REVIEW
cw: mentions of trauma, death, queerphobia, transphobia, panic disorder, anxiety, racism,
Gene Ionescu is the first openly trans player in professional baseball. When he's reunited with his college teammate, Luis Estrada, the carefully constructed life he's created for himself is threatened. Luis has always been his rival on the field, but as they grow closer, Gene begins to allow himself to hope for something more.
This was such a beautifully nuanced story. I absolutely ADORED Gene from the first page. He had such a self-deprecating, but also hilariously dry sense of humour, and I loved how much positivity he exuded. But I also appreciated his more vulnerable moments, as well as the commentary on the binary idea of baseball vs softball. Conversely, I hated that Gene was treated like a novelty (as he said himself) before Coach Baker signed him. I hold my hands up and say I have little knowledge of baseball, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment. There is a lot of baseball terminology, and I didn't understand most of it. But I honestly didn't care, because for me, as a baseball-dumb Brit, the story was more about the wonderful characters and the themes of love and acceptance. I loved the team camaraderie, and Gene's friendship with each player was fun, but most of all, I loved Gene's friendship with Vince, and the found family feeling he was able to find with Vince and his husband Jack. They were hilarious but also supportive friends, even when Vince was struggling. Speaking of which, the focus on the wear and tear of pro athletes was well-written and sadly realistic. I loved Coach Baker and her no-nonsense attitude.
Luis was such a sweetheart. I adored his kind heart, and I loved it when Gene and Luis truly started to open up to each other, especially when Luis spoke about his anxiety and the expectations around being the son of a famous player. His anxiety was well-written and I loved how Gene helped him when he was particularly vulnerable. Their first kiss was so cute, and I absolutely ADORED their late-night conversations in chapters seven and eight. I loved the entire Futures Game trip to NYC, both because of how much closer it brought Luis and Gene, but also because of the shift in reporting that Gene experienced afterwards. The detour to Luis's home and the accompanying event was so beautifully written, and the intimacy between Gene and Luis felt authentic and natural. I loved how much humour they shared and their conversations felt organic. I definitely giggled and swooned in equal measure reading this book.
I'm not a fan of third-act breakups, but it at least made sense, and I was relieved that it wasn't drawn out and that both Luis and Gene were able to communicate soon afterwards. The ending felt earned, and I loved how optimistic I felt afterwards.
What a truly joyous and uplifting debut!

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️.5
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own*

Favourite Quotes:

Luis Estrada is a shortstop. And Gene is a shortstop.
And Gene doesn’t have a Gold Glove. Gene doesn’t have a former superstar dad. Hell, Gene doesn’t even have a sizemedium jersey.

“It’s a lot easier to let people in now that I’m not trying to keep myself in.

The craziest thing, the thing that hitches Gene’s breath, is not that Luis wants him, but that Gene wants to let himself be wanted.

Gene notices that something in Luis’s face has opened up. Partly, Gene is sure, it’s the simple act of being home. But the other part, the part that queer people maybe understand better than anyone else, is the act of a parent changing the shape of their home so it can fit you, and loving you as much as they always have. More, because they know you better now.

With Luis, he wants to be known, in his entirety. And it doesn’t feel so scary, letting him in— it feels like coming home, in every sense of the word.

Thank you for sending me a copy of The Prospects, this has been on my TBR for so long and it was such a lovely story. I couldn't put it down. Gene and Luis' story was beautiful. Although I didn't know much about baseball before this book, it definitely didn't take away from the story for me. I imagine if you love baseball and romance this would be the perfect book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

This follows Gene, the first opening transgender player in the minor leagues, and his teammate Luis. Gene and Luis used to be friends and end up both playing for Beaverton Beavers. I loved both characters and feel like the plot was well written in a way that made me so happy to have read it by the end. The side characters were great too and the relationship between Gene and Luis felt realistic.

"It’s hard, sometimes, to find the people you don’t have to rehearse for."

This is a book that will fill your heart to the brim with hope and joy. These characters are all so loveable you just want to hug them and see them get all the happiness they deserve.
I loved that it was not your typical over-the-top funny romance, that it was instead a quieter sort of humor but that I still highlighted dozens of passages that made me laugh.
The characters are flawed and struggling which makes them incredibly relatable, they are desperately cute without ever being cheesy because they’re still bantering and teasing in such a fun way. And the dog! The dog was everything!
Although I enjoy most sport romances, I have to admit that I don’t know anything about baseball and its rules, however, it didn’t prevent me from understanding the stakes of the game scenes.
I could not recommend this book enough.

