many years (broken up well before the book starts) but seemingly has never had an actual relationship with a man, although he identifies as bi all along -- this is not a biawakening story. Even though they're both competing for limited roster spots, they immediately have a connection, one that eventually turns physical despite Zach's attempts to shut it down. And from that point on, the main conflict is Zach's determination to stay safely in the closet and keep everything locked down, while Eugenio gets more and more frustrated with Zach's secrecy, paranoia, and unwillingness to come out to even family or friends.
The book is told in Zach's POV and toggles between two timelines: one when Zach and Eugenio are playing for the same team, 2 years in which they meet, fall in love, and secretly date; and the other a couple of years later, playing for different teams after a devastating breakup, meeting again at the All-Star game and tentatively rekindling their connection. Both are really well done. The chemistry is great and the connection is believable, but so is the conflict: you can see how Zach is just stuck in this self-sabotaging pattern, and it's incredibly frustrating but also feels real, at least for anyone who's ever experienced being their own worst enemy. And then the slow, baby steps he takes to finally break out of this pattern and start acknowledging that what he's always assumed - that being who he is is incompatible with the life he lives - isn't as much a given as he thought.
Especially so when it comes to his family. Zach has a close-knit Jewish family, and has convinced himself that his parents will be crushed that a nice Jewish girl and lots of kids aren't on the table - even though to the reader, there's nothing in his interactions with his family that screams homophobes or possible rejection. (For that matter, we don't get much direct homophobia from teammates, coaching staff, or fans; the homophobia and resultant (felt) need to stay in the closet is more assumed than explicit.) And sure enough, when Zach finally comes out his family, it's just anticlimactic in the nicest possible way: they're surprised but supportive, and mostly sad that he felt like he had to keep this huge secret for so long. And I think it's really relatable that people just convince themselves of the worst possible outcomes on the basis of no real evidence, and then act accordingly even when their behavior is really little more than self-destructive avoidance tactics. Or at least, I can relate. Sigh.
Zach is also hard of hearing. While I can't speak to the accuracy of the rep, I thought it was well done and liked how it played into Zach's overall character as someone who is extremely (overly) conscious of how he relates to and is perceived by others, and who is constantly trying to minimize any evident difference between himself and a "normal" player/ person.
While I love sports, I have to admit that baseball isn't really my jam. But KD Casey is clearly hugely knowledgeable about the game -- they write professionally about it in addition to their fiction writing -- and there was a good mix of assuming knowledge and explaining things. I actually found all the mechanics of being a catcher fascinating: obviously you know there's much more going into it than a casual fan will ever pick up on, but it was really cool to get more insight into what they're doing, how they prepare, etc. I would say that you don't necessarily need to like sports to enjoy this, so long as you love competence porn and learning about obscure skills and career paths (this actually reminded me of how much I dug reading about Meg's lettering in Love Lettering; two very different books, but the level of skill and care and detail that goes into describing the two careers are very similar).
My only minor complaint is that I would have liked a bit more resolved ending. While I believe that Zach and Eugenio are in a good and solid place at the end of the book, Zach's career and future in baseball is very much up in the air. (ETA: we learn in Diamond Ring, book 3 in the series, that Zach does indeed keep playing and is secure in his new team; and needless to say, Zach and Eugenio's HEA is intact.) But all in all, a well-done, angsty, satisfying sports romance that was just the read I needed right now.
I find good sports romances incredibly comforting. They are so insular, in the sense that the sporty MC's life is so dominated by the physical, logistical, and emotional demands of the sport, the team, and the rhythm of season and off-season, training and competing. Regardless of what else is going on in the story, there is such a sound, predictable framework for the action. It's so soothing.
They are also chock full of competence porn, which will always make me weak at the knees. And of course, let's not pretend that it's not also about hot bodies casually doing things that would cause most people a trip to the ER. When entire industries are built around hot bodies doing hard things, we don't have to pretend not to ogle.
When it comes to MM sports romance, unless it's written in an AU where there's no homophobia problem in sports, coming out is one of the major tropes. Because, well. The numbers of out gay men in professional sports speak for themselves. Meaning that any sport romance set in a pro league in a recognizable world will likely have to navigate the closet/coming out issue, because professional men's leagues and the associated sporting and fan cultures are still in many ways deeply conservative and wallowing in toxic masculinity, misogyny and homophobia.
And such is the case here. Zach and Eugenio are both catchers: Zach is somewhat more established with 4 years in the majors at the time the book opens, while Eugenio is a rookie but an old one, someone who's been grinding it out in the minors for years and is finally getting a chance at major league spring training. Zach is deep in the closet, not out to anyone including his family; Eugenio had a longtime girlfriend for many years (broken up well before the book starts) but seemingly has never had an actual relationship with a man, although he identifies as bi all along -- this is not a biawakening story. Even though they're both competing for limited roster spots, they immediately have a connection, one that eventually turns physical despite Zach's attempts to shut it down. And from that point on, the main conflict is Zach's determination to stay safely in the closet and keep everything locked down, while Eugenio gets more and more frustrated with Zach's secrecy, paranoia, and unwillingness to come out to even family or friends.
The book is told in Zach's POV and toggles between two timelines: one when Zach and Eugenio are playing for the same team, 2 years in which they meet, fall in love, and secretly date; and the other a couple of years later, playing for different teams after a devastating breakup, meeting again at the All-Star game and tentatively rekindling their connection. Both are really well done. The chemistry is great and the connection is believable, but so is the conflict: you can see how Zach is just stuck in this self-sabotaging pattern, and it's incredibly frustrating but also feels real, at least for anyone who's ever experienced being their own worst enemy. And then the slow, baby steps he takes to finally break out of this pattern and start acknowledging that what he's always assumed - that being who he is is incompatible with the life he lives - isn't as much a given as he thought.
Especially so when it comes to his family. Zach has a close-knit Jewish family, and has convinced himself that his parents will be crushed that a nice Jewish girl and lots of kids aren't on the table - even though to the reader, there's nothing in his interactions with his family that screams homophobes or possible rejection. (For that matter, we don't get much direct homophobia from teammates, coaching staff, or fans; the homophobia and resultant (felt) need to stay in the closet is more assumed than explicit.) And sure enough, when Zach finally comes out his family, it's just anticlimactic in the nicest possible way: they're surprised but supportive, and mostly sad that he felt like he had to keep this huge secret for so long. And I think it's really relatable that people just convince themselves of the worst possible outcomes on the basis of no real evidence, and then act accordingly even when their behavior is really little more than self-destructive avoidance tactics. Or at least, I can relate. Sigh.
Zach is also hard of hearing. While I can't speak to the accuracy of the rep, I thought it was well done and liked how it played into Zach's overall character as someone who is extremely (overly) conscious of how he relates to and is perceived by others, and who is constantly trying to minimize any evident difference between himself and a "normal" player/ person.
While I love sports, I have to admit that baseball isn't really my jam. But KD Casey is clearly hugely knowledgeable about the game -- they write professionally about it in addition to their fiction writing -- and there was a good mix of assuming knowledge and explaining things. I actually found all the mechanics of being a catcher fascinating: obviously you know there's much more going into it than a casual fan will ever pick up on, but it was really cool to get more insight into what they're doing, how they prepare, etc. I would say that you don't necessarily need to like sports to enjoy this, so long as you love competence porn and learning about obscure skills and career paths (this actually reminded me of how much I dug reading about Meg's lettering in Love Lettering; two very different books, but the level of skill and care and detail that goes into describing the two careers are very similar).
My only minor complaint is that I would have liked a bit more resolved ending. While I believe that Zach and Eugenio are in a good and solid place at the end of the book, Zach's career and future in baseball is very much up in the air. (ETA: we learn in Diamond Ring, book 3 in the series, that Zach does indeed keep playing and is secure in his new team; and needless to say, Zach and Eugenio's HEA is intact.) But all in all, a well-done, angsty, satisfying sports romance that was just the read I needed right now.
