This fantastic novel succeeds on so many levels.

As a romance alone it works well: Mark and Eddie are layered, likable characters, they have intense chemistry (the sex scenes are not particularly explicit but are still 🔥), their banter is charming, and watching them slowly learn one another is lovely and engrossing.

But Cat Sebastian gives us so much more than that! The book is also a love letter to baseball and mid-century newspaper culture. Sebastian’s done loads of research to flesh out this world, and it feels both authentic and beloved. There are some on-field scenes and characters do talk about the game, but more than that we get things like musings on how baseball is a generous sport—one that assumes some amount of failure on the part of its best players.

Layered on top of this is a really astute narrative on grief and loss, whether that be loss of a partner or a job or that ineffable something that makes you exceptional at what you do. Sebastian is relentlessly generous with her characters, and I was repeatedly impressed by her presentation of Mark’s grief as illogical and nonlinear and relatable. I respected her choice to include in his process of recovery a friendship that he knew would make him confront loss again, instead of giving us plotting that tried to suggest that grief was something that could be ignored or avoided successfully.

I also appreciated the book’s engagement with mid-century homophobia. This is not a book that fetishizes trauma or gives us big, splashy acts of violence against queer people. Instead, it lays bare the mundane violence done through forcing people to hide their lives and their relationships, the ways that people had to shave off parts of themselves or ruthlessly compartmentalize to protect themselves and their jobs and their relationships. A less nuanced writer might have placed a moral valuation on being “out,” and easily villainized William’s insistence that he and Mark stay in the closet. After all, it causes Mark a lot of pain. But the book is very clear that the real villain is a social and legal structure that makes this a choice that anyone has to consider. That there are negative consequences to either choice is not the fault of any character.

Sebastian keeps so many balls in the air and still makes the book laugh-out-loud funny at points. Mark’s acerbic narration was an endless delight. The banter between Mark and Eddie is funny too. And I haven’t even managed to touch on the book’s engagement with the racial politics of mid-century sports (at one point Eddie thinks that he’s “always figured that nobody wants to waste their time sifting through the bigots to figure out who the non-bigots are, so they play it safe” as he notes that his Black teammates were mostly friendly with each other), or Mark and Eddie’s ongoing discussion of queer fiction like The Haunting of Hill House and The Talented Mr. Ripley, or the layered characterization of secondary characters like Price, George, Constance, and Ardolino.

I highly recommend.

Sebastian has done it again! After devouring her previous book in this universe, WE COULD BE SO GOOD, I was beyond delighted to learn of this book, though I was skeptical that it could live up to the high standard set by its predecessor. And boy, was I so happy to be wrong!

Mark and Eddie were such a wonderful pairing—while Mark is certainly the grumpier of the two, this wasn’t an explicit GrumpyXSunshine trope, which I appreciated. What I love about Sebastian’s writing is the infusion of positive queer representation set in a time period where it feels almost impossible.
Just like in WCBSG, Cat’s research is evident in the fantastic worldbuilding that is done in this book. The imagery was just wonderful, and it helped to paint such a vivid world that Mark and Eddie lived in, one where their beautiful love story could blossom. I loved this book, I loved these characters (especially the fickle Lula the dog), and I could not recommend it more.

A huge thank you to Cat Sebastian and Avon and Harper Voyager for the digital ARC!

I didn’t foresee a book making me care about baseball, but here we are! And what a perfect book this is! At its heart it’s about making a comeback no matter the setbacks! It can be trying to get your swing back in a game you’ve loved your whole life! It can be about healing a lost love and finding the motivation to want to write again! It can be the underdog team trying its best to make it in the league! But no matter what it was I was full on rooting for them!
My favorite thing about this book is that while it takes place in the 60’s, and does a great job of mentioning how unsafe it was to be perceived as queer during this time, the book still feels safe! Mark often describes his apartment as his safe bubble and that’s what this storyline was! The world is terrible but we knew as long as we were in the story with these characters it was okay!
And the romance!?!!!! Eddie and Mark’s love is so tender and beautiful! Watching these men grow close and learn to trust and love each other in this beautiful slowburn was everything I needed! Especially Mark who was so closed off and guarded but when he started letting Eddie in I cried!
This books batting average is a solid .400 even if Eddie O’Leary’s might not have been in the month of June!

