Disappointed in myself for putting this one off so long! It was such a unique read for me.

The MC being trans was amazing representation without being too over the top and focused solely on that aspect. The love story and world created made for such a great read. I was sucked in from the very beginning. I loved all the characters and their quirks and found myself not being able to put it down wanting to know what in the world would happen next.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC.

I am officially in my sports romance era! The Prospects by KT Hoffman was absolutely adorable and I loved every second of it! Heartfelt and full of emotion, this baseball romance follows the rollercoaster of trying to make it to the big leagues! Packed full of love, tension, friendship and an adorable service pup - this read is a home run!

⚾️ Professional Baseball
♥️ Romance
🐾 Adorable Service Dog
🏟️ Rivals to Lovers
🏳️‍⚧️ Trans Rep
🧢 Teammates
🫶🏼 Found Family
🏳️‍🌈 Queer Joy
🌅 Heartfelt & Hopeful
📖 Debut Novel
🦫 Beaverton, OR

The Prospects is a grand slam of a debut and I’m so excited to see what KT Hoffman comes up with next!

Method Read: 📖
Thank you so much Dial Press for the eARC!

Good god the romances that are being put out this year are unreal. It has been SO FUN. The Prospects is so joyful, and for someone who is largely ambivalent about sports in general- I was shocked at how much I loved reading this book.

Extremely generally speaking, I am so glad this exuberant book about a trans baseball player with multiple gay teammates (keeping it spoiler free here) exists in the world. The author states that this story is unlikely to exist IRL a time soon (sadly true) but hopes that it will be a possibility in the future. Amen to that. But not just in the realm of baseball diversity- one of my favorite things about this book is that there is actually all kinds of rep- and none of it is heavy handed with a ton of commentary. They are people, not plot devices. Hoffman hasn't created a perfect world here (there's definitely some dumbassery) but it's light years ahead of where we are today.

There are some heavy themes tackled (anxiety, feelings of not deserving or being able to want things, acceptance) but the overall vibe of the book is just joy. Green sour patch kids, baseball jerseys, more baseball jerseys in stores, really delightful banter- this is just a book worth a spot on anyone's list.

Super cute book! Coming from someone who knows very little about sports, I found it easy to digest and fast paced.

The minor-league baseball player Gene Ionescu is almost living his best life. He’s a professional ballplayer, even if it’s for a minor-league team. He’s transitioned and is generally accepted as the guy he is, even if a trans man still doesn’t have quite the same locker room experience as a cis man. In this liminal space, he makes a finicky distinction between hope — which he exercises as dutifully as a muscle — and actual wanting, which would inevitably lead to disappointment because hasn’t it always?

Enter Luis Estrada, Gene’s former college teammate.

Luis, the son of a major-league star, was drafted before graduation. Now he steals Gene’s place at shortstop and upsets his balance — at least, until they’re forced to room together on a road trip and discover that making out turns their physical chemistry from something destructive into something electric. But dating a teammate is a terrible idea — especially when you’re certain the teammate is going to be called up and will leave you behind.

Except that isn’t quite how it goes. We’re right there with Gene as he struggles with going from almost enough to more than plenty, as he stops letting life happen to him and learns to actually reach for something. Because what if true happiness is right there, and it’s even sweeter than you dreamed?

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book!

I was immediately drawn in by the cover of this book. It’s so gorgeous. I cannot wait to buy a physical copy!

Overall, I absolutely adored reading this! It’s a sports romance with trans representation! What more could you ask for?!

10/10 recommend!

I love baseball and a baseball romance between two of the best players in the minor league team. They both could get called up at any moment but they have a history and they are both different know or at least a little more honest with each other. Loved Gene and his confidence and skills in his game. He's the first trans baseball player and he just wants to play. They have an awesome female coach too. Loved their relationship, the mental health rep (pro sports is in the spotlight and very stressful), and the team!
Tropes:
-Sports romance
-Rivals to teammates to lovers
-Forced proximity
-Trans, Gay MC
- ADHD, anxiety rep
- Chosen family

I’m not really a sports girlie but I do truly love baseball. I think I love baseball for lots of reasons other than the sports part, though.

🦋 I love how every player has their own different strengths – they don’t all need to be the home run hitters, they’re each playing their role in making a big run possible.
🧦 I love the superstitions around the game, the fun rituals of wearing the same socks you wore last time they won.
✨ I love the belief in your team even when they lose game after game – the dogged faith of it.
🌸 Also, let’s be honest, baseball wins major vibes points – I’d probably enjoy watching any sport in the sunshine on a beautiful Spring day.

The Prospects was a darling ode to these sweetest parts of baseball that I think you’ll find endearing whether you’re a big fan or not.

So that’s just the scene. Then we get to the even sweeter part: a queer minor league romance between the first trans player and a cis man. My heart exploded, y’all. 🏳️‍⚧️🥰🩷

The romance is so sweet (spicy, too) as they kindly balance their growing feelings for each other with their individual major league hopes and dreams. ⚾️

☀️I recommend you open this book up while you’re sitting out in the sun on your porch. Imagine you’re in a stadium surrounded by dedicated fans rooting for the underdog with the dogged faith in what’s possible. We need way more of that right now. ☀️

Pre-order it now before it comes out April 9th. Thanks so much, @netgalley and @thedialpress for the opportunity to read this in advance, what a true joy.