Read
September 26, 2021UNWRITTEN RULES is freaking amazing! I'm seriously in love with KD's writing and this story and you all need to get it!
Pre-order from Amazon: https://amazon.com/dp/B093LKB72K
Or other retailers: https://carinapress.com/shop/books/97...
Pre-order from Amazon: https://amazon.com/dp/B093LKB72K
Or other retailers: https://carinapress.com/shop/books/97...
November 2, 2023
THE TIMELINE:
- winter/spring 20203: a bunch of my GR friends start posting rave reviews of this series, i diligently like and scroll past, thinking "well this is about baseball, i'm clearly not the intended audience, love this for my besties tho"
- two weeks ago: someone on the KJC discord mentions reading and liking a short story by Casey without having any prior knowledge of baseball, i say "well that sounds promising". i proceed to really like the story and post a short and jokey review. chaos ensues.
- two days ago: i finish reading KD Casey's Unwritten Rules. i stare off into the distance. i send way too many gushing texts to Kathleen.
to get the criticism out of the way first - there was a solid chunk of this novel (somewhere in the middle) were i was like "welp, after a promising start this is sliding into 4-star territory like a *baseball term* sliding into *baseball term*.
i do think this book would have felt way tighter if you took out 20 or 30 pages, so it's not like i think it's a perfect achievement on a technical level. that being said....romance novel of all time. Eugenio Morales, the man you are. Zach Glasser, the unfortunately relatable sadboy you are. for all my hockeyrom fans out there, Unwritten Rules is very much giving irish exit by theundiagnosable (and i quote, "nooo don’t haunt your gay sports romcom with the looming spectre of grief you’re so sexy aha"), so take that as the ringing endorsement that it is.
i have a lot to say about this book but i feel like i've sort of drained all my emotional energy in my chat w Kathleen so here goes nothing:
- this novel begins with our protagonist being stuck in traffic and potentially being late for the first day of spring camp and freaking out about it. immediately my soul went out to one Zach Glasser, feeling an intense kinship which would only deepen as i kept reading on.
- the fact that the whole thing is from Zach's POV? brilliant. the fact that we have long flashbacks? brilliant. the fact that Casey is SO GOOD at making you feel the mugginess of the air and the decrepitness of the ballpark? brilliant. THE YEARNING?????? off the charts, showstopping, spectacular, etc.
- at some points while i was reading i was like "everything is so slow-moving smh" (see the comment above about this almost ending up a 4-star read) but in hindsight i'm like "everything is so slow-moving!!! Zach is so stuck!!! area man hates his life and self-sabotages his chance at happiness out of the all-consuming fear of homophobia, and we get to read about him watering his plants in loneliness and despair for pages on end!!!!"
- the way Zach's whole deal is completely understandable and sympathetic (especially if you've been there yourself) BUT at the same time Casey keeps throwing these narrative foils (Johnson, Morgan and of course Eugenio) as if to say "yes, Zach is suffering, but his fear makes him not only lessen himself, but also makes him less perceptive to the very real pain and injustices others are suffering under the same system while he keeps his head down and plods on" BUT it is also clear that Zach isn't callous or self-absorbed and that he just needs time and honest conversations and love
- Zach's deeply-rooted belief that he would be disappointing his family if he came out even though he has no """objective""" reason to think that? honestly, so fucking real. props to writers who get the sad indelible truth of just how pervasive this shit can get, to the point that it creates this niggling background paranoia that you just grow to accept as the backdrop of daily life, even if you'd be much happier if you tried to free yourself of it (again, very irish exit-coded!)
- the visual metaphors in this bad boy!! Zach lugging around the aloe plant Eugenio gave him half-way across the country and the book ending w Eugenio replanting a bit of it in his own apartment! THE NAIL-PAINTING SCENE that perfectly encapsulates Zach's raging fear of homophobia in the baseball world and how that ruins his relationship w Eugenio, and then at the end of the book Eugenio has both his hands painted (and not just the one with which he signals at pitchers) bcs fuck the fear, Eugenio knows his own worth now!! the ketubah Eugenio sees in Zach's childhood home and Zach's inner monologue is all like "look at this visual representation of my parents' Jewishness and happy heterosexuality, which i can never embody and must therefore forever be a disappointment to them" and then at the end of the book Eugenio is fully like "Mrs. Glasser does one need to be Jewish to have a ketubah bcs i don't want to convert but i do want to make an honest man out of your son in a way that is respectful of your religious and familial traditions". Eugenio Morales THE MAN THAT YOU ARE!!!
- speaking of Eugenio, i love the fact that he is textually an incredibly attractive man. like it's not just Zach being like "oh i'm in love with him he is so beautiful" NO, a random team PR lady will casually suggest doing a photoshoot w Morales cos he's the team's main looker, like damn way to go Zach!! meanwhile in the words of the same PR lady Zach is "passably handsome" or some shit, honestly what a win for moderately attractive people everywhere. if a sad sack like Zach Glasser can bag a hottie like Eugenio Morales there is hope for us all
- it's very clear that Casey is very passionate and super knowledgeable about baseball and like i dig that i love that, but also what even is this fucking game. there were whole passages were i was like "wow to think i thought i had a solid grasp of the English language, rip to me i guess". for comparison's sake, i have never seen a game of hockey in my life either, but reading about hockey feels like reading about any team sport, only they run on knives passing along a tiny puck thingy. but reading about baseball....how does one play this game? what are the positions? what are innings? why do players have the time to eat and smoke during games?? this scholar remains mystified.
a massive shoutout to all my GR peeps who were urging me to give Casey a try, you were so right besties!! i love this poorly-designed site and all the terrible enablers i've met thought it. maybe the real treasure was the book gremlins we met along the way!!!
- winter/spring 20203: a bunch of my GR friends start posting rave reviews of this series, i diligently like and scroll past, thinking "well this is about baseball, i'm clearly not the intended audience, love this for my besties tho"
- two weeks ago: someone on the KJC discord mentions reading and liking a short story by Casey without having any prior knowledge of baseball, i say "well that sounds promising". i proceed to really like the story and post a short and jokey review. chaos ensues.
- two days ago: i finish reading KD Casey's Unwritten Rules. i stare off into the distance. i send way too many gushing texts to Kathleen.
to get the criticism out of the way first - there was a solid chunk of this novel (somewhere in the middle) were i was like "welp, after a promising start this is sliding into 4-star territory like a *baseball term* sliding into *baseball term*.
i do think this book would have felt way tighter if you took out 20 or 30 pages, so it's not like i think it's a perfect achievement on a technical level. that being said....romance novel of all time. Eugenio Morales, the man you are. Zach Glasser, the unfortunately relatable sadboy you are. for all my hockeyrom fans out there, Unwritten Rules is very much giving irish exit by theundiagnosable (and i quote, "nooo don’t haunt your gay sports romcom with the looming spectre of grief you’re so sexy aha"), so take that as the ringing endorsement that it is.
i have a lot to say about this book but i feel like i've sort of drained all my emotional energy in my chat w Kathleen so here goes nothing:
- this novel begins with our protagonist being stuck in traffic and potentially being late for the first day of spring camp and freaking out about it. immediately my soul went out to one Zach Glasser, feeling an intense kinship which would only deepen as i kept reading on.
- the fact that the whole thing is from Zach's POV? brilliant. the fact that we have long flashbacks? brilliant. the fact that Casey is SO GOOD at making you feel the mugginess of the air and the decrepitness of the ballpark? brilliant. THE YEARNING?????? off the charts, showstopping, spectacular, etc.
- at some points while i was reading i was like "everything is so slow-moving smh" (see the comment above about this almost ending up a 4-star read) but in hindsight i'm like "everything is so slow-moving!!! Zach is so stuck!!! area man hates his life and self-sabotages his chance at happiness out of the all-consuming fear of homophobia, and we get to read about him watering his plants in loneliness and despair for pages on end!!!!"
