First thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!!

I cannot say adequately how much I loved this book! A queer baseball romance set in the 60s was everything I needed to pull me out of a reading slump. Eddie and Mark are so freaking adorable and the PINING! So much queer pining and I loved every second of it! The characters are so well fleshed out and add to the beauty of the story. It handles grief in such a lovely and delicate way that I found myself crying along with them. All in all, I cannot recommend this book more!

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SPICE: 🔥

This book was fantastic and I was in my feels the entire time. This story was tender and epic and just absolutely one of the best and most refreshing reads I have read this year.

Eddie and Mark are everything and must be protected at all costs. Actually every single character in this book must be protected at all costs because I love them with every fiber of my being.

TROPES ⬇️

✨ Baseball Romance
✨ Grumpy / Sunshine
✨ Opposites attract
✨ Secret Relationship
✨ 1960’s era Romance
✨ Found Family

This book is a queer sports romance set in the 1960’s and honestly the time period and the narrative were what made this story just so much more.

Mark and Eddie are fantastically portrayed, with Mark jaded snark and recovery from a grief her can’t fully express, to Eddie, the young golden retriever baseball star trying to find his place. I felt then with every fiber of my being. I laughed with them, I cried with them, I felt rage for them… and I loved them, their story and their world.

And we can’t forget about the third main character of this story… baseball. The way the game was shown, the nostalgia, the superstition, just everything about how the love and lore sport was told. I don’t think I have words.

I literally put this book down and stared at nothing for a few minutes because I was so wrecked. It’s still days late and I’m wrecked. This has to be one of the best queer romances I’ve read, and the pain and joy that I felt reading it is going to live with me for a long time.

Talk about a home run of emotions! This book is packed to the brim with heart and enough baseball vibes to make even the staunchest sports skeptic do a victory dance. The main characters? Total MVPs. I mean, I was cheering for them harder than a die-hard fan at the World Serie

You Should Be So Lucky is a beautiful queer love story set in 1960’s New York. Eddie is a professional baseball player who has been recently traded and is having some bad luck with his game and Mark is a newspaper reporter tasked with interviewing him for a series of articles. Eddie and Mark slowly build their relationship from strangers to friends to lovers. The story touches on found family, the grief of losing a partner, and the realities of being queer in this period of time. I thought this was a beautiful story and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is another very moving and poignant story by Cat Sebastian revolving around a gay reporter in NYC in the 1960's who knew all too well how hostile the environment is for men like him. He’s already loved and lost and had to keep who he is hidden. Eddie is the young phenom baseball player traded against his wishes to the new NY expansion team. The rising star’s hitting slump did not endear him to the NY fans nor his teammates. When he’s ordered to allow reporter Mark Bailey to do a series of interviews, Eddie has no choice but to allow the cynical grumpy reporter in.
These two couldn’t be more different but there is an attraction that can’t be ignored. But a relationship enjoyed in private runs the risk of ruination if it becomes public. Any rumor of homosexuality could be career ending for Eddie. Mark has already kept one relationship secret – not something he ever wants to have to do again. They both have some very tough and unfair decisions to make.
Once again, as in We Could Be So Good, Cat Sebastian will have you feeling the heartbreak, the fear, the love with her words like no other. She does such a wonderful job of addressing so many issues in a subtle way giving the readers two very loveable characters, that I could do nothing but root for them! And I especially loved Mark and all his grumpiness but his devotion to keeping Eddie safe. A simple dinner with friends – something so many of us take for granted - was such a punch in the gut and pivotal scene.
And as an avid Yankees fan, the insight into the baseball locker room and sports press box was so interesting and obviously well researched and I loved that aspect of the story as well.

Absolute 5 out of 5 for me. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This book has so much more heart than your normal romance novel. Yes, there is pining and romance and some very tasteful spice, but you also see the heart of a struggling baseball team with a manager just trying to do his best and the end of a journalism legacy who doesn't want to give up his love. This is a story of Baseball and how it brings people together.

The romance isn't all sunshine and rainbows, as both characters have their own personal challenges to overcome, but at the end of the day they get their happily ever after. I admittedly kept waiting for the other shoe to drop as I approached the end of the story, as many romance novels have some kind of last minute conflict arise, but I was pleasantly surprised that this one did not. It is truly a happy story and I am already itching for a re-read.

The perspective of the story changes throughout, which really gives you an in-depth look into who these characters really are. I fell in love with each and every one of them, their flaws and all. Each is trying to overcome some life challenge, whether its grief, substance abuse, aging, sexism, or a personal slump. You watch each character grow.

Absolute knock out of the park!

Just as fantastic as You Could Be So Good, and I could pretty much copy and paste that review here. I loved Mark and Eddie and their story.

SO much heart in this book and so many things to love. Full on baseball feels, and I just loved both MCs. The last 20% especially just made my heart feel so full. The banter, and the way the MCs grew close as they got to know each other was just everything.