The Prospects is a hopeful, fun, and emotional slow-burn romance that I absolutely could not put down. I initially picked up this book because the idea of a queer baseball romance sounded fun and was shocked to realize that it was set in my hometown of Beaverton, Oregon. Sharing this connection with the main characters solidly pushed this book into my all-time favorites list. I cannot recommend this book enough, and am excited to share it with my friends, graduated students, and my queer romance book club here in Beaverton.

Perfect for fans of Alison Cochrun, Casey McQuiston, and A. L. Graziadei.

As a lover of baseball and romance, this was such a fun book to read! I couldn’t help but love Gene’s character and root for both the Beaverton Beavers and the Luis/Gene love story.

The Oregon setting, the stadium descriptions and even the announcers gave you a really immersive reading experience. Although I don’t think you have to love baseball to enjoy this, as the romance and character arcs really shine through, it is such an added bonus to enjoy the game and season alongside the team. The icing on the cake would have been if the Futures game was set in Yankee Stadium instead of Citi Field but that’s just the obnoxious fan talking, not the book reviewer.

Obviously, the representation here is incredible, from sexuality to mental health, you can tell author KT Hoffman put a lot of love and care into this impressive debut. Can’t wait to see what is next for him! Thank you to NetGalley, Random House and Dial Press for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A lovely bighearted and heartwarming tale of teammates and lovers! I would have preferred friends to enemies to lovers vs enemies to friends to lovers but that is barely a complaint at all. The baseball (baesball?) is great and proper (a huge concern for this very big sports fan) and the yearnsing is even more skillful than Gene and Luis's double plays.

I am so so sad to be DNFing this book at 13%, but I am so bored and do not like the writing style. I don't like the set up for the romance at all, and am finding the narrative to be quite repetitive. I LOVE baseball and am a huge fan so I was excited to read a baseball romance with trans rep. I also tried the audiobook thinking that would engage me more but it did not.

Thank you anyway for the ARC - and I appreciate so much that this is a baseball romance with LGBTQ+ rep. It just was not for me.

This did start of quite cute, I'm not going to lie about that. Gene is just a sunshine of a character, and I loved his optimism. The set up for the romance was also interesting, and the little interactions they had together were quite cute. I also really liked the cast of side characters. I was having a blast. However, this book took a turn for me. I don't know, I just think it tried to do too much, and it got lost in it all. By the end I just was bored, and not really that invested anymore.
As someone who knows absolutely nothing about baseball, there was just too much of it in here. It might seem contradictary because I typically want more of the sport in a sports romance, but there was just too much. I feel like the book didn't do a good enough job making the many, many, seemingly endless baseball scenes accesible for people who only know the bare minimum about the sport. It's a shame because based on the acknowledgements it is clear that K.T. Hoffman is really passionate about it. So I just ended up kind of zoning out during like at least 50% of this book, because there is just too much of it in here.
That makes it so that the romance gets a bit of a backseat. Even though I do think they had their cute moments at the start, I do think their romance was a bit underdeveloped, and once they actually get together (about halfway through) the only scenes Gene and Luis have together are sex scenes, and the third act conflict. It just made the parts of the book I was made to like fall flat to me as well. On top of that as the relationship started happening I feel like the side characters started taking a back seat. I feel like so many of the things I enjoyed at the start just dissapeared as the book continued. So yeah, I really wanted this to work for me, but it really just didn't. However, so many people seem to love this one so take this review with a grain of salt, I guess.

An absolute home run of a debut from KT Hoffman! I love Gene, Luis & Dodger soo much 🥹😍

“Maybe-maybe-this is what it feels like to let people love you even when you fail.”

Guys I absolutely loved this!!! At first that’s really all I could say because this is such a GEM of a book. It’s so refreshing to read about queer joy! I cannot say this enough I absolutely LOVE Gene & Luis. Both individually and as a couple. The ADHD & Anxiety rep were very relatable and very much appreciated. I love the found family and am a sucker for a good rivals to lovers. And while it is a baseball romance don’t worry if you don’t understand the sport I promise!

Gene has always loved baseball and loves playing for the Beaverton Beavers, a minor league team, and for the most part, he loves his career. As the first openly transgender player in professional baseball, Gene has nearly everything he’s dreamed of, that is until his former teammate/current rival Luis is traded to his team, threatening to disrupt Gene’s life.

⭐ Rating: 4.5/5 stars
🗓 Publish date: Apr 9, 2024
🌈 Representation: Queer & trans man MC, queer (lesbian & gay) SCs

CW/TW:
Sexual Content, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Homophobia, Injury/Injury Detail


Hopeful. Captivating. Sexy. The Prospects by KT Hoffman is all that and more!

I know very little about baseball, but I still felt swept up in Gene's love for the game, and was rooting for him and the Beavers the whole time.