If you want a new, unique and fresh take on a sports romance then you need to read this book!! I feel like we just got enough information about baseball to make it understandable for the plot without it drowning the romance story line out. I love the rivalries and the tension that the sports element brings to contemporary romance books. I thought the pacing was brilliant. It was an overall cute and rewarding read!

This was a really beautifully told story that showed what we all hope will become the norm in major and minor league sports. The optimism in this was really refreshing and stories like this are so so important (write more please!)
Please note my rating is mainly impacted by the fact I have no idea about anything to do with baseball (as a Brit) and I didn't find this easy to follow as a result. It is not a criticism to the writing or characters themselves.

This is a baseball heavy sports romance. If you like baseball, you will like this. I unfortunately, have never seen a baseball game and therefore a lot of the story was lost of me. The first 30% especially is incredibly heavy on the sports terminology and I almost gave up as a result. I'm glad I didn't but I do wish the sports content was a little more beginner friendly.

The characters were well fleshed out and I found myself rooting for Luis from the get go (what can I say, I love a broody quiet one (especially with a dog)).
I did find the enemies/rivals to lovers trope to be slightly confusing - it was only at around 80% that it was suggested the reason the pair fell out of contact, and even then it wasn't entirely clear why the two seemed to hate each other at the start - especially considering they used to be friends? (question mark because I am still unsure if they were friends or acquaintances).

Gene's ADHD was touched upon well and Luis' anxiety handled well (diagnosed with both it was lovely to see the representation). These diagnoses did not dominate their characters which I found extremely refreshing. Sometimes the person the character is can get lost behind their illness/neurodivergence/disability in books that have representation. I cannot speak on the trans-representation but I enjoyed reading Gene's story and experience and the story made it very clear this was just Gene's story - not all trans people's. I loved Luis' coming out story and related to it heavily(having a parent that knew before I did).

The writing was enjoyable and I liked that their was a plot in the terms of Gene's career. There was one instance where the two were mid conversation and it abruptly cut off. I believe it ended due to the suggestive nature but the formatting choice made this unclear and I re-read the paragraph a few times to make sure I hadn't missed something. I think an end of chapter would have made this clearer and it bugged me a bit. The third act-breakup kind-of made sense but considering there was not much fluff in this book I feel as though this could have been left out/shortened to a disagreement rather than a full on breakup. It was later referred to that Gene was letting Luis make a decision but this didn't fully come across and I felt as though Gene had broken up with Luis rather than give him time to make a decision.

I loved the optimistic ending and will stop my rambling-personal review to leave you with some of the tropes!

- LGBTQ Romance
- Sports (baseball)
- ADHD/Anxiety Representation
- Companion Dog!!
- Spicy scenes

Thankyou to netgalley, the author and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have not stopped thinking about this book and I honestly cannot get over how perfect and swoon-worthy it was! This book is not just an adorable and heart-warming sports romance with so much representation but it deals with heavier topics such as discrimination, mental health and transphobia. 

I adored Gene and Luis so god damn much. I have never rooted for characters more than I did for these two. Both are going through their own journeys and I just wanted to wrap them up in bubble wrap to protect them.

Gene is an amazing character who I instantly loved. His love for the game was just so realistic I found myself rooting for this team even though I've never watched a game of baseball in my life! His story was told with such care and passion that you can tell how important Gene is as a character to Hoffman!

Luis was a character I instantly connected with. His anxiety and the way he was struggling was realistic and relatable. I loved watching his development throughout this book and seeing him grow and open up. Not only did we get two amazing main characters but the side characters in this book were amazing and I could honestly read spin-offs for all of them!

Words will never do this book justice! It was sexy, hopeful and brought me to tears so just go pick this absolutely amazing romance where gay and trans people are celebrated and championed in sports!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm really glad to be seeing The Prospects getting so much love and it's not even been released yet! I've read a few books now with rep for trans identities but most have been on the younger side, so it's nice to see those stories being told for older audiences too! I even picked up this book in the special editions that's soon being released! 5 stars!

Never have I wanted a fictional sports team to win a championship as much as I did the Beaverton Beavers. That, I think, is the mark of a good sports romance: not only are you rooting for the main characters, you’re also rooting for the team as a whole.

The Prospects is a book I read way back in January and, two days out from release date, I still have no idea how to review this one. It’s easily one of the best sports romances I’ve read, and probably one of the best romances full stop. Which, of course, leads to the age-old question of how on earth can I put into words how good this was?