- the way Zach's whole deal is completely understandable and sympathetic (especially if you've been there yourself) BUT at the same time Casey keeps throwing these narrative foils (Johnson, Morgan and of course Eugenio) as if to say "yes, Zach is suffering, but his fear makes him not only lessen himself, but also makes him less perceptive to the very real pain and injustices others are suffering under the same system while he keeps his head down and plods on" BUT it is also clear that Zach isn't callous or self-absorbed and that he just needs time and honest conversations and love
- Zach's deeply-rooted belief that he would be disappointing his family if he came out even though he has no """objective""" reason to think that? honestly, so fucking real. props to writers who get the sad indelible truth of just how pervasive this shit can get, to the point that it creates this niggling background paranoia that you just grow to accept as the backdrop of daily life, even if you'd be much happier if you tried to free yourself of it (again, very irish exit-coded!)
- the visual metaphors in this bad boy!! Zach lugging around the aloe plant Eugenio gave him half-way across the country and the book ending w Eugenio replanting a bit of it in his own apartment! THE NAIL-PAINTING SCENE that perfectly encapsulates Zach's raging fear of homophobia in the baseball world and how that ruins his relationship w Eugenio, and then at the end of the book Eugenio has both his hands painted (and not just the one with which he signals at pitchers) bcs fuck the fear, Eugenio knows his own worth now!! the ketubah Eugenio sees in Zach's childhood home and Zach's inner monologue is all like "look at this visual representation of my parents' Jewishness and happy heterosexuality, which i can never embody and must therefore forever be a disappointment to them" and then at the end of the book Eugenio is fully like "Mrs. Glasser does one need to be Jewish to have a ketubah bcs i don't want to convert but i do want to make an honest man out of your son in a way that is respectful of your religious and familial traditions". Eugenio Morales THE MAN THAT YOU ARE!!!
- speaking of Eugenio, i love the fact that he is textually an incredibly attractive man. like it's not just Zach being like "oh i'm in love with him he is so beautiful" NO, a random team PR lady will casually suggest doing a photoshoot w Morales cos he's the team's main looker, like damn way to go Zach!! meanwhile in the words of the same PR lady Zach is "passably handsome" or some shit, honestly what a win for moderately attractive people everywhere. if a sad sack like Zach Glasser can bag a hottie like Eugenio Morales there is hope for us all
- it's very clear that Casey is very passionate and super knowledgeable about baseball and like i dig that i love that, but also what even is this fucking game. there were whole passages were i was like "wow to think i thought i had a solid grasp of the English language, rip to me i guess". for comparison's sake, i have never seen a game of hockey in my life either, but reading about hockey feels like reading about any team sport, only they run on knives passing along a tiny puck thingy. but reading about baseball....how does one play this game? what are the positions? what are innings? why do players have the time to eat and smoke during games?? this scholar remains mystified.
a massive shoutout to all my GR peeps who were urging me to give Casey a try, you were so right besties!! i love this poorly-designed site and all the terrible enablers i've met thought it. maybe the real treasure was the book gremlins we met along the way!!!
April 15, 2023
A little too much angsting for my taste, but other than that no notes. Excellent pining. This book actually does the whole it will break you and put you back together blah blah blah that people talk about - lots of hurt but also lots of comfort. Great second chance romance for people who don't really do second chance romances!
March 6, 2022
3.5 ⭐️
This is a story about second chances. About being true to yourself. It’s a story about baseball. About being a closeted professional athlete. And about families. And how complicated they can be. It’s about heartbreak, and regrets.
I loved Zach and Eugenio. But their story was hard to read. Zach kept failing Eugenio again and again. You feel the love between them, but love is not enough, when you have to constantly hide who you are. When one person is done with hiding while the other may never be.
I loved both sets of parents. I loved how the MCs had very different families and cultural backgrounds.
It gave me a lot of feelings. It’s not exactly a joyful book. It’s slow and heavy and full of regrets. I cried, which is definitely something I love in a book.
What I didn’t love?
There is a LOT of baseball. And as someone who can barely understand the difference between a strike and a ball, I struggled to keep up. I had to reread entire sections because I was so confused.
The back and forth between past and present was confusing. I think it would have been easier to follow if every chapter was labelled with the timing. Or if the stories were more separated. I often found myself picking up the book at the beginning of a chapter and having no idea if I was in the past or present.
Despite those issues that slowed me down and frustrated me, I definitely recommend this.
This is a story about second chances. About being true to yourself. It’s a story about baseball. About being a closeted professional athlete. And about families. And how complicated they can be. It’s about heartbreak, and regrets.
I loved Zach and Eugenio. But their story was hard to read. Zach kept failing Eugenio again and again. You feel the love between them, but love is not enough, when you have to constantly hide who you are. When one person is done with hiding while the other may never be.
I loved both sets of parents. I loved how the MCs had very different families and cultural backgrounds.
It gave me a lot of feelings. It’s not exactly a joyful book. It’s slow and heavy and full of regrets. I cried, which is definitely something I love in a book.
What I didn’t love?
There is a LOT of baseball. And as someone who can barely understand the difference between a strike and a ball, I struggled to keep up. I had to reread entire sections because I was so confused.
The back and forth between past and present was confusing. I think it would have been easier to follow if every chapter was labelled with the timing. Or if the stories were more separated. I often found myself picking up the book at the beginning of a chapter and having no idea if I was in the past or present.
Despite those issues that slowed me down and frustrated me, I definitely recommend this.
March 11, 2024
I wasn’t sure I would like a baseball romance, but I really, really did.
Read
February 27, 2023UNWRITTEN RULES is now available!!!!!
From Amazon: https://bit.ly/UnwrittenRulesZon
From other retailers: https://bit.ly/UnwrittenRulesCarina
I also put together a few resources for folks new to baseball here: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
I can't wait to hear what you think!
From Amazon: https://bit.ly/UnwrittenRulesZon
From other retailers: https://bit.ly/UnwrittenRulesCarina
I also put together a few resources for folks new to baseball here: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
I can't wait to hear what you think!
August 21, 2021
*Disclosure: I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review. The author and I are mutuals on Twitter and interact occasionally.*
3.5*, rounded up
Zach Glasser is a gay, Jewish catcher with hearing loss, four years into his major league baseball career. Everyone knows the second and third things about him - although far too many people forget not to cover their mouths when they're speaking - but nobody, literally n o b o d y in the whole world, knows the first. At least nobody he trusts with his name, who isn't an anonymous one-night hook-up. Now rising 30 years old he's never had a relationship, and he expends significant energy policing his own thoughts and behaviour so that he doesn't give himself away. In his mind he can either be openly queer or play professional baseball; he can't have both. Enter Eugenio Morales - bi, Hispanic, also a catcher and vying for a spot on Zach's team. Thrown together in spring training the two men begin a closeted affair which, we already know at the start of the novel, is doomed to fail. The book runs along two parallel timelines: the first follows the development of Zach and Eugenio's initial relationship, and the second picks up with them three years later, after nearly two years of separation. The chapters alternate between timelines, so that we see both their first and second chance romance on the page. It's an intriguing structure, and one that enables Casey to explore the major conflict of the book in close detail: namely, the difficulty of being out in professional sports, and of overcoming deep internalised homophobia, shame and guilt in order to find happiness. It also makes the book feel very long and, sometimes, confusing, as you have to parse out which timeline you're in at any one time amidst very similar situations and cues. While this is an impressive first book in some ways - for one, the writing is gorgeous, for two, the consideration given to Zach's hearing impairment is brilliantly sensitive - it wasn't the home run that I'd hoped it would be for me.
I should say: I know absolutely nothing about baseball. Except that it involves hitting a ball with a bat and that it's a big deal in the US and other parts of the world. I know a little bit more about sports romances though, and I've really enjoyed some of them, even when I'm ignorant on the sport in question (cf. Rachel Reid's ice hockey series). I went into Unwritten Rules hoping that it wouldn't matter than I didn't know a mound, from a base, from a batting plate. (Did I even get that right?) Unfortunately it did matter, because baseball isn't just a background setting for this story - it is its beating heart. Casey's love and understanding of the game is clear right from the get go, and she writes about it with clear-eyed poetry. There were sentences that made me really feel like I was standing in the stadium dirt with the players. There were also plenty of times when I was completely at sea with what was going on, shut out by terminologies and technical language about stats, opt-outs, techniques and trades. I'm sure this is compounded by being a Brit as well as a baseball newbie. I Googled a lot and I stuck with it, but I've got to admit I found parts of it incomprehensible and other parts of it boring. And since a lot of the narrative hinges on these things directly, that definitely took from my enjoyment.