Eddie O’Leary is a pro baseball player who got traded to a team in awful circumstances and very loudly voiced that opinion when asked. He regrets it, but he's stuck with a team that won't even acknowledge his existence and the disappearance of his baseball skills. Mark Bailey writes for the arts pages, or he did before his life went to pieces after the death of the partner he was never allowed to recognize publicly. They're brought together by a last-ditch effort to give Eddie better press and get Mark out of his house, and what started as obligatory interviews quickly turns into a friendship that has the potential to be so much more.

Eddie is a sweetheart and the perfect partner for the kindness Mark tries to hide underneath his grumpiness. They're so opposite in temperament and on the surface that you know they'll make a perfect couple. Every single interaction they have is sweet enough to give you cavities and that is why I love them. Even when incredibly sad things are being discussed, it's like a comforting hug for them to be together.

I'm convinced Cat Sebastian is incapable of writing a bad romance. She has mastered the art of back and forth between the characters and making hurt just enough to keep things interesting without ever getting overly dramatic. It makes reading her stories a pleasure because you get fully developed characters you can fall in love with and experience them falling in love. Even when you know they're facing a million and one obstacles, she surrounds them with people who are in their corner and willing to support them. It's the best kind of LGBTQ romance because it includes the hard truths, but shows that there can be happiness to go along with those. I tried to consciously find something I could complain about or suggest changing, but it's honestly perfect.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the wonderfully sweet and romantic read!

I didn't know how much I needed a queer 1960s baseball player/ reporter romance novel in my life until I read Cat Sebastian's latest. She writes tenderness & emotional intimacy like no one else. Golden retriever Eddie is in a wretched batting slump and grumpy, grieving reporter Mark is sent to cover the train wreck. Gentle, sweet, sexy perfection.

The brilliance of Cat Sebastian's work is that it shows the true romance of the everyday, the thoughtful details and gestures that sum up to swoony, all-consuming love as her characters slowly change and evolve. A beautiful follow-up to We Could Be So Good, which was my favorite book of 2023. A nuanced exploration of love, baseball and NYC in 1960 - a world on the precipice of change, where love is the answer to getting out of a slump.

It is 1960 and Eddie O’Leary has recently been drafted to the new Major League Baseball expansion team, the New York Robins. Unfortunately, Eddie’s knee-jerk negative reaction to finding out he was being traded to the Robins was caught on camera and now he is the villain of the team. None of his teammates will even talk to him, the fans hate him, and to make things even worse, Eddie is in the worst batting slump of his life. On his old team, Eddie was a star player, had friends, was close enough to home to visit, and had enough privacy to occasionally seek some companionship with another man. Now, Eddie is both one of the most recognizable faces in the city, while also being unbearably lonely and wondering if what looked like a stellar career in the major leagues is going to be over in his second season.

Mark Bailey lost his partner, William, about a year ago and he is still mired in grief. One of the hardest parts about losing William is that to the rest of the world they were simply friends and roommates. Mourning the man he thought he’d spend his life with while not revealing their love to anyone else is incredibly difficult and Mark has basically spent the last year in stasis. Technically, Mark is still a reporter for the Chronicle, but in practice, he is barely writing anything anymore. However, Mark agrees to write a series of stories about Eddie, which the team hopes will help with a little PR.

Mark assumes Eddie is an obnoxious jerk who doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut in front of the cameras. Instead, he realizes that the shock at his trade made Eddie react with emotion instead of media savvy. In fact, Eddie rarely seems to know what is good for him, leading with his heart and an openness that the more sharp and grumpy Mark finds almost shocking, while at the same time surprising himself by how much he wants to protect Eddie. The two men become unlikely friends and the attraction between them grows. But while Mark lived in the closet with William, he hasn’t been as discreet lately, which means that any interaction with Eddie will face scrutiny that a professional athlete can’t afford. However, Eddie knows that he wants happiness and he wants to be with Mark, and he is willing to take the chance to make that happen. Mark and Eddie are an unlikely pair, but two lonely men might just find a way to happiness together.