Mark is currently going through the hardest year life has ever dealt him. In order to reasonably keep his reporting job, he must interview the new hotshot shortstop for the Robins. Mark is not a sports reporter and has no interest in making this obnoxious man look good. Eddie was just traded without warning to the Robins resulting in him making an ass of himself on national television and then topping it off with the worst batting slump anyone has ever seen. To make it worse, his manager now wants him to meet weekly with a reporter. How could anyone possibly think this is a good idea?

I fell in love with these characters so incredibly quickly. The perspective changes really gave so much insight into their characters: what they truly mean, how they are perceived, etc. I really appreciated how queerness both was and was not a conflict in this book. I don't love to read books where queer characters have to constantly suffer for being queer but it does feel odd sometimes to root a book in a time period and then ignore the general attitude toward queer people during that time. This book found a good balance of acknowledging, but still allowing the characters to have plotlines and conflicts that didn't really harp on the issue. I was very happy with how everything turned out for them.

Grief is a very strong theme in this book as if life after tragedy/misfortune. Because of this, I would advise any reader to check the trigger warning ahead of time as I could not imagine how terrible it would feel being caught off-guard by such an incredibly sensitive subject.

This is for the baseball fans, the romance fans, and anyone interested in reading about happily ever after following tragedy.

5 STARS!

"You Should Be So Lucky" is the first Cat Sebastian novel I have read, and I cannot wait to read more of her novels because this book is TERRIFIC, an absolute freaking delight of a book. I relished and cherished every single page of this incredible, earnest, slow-burning story. This is the kind of story, the kind of writing, I yearn for, the kind of prose that warms and satisfies my cold, dark, pessimistic heart. I am just so overjoyed with this story. I could gush about it for years. Mark Bailey and Eddie O’Leary won't be leaving my mind anytime soon. They are both incredible main characters. Eddie is the new guy on his baseball team in 1960s New York. Eddie is being shunned by his new team because he's in a monumental career slump... and no one wants their team to suck as bad as he has been stinking. He wears his heart on his sleeve. Mark, on the other hand, is a grumpy, standoffish journalist tasked with writing the baseball beat for the time being. He is still grieving the loss of his romantic partner and is not looking to fall in love ever again. When Mark is asked to write some fluff pieces about Eddie to boost his popularity, the two strike up a friendship, mostly against Mark's better judgment. Slowly over time, Eddie confesses that he is, indeed, queer in the Big Apple without many friends or relatives to tell or guide him. These two men navigate around each other's orbits and find themselves falling desperately for one another despite the odds, despite their pasts, and despite a world that, unfortunately, doesn't accept them as who they are. Like I said, this book is simply incredible. It will have you laughing, it will make you cry, it will give you hope for a better, more accepting world. I am not a baseball fan, but Cat Sebastian weaves such an intricate tapestry of the sport and the people who play alongside Eddie that I found myself genuinely caring about that aspect of the story, too. This is not your typical baseball romance novel. It is about moving on, acceptance, grieving/overcoming loss, powering through life during the worst, most trying times it can throw at you, and finding connection and love despite those moments of sadness and adversity. This book is, frankly, special. I cannot wait to read more of Cat Sebatian's work because it was truly a privilege to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley, Cat Sebastian, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

Cat Sebastian books are just wonderful and like an amazing sweater that just gets better after several washes. I love these modern queer romances. Mark and Eddie are adorable while not being mushy and I love how they work to come together despite the real consequences of being out. Mark is dealing with just incredible grief and Eddie is a loveable lug and they just work. They just work. I don't know that I can say anything better about this book except I can't wait for the next one and I'm mad it's over. I was so happy to see Nick and Andy in this book too!

More . All I want is more.

4.8

Many thanks for Harper Voyager and Netgalley for my eARC of this title! What a wonderful tender story tribute to 1960s baseball and queerness in a time when being open wasn’t an option. You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian combines a healthy amount of sports trivia and the wariness of new love to craft a story about a major league baseball player and a sports reporter falling in love. Sebastian is well versed in the historical romance genre and, though this is my first book of theirs I have read, their talent shines through. I gave it a 4.8 out of 5 and am greatly looking forward to more queer historical romances from this author!

I am a huge fan of historical romances, but add in a little spice (aka sports) I am all about it. That's what Cat Sebastian has done with You Should Be So Lucky. Eddie O'Leary is facing the slump to end all slumps, can't find himself on base, he can't even make contact with a pitch. So to find himself under the microscope for a series of journalistic diaries? Well, that just makes like grand. He wasn't expected the reporter behind it, though. Mark is young, smart, and far too charming.

Do you need to know much about baseball to enjoy this? Nope. Not particularly. If you enjoy the fade-to-black type of romance scenes, this will fit the bill.

One thing I find I experience while reading anything by Cat Sebastian, is the emotion she seems to pull deep from within my chest. My whole heart ached for Eddie. He was so lost being traded and on a new team, but then to have been given the silent treatment on top of that? It brought all those self doubts out and I just needed for things to get better for him. I didn't care how, but I needed Eddie to be happy.

