I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Safe was a fun, quick, easy-to-read novella by author Jess Bryant. Sports-themed with fabulous characters.

Safe was my first story by Jess Bryant and I really liked it. It was a sweet, fast-paced short story.

This is my first Jess Bryant book and I really enjoyed it. It was short, sweet, and hot and seemed to pack a lot of emotion in for a novella. I thought the writing was excellent and would definitely read more from this author.

Nice little novella about team-mates. It's a well trodden trope, one out and proud, one deeply entrenched in the closet. The chemistry between the leads was great, I just felt like a bit of backstory of both characters would have helped greatly. I know Trevor is a side character from an already released book, but I think even novellas should be able to stand on their own feet. Still it was a nice easy read from a new to me author.

Okay can I just say I ABSOLUTELY ADORED this story. These two were everything I love in a M/M read. Seriously hot and raw but so beautifully vulnerable too. Gah!

Trevor and Rodrigo made me swoon so hard. I just loved this one. I could have easily read another 20 chapters on these two. This author has a real flair for M/M storytelling and I hope she has more planned.

It might only be a novella but this sexy and steamy short really packs a punch. Coming out for Trevor is a make or break issue. Can he tell the teammate who has big league potential that he is falling for him? Or will he have to wait to retire to let him know? Great read!!

This is a fast-paced, novella that focusses on two supporting characters from Stay a Little Longer (Fate, Texas #1). I hadn’t read the first book and had no trouble reading this one. If you’re planning to read Stay A Little Longer, I would suggest reading it first so you don’t spoil some of the plot!!

Because this is a short novella, there’s not much opportunity for the author to explore the world of professional baseball. Primarily the story is confined to the attraction and ultimate passionate relationship between the two main characters, Trevor and Cruz. Cruz is openly bisexual…. young, talented and in-your-face while Trevor is older, nearing the end of his career and has yet to disclose his sexual orientation publically.

Cruz and Trevor are in the bar at the beginning of this novella and the sparks are flying. Their first kiss is in an elevator and this propels them into a physical relationship that distracts them from the fact that they should be talking about Trevor being closeted. It’s no secret that the world of professional sports is a tricky one for people with orientations other than heterosexual.

Trevor and Cruz are definitely hot together on the page, and there’s a bit of characterization. I wish that I could have learned more about these two characters.

I found the language a bit “flowery” at times. I found it difficult to believe that a man who was closeted to the point of being estranged from his family would spout terms of endearments etc so immediately in a sexual encounter. That’s just personal preference though! This novella is well-written and entertaining.

3 stars
Short novella about baseball players who fall in love. I wished this one was a full book. The novella made it feel rushed. I wished there was more devoted to getting to know Trevor and Cruz more in depth.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

In "Safe", Jess Bryant brings us a baseball-centered sports romance set in the same universe as her previous publication "Stay A Little Longer". In this novella, we follow Trevor Thorne (twin brother of the previous publication's protagonist) who is reaching the end of his baseball career due to a nagging injury. Trevor has been closeted the entirety of his life, which has led to conflicts with his twin and within himself. Enter one Rodrigo Cruz, an up and coming baseball star who is both openly bisexual and Trevor's teammate.

While the friends-to-lovers romance between Trevor and Rodrigo is certainly steamy, it did feel as though it fell a bit into PWP territory. The conflict with Trevor's family and coming out and his career ending was all very neat, tidy, and a bit glossed over so they could have their lovely HEA ending within the confines of novella length. The sports aspects that were mentioned did seem to be researched, at least in the limited spots that they appeared.

For what it was, I did enjoy reading "Safe" and found it to be good fun. I did find it to be lacking any sort of depth over all, and there's a good chance this would have been remedied by making this novella into a full-length novel. As it is, I've got to judge on what we currently have which is cute, steamy, and good-not-great.

That being said, I wouldn't hesitate to read other works of Jess Bryant in the future.

I honestly missed this was a novella so I spent the whole time telling myself this is going quick I want to know more about each character. It was a sexy quick read that I would’ve loved to have spent more time on. Both main characters were super interesting and I found myself wanting to know more about their relationship before this point, how was their first meeting and their first night rooming together. There’s just so much I wish I had read. I did enjoy this novella, it was very sexy and very hot I just wish it was longer.

This was okay. As a rule, novellas frustrate me because there isn't enough room to give the characters the depth I need to get emotionally invested in their stories. This novella didn't make me change my mind. While I was mildly curious about how the story would resolve, I got kind of bored making my way there because I just didn't care that much about the characters.

Don't get me wrong, it was entertaining. Both of the main characters were charming, and I liked the easy banter between them. What's more, while I typically roll my eyes at the ways blue eyes are described and used as a plot device in so many romance novels, the author made Trevor's blue eyes sort of compelling.

There just wasn't very much...there there.

I will definitely check out other books by this author and see if their stories are more compelling to me in a longer format.

This unbiased review provided in exchange for an advanced reader copy through Netgalley.

Quick, hot and awesome! Great short book about two baseball players who are best friends. One is out and openly gay and the other is not. They are both in love with the other one but do not admit it until one drunken night in a bar. Even still they are not sure of each other. Trevor and Rodrigo (aka Cruz) eventually begin to work things out. Trevor does not want to be out because he is afraid it will affect his baseball career.....Cruz is young and is not worried. They are HOT once they get it together! Great book--quick read, maybe for the beach!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an adorable m/m novella which follows Trevor (twin brother of Trent) and continues the Fate, Texas series. The story centres around Trevor and Cruz, both baseball players, and deals with their attraction, being closeted and how Trevor’s sexuality may be received by others.

I haven’t read the previous book but had no issue following this story. It could easily be read as a short standalone, but the writing quality is such that it makes me want to seek out the first in the series. The characters are very realistic. Funny, flawed and very relatable. As this is a novella, there isn’t enough time to get deeply involved with the characters, but the story is fully formed. I hope that there will be more in the series as I would love to see what happens for Cruz and Trevor.

A short but sweet read that was a perfect afternoon diversion. Felt a bit rushed in parts, but that's just the nature of the novelette beast. Would recommend!