Oh, I just loved this book so much. It is all the grumpy/sunshine, slow burn deliciousness that just made me so happy. I adored Mark and Eddie together and I just sank into this rich and beautiful character-driven story. These men seem so different on the surface, with Mark a sharp and sometimes grumpy man who is still mourning the loss of his partner and figuring out how to go forward. And Eddie is this sweetheart who has such an open heart and doesn’t always know how to protect himself. But underneath the surface, they are two very lonely men who are facing lives in upheaval. Mark has lost the man he thought he’d be with for the rest of his days and trying to understand the new shape his life will now take. And Eddie’s reaction to coming to the Robins has left him the object of the fans’ ire, while his teammates literally ignore him. The pain that he feels as day after day no one will even speak to him is so palpable, my heart broke for Eddie. And on top of that, he is dealing with this batting slump that makes him question if everything he thought his life would be is suddenly over.

As these men meet and grow their friendship, they end up easing one another’s loneliness and finding this lovely connection. Mark can’t help but be wary that any connection to him will put Eddie at risk, and he tries to keep his distance. But while Eddie might be naive about some things, he knows what he wants and what he is willing to risk. There is just such a sweet tenderness that grows between them and the romance is just lovely. This is a slow burn and a quiet story that is really a chance to watch these men blossom, both in their individual journeys and with one another. I think there may be some readers who find it too quiet, as there is not a lot of external plot, but I really adored every moment of this story and just felt like I could sink right into it.

Cat Sebastian is so good with historicals and really enriching them with a great sense of time and place. This story takes place in 1960 New York City and Sebastian brings it all to life. There are such great details about life in the city in general, as well as for gay men in particular. We also get to see baseball of that era and I enjoyed how it is integrated with the larger story. This isn’t a “sports book” in the traditional sense, as we don’t really see Eddie playing or watch games or practices. The fact that Eddie is a professional athlete facing this slump is more to develop his character than to focus on baseball itself. But it works so well as a backdrop to the larger character growth, along with really rounding out some of the larger story themes. I liked how many of the side characters are a lot more than meets the eye at first, particularly the team manager.

This story is part of the same world as Sebastian’s We Could Be So Good. Mark works at Andy’s paper, and Andy and Nick make appearances here. However, it doesn’t appear to be officially a series and this book will stand alone totally fine if you haven’t read the other. However, these books are just so good, I encourage you to try both. I absolutely loved this book and I found myself touched and moved by the story and the characters. I definitely recommend it, particularly for fans of slow burns and grumpy/sunshine stories.

5 Stars!

I was so pleasantly surprised by You Should Be So Lucky. Oftentimes books with this type of plotline rush headlong into the spicy stuff and you're left completely bereft of any sort of real longing or romance. Luckily, we don't have that problem here.

It's the 1960s, homophobia is still rampant, and baseball is the centre of the world -- at least according to Eddie O'Leary, a baseball player who's swift fall from grace has been the topic of conversation and ire throughout the baseball world. When Mark Bailey, a whip-smart reporter who So doesn't cover sports, and who is grieving the loss of his secret lover, gets assigned to do an expose on Eddie's plight they strike up a quick friendship that boils over into something neither of them thought they'd ever have.

Listen. I was sick as a dog while reading this and I still blew threw it in two days. The Eddie and Mark's voices were so distinct and I loved being in both of their heads. Mark's candor and his brutal mouth were so relatable, not to mention the way he used his aloofness to try to keep people at arms length. And Eddie, the sweet baby, I would protect him with my life, managed to be adorable and silly without being insufferable and without sacrificing his strength. He didn't give Mark a chance to push him away. So perceptive was he to all of his little moods and changes and if that's not love, what is? I mean, a boy who loves his momma but is more than willing to jump into a fight he has no chance of winning - Mark and I were both helpless.