Then we got to see him interacting with Mark. He was the one lifeline and he clung to Mark. Their first stilted conversations that grew into long conversations after games on the payphone, then the steady presence that just made you feel giddy for them. They healed each other in their own ways. Then they both found acceptance by people they didn't expect to have it from.

There was a sweetness. Even hours after reading the ending, that left me feeling hopeful for the two of them. I could just picture them in the 60s, 70s, and 80s moving through life. There were more than a few giggles, and incredibly cheesy smiles on my face while I read this one.

If you are looking for smut, you will not find it here. Like mentioned, it is a fade to black kind of romance, but their kisses, they were explosive!

Apparently queer sports books are filling my bookshelf right now and I am not mad about it. This book was a treat and a good history lesson as well. Two men who aren't allowed to be out on the 60s trying to navigate their relationship especially when they also need to have a working relationship.

I enjoyed the insight into past baseball especially with old stadiums being mentioned. I thought Eddie and Mark complimented each other quiet well and their happily ever after was a warm fuzzy.

My only complaint was it was a bit slow in parts, in my opinion.

By far the best book I've read this year and my first by Cat Sebastian. There really aren't enough words to describe how much I loved this. But I'll start with brilliant and perfect! It was a wonderful combination of things I love!

Baseball ✔️
Mid century ✔️
Queer romance ✔️
Witty banter ✔️
Fabulous characters ✔️
So many emotions ✔️

There isn't much else I can say other than I can't wait to read everything else by Cat Sebastian!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you so much to Avon and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

After absolutely falling in love with We Could Be So Good, this was instantly a 5 star prediction for 2024. And not a single page disappointed.

Cat Sebastian has quickly become my favorite historical romance author and this highlighted exactly why.

We're following 2 disaster heroes who are dealing with some really heavy things in their own lives - the loss of a partner and sudden move/change of team. And neither are coping well.

When Mark is forced to write the diary articles following Eddie, the 2 total opposites are pushed together and form an unlikely bond. And immediate attraction.

Not only is Cat Sebastian's writing impeccable, but it's so easy to get lost in. There is something completely transportive about her stories - no matter what time period she's writing in.

The characters in here are absolutely disasters, sometimes unlikely, yet somehow entirely charming. Eddie is rough around the edges but you can't help but want to protect him from all the hard things in life. While Mark is closed off and emotionally unavailable. Together they force each other out of their heads.

But I think what I loved most about this romance was the building, slow burn tension between the characters. Eddie hacks away at Mark's walls so slowly, that Mark doesn't even notice until he's entirely gone for him.

Between late night phone calls, dog walks, drinks, and stolen glances in the locker room - the tension is unreal by the time these two final admit their feelings.

There is also a semi-forbidden nature to their romance since in the 1960's it was still dangerous to be openly queer. Which Cat Sebastian addressed expertly.

This is definitely one of those romances where an HEA feels impossible until it happens. And I quite literally cried when it did.

I’m usually never into historical fiction, but I fell in love with Mark, Eddie, and their mid-1900s New York romance. The way they got to know each other and could read each other made my heart flutter in ways I couldn’t imagine, and I just want to know them for the rest of their lives.

Cat Sebastian did it again and this was another fantastic story set in New York in the 1950s. I think that if you liked the first book you will definitively enjoy this book that has similar vibes.
YSBSL is about Eddie, a baseball player who was recently traded to a NY team and is not happy about it and was very vocal about it. right after his trade he starts doing awful and is in a huge slump. Mark is a grieving widow who is charged by Andy (from book 1!) in doing a series of diary entries about Eddie. Their first interactions are so tentative and full of unknowns. these two have had some prior experiences that shape how they see the world and while Eddie wears his heart on his sleeve, Mark is a porcupine on the outside and a softie on the inside (just don't tell him that).
I absolutely loved the slow romance build up between these two, the tentativeness, the back and forth, the late night calls, the dog walks, everything. It was cozy and fantastic.

One of the best romances I’ve read this year!

Cat Sebastian is a newer to me author, I’ve only read a few of their books, and every single one has blown me away! I can feel an entire backlist binge coming on! You Should Be So Lucky is the story of love, baseball, grief, family, and living as a queer individual in the 1960s!

This book made me FEEL! It was such a slow burn, both characters were navigating grief and stress and life in their own ways, and the way they came together was just LOVELY to read about!

Once I started it I couldn’t put it down!

Read this if you like:
-baseball player and reporter romance
-life after loss
-found family
-dogs with big personalities
-queer stories and the full spectrum of emotions, but especially love and joy!
-angst, tension, THE PINING!!!
-slow burn
-grumpy/sunshine (the best I’ve read recently!)
-immersive wolf with truly amazing characters!
-impactful character growth!

I loved it! I loved every second of it, I had a huge grin on my face, I cried, I was giddy, my heart ached, it was a rollercoaster I’ll happily ride again and again!

There really isn't anyone doing it like Cat Sebastian, What a perfect entry into her world of midcentury queer romance!