Firstly, what stuck out for me was the amount of love K. T. Hoffman has for the game of baseball. It infuses the entire book and it’s clear that Hoffman knows what he’s on about with the game. Frankly, after reading a book last year that butchered my favourite sport beyond recognition, it’s very refreshing to read a book where the author knows a sport deeply. Maybe that’s a me thing, but if I’m reading a sports romance, I want a good chunk of it to be about the sport as well as the romance.

Second of all is the cast this book has. Every single character has been crafted with such care and love that they feel like they could be a real team (hence why I’ve never needed a fictional sports team to win a championship as much as I did reading this book. In fact, if they hadn’t, I think I might have treated it the same way as when an actual team I support failed). I know this one probably doesn’t have tie-in books or sequels coming, but god if I don’t need it anyway! If only to see them all once again.

In terms of plot, I have to say it’s not really stuck with me beyond a few scenes (ear piercing as a love language!) and Gene’s fight to get into the majors, but that I think says more about my memory than the book. (If it means I can read it all over again as though it’s the first time, I call that a win!) But that doesn’t really matter in the end: it’s the emotions of it that stuck with me and have kept me rotating this book in my mind for three months straight. And this book is a great one for all of that.

All of which to say: put this on your radar, if it’s not on there. If it is, prioritise it! Make sure it’s the first thing you read on 9th April! You won’t regret it one bit.

4.25 ⭐️

M/M sports romances are my jam. Like, they are my kryptonite, I devour them. Usually tends to be hockey/football, and I am a fan of those sports so I understand all the references. I'm not familiar with baseball, so I didn’t know much in terms of the terminology and heavily game focused scenes, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story. On the whole I did enjoy this, and my enjoyment grew after the first 20 percent of the book. Also, there's a dog. Need I say more?

I really loved Luis - as a fellow anxiety/panic disorder sufferer I really felt a strong connection to this character. He was just so soft and sweet and thoughtful and ugh MY HEART. The way mental health was characterised particularly through him struck a chord with me. There were several times that I shed tears, which shows how deeply connected I felt to this character. Now, I will say, I started off not being too keen on Gene. This could be as a result of the narrative voice being 3rd person/present tense and therefore feeling a bit more detached than some other narrative styles. However, Gene really did grow on me and after the first 25 percent of the novel, as we got to know him better, I grew to love Gene just as much as Luis. In terms of the romance, I found the relationship to be absolutely beautiful, chef's kiss. I really enjoyed the way that it was crafted.

The main thing that hindered my full "5 star level" enjoyment of this was that it was written in 3rd person/present tense. Personally, I find romances to be much more engaging when they're in 1st person as I feel I can really get into the headspace of the characters. And generally I find present tense to be a bit jarring, it makes it harder for me to be fully immersed in the story. However this is not a fault of the book, and some people really prefer this style of narrative voice.

Overall this was a really enjoyable read, and I really did love a lot about it. I think it says a lot about hope and that in itself is beautiful. I think the author has written a wonderful story and I am really thankful that I have read it. Thank you so much to Little Brown Book UK and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

DNF. I was bored. I was SO BORED. There's a very specific market for this book (I feel like the TikTok people will love it) and it is largely an intersection of people who don't like their romance to be too quickly paced and people who like / understand / care about baseball. I am in neither of those categories. Getting to just 10% in felt like an enormous struggle and I just didn't care about any of the characters or, indeed, the baseball that dominates. I think this is attempting to pitch itself with the 'Ted Lasso Positivity sports romance' angle, but what makes that show so watchable, regardless of all the football involved, is the characters are interesting to be with and I just didn't get that from what I read. Not for me.

It has been said before, and will surely be said again but this book is SO SOFT. I adored Gene and Luis and their journey towards happiness and them coming to realise it may not take the form they initially expected. I loved the side characters and all of the relationship dynamics we get between them and the MCs. I thought the representation throughout was great, trans and POC MCs but also ADHD and anxiety and the impact these have on their lives.
It is baseball heavy but understanding (or lack of for me) didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book, and most things could be worked out through context.
The whole thing is beautifully written and I can’t wait to see what KT writes next.

You know when you have to go and check the book is a debut because it's so well realized that it's actually surprising that it's a debut???? Like this was well written, I knew what it wanted to be and the story it wanted to tell. And it was so cute!

The representation in this really stands out along with the messaging. We have Gene, a trans man with anxiety and ADHD as well as Luis, a mexican american man with anxiety/panic disorder (and a very cute service dog) as well as other queer side characters. This is one of those books where you really root for the characters who have been told their whole lives that these things are going to hold them back. And in some instances, it does. But what this book tells them is that achieving what you want is possible. Gene is an optimist, and this book is a representation of that. It's really worth reading the authors note at the end because he really explains this way better than I am doing.