And there was such love in this book, not even just between the leads, but familial love, friendly love, the love between comrades. This book is about grief and how it hits you in the throat when you think you've got a handle on it. On piecing yourself back together again when your worldview is shattered and realizing that the breaking was the best thing that could have happened to you in the end.

If you're looking for a knockdown, drag out, drama filled climax - this isn't it. If you are looking for Affection, softness, the quiet, daily struggles of just trying to survive and live a life you're proud of -- you'll want this.

I loved this book. I will absolutely be buying it and reading it again.

This universe has all the tender and all the feels and I want all the books forever.

Nick and Andy will always have my heart, but Eddie and Mark came in and said, hey, scooch over, we're gonna take up some space too.

Eddie O'Leary is a pro baseball player just traded to the new NY Robins who said some stuff about the trade and everyone, including his team, hates him. Mark Bailey is an arts reporter tasked with working with Eddie on a weekly news diary. Mark lost his long time partner and has been a hermit, but sweet golden retriever (except when he's mad on the field) Eddie brings him back to life. It is tender. There is no soup, but we do get some comfort cornflakes. There was, for me, too much baseball. I don't really need that much baseball. But I made it through.

Things I loved: Lula the dog who has personality and has Mark wrapped around her paw. Mark's relationship with veteran sports reporter George - it's not just the romance relationship we see, but this stand in father relationship was absolutely so kind and tender. Eddie's mom! What a supportive queen. I loved her. And of course Mark and Bailey together and that slow dance they did to see if they could maybe be something in a world that wasn't open to people like them.

Cat Sebastian writes the most loving, tender ding dongs that you would absolutely die for. And these two are no different.

You Should Be So Lucky is out now. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

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⚾️ A sensitive, sweet, and sexy queer sports romance?! This one is a gem!

It’s 1960 and journalist Mark Bailey is adrift. He lives in his late partner’s apartment with his dog, Lula, and begrudgingly writes about arts for the New York Chronicle. Right now, though, the biggest story in the city is about sports, specifically Eddie O’Leary, the new short-stop for The New York Robins baseball team.

Eddie’s angry. He’s in a horrible slump and isn’t happy about being uprooted to play on a team that has the worst record in baseball. He mouths off about his new team and is iced out by his teammates. To boost Eddie’s reputation and to sell papers, Mark agrees to write a weekly diary in Eddie’s voice.

As their working relationship grows over dinners and drinks, these two men start to form a deep friendship, which slowly turns romantic. Both eventually come out to each other, and question whether they can even have a serious relationship. Mid-century America and the public spotlight that’s on Eddie seem to make any real relationship all but impossible. Plus, Mark has no interest in living as someone’s secret, which he had to do in his previous relationship.

I loved the care Cat took in exploring the time in which this queer love story takes place; it never seems “teachy” but instead is a legitimate concern for Eddie and Mark’s HEA. The way each character changes as they get closer and closer—and how each helps the other grow—is so realistic and entertaining. I was thrilled with the baseball talk, too! Eddie and Mark’s sweet romance is one to savor. I adored it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

You Should Be So Lucky follows 60s baseball player Eddie O'Leary as his hitting slump throws him right in the path of arts reporter Mark Bailey.

This book felt magical. It was gentle, it was tender, it was clearly written with love. It's perfect for cozy days and for soothing heartbreak, and it strikes the perfect balance of historical and romance. It managed to feel familiar and comforting while also feeling fresh and interesting. Cat Sebastian is an incredibly talented writer, and You Should Be So Lucky thoroughly demonstrates this skill. Seriously, this book has it all, and none of it is overdone or arduous or cringe. Every little glance, every kiss, every theme is beautifully executed and explored, and the characters and their world are fully realized in a masterful way.

Even if you're not the biggest baseball fan -- I'm definitely not! -- there is so much to love here. I wish all romance novels were at this caliber, and I'll be anxiously awaiting whatever Cat Sebastian does next.

