Like A Sports Anime, But Gayer | The Prospects by K.T. Hoffman Review

Hope is familiar territory for Gene Ionescu. He has always loved baseball, a sport made for underdogs and optimists like him. He also loves his team, the minor league Beaverton Beavers, and, for the most part, he loves the career he’s built. As the first openly trans player in professional baseball, Gene has nearly everything he’s ever let himself dream of—that is, until Luis Estrada, Gene’s former teammate and current rival, gets traded to the Beavers, destroying the careful equilibrium of Gene’s life.

Gene and Luis can’t manage a civil conversation off the field or a competent play on it, but in the close confines of dugout benches and roadie buses, they begrudgingly rediscover a comfortable rhythm. As the two grow closer, the tension between them turns electric, and their chemistry spills past the confines of the stadium. For every tight double play they execute, there’s also a glance at summer-tan shoulders or a secret shared, each one a breathless moment of possibility that ignites in Gene the visceral, terrifying kind of desire he’s never allowed himself. Soon, Gene has to reconcile the quiet, minor-league-sized life he used to find fulfilling with the major-league dreams Luis makes feel possible.

I received an ARC of The Prospects, which was published April 9, 2024.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I don’t know if anyone out there has had the same anime-to-books experience I have, but I’m sure a few readers will understand the sort of vibes I mean when I say this book feels like a sports anime.

And for those who don’t, I’ll try to explain it the best I can:

Sports anime are typically very character-focused, rather than focused on the sport itself. Sure, there are bits and pieces of the sport (it’s what our plot is based on), but it’s mostly about the characters growing into their abilities as players and connecting with their teammates.

Sports anime are also, typically, a little bit gay.

The Prospects also fits this sort of description. It’s undoubtedly a book about sports, being centered around a minor league baseball team, but it’s not about the sports as much as you’d think it is. It’s about Gene and Luis and their teammates, and the personal problems they have alongside the season. Love and family and careers and, above all, sticking together no matter what.

I really loved the LGBT elements in The Prospects. For one, we have the relationship between Gene and Luis, which I immediately fell in love with. Despite the two being “rivals” playing the same position, it was easy to tell, even early on, that these two were there for each other. They supported each other, even if they didn’t want to admit it, and that made for a very wholesome read.

But I also loved the way this book treated Gene being trans. As a trans reader myself, I’ve complained in the past about books just not getting it. Making their trans characters have these totally awful, completely transphobic experiences like that’s the only sort of experience a trans character can have. It’s hard to find trans stories where the main character happens to be trans, rather than the entire story being about them being trans, but The Prospects ended up being the perfect example of what I want in a story like this! Gene is trans, and maybe sometimes he has to deal transphobia or has issues with just existing as a trans person, but ultimately, that’s not his story in it’s entirety.

The best example of this is a scene in which Gene has to use his government name in order to sign up for something. In the scene, another character is nearby and, respecting Gene, turns to look away as he types in his government name. At no point do readers learn what Gene’s birth name is, nor is the scene made into a big deal, but the way the author treats it and the idea that sometimes, trans people don’t officially change their name on governmental records really stood out to me!

In all, I really liked The Prospects and the way this author wrote the story! Meeting these characters and seeing the way they interacted with each other–whether in the main romance or in friendships–made for a very enjoyable read, and I’ll be looking forward to K.T. Hoffman’s other works in the future!

The Sunshine Court (All For The Game #4) by Nora Sakavic review

My name is Jean Moreau. My place is at Evermore. I belong to the Moriyamas.

It is a truth Jean has built his life around, a reminder this is the best he can hope for and all he deserves. But when he is stolen from Edgar Allan University and sold to a more dangerous master, Jean is forced to contend with a life outside of the Nest for the first time in five years. The Foxes call his transfer to California a fresh start; Jean knows it is little more than a golden cage.