I did find the start a tad slow-going, with Luis and Gene being rivals and not really talking. After about a third of the way in, though, I was hooked.

The trans rep was beautifully done, and it was cool seeing a scene where Gene takes his T shot, which never usually ends up in books. The sex scenes were also really well done, and I'm glad to see space in modern romance books for trans characters to be confident and sexy.

The chemistry between Gene and Luis was excellent, and I adored all the side characters and the found family of sports teams.

Definitely will be recommending this book far and wide for its expertly crafted story of hope and queer, trans joy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press for providing an advanced copy of this title. All thoughts expressed in this review are my own.

First of all, this cover is gorgeous! Also, trans people in sports! And it's blurbed by Anita Kelly, Casey McQuiston, and Alison Cochrun! Basically I was saving this book for a rainy day because I knew I would love it, and I would have been devasted if I didn't. Which made me slightly worried I had set my expectations too high, but wow was it everything I needed it to be.

The Prospects centers Gene Ionescu, the first openly trans player in professional baseball, currently playing for the Beaverton Beavers, minor league affiliate of the Portland Lumberjacks. Gene is an eternal optimist and I loved him so much. He's settling into life in Beaverton, living with his hero and teammate Vince (and Vince's husband Jack), when his "rival" Luis gets traded to his team.

While this is a romance, and I did love the relationship that developed between Gene and Luis, what kept me reading was the pure joy of the found family Gene had made with the Beavers. I loved the parental figures Vince and Jack were to him and his friendship with the Kyles and Gonzo and Baker. This was just such a joyful read, so while it wasn't a perfect book, I can't give it anything less than 5 stars and I am so glad I purchased a copy.

This book was an eye opener for sure. Personally I know a few trans women but no trans men. This was a peek into a trans man’s experience. And also baseball which I’m not familiar with. I’m glad I read this novel and it was informative. It was just not my cup of tea. ARC was provided by The Dial Press/Random House Publishing Group via NetGalley .I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"But listen, no one has ever done what you're doing. You should do it the way you want to. If you give up now, no one else is ever going the get the chance to try. Keep your eye on the ball."

Gene Ionescu knows he's never going to go to the Majors. He knows that, as a short, gay trans man—the first to openly play in the minors—the Triple-A Beavorton Beavers is as high as he's going to get. But he loves the game, and he's going to do the work and enjoy it even if it's slowly killing him. Until a blast from his past returns, and Gene begins to let himself dream big instead of taking whatever scraps he can get.

Fuck this book was perfection.

Okay, not quite perfection. Objectively, the writing is clunky as hell and in many ways is similar to the writing in Red, White and Royal Blue (lots of telling instead of showing, short, choppy sentences, repetition galore) but the vibes man.

The fucking VIBES are immaculate.

The emotions this book took me through.

I'm a sucker for an underdog story, and a double sucker for a Cinderella sports story. Throw a romance in there and I'm fucking done. Toasted. Game over.

This book has the highs and lows of baseball, the gut-clenching tension of will-they-won't-they, the loyalty that sticks around when the game is one of leaving and people are in transit. It's the loyalty of playing the game and rooting for your team and yourself when literally no one else will.

I loved Gene. I loved Luis. I loved Vince and Baker and the Kyles and Jack and Ernie, and I adored that this was set in Oregon (even if it was set in Beaverton/Portland, boo). I was so happy that despite the team being called the motherfucking Beavers (boo Oregon State), their colors were green, yellow and white (Oregon Ducks!!!).

"But it's also a sports story, and, to me, sports—especially baseball, especially the minor leagues—are entirely about the story. They're about the dreams we have and abandon and find our way back to; they're about who we are when we walk off the field and have to keep living. And they are, of course, about who wins, who loses, and who gets left behind."

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher

i am very rarely a romance fan, especially when smut is included. but as a gay, trans, baseball fan there was no way i could pass on this one. i struggled through the parts i knew i would, but despite that this book blew me away. every small detail from the representation of down syndrome to gene pitching in a blowout loss made this book exactly everything i wanted it to be and more. WHERE can i get an ionescu jersey.

The Prospects is lighthearted and (mostly) low angst. It is a book that radiants hope. Hope for a better world, where acceptance is more widespread. Hope for dreams you barely dare to let yourself want. And hope for a life where happiness and love are abundant.

Gene’s voice and character are engaging. His transness is an integral part of his character without being the focal point of all conflicts. He is confident, accepted (by those who matter), and loved. He has a support system in a whole cast of side characters that are all fleshed out and flawed in their own ways.

The love story was everything that I want in a rivals to lovers book: it develops first into a solid friendship before it ever moves into romance. When romance comes, it isn’t perfect. Gene and Luis have to communicate and work for it; have to learn to trust themselves and each other.

This is a book that easily made it into my favorites and I can foresee rereading it many times. If you enjoy queer sports romance, do yourself a favor and pick this one up!

A final note: while this book is also a love letter to baseball in many ways, absolutely no baseball knowledge is needed to enjoy this story.