I've read several Cat Sebastian books, and hold a particular fondness for The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, but this book? Sebastian knocks it out of the park (yup, a baseball metaphor).

I loved this book in a way that makes me ponder the philosophical meaning of baseball (despite not being a huge fan of baseball).

"It's slow and often seems pointless. It's beautiful, when it isn't a mess. There's a vast ocean of mercy for mistakes: getting hits half the time is nothing short of a miracle, and even the best fielders are expected to have errors. The inevitability of failure is built into the game."

It's 1960, and Eddie O'Leary, a sunny shortstop with one of the most beautiful swings anyone's ever seen, sure hands and excellent fielding, has been traded by the Kansas City A's to the New York Robins, a new expansion team scrapping the bottom of the league. He's experiencing a slump, the likes of which is hard to even watch, and the Robins aren't speaking to him because he insulted everyone on the team when he learned he was traded.

Mark Bailey is in the midst of a slump as well, a gray miserable half-life of merely surviving a tragedy that is slowly revealed over the course of the book. He's a writer at the Chronicle assigned to write a weekly diary of Eddie O'Leary over the course of the season.

The stage is set, and what unfolds is gloriously elegiac as the two men move from reluctant collaborators to a sort of friendship and then into a relationship. The book is short on explicit sex scenes, and long on matters of the heart. Here are two men who form a relationship that works in the midst of a time where being gay is something to hide, something to deny.

Eddie and Mark are beautifully articulated, and even the secondary and tertiary characters are fully fleshed out. You end the book caring these people. At 400 pages, I could have easily read another 100 pages and still want more.

And I love the way Sebastian give us deeper things to ponder than merely a meet/cute, fall-in-love relationship. There's the nature of fate, the idea that statistically statistics don't really matter at all, and sometimes ....

"Rooting for a team doesn't always mean that you need them to win; sometimes you just want to see them fight, do their best, or even just showing up. Sometimes you want to look at a guy and say: Well, he's fucked, but he's trying."

5+ stars for this book. You should be so lucky to pick up this book!

And a final wonderful thought from Eddie: "I'm not saying things happen for a reason - I hate that. I'm saying that things happen. And it doesn't have to mean anything except what it means to you. Nobody else gets to decide. "

I am not a huge fan of sport romances but decided to give this one a try because I have enjoyed all the books I have read by this author. This was a sweet, slow romance that kept me flipping to the end. An interesting time period that is under represented in my opinion.

I have been a Cat Sebastian fan for YEARS, so naturally, I nearly fainted when I received my review copy of this book. Despite getting her start in the Regency era, Sebastian’s latest series is set in mid-20th century NYC. And I, for one, am here for it.

Protagonist Mark played a minor role in the first book in the series, so I was interested in what he would do with a leading role. The answer is: scowl and cringe and wonder what all the fuss is about.

Mark doesn’t even particularly like sports, so he is baffled and befuddled by his latest assignment to write about the hotshot shortstop for the NY Robins. He’s certainly not expecting to find himself involved in a mutual attraction situation.

And Eddie… what can I say about Eddie? Sebastian has written a lot of cinnamon rolls over the years, but Eddie is one of the biggest. He’s an absolute sweetheart with a heart of gold.

This book is hilarious. I found myself smiling throughout. It’s not just the banter– which is delightful, by the way– but it’s also the meals they share and the conversations and just two people finding each other.

This is going to sound like such a cliche, but this book is like a warm hug. It was just so pleasant with very little conflict. Yes, there was an ever-present undercurrent of the consequences of being discovered– and I don’t want to minimize the stakes involved with that– but there’s no direct threat of being outed or villains to defeat. Yes, there were obstacles to overcome and arcs to complete, but it was more about these two men realizing that the possibility for happiness is standing right in front of them.

Speaking of which, this was quite the slow burn. You could look up slow burn in the Trope Dictionary and there would be a picture of Mark and Eddie. But all the tension and longing made for better banter and a deeper emotional connection.