The more pressing issue though was that I didn't connect with the romance. On paper, from the synopsis, it sounds very much my thing and, beat by beat, it has the rhythm of a genre story: the getting to know each other, the first intimacies, the dark moment and the reconciliation. But overall I didn't feel there was enough of the characters and who they were, beyond baseball, to connect me to them, to get me rooting for them. There were little clues, like Zach enjoying graphic novels and Eugenio liking to cook, but there wasn't enough dwell time on them doing these things, of getting to know each other, of finding out they like each other enough to be in love rather than just in lust. And the majority of the time they spend together is tightly constrained by the fear of discovery. Every encounter in the first timeline revolves around not being outed, around not doing anything that might even lead to questions being asked. Zach is relentlessly anxious about it, and since we spend the whole book in his POV, I found it pretty joyless. While I acknowledge the difficulties of being a gay man in his position, even in 2021, there are multiple ways to build a romance that make space for moments of connection between the MCs in spite of their fears. Even in the second timeline, where Zach and Eugenio have a second chance, it revolves closely around the stress of what will happen when Zach comes out. It felt, to some extent, like his only character trait; like he had been so eroded by fear that all that was left was his self-denial. I was ultimately unsure who he really was. Eugenio, on the other hand, often felt like a catalyst for Zach's journey to self-acceptance rather than a man grappling with identity in his own right.
Towards the end I increasingly questioned whether this was a romance novel at all, deep down, or whether it was actually a conflicted, complicated love story to baseball, a contemporary fiction about homophobia and coming out in sport. Given the laser focus on Zach's development and the arc over and above the HEA, it fell more into the pattern of women's fiction. That's what I’d call it if Zach was a woman. That isn't entirely a criticism - I really loved the final pages of the ending - but it certainly didn't align with my expectations going in. I was left with the conviction that KD Casey is a talented writer, with an acute descriptive eye, but wanting more focus on the relationship to balance out the baseball and the institutional homophobia that comes with it.
CWs: internalised homophobia, fear of being outed, sexism.
3.5*, rounded up
Zach Glasser is a gay, Jewish catcher with hearing loss, four years into his major league baseball career. Everyone knows the second and third things about him - although far too many people forget not to cover their mouths when they're speaking - but nobody, literally n o b o d y in the whole world, knows the first. At least nobody he trusts with his name, who isn't an anonymous one-night hook-up. Now rising 30 years old he's never had a relationship, and he expends significant energy policing his own thoughts and behaviour so that he doesn't give himself away. In his mind he can either be openly queer or play professional baseball; he can't have both. Enter Eugenio Morales - bi, Hispanic, also a catcher and vying for a spot on Zach's team. Thrown together in spring training the two men begin a closeted affair which, we already know at the start of the novel, is doomed to fail. The book runs along two parallel timelines: the first follows the development of Zach and Eugenio's initial relationship, and the second picks up with them three years later, after nearly two years of separation. The chapters alternate between timelines, so that we see both their first and second chance romance on the page. It's an intriguing structure, and one that enables Casey to explore the major conflict of the book in close detail: namely, the difficulty of being out in professional sports, and of overcoming deep internalised homophobia, shame and guilt in order to find happiness. It also makes the book feel very long and, sometimes, confusing, as you have to parse out which timeline you're in at any one time amidst very similar situations and cues. While this is an impressive first book in some ways - for one, the writing is gorgeous, for two, the consideration given to Zach's hearing impairment is brilliantly sensitive - it wasn't the home run that I'd hoped it would be for me.
I should say: I know absolutely nothing about baseball. Except that it involves hitting a ball with a bat and that it's a big deal in the US and other parts of the world. I know a little bit more about sports romances though, and I've really enjoyed some of them, even when I'm ignorant on the sport in question (cf. Rachel Reid's ice hockey series). I went into Unwritten Rules hoping that it wouldn't matter than I didn't know a mound, from a base, from a batting plate. (Did I even get that right?) Unfortunately it did matter, because baseball isn't just a background setting for this story - it is its beating heart. Casey's love and understanding of the game is clear right from the get go, and she writes about it with clear-eyed poetry. There were sentences that made me really feel like I was standing in the stadium dirt with the players. There were also plenty of times when I was completely at sea with what was going on, shut out by terminologies and technical language about stats, opt-outs, techniques and trades. I'm sure this is compounded by being a Brit as well as a baseball newbie. I Googled a lot and I stuck with it, but I've got to admit I found parts of it incomprehensible and other parts of it boring. And since a lot of the narrative hinges on these things directly, that definitely took from my enjoyment.
The more pressing issue though was that I didn't connect with the romance. On paper, from the synopsis, it sounds very much my thing and, beat by beat, it has the rhythm of a genre story: the getting to know each other, the first intimacies, the dark moment and the reconciliation. But overall I didn't feel there was enough of the characters and who they were, beyond baseball, to connect me to them, to get me rooting for them. There were little clues, like Zach enjoying graphic novels and Eugenio liking to cook, but there wasn't enough dwell time on them doing these things, of getting to know each other, of finding out they like each other enough to be in love rather than just in lust. And the majority of the time they spend together is tightly constrained by the fear of discovery. Every encounter in the first timeline revolves around not being outed, around not doing anything that might even lead to questions being asked. Zach is relentlessly anxious about it, and since we spend the whole book in his POV, I found it pretty joyless. While I acknowledge the difficulties of being a gay man in his position, even in 2021, there are multiple ways to build a romance that make space for moments of connection between the MCs in spite of their fears. Even in the second timeline, where Zach and Eugenio have a second chance, it revolves closely around the stress of what will happen when Zach comes out. It felt, to some extent, like his only character trait; like he had been so eroded by fear that all that was left was his self-denial. I was ultimately unsure who he really was. Eugenio, on the other hand, often felt like a catalyst for Zach's journey to self-acceptance rather than a man grappling with identity in his own right.
Towards the end I increasingly questioned whether this was a romance novel at all, deep down, or whether it was actually a conflicted, complicated love story to baseball, a contemporary fiction about homophobia and coming out in sport. Given the laser focus on Zach's development and the arc over and above the HEA, it fell more into the pattern of women's fiction. That's what I’d call it if Zach was a woman. That isn't entirely a criticism - I really loved the final pages of the ending - but it certainly didn't align with my expectations going in. I was left with the conviction that KD Casey is a talented writer, with an acute descriptive eye, but wanting more focus on the relationship to balance out the baseball and the institutional homophobia that comes with it.
CWs: internalised homophobia, fear of being outed, sexism.
January 29, 2023
Results are in, K.D. Casey has become an auto-buy (though I requested the next one in this series from NetGalley, so hopefully I'll be paying the author in rave reviews).
I've learned from the m/m romance subreddit that many readers dislike and avoid themes of homophobia. Me, I love a good story in which someone struggles with homophobia of any kind -- in Zach Glasser's case, if not exactly internalized homophobia, then fear of others' homophobia. Make that abject terror of other people's homophobia, and with a twist here: Zach is hard of hearing, and he fears this has caused his parents difficulties that make him a disappointment to them. Additionally, his parents, who are observant Jews, keep trying to set him up with women: they want him to have a "nice life," which necessarily entails heterosexual marriage, and Zach is afraid of their reaction on that score if he comes out to them.
