I adore Cat Sebastian's books and I love the fact that she's one of the few Historical Romance authors who branches out to times that are not the Regency/Victorian era. And listen! I love those eras but I love this mid-century era she's playing in with this and We Could Be So Good and I need more. I adored this one and it goes on the list of another one of my favorite romances from Cat Sebastian.

Tropes/Keywords: love after loss, grief, golden retriever/black cat couple, coming over at 8am to walk your dog, baseball, dogs, writer hero, baseball player hero, New York City, discussion of alcoholism, discussion of parental rejection after coming, one hero has expensive taste, the other is living out of a suitcase

Eddie is a young up and coming baseball player who is a bit of a hothead going through a hitting slump once he's traded to the New York Robins. Mark is grieving the loss of a partner and in a writing slump of his own. Due to period-accurate homophobia, he's inherited after his partner's unexpected passing but had to grieve privately as he was basically a secret. Mark is sent to write fluff pieces each week about Eddie and they strike up a friendship. This is such a lovely, tender romance. Mark and Eddie fall in love partly over phone calls from pay phones when Eddie is playing on the road. They fall in love through having conversations with their colleagues about baseball and writing but really they're talking about love. The sex is not spicy but the kind of writing where you feel the tenderness and your heart aches a little because there's just great character and relationship development going on there. There's just internal conflict here, but not miscommunication, more like "am I really ready to take this step? Does this person really love me? thoughts from one character and the other one saying, "yes you dummy 2 weeks not talking to you doesn't change how I feel."

Low drama, historical M/M baseball romance just in time for the season of the Boys of Summer...

Thoughts: I'm a mood reader and a big baseball fan, so Cat Sebastian's latest, You Should Be So Lucky, is a perfectly-timed distraction between games. The grumpy/sunshine trope fits well within the pages without being too heavy on the drama. Mark isn't the jerkish type of grump, he's just grieving and very cautious given the time period and his previous relationship. And while Eddie has a pure heart and a Midwestern innocence, he isn't a full-on rainbows-and-teddy-bears type of sunshine thanks to a PR snafoo leading to a months-long silent treatment from his new teammates and a serious slump at the plate that he can't seem to fix. It's obvious Mark and Eddie are perfect for each other from the get-go, and the slow burn is moreso due to the time period of 1960 being a dangerous setting for a queer person expressing themselves publicly than it is the two of them not being sure about one another. Eddie works his way into not only Mark's heart but readers' hearts, as well, and the way his teammates look out for him both on and off the field really pulls the whole plot together to create a heart-filled historical baseball romance story. The "spice level" simmers around medium-low with a couple of explicit scenes but mostly a focus on the feelings in the bedroom versus the action in the bedroom -- in other words, you could probably read this in public without blushing. The love between these two MCs, their friendships with the people around them, and the well-researched baseball tidbits make a great summer read for sports romance fans who aren't in the mood for a lot of drama.

**Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.**

This book is very sweet. The two romantic leads are incredible—both as individual characters and as a central relationship. The plot was fun and well-executed. This book tackles sensitive topics, like grief and homophobia, but manages to maintain an air of hope and joy throughout which was really enjoyable to read. The ending was really satisfying. All of the characters were well-written and really enhanced the story. This is technically the second in a series, but can be read as a stand alone.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
It took me a while to get into the book, but once I did, it was delightful. I'm not a baseball fan (I don't even understand how the game works) and I know next to nothing about sports and queer rights in the sixties. Cat Sebastian really did her homework on both and while at times it might seem like a bit too much historical detail, it does build the right atmosphere. The characters were well-rounded and believable, and my one fear that the ending will try to mimic one of the queer contemporary romances filled with grand gestures and public declarations did not come true. The love story is slow-burn with few and not very descriptive on-page sexy times.
The writing is very good and all in all, it's one of the best romances I have read lately.

I read You Should Be So Lucky in small bits, like I was savoring chocolate. Take one bite and let the chocolate dissolve on my tongue and then take another. Reading a lot in one sitting felt like a huge indulgence, like I shouldn’t be doing it because this book is just so good. I want to take Eddie and Mark and hug them both, Mark especially. With his horrible family and the recent death of his boyfriend, he’s been through all too much and is barely living when he meets Eddie. Eddie has somehow lost the ability to play baseball when he was unexpectedly traded to a crappy team. Things get more complicated as they fall for each other. Mark doesn’t want to hide himself again and Eddie can’t be out and still play baseball.

Eddie is like a puppy and Mark is so witty and adorably particular. The way he orders Eddie around and the way Eddie complies is peak relationship. The happiness they both feel upon seeing each other filled me with joy and longing for the same in my own life, even fraught with anxiety like their relationship is. It’s real. They feel a connection from the start and the attraction is there, but the feelings come slowly as they learn each other’s idiosyncrasies, patterns, and traumas. Mark wonders if he can even do a relationship after losing his partner, then begins to wonder if it’s worth it, since Eddie is a major league baseballer, who absolutely cannot be seen as publicly queer without risking his entire career.