I would absolutely recommend You Should Be So Lucky. This is one of my favorite Cat Sebastian novels. I loved all the historical details, as well as the baseball in the background– even if it did get in the way of the banter and queer romance.






I received a digital ARC of this book from Avon/NetGalley

Mark Bailey isn’t a sports reporter and isn’t thrilled when his boss asks him to follow the Robins’ newly traded shortstop and document his first season. Eddie O’Leary didn’t handle news of his trade very well and as a result, his new teammates hate him. The fact he can no longer seem to hit the ball isn’t helping his case either. He’s in no position to tell his team’s owner that he doesn’t want to do the news piece. Mark isn’t sure what to expect when he meets Eddie but he certainly didn’t expect a man who seems to be as lonely as he is. Surprisingly, they form a fast friendship - that has the potential to blossom into more. But being a professional athlete in 1960 doesn’t allow Eddie to be out and Mark has already spent many years being someone’s secret and isn’t sure he can do it again. Can these two defy the odds and find a way to protect the love they’ve found?

This book. This book was everything I hoped it would be, and a whole lot more. Firstly, returning to the We Could Be So Good universe felt like a warm hug. Secondly, Mark and Eddie were just too adorable and I was grinning like a fool watching this prickly man (Mark) and this golden retriever (Eddie) fall in love. There’s just something about a mid-century queer romance that is special. It’s important to remember this period and the challenges queer people faced and to reflect on how far we’ve come (and how far we have yet to go). And this book did a really good job of portraying that.

Mark and Eddie were both incredibly lonely but for very different reasons. My heart hurt for both men. Mark had been privately grieving a partner for more than a year, causing him to withdraw from all but the very closest of his friends. Eddie finds himself in a new city, ostracized by his teammates, homesick, and hiding a pretty big secret. It made sense for them to gravitate toward one another. Mark knew it was a bad idea and desperately tried to get Eddie to see that but Eddie was young and idealistic and determined to follow his heart. This was another slow burn but it was such a delicious one and so wholesome, I could just cry.

Outside of the sweet-as-pie love story, there were a few other storylines I enjoyed just as much. As a baseball fan, I loved that aspect a lot. I was very invested in the Robins as a team. I loved seeing Mark start to enjoy it too. The other thing was the lens on facing your mortality and how that factors into how you decide to live your life now. There were a few threads that played into this theme and it got me right in the feels - especially George’s storyline. I found myself crying a few times. I love it when a book has lines that stop you in your tracks because they are so insightful. This book made me do that several times.

It’s a beautiful story that’s equal parts hopeful, sweet, sad, and heartwarming. If you’re a fan of queer historical romance, please give this one a try!

“You Should Be So Lucky” adds another charm to my Cat Sebastian appreciation bracelet. Her superb writing gets subtler and smoother with every new book. This subline novel showcases the difficult choices gay couples faced in the early1960.

Journalist Mark has grieved deeply for over a year. His partner left him rich, and with the certainty he was loved, but at the cost of almost total relationship secrecy. Now his employer asks a favor, to cover a hot shot baseball player, transferred to the local NYC team. When Eddie was informed, on-air, that he’d been traded, he had a meltdown, revealing contempt for his new team and manager. Consequently, his NYC teammates are giving him the silent treatment and Eddie is missing every ball. Mark and Eddie find small consolations together. But how can a celebrity and a journalist fall in love in an era when “homosexuality” is labelled mental illness, when their love would end both careers, especially since Mark needs a life where they have a community of accepting friends.

Ms. Sebastian neatly captures an era I recall. (Yup, I’m that old!) Here’s a reference to frozen dinners. “food that somehow looks even sadder outside the context of its space-age foil partitions.” She evokes memories, like scrambling for change to feed pay phones - always at the worst moments, or decrepit ball stadiums with barely integrated sports teams, and mildewed long-term hotels. With no cell phones or social media, secrecy is double-edged, both imposing the requirement and the ability to hide. But at what cost to anyone’s identity?