Gene and Luis were so cute together. I really loved their slow coming together throughout the first half of the book. Though their relationship progresses it doesn't feel rushed to where they are at the end of the novel. It makes sense for the characters and they just have some really great romantic moments, but you also get the slow burn enemies (ish) to lovers.

One thing I wanted a bit more closure on is Gene and Vince's fall out which is resolved very quickly considering everything. I don't know I guess i'm a grudge holder but I feel like maybe saying SORRY at least once might have been called for. Again I think the authors note explains this a little bit more, about how baseball is about the ones who make it and the ones who get left behind and part of this book is that story and what it can do to professional athletes. Like I understand where Vince was coming from but I thought it was kinda shitty.

BUT that being said. This book is going to be really important to a lot of people. There's going to be queer people and trans people who read this and feel seen. It's a love letter to those people and to hope and queer joy. I think this author is going to be a big name and I will definitely look out for his next book.

This was such a wholesome, heartwarming romance! Gene is a lovable, loud, optimistic and funny man with a huge passion and drive for his goals and learns not to be afraid to demand what he wants. Luis is so soft, sweet and sensitive and a perfect balance for Gene.

There’s so much hope and joy in this book with great communication, banter and conflicts. I also loved the rep, which includes ADHD and anxiety, as well as some disability rep in side characters which include a Deaf character and a character with Down’s syndrome.

Although, this being a sports romance, I knew there would be sports in the book of course (specifically baseball) but there was a LOT of baseball talk. As someone not really into baseball, or sports at all, I’d have preferred it to be more of a background theme but that’s on me because the book couldn’t have made it any clearer on what I would be getting into.

Saying that, I really appreciated and loved the focus on how cis and straight sports are and how Gene and Luis existing in the industry was breaking barriers. This is such an empowering and inspiring message. I also loved the passion the author clearly shares with Gene, especially, on their love for baseball.

It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel. I endlessly recommend it! Especially if you’re a baseball fan.

A little slow in the middle plot-wise but the romance kept it interesting enough for me to stay engaged.

Considering i know nothing about baseball, I was easily able to understand everything going on so appreciate the care that was taken to make this accessible for non-sporty readers like myself.

There was so much about this story to love. I really enjoyed how at its core it was about hope and wanting. Being unapologetically yourself and allowing others to see you like that. It’s about dreams and hopes and fears. It’s about quiet moments and found family. It’s the perfect kind of love story and I found myself devouring it in a matter of hours. A wonderful debut.

i feel like i should mention that all my knowledge of baseball comes from the movie ‘a league of their own’ so there are certainly moments i didn’t fully grasp and the rules of baseball are still very much unknown to me.

that said, i adored this. i’d give it four and a half stars if i could. the writing was so descriptive and beautiful, it created such clear imagery the entire time. gene and luis and their entire team are so easy to route for — as individual characters on their own journeys, as pairings in their relationships, as a team with their games.

romance enjoyers, sports enjoyers, i recommend this wholeheartedly. one of my favourite reads of this year so far.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for the advance reader copy.

I loved this book! The main characters are amazing and the story was such a breath of fresh air especially for a queer book.

I’m not hugely into sports but the overall story and characters is what kept me reading and hooked.
There wasn’t any of the annoying miscommunication between the leads which I find is in a lot of romance books now.

Gene and Louis are sweethearts and deserve everything nice in the world.

I dare anyone to read this book and not fall in love with these characters. Gene and Luis have a special place in my heart.

Both having something to prove on the baseball field, Luis and Gene put their past behind them and work together to show the world what the Beavertown Beavers are capable of.

Filled with emotion, heart warming romance, passion and hope, this book is a must read.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for the ARC.

4.5 stars. I absolutely adored this book. Not only is it filled with love and hope, but it’s just so uplifting and funny. Each character was so endearing and lively, and they all got along so well with one another. I loved Gene and Luis so much.

The romance was top-tier. Luis was open about exploring things with Gene, and they were super cute together. I also loved that Gene was the first trans man to attempt to go pro at baseball and fall in love along the way. Authors that emphasise that anyone can participate in sport regardless of age, sexual orientation, height, disability, or other factors are very appreciated, because I believe that there is a great deal of discrimination and poor mental health among trans athletes in today's trans community.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Little Brown Book, UK for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.