Captain Jeremy Knox is facing his final year with the USC Trojans and fifth straight year falling short of the championships trophy he desperately craves. Taking in the nation’s best defenseman is a no-brainer, even if that man is a Raven. But Jean is no monster, just a man with no hope or desire for a future, and when Evermore’s collapse starts dragging Jean’s hideous secrets to light, Jeremy is forced to contend with the cost of victory.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Listen. I haven’t been reading anything in the past month or so. But the second I heard The Sunshine Court was out and available to read?????

I read this entire book in one sitting.

It’s been ten years since The King’s Men, the third book in the All For The Game trilogy, was released, and coming back to this series felt like coming home to your favorite found family. It’s weirdly cozy, despite the fact that this series is known for having a long list of trigger warnings.

There’s not much conflict-wise to talk about in this book (in a general, nonspoilery way), but we didn’t need that after the events of the first three books. This book is about Jean Moreau healing. About him realizing that he has the space to heal, and that there are things in life to look forward to.

I also thought it was really fun to see a new team and the way they interact with some of the series-wide conflict we know. Unlike the Foxes, the Trojans don’t have the sort of background that makes them easily fit into and understand the things former Ravens have gone through. Them even learning the basic details of some of the events that went on is met with horror, and really helps to broaden our understanding of this world. We went through a lot in those first few books, but to the rest of the world, it was business as usual.

This book was a lot more casual, but definitely needed. I can’t wait to see more in this series and where Jean is eventually going to land in his journey!

When Grumpy Met Sunshine by Charlotte Stein review

When grumpy ex-footballer Alfie Harding gets badgered into selling his memoirs, he knows he’s never going to be able to write them. He hates revealing a single thing about himself, is allergic to most emotions, and can’t imagine doing a good job of putting pen to paper.

And so in walks curvy, cheery, cute as heck ghostwriter Mabel Willicker, who knows just how to sunshine and sass her way into getting every little detail out of Alfie. They banter and bicker their way to writing his life story, both of them sure they’ll never be anything other than at odds.

But after their business arrangement is mistaken for a budding romance, the pair have to pretend to be an item for a public who’s ravenous for more of this Cinderella story. Or at least, it feels like it’s pretend―until each slow burn step in their fake relationship sparks a heat neither can control. Now they just have to is this sizzling chemistry just for show? Or something so real it might just give them their fairytale ending?

When Grumpy Met Sunshine gets published February 6th, 2024!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I’m a little bit obsessed with this book.

Almost immediately after starting this book, I fell in love with the dynamics our two main characters, Alfie and Mabel, had. While Mabel is sweet and our “sunshine” of the book, Alfie is a “grumpy” ex-sports star who actually isn’t as grumpy and mean as he tries to make the world believe he is.

There were a lot of misunderstandings in the beginning for our main couple, but once we got further into the book, their dynamic really seemed to shine with some absolutely great banter! It’s hard not to enjoy Mabel and Alfie’s conversations when it’s so obvious that they themselves are enjoying their back and forth and find each other super funny, which really had me cheering on these two and their story!

Despite the fact that this book is a five star read for me, I did have a few issues with it. For one, this book is weirdly horny. And not in a “the content inside is just not my personal kink” kind of way, but in a “who gets turned on by spraying pepper spray in someone’s eyes??” sort of way.

(That is only slightly joking. There was pepper spray and the scene was slightly sexual, but it was not sexual because of the act of pepper spraying someone.)

I also kind of wish that this book was a little more about writing? Without giving too much of the characters’ personal plots and story away, writing is a really big focus in this book but seemed to be pushed to the side in order to focus more on the characters and their romance. I would have been completely fine with a little less focus on the romance/sex scenes in order to focus more on the act of writing and making this memoir.

Those two little negatives aside, I found it very hard to put this book down! I had to run to instagram to scream about it once I was finished, which is probably the highest compliment I can offer a book. I’m definitely in love with this book, and I can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks!

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren review

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents—who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno—Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father’s never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before Juno was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard…and lonely.