On top of all that, of course, he has every reason to expect a hostile response from many or most of his teammates. And as he sees it, he had a choice to make between baseball and love, a choice whose cost he doesn't appreciate until it wrecks his relationship with Eugenio Morales. Eugenio's just great (if I met him in real life I'd put him on the Free Pass List my spouse and I have for people we get to bang, no harm no foul, if the opportunity ever miraculously arises), and though he doesn't feel the need to be out to everybody, he does want himself and Zach to declare themselves to at least a few people -- his own parents, for example. After two years of accommodating Zach's triple-locked closet, Eugenio has had it. He walks.
The timeline in Unwritten Rules shifts between the development and eventual collapse of Zach's relationship with Eugenio, and the book's present time, in which Zach is reckoning with his loneliness and with how deeply he loves and misses Eugenio. Well, this is a romance, so you know how that goes. Travel with Zach and cry your eyes out, at least if you're me. Eugenio's right to be fed up, of course, but Zach's suffering is real and terrible. Wise choice, by the way, to stick with his POV -- if we saw him only from the outside, that pain wouldn't be as accessible, and it's his pain and fear that make him forgivable. (Also he has some lovely qualities, most especially a professional generosity that's rare when one person's success may well entail his colleague's failure.)
I didn't tag this as BDSM, because it's not quite, but the very, very, very hot sex here definitely has a kinky edge. Nice bonus!
I've learned from the m/m romance subreddit that many readers dislike and avoid themes of homophobia. Me, I love a good story in which someone struggles with homophobia of any kind -- in Zach Glasser's case, if not exactly internalized homophobia, then fear of others' homophobia. Make that abject terror of other people's homophobia, and with a twist here: Zach is hard of hearing, and he fears this has caused his parents difficulties that make him a disappointment to them. Additionally, his parents, who are observant Jews, keep trying to set him up with women: they want him to have a "nice life," which necessarily entails heterosexual marriage, and Zach is afraid of their reaction on that score if he comes out to them.
On top of all that, of course, he has every reason to expect a hostile response from many or most of his teammates. And as he sees it, he had a choice to make between baseball and love, a choice whose cost he doesn't appreciate until it wrecks his relationship with Eugenio Morales. Eugenio's just great (if I met him in real life I'd put him on the Free Pass List my spouse and I have for people we get to bang, no harm no foul, if the opportunity ever miraculously arises), and though he doesn't feel the need to be out to everybody, he does want himself and Zach to declare themselves to at least a few people -- his own parents, for example. After two years of accommodating Zach's triple-locked closet, Eugenio has had it. He walks.
The timeline in Unwritten Rules shifts between the development and eventual collapse of Zach's relationship with Eugenio, and the book's present time, in which Zach is reckoning with his loneliness and with how deeply he loves and misses Eugenio. Well, this is a romance, so you know how that goes. Travel with Zach and cry your eyes out, at least if you're me. Eugenio's right to be fed up, of course, but Zach's suffering is real and terrible. Wise choice, by the way, to stick with his POV -- if we saw him only from the outside, that pain wouldn't be as accessible, and it's his pain and fear that make him forgivable. (Also he has some lovely qualities, most especially a professional generosity that's rare when one person's success may well entail his colleague's failure.)
I didn't tag this as BDSM, because it's not quite, but the very, very, very hot sex here definitely has a kinky edge. Nice bonus!
June 21, 2023
3.5 stars
This snuck up on me. Lowkey I didn't think I was super attached to the characters....but when the last few chapters hit, I was genuinely getting emotional??? Idk. This is a quiet angsty second chance book with a shit ton of actual baseball content and some pretty great writing. Both MCs were likeable, and I appreciated seeing Zach's background being Jewish and HOH along with Eugenio's experiences as a Venezuelan player in professional baseball. I'm used to the back and forth timelines that often pops up in second chance romances, so that didn't bother me. I felt like the changes back and forth were timed pretty well too. There was an undercurrent of tenderness in their relationship that I just adored, especially when they reconciled towards the end.
Not usually a fan of single POV romances and this book didn't convert me. While staying in Zach's pov probably made him more sympathetic than he would've been otherwise, I never felt like I could really connect with Eugenio as much as I wanted to. This was probably the most noticeable when his time apart from Zach was referenced but never shown in full. I wanted to know what he was up to! And as much as I liked the more....mellow? understated? tone, it wasn't as immediately engaging to read. Took a bit more effort to read than I usually like in romances, if that makes sense.
Definitely gonna keep reading in this series, K.D. Casey has my interest!
This snuck up on me. Lowkey I didn't think I was super attached to the characters....but when the last few chapters hit, I was genuinely getting emotional??? Idk. This is a quiet angsty second chance book with a shit ton of actual baseball content and some pretty great writing. Both MCs were likeable, and I appreciated seeing Zach's background being Jewish and HOH along with Eugenio's experiences as a Venezuelan player in professional baseball. I'm used to the back and forth timelines that often pops up in second chance romances, so that didn't bother me. I felt like the changes back and forth were timed pretty well too. There was an undercurrent of tenderness in their relationship that I just adored, especially when they reconciled towards the end.
Not usually a fan of single POV romances and this book didn't convert me. While staying in Zach's pov probably made him more sympathetic than he would've been otherwise, I never felt like I could really connect with Eugenio as much as I wanted to. This was probably the most noticeable when his time apart from Zach was referenced but never shown in full. I wanted to know what he was up to! And as much as I liked the more....mellow? understated? tone, it wasn't as immediately engaging to read. Took a bit more effort to read than I usually like in romances, if that makes sense.
Definitely gonna keep reading in this series, K.D. Casey has my interest!
April 18, 2023
Swoony sportsball Jew
Meets soulmate, listens, comes out,
Finds himself and love.
Literally eleventeen stars for this brilliant book. TTW you realized the flat of plants is a metaphor. The Costco reference. The message that the gayer you are the happier you’ll be. So fucking good.
Meets soulmate, listens, comes out,
Finds himself and love.
Literally eleventeen stars for this brilliant book. TTW you realized the flat of plants is a metaphor. The Costco reference. The message that the gayer you are the happier you’ll be. So fucking good.
November 30, 2021
3.75 stars
As a sports romance, this was practically everything I could have asked for, and I loved it! Both MCs are baseball players, and a large chunk of the story takes place during spring training when they first meet. They're both catchers who get to know each other while spending long hours together at practice, waiting to see who makes the final roster cuts, and all the little details were exactly what I want from my professional athletes. It's a weird life, and I like getting an inside glimpse at all the bits and pieces that go into it. The author came through big time in that regard.
She even sold me on the second chance romance, which is one of my least favorite tropes. I usually struggle to buy into either the separation or the reconciliation, but this one moves back and forth between the present and past in a way that works really well for that aspect of the story.
There is a very distinct contrast between baseball's spring training atmosphere and the almost joyful energy that tends to bounce off the pages of my beloved hockey romances, though. That's not a complaint -- I get the sense that it's an accurate contrast and one that I found very interesting to explore -- but I didn't realize how much I rely on that uplifting atmosphere to balance out the tension of the razor's edge these MCs tend to walk when trying not to get caught together.
In this one, that tension is combined with a low-key sense of dread that's hanging over all the happier times of the chapters set in the past because you know what's coming from the very first scene of the book. The MC is now leading a pretty solitary life that he's no longer finding much to be satisfied with, and it drapes a sense of melancholy over the majority of the book that I was not expecting. It was really good, but it had my heart in knots for a lot of the book. (It didn't help that the main source of conflict -- -- is one I tend to avoid for anxiety purposes. Thankfully it's handled well and doesn't ever take over the plot.)
And thank goodness I read it anyway because it's the best thing I've read in weeks! I can't wait to see what this author does next.
**This book was provided for free by the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley**
As a sports romance, this was practically everything I could have asked for, and I loved it! Both MCs are baseball players, and a large chunk of the story takes place during spring training when they first meet. They're both catchers who get to know each other while spending long hours together at practice, waiting to see who makes the final roster cuts, and all the little details were exactly what I want from my professional athletes. It's a weird life, and I like getting an inside glimpse at all the bits and pieces that go into it. The author came through big time in that regard.