I have never been so curious about baseball before. I find myself wanting to buy tickets for a local game even though I have little to no understanding of the sport. I can imagine all of these players having lives just like the Robins did. I think that’s just yet another sign that Sebastian wrote a wonderful book, with relatable characters and what I hope is an accurate representation of baseball. Of course, as it was several decades ago, not as it is now. But I can hope that some of that charm remains in the game to this day.

Eddie loves his mom, looks forward to seeing her, is unfailingly genuine and unable to hide his real feelings, good or bad. He lights up when he sees Mark and has no airs about him. He’s not lying or hiding his feelings, even though it could be dangerous to be found out.

Eddie’s journey back to being a successful baseball player is incredibly inspiring. He can’t go back to how he used to be, to the player he used to be. But he can be taught new tricks, and garner a loyal following and people who believe in him along the way. He can still be a good, even great, player, and play differently, helped along by the new outlook he has on success and baseball as a whole. People cheered for Eddie and supported him even when he didn’t get a single run, even when he missed all the balls and struck out all the time. They were like oh it happens, everyone has bad days, commiserating with his failure and still cheering. The way Sebastian describes his learning new ways to swing and new ways to hold a bat, Eddie feels extremely uncomfortable. Feeling like it’s not his body, or that he’s stealing a method from someone else, that the action feels foreign in his body. He pushes through the foreign sensation to learn how to be successful in a different way. I love that so much.

I wish their bonding over novels had continued beyond the halfway point of the book. I had wanted them to read more books together and discuss them. It was adorable, all the late night phone conversations they had about the Haunting of Hill House.

I highly recommend this book and it’s companion book, We Could Be So Good. These two books are the only Cat Sebastian books I’ve read but I’m going to read more, and I’m sure they’ll be great, too. Anyone who doesn’t like sports romances is sure to love this one anyway because it’s just that good.

Eddie O’Leary’s in a slump. But how can he not be after being traded to a team in shambles on national television? In New York on his new team, Eddie learns that while he is a queer baseball player, he isn’t the only one facing challenges in 1960.

A beautiful love story navigating an unfair world, grief, and most of all hope, Cat Sebastian has one of the most heart warming stories out there.

I was provided a complimentary e-galley on NetGalley by Avon and Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

I’m trying to think of how to start this review & the only salient things I can think of are: You Should Be So Lucky is so soft, so lovely, & so in tune with the beautiful happy & beautiful sad & just sad sad moments of life (that’s something Cat Sebastian talks about some in her Author’s Note!).

Honestly, this book is a master class in writing romance to me—& for that matter, basically all of the author’s books I’ve read are!

There are so many moments I loved in this book—so many precious details that I savored about each of the leads: grumpy, not all the way nice, grieving reporter Mark Bailey & oversharer baseball player Eddie O’Leary.

YSBSL is pitch perfect in making the reader see why they’re falling in love & making the reader fall in love with their love too.

It’s an emotional stunner, friends.

5 ⭐️. Out today!

CWs: grief, loss of loved ones including a partner, references to homophobia & racism, reference to being outed without consent & being exiled from family.

[ID: Jess wears a purple sweatshirt & holds the ebook in front of red flowers.]

3.5-4 stars

This was a really sweet and tender love story. It takes place in the same universe as We Could Be So Good, but it's not necessary to read that one first to enjoy You Should Be So Lucky.

The slow burn friends to lovers, forced proximity romance between Mark and Eddie developed so quietly and gently. Both have reasons to be hesitant and keep their distance, but it was beautiful to see them connect and truly see each other. The book did start off slow for me though and I think there were just too many details about baseball. It took away from the building romance between Eddie and Mark, but this is very much an "it's me, not you" issue. One thing I truly loved though, was the found family. It was so wonderful to see old favorites from WCBSG (Nick and Andy forever!) and also Eddie's teammates (after the initial cold shoulder). The ending was very sweet and it made my heart so full to see these characters grabbing onto their happiness. Overall, a very heartfelt and enjoyable read, but sadly I didn't fully love it.

CW: death of loved one (past), grief, homophobia, hazing/silent treatment, heart attack (secondary character), MMC is kicked out of his home and abandoned by his family (past), mentions of addiction/substance abuse and infidelity (secondary character)

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

AHH!! This book is sweet and tender and absolutely transporting - a really great easy spring read. 4.5/5 stars!!

The backdrop of 1960s baseball is so rich and the side characters (George <33) are so lovely and interesting that I almost wish a little less time was spent with Mark and Eddie themselves and more time was spent in the world around them. I never thought I’d say this in my whole life, but I kinda wanted… more baseball.