But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands.

At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98% compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Pena. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Pena. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess—who is barely making ends meet—is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could make GeneticAlly a mint in stock prices, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist—and the science behind a soulmate—than she thought.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Have you ever had a book on your TBR for so long that it starts to scare you? You start to think “what if it’s not good? What if I’ve been looking forward to this for so long and I absolutely hate it?”

I was feeling this way about The Soulmate Equation until I finally took the plunge and read it.

… And I absolutely loved it!

I read this book straight through, in less than six hours! It was hard to put this down to be a person!

The Soulmate Equation is the story of Jess, a statistician who sits in a coffeeshop every day with her best friend Fizzy, an author, to focus on their work. They often see this grump picking up his order in the coffeeshop, and when they overhear that he created a company that uses DNA to match people to their soulmates, they need to know more!

The two best friends send in their DNA to the company, and Jess is convinced nothing really is going to come of it… until she gets called in one day to hear the news that she has a match. A 98% compatibility match. With the grumpy founder of the company.

There’s a bit more details and mystery to the book than that, but as I said before, I really loved reading this book! I’m definitely kicking myself for letting this book rot away in the depths of my kindle for two years (despite buying and owning a copy all this time…), and I may even use this experience as an excuse to pick up more books by Christina Lauren!

The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent review

Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I was very surprised by how much I adored this book.

The Serpent & The Wings of Night sucked me in immediately and never let me go. This book is over 500 pages, and at no point could I allow myself to put it down for even a second!

One of the very first things I enjoyed about The Serpent & The Wings of Night was the worldbuilding. In this world, there are three “houses” of vampires, all with unique magic types and physical features. While some vampires may have feathered wings, others may have membranous wings (neither of which are typical for vampires in other media, so you know this book is gonna have some unique lore).

I also really loved the plot of this book! Our main character, Oraya, needs to compete in a tournament called the Kejari in order to ask the goddess to bind her father’s powers to her so she can become strong enough to travel outside of her home. In order to survive this deadly tournament, she needs to work together with her father’s enemy, but that soon has Oraya questioning everything she knows about the world she thought she understood.

If I could rate books higher than 5 stars, this would be a 10 star book! I was immediately obsessed with The Serpent & The Wings of Night, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel to continue on with this series!

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone review

In the ashes of a dying world, Red finds a letter marked “Burn before reading.”

So begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents in a war that stretches through the vast reaches of time and space.

Red belongs to the Agency, a post-singularity technotopia. Blue belongs to Garden, a single vast consciousness embedded in all organic matter. Their pasts are bloody and their futures mutually exclusive. They have nothing in common—save that they’re the best, and they’re alone.

Now what began as a battlefield boast grows into a dangerous game, one both Red and Blue are determined to win. Because winning’s that you do in war. Isn’t it?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

It’s difficult to explain why I loved This Is How You Lose The Time War as much as I did.

This is mostly because This Is How You Lose The Time War is a difficult book to explain. In the beginning, readers will be confused by what is going on. Someone on a battlefield finds a letter? They burn it, then move on?

But the further you get into This Is How You Lose The Time War, the easier it is to understand what is going on. The story evolves as you read, and by the time you get to the final pages of the book, you’ll have a completely different viewpoint of the first few pages.

One of my favorite things about This Is How You Lose The Time War is the romanticism of each letter. Our two main characters, Red and Blue, have been on opposite sides of a war. They’ve seen each other in passing, but neither really knows about each other until the day Blue writes Red a letter stating her interest. From here, we get to see their story play out and learn just how involved in each others’ lives Red and Blue have been without them knowing.

Like I said, it’s difficult to put into words my love for this book, solely because I know too much now. But I’d recommend that anyone who hasn’t read this book yet to pick it up!

Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding review

Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.

Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.

As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I would have never guessed that one of my favorite types of books would be Jane Austen retellings, but it seems like I adore every one I read!