She even sold me on the second chance romance, which is one of my least favorite tropes. I usually struggle to buy into either the separation or the reconciliation, but this one moves back and forth between the present and past in a way that works really well for that aspect of the story.
There is a very distinct contrast between baseball's spring training atmosphere and the almost joyful energy that tends to bounce off the pages of my beloved hockey romances, though. That's not a complaint -- I get the sense that it's an accurate contrast and one that I found very interesting to explore -- but I didn't realize how much I rely on that uplifting atmosphere to balance out the tension of the razor's edge these MCs tend to walk when trying not to get caught together.
In this one, that tension is combined with a low-key sense of dread that's hanging over all the happier times of the chapters set in the past because you know what's coming from the very first scene of the book. The MC is now leading a pretty solitary life that he's no longer finding much to be satisfied with, and it drapes a sense of melancholy over the majority of the book that I was not expecting. It was really good, but it had my heart in knots for a lot of the book. (It didn't help that the main source of conflict -- -- is one I tend to avoid for anxiety purposes. Thankfully it's handled well and doesn't ever take over the plot.)
And thank goodness I read it anyway because it's the best thing I've read in weeks! I can't wait to see what this author does next.
**This book was provided for free by the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley**
June 13, 2022
There is quite a lot of baseball in this book. Like, more than I was really expecting. The entire book is through the lens of baseball and it's all the main character thinks of and it colors every aspect of his life. I did not find the baseball content unapproachable or exclusionary; I don't watch baseball but I could understand the baseball content described in this book.
There is also a lot more to the book than baseball (I am saying baseball a lot. Baseball baseball baseball). It's also a very romantic book. The two main characters play on the same team at the same position and meet at spring training one year and their romance slowly develops through the spring training. The book is structured a bit unusually with the present day and a series of flashbacks from when the characters meet to the present day. And sometimes flashbacks within the flashbacks. I wasn't ever lost in the narrative but it does add to the denseness of the book so it is not exactly skimmable. Anyway, romance stuff. The characters had a very believable romance and they really cared for each other. Between the cooking and the plants and the secret arm squeeze instead of a kiss and the space they make for each other and the caretaking since one of the main characters is hard of hearing it was very sweet and romantic.
My one big issue with the book is it just sort of ends. There isn't much in the way of a conclusion and we are left with a lot of loose ends. We can assume everything will work out but a bit more of a solid wrap up or epilogue to ensure the happily ever after would have brought this up to a five star read.
So yeah! Endless Baseball. Plus some romance. Read it!
Read this review and more on my blog: https://horsetalkreviews.blogspot.com/
There is also a lot more to the book than baseball (I am saying baseball a lot. Baseball baseball baseball). It's also a very romantic book. The two main characters play on the same team at the same position and meet at spring training one year and their romance slowly develops through the spring training. The book is structured a bit unusually with the present day and a series of flashbacks from when the characters meet to the present day. And sometimes flashbacks within the flashbacks. I wasn't ever lost in the narrative but it does add to the denseness of the book so it is not exactly skimmable. Anyway, romance stuff. The characters had a very believable romance and they really cared for each other. Between the cooking and the plants and the secret arm squeeze instead of a kiss and the space they make for each other and the caretaking since one of the main characters is hard of hearing it was very sweet and romantic.
My one big issue with the book is it just sort of ends. There isn't much in the way of a conclusion and we are left with a lot of loose ends. We can assume everything will work out but a bit more of a solid wrap up or epilogue to ensure the happily ever after would have brought this up to a five star read.
So yeah! Endless Baseball. Plus some romance. Read it!
Read this review and more on my blog: https://horsetalkreviews.blogspot.com/
July 21, 2022
Honestly in awe of this book, both the love story it told & the way KD told it. The interweaving of timelines was so fascinating (and HEARTWRENCHING) & the writing style just really worked for me—there were so many gorgeous passages that took my breath away, particularly in how KD was able to so expertly avoid simply telling Zach’s emotions, but expressing them reflected in the landscapes around him, whether that was the arid Arizona mountains or the lushness of the California coast or the mugginess of Miami. And Eugenio, I mean, what a dream boat. I loved the breadth of this, the different experiences & identities contained in it, and how deeply a baseball book and how deeply a romance it was simultaneously. The sex scenes were also really interestingly done, I thought. Lastly, without spoilers, I really loved the steady realism of the ending; it fit Zach’s story and the experience of queerness perfectly. ALL TO SAY: I can’t wait to read everything else KD ever writes.
April 7, 2023
This second chance MM romance is great for summer baseball lovers and just fans of MLM stories. Rep for Jewish MC with hearing disability.
Love me some steamy gay sports romances!!
𝙐𝙣𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨 by KD Casey (2021) ★★★★.5
This low drama story tells the story of Zach and Eugenio through two different timeframes. When they first meet at spring training and develop a friendship then relationship that last for two years. Flash forward to three years later, now on different teams, when they see each other at the All-Star Game and it’s clear the spark never really went away.
Zach wasn’t ready to come out then, but would he be ready now?
I really liked this low drama story, with the most drama being the pressure Zach puts on himself. It’s a sweet love/adult coming-out story - full of angst and while I got frustrated at Zach at times - he needed to find his own way and come into himself.
Casey’s love of baseball shines through with vast knowledge and technical detail - but well explained for even casual baseball fans. Third person, present tense from a single characters (MC) turns a lot of people off - but I thought it was well done in this case.
Can’t wait to read the next two stories in the series.
Love me some steamy gay sports romances!!
𝙐𝙣𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨 by KD Casey (2021) ★★★★.5
This low drama story tells the story of Zach and Eugenio through two different timeframes. When they first meet at spring training and develop a friendship then relationship that last for two years. Flash forward to three years later, now on different teams, when they see each other at the All-Star Game and it’s clear the spark never really went away.
Zach wasn’t ready to come out then, but would he be ready now?
I really liked this low drama story, with the most drama being the pressure Zach puts on himself. It’s a sweet love/adult coming-out story - full of angst and while I got frustrated at Zach at times - he needed to find his own way and come into himself.
Casey’s love of baseball shines through with vast knowledge and technical detail - but well explained for even casual baseball fans. Third person, present tense from a single characters (MC) turns a lot of people off - but I thought it was well done in this case.
Can’t wait to read the next two stories in the series.
November 9, 2021
Let me start this off by getting this out there .., I love a sports romance book hockey hands down first place. I would love a good lacrosse book but apparently I am the minority, basketball would be nice, football. But baseball, I can’t stand anything about it, watching it for me it like watching pair dry. This book is baseball heavy AND I still really enjoyed it.
This story was a real character development story, getting to know Zach, his hang ups, who he is all the good and the bad. It’s not a super fast paced story but as I mentioned it’s the details and build of the person that IMO that made it enjoyable for me
This story was a real character development story, getting to know Zach, his hang ups, who he is all the good and the bad. It’s not a super fast paced story but as I mentioned it’s the details and build of the person that IMO that made it enjoyable for me
May 29, 2022
A baseball player seeks a second chance with a former teammate. This was a 5/5 baseball story, a 4/5 character arc, and a 3/5 romance.
Casey is extremely knowledgeable about baseball and it shows in this book. The more I know about a subject the less likely I am to want to read a romance about it, so a book that’s not only about a sport I love but also my favorite team and the area I live in has to be exceptional for me to enjoy it. Details from the minutiae of pitch framing to the economics of baseball were accurate, and I loved that Casey showed the sport’s flaws as well as its highlights. A book that includes a Latin American main character, multiple franchises, and stress over making the major league roster isn’t really accurate if it’s not touching on how Latin American players are treated, how franchises prioritize profit over player welfare or fan enjoyment, and the financial hardship of being in the minor leagues. The romance genre gives authors an easy way to whitewash those issues as irrelevant to the story being told, but I think stories that more closely reflect reality are ultimately more satisfying, and that was certainly the case here. Speaking of whitewashing, I especially appreciate that one of the MCs in this book is Latin American, because a huge percentage of baseball players are from Latin America but baseball romances usually don’t reflect that.
