Zach Glasser has put up with a lot for the sport he loves. Endless days on the road, playing half-decent baseball in front of half-full stadiums and endless nights alone, pretending this is the life he’s always wanted.
The thing is, it could have been everything he ever wanted—if only he’d had the guts to tell his family, tell the club, that he was in love with his teammate Eugenio Morales. Well, ex-teammate now. When Zach wouldn’t—couldn’t—come out, Eugenio made the devastating choice to move on, demanding a trade away from Oakland. Away from Zach.
Three years and countless regrets later, Zach still can’t get Eugenio out of his head. Or his heart. And when they both get selected to play in the league’s All-Star Classic, those feelings and that chemistry come roaring back.
Zach wants a second chance. Eugenio wants a relationship he doesn’t have to hide. Maybe it’s finally time they both get what they want.
Amazon
I love baseball. And I love reading romances that involve baseball. So seeing this was 2 baseball players? I was here for it. But dang. This book is DENSE. There is SO. MUCH. BASEBALL. And not regular season games. Close to half (it seemed) was spring training. The minutia of a catcher framing baseballs and a pitcher tipping a certain pitch. I have a feeling that a lot of readers might stop reading just for that. It was just way too much.
Another thing that really drew me in was that one of the main characters, Zach, has hearing loss. And how that affects daily life was really well represented. But being that it is such a big part of who he is, when he finally addresses it, it’s like a throw away comment. “Oh, probably genetic…” Seriously?
When Zach and Eugenio are together, it is great. The practically vibrate with their love for each other. And even though it is Zach who wants to stay firmly in the closet, it is Eugenio who has parents who are very religious and even teach various religious classes at college.
There is a lot of back and forth as well. Three years ago, present day. Back and forth. Gimme 3 years ago all at once, then time jump.
When we finally get to only present day, all of the back story is told, it just kind of ends. The book was Zach’s journey to the point of coming out of the closet. And he does, but not publicly at all. It seemed very unfinished.
If you can get through most of the baseball talk, there is a decent romance there between them. But the technical aspects really bogged the story down.
3.5 pieces of eye candy