I was a little hesitant to go into this one, as I had never heard or interacted with the original story. In fact, looking it up in the middle of my reading of Emma of 83rd Street and finding out the original was a novel of manners (which is a genre I’ve tried before and very quickly realized wasn’t something I’m into) only had me even more hesitant for what I was getting into in this book.

But Emma of 83rd Street was absolutely amazing!

I really enjoyed Emma and Knightley’s dance around each other throughout this book. As childhood friends (with a fair bit of an age gap between them), Emma and Knightley are convinced that there’s no way they would ever end up together. But the more they interact in this book, the more they come to realize that the other… is kind of attractive.

That they might be into their friend.

This book was so difficult to put down, and it has only made me excited to read more Jane Austen retellings in the future!

(Including, maybe, a sequel to Emma of 83rd Street focused on Knightley’s friend Will… 👀)

Midnight Magic (Clover Pack #2) by Savannah Lee review

I probably shouldn’t have followed the strange Fae man through the mysterious portal.
Scratch that. I definitely shouldn’t have, but when the choice was to either get my friends killed or jump…
I jumped.
Now I’m stuck in the faerie lands, where enemies lurk around every corner, waiting to strike. The Fae Queen will rest at nothing until she gets her hands on me. I have something she wants, something she needs.
Something I stole from her.
The catch? I can’t remember where I put it. I can’t remember anything from my former life, having erased my memories to hide from my past in the human realm.
Now I’m on a mission to recover what I’ve lost, arm myself with the knowledge of what I’ve hidden, and save my friends – including the hunky panther shifter I can’t seem to get out of my head.
If I don’t die trying first.

Midnight Magic gets published December 15th, 2023!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I’ve been dying to read Midnight Magic ever since finishing Midnight Mated earlier this year, so you can understand how excited I was to jump into this book as soon as I received a copy!

One thing I was immediately amazed by in this book was the worldbuilding this author introduces. Because of the events at the very end of the first book, it’s obvious to readers that we will enter Midnight Magic with an introduction to the land of the fae, but I was immediately struck by how masterfully this author took this concept and made it their own while also sticking to some of the same elements we’ve come to expect in a book about the fae.

I also really enjoyed the characters in this story and seeing them band together against a common goal. Seeing these characters determined to stay by each others’ sides, even when things get weird, was the perfect continuation of the found family trope I loved to see in the first book!

However, I will say that there were a few aspects of this book I wish had been done better.

For one, the fight scenes were a bit difficult to stay focused in. Because the fight scenes are longer and more important in this book, I felt like I should have been paying more attention to them, but it was hard to keep my focus on what was happening. Perhaps this is more of a personal problem, as I often find my attention straying away from fight scenes in any media, but I wish I could have been able to stay in that moment instead of glossing over the scenes.

I also felt like this book could have been a little longer in order to make space for more emotional significance. In the latter half of the book, readers enter a scene where a side character dies and, due to the rules of this universe, we have to slowly watch their mate die as well. While the characters were upset during this time, it was hard as a reader to also be sad for these deaths, as we were introduced to these characters within this very scene.

Still, I absolutely adored Midnight Magic and this entire series so far! Seeing Midnight Magic end just like I was hoping it would was an amazing experience, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the third book in this series to read more about these characters and their world!

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Want to see more of my thoughts on this book? I recorded a reading vlog for both Midnight Mated and Midnight Magic that you can watch now!

On The Plus Side by Jenny L. Howe review

Everly Winters is perfectly happy to navigate life like a good neutral paint color: appreciated but unnoticed. That’s why she’s still a receptionist instead of exploring a career in art, why she lurks but never posts on the forums for her favorite makeover show, On the Plus Side, and why she’s crushing so hard on her forever-unattainable co-worker. When no one notices you, they can’t reject you or insist you’re too much.