The baseball accuracy made this book feel like a realistic journey through part of a MLB career. Through Zach’s eyes, we see spring training, helping pitchers and other catchers develop their skills, the ups and downs of playing for various franchises, the long and isolating slog of the baseball season, and the complex relationship players have with management and teammates. As a result, Zach being in the closet doesn’t seem contrived, it seems understandable. I really liked how the issue of coming out was portrayed in this book. So many sports romances treat coming out as a one-and-done thing, something that either happens by force or because you have a moment of courage or impulsivity. Here, however, we see how many different personal and professional relationships Zach has to navigate to come out to anyone, and how much thought and planning that takes. I appreciated Casey’s nuanced handling of this subject.
I also appreciated how Casey handled Zach being Hard of Hearing. It’s never taken for granted or ignored for plot convenience, and affects most of the interactions Zach has in the book, as well as how he thinks about his career and his relationship with management and other players. But it also isn’t a source of conflict in the plot and this isn’t the story of “overcoming” a disability. It’s just a fact about who Zach is, and the people he’s closest to are the ones who accept and accommodate his needs without singling him out or drawing attention to his differences. This is the type of disability representation that many disabled readers are looking for.
As for the romance, the pining and buildup are excellent, but the rest of the romance doesn’t quite live up to the tension developed in those initial stages. While I liked the reconciliation phase of the story, I felt it was more successful as an individual character arc (especially around the issue of coming out) than it was as a romance.
This was largely because the story’s pacing was odd. I didn’t mind the ratio of past to present scenes (more of the former than the latter), but of the two years the MCs were in a relationship, only the first few months were shown on-page. As a result, it was really hard to get a sense of how Zach felt about the relationship at the time. How serious did he think it was? What kind of future did he envision with Eugenio? How honest was he with himself about the relationship and where it was going? The emotional impact on the reader of the eventual reconciliation hinges on having more concrete answers to those questions than were given.
Due to the single POV, Eugenio’s feelings were also difficult to gauge at times. While I mostly had a good sense of his character and the single POV worked, I felt disconnected from his character during the reconciliation period because key conversations about where the relationship stood took place off-page and were only referred to in passing later. The reader was supposed to feel the reconciliation was tenuous at first, but that wasn’t adequately conveyed and it took some of the tension out of the last third of the book.
Also, the sex scenes felt perfunctory and lacking in emotion compared to other interactions between the MCs. They were oddly paced – going from nothing happening to everything happening to being over in just a few short paragraphs, to the point where I missed the ending and had to re-read the last sentences of a few of them – and didn’t have much romantic tension. It isn’t that they needed to be more explicit, just more detailed about the characters’ feelings and reactions.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book despite wishing the romance had been better paced. I highly recommend this book to any baseball fans and those wanting to read an accurate baseball romance. If you’re someone who wants sports to be in the background of your sports romances, however, I suggest skipping this one.
Casey is extremely knowledgeable about baseball and it shows in this book. The more I know about a subject the less likely I am to want to read a romance about it, so a book that’s not only about a sport I love but also my favorite team and the area I live in has to be exceptional for me to enjoy it. Details from the minutiae of pitch framing to the economics of baseball were accurate, and I loved that Casey showed the sport’s flaws as well as its highlights. A book that includes a Latin American main character, multiple franchises, and stress over making the major league roster isn’t really accurate if it’s not touching on how Latin American players are treated, how franchises prioritize profit over player welfare or fan enjoyment, and the financial hardship of being in the minor leagues. The romance genre gives authors an easy way to whitewash those issues as irrelevant to the story being told, but I think stories that more closely reflect reality are ultimately more satisfying, and that was certainly the case here. Speaking of whitewashing, I especially appreciate that one of the MCs in this book is Latin American, because a huge percentage of baseball players are from Latin America but baseball romances usually don’t reflect that.
The baseball accuracy made this book feel like a realistic journey through part of a MLB career. Through Zach’s eyes, we see spring training, helping pitchers and other catchers develop their skills, the ups and downs of playing for various franchises, the long and isolating slog of the baseball season, and the complex relationship players have with management and teammates. As a result, Zach being in the closet doesn’t seem contrived, it seems understandable. I really liked how the issue of coming out was portrayed in this book. So many sports romances treat coming out as a one-and-done thing, something that either happens by force or because you have a moment of courage or impulsivity. Here, however, we see how many different personal and professional relationships Zach has to navigate to come out to anyone, and how much thought and planning that takes. I appreciated Casey’s nuanced handling of this subject.
I also appreciated how Casey handled Zach being Hard of Hearing. It’s never taken for granted or ignored for plot convenience, and affects most of the interactions Zach has in the book, as well as how he thinks about his career and his relationship with management and other players. But it also isn’t a source of conflict in the plot and this isn’t the story of “overcoming” a disability. It’s just a fact about who Zach is, and the people he’s closest to are the ones who accept and accommodate his needs without singling him out or drawing attention to his differences. This is the type of disability representation that many disabled readers are looking for.
As for the romance, the pining and buildup are excellent, but the rest of the romance doesn’t quite live up to the tension developed in those initial stages. While I liked the reconciliation phase of the story, I felt it was more successful as an individual character arc (especially around the issue of coming out) than it was as a romance.
This was largely because the story’s pacing was odd. I didn’t mind the ratio of past to present scenes (more of the former than the latter), but of the two years the MCs were in a relationship, only the first few months were shown on-page. As a result, it was really hard to get a sense of how Zach felt about the relationship at the time. How serious did he think it was? What kind of future did he envision with Eugenio? How honest was he with himself about the relationship and where it was going? The emotional impact on the reader of the eventual reconciliation hinges on having more concrete answers to those questions than were given.
Due to the single POV, Eugenio’s feelings were also difficult to gauge at times. While I mostly had a good sense of his character and the single POV worked, I felt disconnected from his character during the reconciliation period because key conversations about where the relationship stood took place off-page and were only referred to in passing later. The reader was supposed to feel the reconciliation was tenuous at first, but that wasn’t adequately conveyed and it took some of the tension out of the last third of the book.
Also, the sex scenes felt perfunctory and lacking in emotion compared to other interactions between the MCs. They were oddly paced – going from nothing happening to everything happening to being over in just a few short paragraphs, to the point where I missed the ending and had to re-read the last sentences of a few of them – and didn’t have much romantic tension. It isn’t that they needed to be more explicit, just more detailed about the characters’ feelings and reactions.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book despite wishing the romance had been better paced. I highly recommend this book to any baseball fans and those wanting to read an accurate baseball romance. If you’re someone who wants sports to be in the background of your sports romances, however, I suggest skipping this one.
April 30, 2023
For as much as I love baseball (go White Sox!), I haven’t read very many baseball romances. It’s an underrepresented sport in the romance world. I obviously had to give this one a go! It’s very clear the author is a major baseball fan. That is the book’s strength and detriment as we follow catchers Zach and Eugenio when they meet at Spring Training. A second chance romance, we get a mix of chapters following the men through the initial years of their relationship and breakup, and three years later when they’re both selected for the All Star Game.
Second chance romances work best for me when they’re not reliant on flashbacks or if flashbacks don’t continue for the bulk of the story. In this case, we don’t get the cause of their breakup until 70%. The duration of the shifting timelines resulted in a bogged down middle. This was slow-moving across the board and lacked narrative drive. I’m a big baseball fan and even I got bored in places. It has to be possible to represent the grind and humdrum of a baseball season without the plot grinding to a halt. Baseball is full of emotion! It can have its lulls for sure. Goodness knows I’ve sat through some boring innings and games that dragged. But the reason I love this sport is because you never know what will happen. Ninth inning wins are a thing of beauty or despair, depending on whether it’s your team doing the unexpected. We get none of that here. And yes, Zach is on a subpar team for a good chunk of this but even mediocre teams have some wins and impressive plays.
The writing style will either work for you or it won’t. It’s more episodic (fanfic-like) and written in 3rd person present tense. I don’t always notice what tense a book is written in; if I do, it’s often a sign of the book not working well for me and that was the case here. One would hope a book written in present tense would be more gripping than this turned out to be.