Eddie’s conundrum is revealed in one short paragraph. “It was just that (before) he knew where to go and how to be careful. He had to keep that side of him locked up tight and out of view, but at least he knew it was there. Now that he doesn’t even have that much, he feels pitifully aware of how little that was in the first place, and how grateful he had been to have it. He’s angry to be without it, and angry that he couldn’t expect more, and angry not to have anyone to complain to. It’s too much anger, and sometimes it comes out in all the wrong ways, but he can’t explain that to any one, either.” Wow, what a straight-forward ability to convey layered emotions!

Exquisite, yet mundane details bring the two men together with a twist. Suave, older Mark is less flexible than Eddie, who grew up with unconditional support. Ms. Sebastian brings their defenses to the foreground with sensitivity as Eddie, who initially leaned on Mark, finds himself taming the skittish journalist. Love and acceptance are highlighted as crucial to emotional stability. Ms. Sebastian’s bright language caresses and intimately reveals both men, far beyond their lust.

Add in a delightfully flawed cast of support characters, each personality drawn as clearly as a photo, and Ms. Sebastian displays how folks are equally charming because of our shortcoming as we are for our strengths. Even Mark’s dog has a strong personality. Plus, the game of baseball, from seedy to glamorous, is a character in itself!

Cat Sebastian is a writer’s writer, with her tidy plots, messy characters, historical accuracy and incomparable ability to core emotions into simple phrases. “You Should Be So Lucky” scores a home run. She’s made my top ten romance author list.

I loved loved loved this book!! Full of so many feelings and emotions. I'm always here for a grumpy/sunshine moment and You Should Be So Lucky had that in spades. Mark and Eddie did not have an easy path in front of them. Especially in a difficult time in history. Excellent Excellent book!

I honestly don't even have the words to explain how much I loved this book. I absolutely fell in love with Cat Sebastian's writing while reading We Could Be So Good (and realized that maybe I am a historical romance fan), and that carried through to You Should Be So Good.

The range of emotions I went through in this book were vast. I cried, I laughed, I cried some more. I wanted to devour it but had to put it down a few times because I knew it would break me (and it did, in the best ways).

We met Mark briefly in WCBSG. He's a side character and a reporter at The Chronicle who's been writing articles and book reviews for years, and always slipping Nick some queer books. Mark is still grieving the loss of his long-time partner, William, who he was "just roommates" with for all appearances. In a time where you can't be openly queer, Mark finds it troubling to grieve a partner no one knows he has, outside of this closest friends. When Andy asks him to work on a baseball project, he isn't thrilled, but does it anyway, and that's where he meets Eddie O'Leary.

Eddie is still young, just traded to the Robins, one of the worst baseball teams, and is slumping, even after last season where he was thriving. He's being iced out by his team and he has nothing and no one in New York. Until he meets Mark, the reporter he has to work with to create these "diaries" about him.

Honestly, I adored this book. The golden retriever / black cat dynamic was done so well. They really complemented each other, and they were two distinct characters who loved in different ways and had their own fears and life experiences. Add to that a lovable dog, grief, lots of baseball, and side characters you always want more of, this book was everything I could ask for.

This is a great book for any sports romance fans, historical romance fans, and anyone who loves reading queer stories from different timelines.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon for an eARC. All opinions are my own.

“No. Absolutely not. I’m not ghostwriting a ballplayer diary.”

It's been a year since Mark's partner William died, a year of everything feeling dull and Mark not being able to find the energy and passion to keep writing beyond a few book reviews every now and again to keep on the books at the Chronicle. With the paper struggling, his boss comes to him and springs the idea of, normally arts and culture writer, Mark ghost writing a series of “diary” entries from New York City's new expansion team's shortstop, Eddie. The shortstop who is going through a horrible slump and went on a public tirade about being traded to the Robins. Mark agrees, with the thought that after a few articles, everyone will see what a bad idea it was, even though his access to the team will lead to an eventual magazine feature.