This plan is working perfectly until someone secretly nominates Everly for the next season of On the Plus Side. Overwhelmed by the show’s extremely extroverted hosts and how much time she’ll have to spend on screen, she finds comfort in a surprising friendship with the grumpy but kind cameraman, Logan. Soon Everly realizes that he’s someone she doesn’t mind being noticed by. In fact, she might even like it.

But when their growing connection is caught on camera, it sends the show’s ratings into a frenzy. Learning to embrace all of herself on national TV is hard enough; can Everly risk heartbreak with the whole world watching?

On The Plus Side gets published December 26th, 2023!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Jenny L. Howe has yet to write a book I have rated less than five stars, and I love that for her.

I really enjoyed On The Plus Side! The book opens up almost immediately by introducing the dynamic between Everly and Logan, her cameraman/love interest while she’s on the reality TV show On The Plus Side, and I fell in love with the way these two characters interacted! There’s something about a flirty girl and an easily embarrassed guy that I adore, but getting glimpses of the way Logan saw Everly throughout this book?

There was absolutely no way this book was going to be any less than five stars for me.

This book was almost entirely about character development as Everly appears on this TV show, and I really enjoyed the way Everly grew confident in herself throughout this process. Watching Everly evolve from someone who put herself in the background of her own life to someone who went for her dreams, even if they seemed unrealistic to others, was very inspiring.

Plus, the little bits of drama during recording? Finding out who nominated Everly for the show??

I loved this book from the first page to the last, and I think it’s cemented Jenny L. Howe as an auto-buy author for me.

What is the first thing you’d say to a stranger? | Love Interest by Clare Gilmore

Casey Maitland has always preferred the reliability of numbers, despite growing up the daughter of two artistic souls. Now a twenty-four-year-old finance expert working in Manhattan, Casey wonders if the project manager opening at her company – magazine powerhouse LC Publications – is a sign from the universe to pursue a career with a little more sparkle. That is, until she’s passed over for the job in favor of the board chairman’s son.

Alex Harrison is handsome, Harvard-educated, and enigmatic. Everybody loves him – except for Casey. But when the two are thrown on the same project, they both have something to prove. For Casey, it’s getting tapped for a transfer to the London office and fulfilling her dreams of travelling. For Alex, it’s successfully launching a brand that will impress his distant father.

As work meetings turn into after hours, Casey and Alex are drawn to each other again and again, but neither can avoid the messy secrets and corporate intrigue threatening to tear them apart. What they discover about their workplace might change everything – including the dreams each of them is chasing.

Love Interest gets published October 10th, 2023!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

This book… had a rough opening.

Sometimes books just have awkward or confusing openings. Whether characters are in a strange moment or there’s just a lot of background information to cover before a book can truly open up, I try to give books the best chance they have during the beginning. But with an opening where the writing style felt almost exactly like My Immortal (you know… Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way?), I was really questioning whether or not I could make it through this book.

Thankfully, it was just an awkward start.

Love Interest tells the story of Casey and Alex, two people who interviewed for the same job. Of course, only one could make it in, and Casey isn’t going to let go of the fact that the board chairman’s son got the job in what was obviously a show of nepotism.

But Casey finds it hard to truly hate Alex. Especially when the drama starts and office politics come into play.

I really enjoyed the humor in this book. It may come as no surprise to read that, especially if you’ve read my reviews in the past, but I love a book with funny moments. Love Interest in particular has this memorable moment early on where Alex decides a murder confession is the best first line to say to someone, and this really sets the tone for the rest of the novel.

I also enjoyed seeing these characters’ personal journeys throughout the book. While Casey is learning how to listen to herself and go for what she wants in life, Alex’s side of the story is about struggling to gain the attention of his father… and whether or not he is worthy of love without it.

To be honest, I read the entirety of this book in a single day without stopping. I really wasn’t expecting to, since I was in a little bit of a slump before this, but this book really grabbed me! I really enjoyed my time with Love Interest, and I can’t wait for this book to be released so I can display a finished copy on my shelves!