A strong internal arc could have balanced things better. While we’re solely in Zach’s POV, I never felt I knew how he felt about anything. This was all tell, no show. Just a litany of “and then this and then this and then this.” The ingredients for angst were there but the emotions have been entirely leeched out. I felt robbed!
I liked both Zach and Eugenio and seeing where their careers went. I didn’t entirely understand why Zach was as deeply closeted as he was or why he’d never revisited his belief that he could either be in the MLB or he could be out. Eugenio’s frustration with him was entirely too relatable. However, it was that much more powerful when Zach finally decided to go to therapy and begin the process of coming out. He found a great therapist and this added such a neat dimension to his friendship with Morgan.
There were some fun details, like the team and stadium names. I enjoyed trying to figure out the real life equivalents. I wish the writing style worked better for me because there were promising elements, even if they didn’t alchemize the way I’d hoped.
Characters: Zach is a 28 year old gay Jewish white catcher who wears a hearing aid. Eugenio is a 27 year old bisexual Venezuelan American catcher who wears glasses. This is set in Phoenix, Oakland, Miami, and NYC.
Content notes: panic attack, racism, ableism, closeted MCs (no forced outing), MC wears a hearing aid in one ear, secondary character missing two fingers, industry sexism (secondary characters), sports-related weight gain, vomit (hangover), pregnanct secondary character, on page sex, rimming, orgasm control, alcohol, inebriation, hangover, cigarettes, ableist language
Second chance romances work best for me when they’re not reliant on flashbacks or if flashbacks don’t continue for the bulk of the story. In this case, we don’t get the cause of their breakup until 70%. The duration of the shifting timelines resulted in a bogged down middle. This was slow-moving across the board and lacked narrative drive. I’m a big baseball fan and even I got bored in places. It has to be possible to represent the grind and humdrum of a baseball season without the plot grinding to a halt. Baseball is full of emotion! It can have its lulls for sure. Goodness knows I’ve sat through some boring innings and games that dragged. But the reason I love this sport is because you never know what will happen. Ninth inning wins are a thing of beauty or despair, depending on whether it’s your team doing the unexpected. We get none of that here. And yes, Zach is on a subpar team for a good chunk of this but even mediocre teams have some wins and impressive plays.
The writing style will either work for you or it won’t. It’s more episodic (fanfic-like) and written in 3rd person present tense. I don’t always notice what tense a book is written in; if I do, it’s often a sign of the book not working well for me and that was the case here. One would hope a book written in present tense would be more gripping than this turned out to be.
A strong internal arc could have balanced things better. While we’re solely in Zach’s POV, I never felt I knew how he felt about anything. This was all tell, no show. Just a litany of “and then this and then this and then this.” The ingredients for angst were there but the emotions have been entirely leeched out. I felt robbed!
I liked both Zach and Eugenio and seeing where their careers went. I didn’t entirely understand why Zach was as deeply closeted as he was or why he’d never revisited his belief that he could either be in the MLB or he could be out. Eugenio’s frustration with him was entirely too relatable. However, it was that much more powerful when Zach finally decided to go to therapy and begin the process of coming out. He found a great therapist and this added such a neat dimension to his friendship with Morgan.
There were some fun details, like the team and stadium names. I enjoyed trying to figure out the real life equivalents. I wish the writing style worked better for me because there were promising elements, even if they didn’t alchemize the way I’d hoped.
Characters: Zach is a 28 year old gay Jewish white catcher who wears a hearing aid. Eugenio is a 27 year old bisexual Venezuelan American catcher who wears glasses. This is set in Phoenix, Oakland, Miami, and NYC.
Content notes: panic attack, racism, ableism, closeted MCs (no forced outing), MC wears a hearing aid in one ear, secondary character missing two fingers, industry sexism (secondary characters), sports-related weight gain, vomit (hangover), pregnanct secondary character, on page sex, rimming, orgasm control, alcohol, inebriation, hangover, cigarettes, ableist language
May 20, 2024
Re-read almost two years later after my initial read. Finished the series and loved it.
____________________________________________________
What an unexpected treat.
Unwritten Rules is a very particular kind of romance, in which secondary plots play a very big part in the outcome of the main one. And that's not usually something I enjoy. Except this was exceptionally well written.
Full of baseball and heavy on the sports content, I don't think this would be for everyone. Even I, a professed baseball amateur fan found some references and explanations to be just too much and not necessary to the story. And still, the book is really that good.
I'm not qualified to speak on many of the topics on it, but from my perspective, this was a respectful and well-researched book. The whole thing felt honest. I can't find fault with any of the main characters. Everyone did the best they could with the tools and life they were given. Both Eugenio and Zach are fully developed people in the story. And I appreciated the very natural and genuine representation given to Eugenio's roots and to the rest of the Latino players, as well as the very pointed commentary on baseball's subterfuge racism and exploitation of Latin American players.
My only gripe with the entire book is more of a "me" thing than anything else. I felt that for about 80% of the book the story develops with a slowness bordering on sluggish. And then it moves at rocketship speed. I think I expected a more measured and detailed conversation between the characters about the "after".
But anyway, a romance of the likes I haven't encountered this year. Truly a fantastic novel.
____________________________________________________
What an unexpected treat.
Unwritten Rules is a very particular kind of romance, in which secondary plots play a very big part in the outcome of the main one. And that's not usually something I enjoy. Except this was exceptionally well written.
Full of baseball and heavy on the sports content, I don't think this would be for everyone. Even I, a professed baseball amateur fan found some references and explanations to be just too much and not necessary to the story. And still, the book is really that good.
I'm not qualified to speak on many of the topics on it, but from my perspective, this was a respectful and well-researched book. The whole thing felt honest. I can't find fault with any of the main characters. Everyone did the best they could with the tools and life they were given. Both Eugenio and Zach are fully developed people in the story. And I appreciated the very natural and genuine representation given to Eugenio's roots and to the rest of the Latino players, as well as the very pointed commentary on baseball's subterfuge racism and exploitation of Latin American players.
My only gripe with the entire book is more of a "me" thing than anything else. I felt that for about 80% of the book the story develops with a slowness bordering on sluggish. And then it moves at rocketship speed. I think I expected a more measured and detailed conversation between the characters about the "after".
But anyway, a romance of the likes I haven't encountered this year. Truly a fantastic novel.
January 11, 2022
Oh boy. This book is so good, and I almost gave up on it several times. There is so much gloom and angst, so much aching poignancy. Zach is so determined to deny himself any chance of happiness, and, as a result, Eugenio too. It really is painful hanging out in the closet with these guys for so much of the book.
But it's Worth It. Casey is brilliant at conveying the nuances of intimacy, of yearning.
And probably baseball too; I'm so ignorant I had to keep stopping to remember what the difference between a ball and a strike is. But she conveys the Feeling of the game and why people love it and what it's like to play it. So well that I was swept along and, um, intrigued?
Anyway, I was so glad I made it to the payoff. And Casey seems to have written some other stuff, so...
But it's Worth It. Casey is brilliant at conveying the nuances of intimacy, of yearning.
And probably baseball too; I'm so ignorant I had to keep stopping to remember what the difference between a ball and a strike is. But she conveys the Feeling of the game and why people love it and what it's like to play it. So well that I was swept along and, um, intrigued?
Anyway, I was so glad I made it to the payoff. And Casey seems to have written some other stuff, so...
January 19, 2022
This was VERY good, both in that the sports seemed right (and were according to the expert I consulted) but the author seemed to really consider what makes sports romances work, i.e. the thing that two people are so passionate about being hot when they do it TOGETHER. The coaching scenes??? Yes, please. Also, the team names delighted me.
November 18, 2021
This book KNOWS BASEBALL. Like, not just the rules, but in a deep fandom way. (The A's are called the Elephants and play in a colosseum with bad plumbing!)
I liked the romance, too, but mostly THE BASEBALL.
I liked the romance, too, but mostly THE BASEBALL.
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