Sportswriters are the reason everybody hates Eddie. Okay, Eddie’s big mouth is the reason everybody hates Eddie, but he might have been able to keep it a secret if it hadn’t been for the reporters.

Eddie, for his part, agrees because he's trying to get back on the good side of his new team and thinks this is set-up to get a few canned lines out there and get the city back to liking him. When Mark and Eddie meet, there's an instant attraction but, as this is, 1960 and Eddie is a professional athlete, things are more than complicated, they could be dangerous. Mark's lived in a secret relationship before and doesn't want to do it again, while Eddie's aware of why he needs to keep things covert, he's optimistic enough to believe they can forge a path that works for them both. You Should Be So Lucky was a story of a jaded reporter still grieving and a baseball player that comes along at the worst time trying to chase his clouds away.

He’s making gay jokes with a professional baseball player in his living room. He could not feel more surreal about this if he tried.

If you're picking this up for the baseball setting, there is some feel of that, enough baseball culture to have fans of the sport get that smile over the ridiculousness of all the stats kept and speak to the feeling of why fans root and develop lifelong connections with teams and players. But, there also wasn't so much that non-sports fans will have their eyes glaze over, Eddie's slump plays a big part of the story but only snippets of games are shown and it's more about the emotional journey he's going on in his personal life. If you're picking this up for the historical feel, that's here woven throughout the whole context as the main conflict is Mark worrying about being a danger to Eddie, what would happen if their relationship was ever found out by the wrong person. Secondary characters play a big part of their world, the old-timer usual baseball beat reporter, Eddie's manager and a teammate, and friends of Mark, through each of these characters, the time period is felt in how protective they try to be for the couple. There was also, what turned out to be an emotional scene, that I felt hits hard in it's depth without beating it down, between Eddie and his mother. Eddie spends the morning telling her about Lula, about Mark helping the rookie buy suits, about the dumbest shit that could not possibly interest anyone but a mother, and she doesn’t falter, not once. It's Eddie coming out to his mother without explicit stating and it was the she doesn’t falter, not once. that will have your eyes watering.

Maybe he doesn’t know how to untangle caring for someone with worrying that it will be their undoing.

The story is told from both Mark and Eddie's point-of-view, but I'm going to say this is a little more Mark's story. The first half is Mark coming out from the bottom of grief and making that healing journey. The second half had more of Eddie and Mark together, with Eddie also on his personal journey of internally thinking about what it truly means to be gay, where before he knew he was gay but compartmentalized it in a way that had him not putting it in the context of his life. So, while, there is a big romance plot (there are open-door scenes but some go the fade away route before showing actual consummation), it's Mark and Eddie both taking separate personal journeys that then lead them into flowing into their romance. This seems to be how a lot of newer romances are going, and I don't know if I'm explaining right, but I personally like when there's more of a singular journey, the characters are working together in the same journey towards romance. These two are in their heads a lot and when Mark is coming to terms that he does love Eddie, he's by himself instead of having that moment with Eddie, again, making it feel like a personal journey instead of the togetherness I want in romance.

I’m telling you, Eddie, when you look at me, it’s obvious.”
“You only think so because you know how I feel.”

There was a third-act break-up, where Eddie goes on his personal journey and then shows Mark how things can work, with Mark deciding that he'll do his best to show faith in Eddie's belief. This had the author's usual naturalness to writing and emotions that never fails to emotionally draw me in and there was an epilogue that summed up the story perfectly, with some grief and proven and future optimism leading these two down the HEA road. If you're looking for personal journeys that help flow two people into a working romance, with added bonus of historical feel and some baseball, then you definitely want to pick this one up.

What a beautiful, soft, lovely, tender book. I was a fan of the first book in this series, but this second one really blew it out of the water for me. I loved the relationship between Eddie and Mark; how Mark navigated his grief in a time when he really couldn't be publicly grieving, and how Eddie navigated his queerness while not being about to be publicly out. Even though things are different in 2024, I really related to Eddie's feelings about his queerness, and underlined several quotes from him!! Overall, 10/10, would recommend