Half a star off because this book is a LONG 400 pages. There’s a good hundred pages throughout that I felt could have been trimmed without taking any of the magic away - a lot of the same thoughts and conversations are repeated with only slight variations. Still, I was captivated the whole time, and never felt bored even during the slower bits.

I know I already said it once, but it bears repeating that this book is SO SWEET. I don’t know if this makes me cynical or if it’s just that I’m still a bit new to the romance genre, but I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop… And it just never did — for better or for worse.

There’s surprisingly not only very little period-typical homophobia, but very little conflict at all, making this a perfect comfort read and great for anyone going through a bit of a reading slump (no pun intended).

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC!!

I adored this book so much!! It’s one of those books that I never wanted to end. I think I will need to get the audiobook to listen to, then the paperback to hug and highlight and read over!!

“They stand at the doorway for a minute, too close, Eddie stealing glances at Mark’s mouth and Mark doing the same thing, and the fact that they aren’t kissing is taking up more space than any kiss possibly could.”

The story is emotional but also humorous at times and Oh So swoony, too! Eddie is so sweet and earnest, wearing his heart on his sleeve. He is the perfect foil for Mark who hides all his feelings behind a cranky, grumpy exterior.

“He feels like every part of him is wrapped around Eddie, like they’re tangled up in something dangerous and lovely and terribly, terribly precious.”

I loved the setting, the atmosphere… 1960, NYC, and baseball! I think this is my favorite book of 2024 so far!
-5+ Stars!-

This is historical MM Baseball book. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were not what I expected and so delightful. The historical baseball aspect was really well researched and I felt as if I was attending a 1950s or 1960s baseball game. I also really enjoyed the dual POV, it was such a great way to get to know the main characters. The secondary characters were also developed so you got to know them also. Overall, a wonderful book.

You Should Be So Lucky is the second novel in the Midcentury NYC series. This novel is set in the same universe as the first novel, We Could Be So Good, while having its own set of characters. Like most other series, readers may prefer this one or the first one or vice versa. For me, I think this one was a little better than the other even though I did enjoy the other novel. The story is set in 1960 and is surrounded by the world of baseball. Mark Bailey usually writes for the arts page but has been assigned to be a sports reporter. His assignment is to interview professional baseball player, Eddie O’Leary, who is originally from Nebraska and has been traded from his team in Kansas to NYC. He has hit a batting slump and is determined to break it.

The story keeps its focus on the two characters who are going through their own journeys. Eddie’s is more career-related whereas Mark’s is more personal. Mark is grieving the loss of his partner, who was also a secret because of the time period, of seven years. There is some exploration of queer acceptance, like Cat’s other novels, which are well-done for me. Both characters were not always the most likable, but they were well-written and enjoyable. There is a grumpy/sunshine dynamic between them without it being too over the top. The two characters had great chemistry and since romance is the core of the story, I felt it was well-done. The two characters played off each other well and I think their stories were woven together well. I think there is more still that could have been explored and yet there are moments that felt long, but, overall, this was an excellent story.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Avon, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

⚾️ You Should Be So Lucky ⚾️

“When the world has decided that people are supposed to be a certain way, but you’re living proof to the contrary, then hiding your differences is just helping everybody else erase who you are.”

Oh my HEART, this book! It’s everythingggggg. Eddie is a treasure that needs to be protective at all costs. And Mark. Grumpy, curmudgeon Mark 🥹. He is everything.

Set in 1950s New York. Eddie is a shortstop to the Robins baseball team in the middle of a terrible batting slump. Mark, a write though definitely not of sports, has been tasked with writing a series of articles about Eddie. As they spend more and more time together, they realize their connection is a home run.

I cannot get ENOUGH of Cat Sebastian’s writing. This was set in the same world as We Could Be So Good, but can be read as a standalone. You don’t need to read Nick & Andy’s story first, but you absolutely should because it’s equally delightful.

Check this one out for:
⚾️ historical queer romance
⚾️ Grumpy sunshine
⚾️ Sports romance
⚾️ Forced proximity

I cannot recommend this one enough! Thank you to Avon & Netgalley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

genuinely lovely, moving, thought-provoking, funny, rife with good baseball details (which is to say the slog, and the failure, and the team). really well-written in how mark and eddie struggle with different forms of loss, finding each other, and fulfilling the the missing gaps in each of their lives.

I am OBSESSED with Cat Sebastian's latest mid 20th century queer M/M romance series. In this latest installment a grieving reporter falls for a baseball star struggling to get his groove after getting transferred. The author does such a great job placing the romance in the context of the time period where it was dangerous to be out as a gay couple and men had to hide their relationships, ESPECIALLY professional sports players. A swoony, dual POV, opposites attract queer sports romance that you don't want to miss, especially if you are a baseball fan! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! I really hope there will be more in this series!

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.