[I am once again confused why this is marketed as a romcom, there is not much comedy or funny scenes beyond the average amount you find in a contemporary.]

The cover of this book encapsulates the story inside it very well: it’s a warm and up-beat sports romance with a charming main character. Gene is easy to love and connect to. I found his ADHD in particular to be well integrated into the story without it feeling like a gimmick. It’s easy to root for him.

The rest of plot falls into a predictable but enjoyable pattern. It did not stand out to me in any way but it held my attention and made me smile. It is a lovely, uplifting story that makes you care in equal amounts about our protagonist, his team, his best friend, and of course, the romance.



But I cannot get over the fact that this book painted the Black lesbian as the villain for saying something the love interest says a few chapters later as well but the first iteration is transphobic but the second one is not? So that was a downer.

Overall, it’s a neat story that uses its tropes well. Not quite four stars but close enough. I think it would have been stronger with a second POV.

[I read this at the same time as another book with a trans woman MC and it made me realize how isolated Gene's story felt to me; there are no other important trans characters, no community, no role models. The trans aspect of the story is very insular and personal, but not in communication with much else in the book. An apolitical take on a trans man wanting to go to the majors that doesn't have anything to say beyond "you're valid".]


I received an advanced reading copy from Little, Brown Book Group UK through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man

This. F*cking. Book.

“The prospects” was a great sports romance. No! It was a BLOODY BRILLIANT sports romance.
Not just a romance with a sport in the background, not just a book about baseball with a romance a a side plot. This was a fully-fledged, well written, engaging, gripping, emotion triggering brilliant piece of fucking baseball romance with absolutely incredible characters, who’s story will make you hold your book/ebook reader/headphones like your freaking life depends on it.

I am utterly speechless about how great this book was. How well this book showed this beautiful sport and made me care about it when before I not only knew jack shit about it but I didn’t care about it at all! And now I want to dive into this world, learn the rules and watch the games because by reading this book I could genuinely feel the love the author and their creations have for this sport. God, the descriptions of the games made me feel so fully immersed in this experienced I felt like I was watching or listening to a live commentary! Just… wow.

And the characters! How on earth do you create such a great, diverse and super interesting group of characters with so well-developed personalities and problems described in such a sensitive and respectful manner?! How do you create a romance so beautiful, so mature and deep you give a reader a rollercoaster of emotions and a heart attack. Gods, I loved how well Gene and Luis communicated and I loved how the author chose to develop their relationship throughout the book. Without the spoilers, I think it was genuinely such a well-written and heart-wrenching romance I’d absolutely love to read a sequel. Even if it was just a book about adhd rage Gene and anxious af Luis opening boxes and putting stuff away in their place. I’d read that!

Oh man, I’m just speechless.

10/10 read, just read it for f*ck’s sake, it’s so worth it!

I absolutely ADORED this book! I loved it so much I ended up purchasing the audiobook as well as a special edition hardback copy. The characters felt so realistic, even if they weren’t truly “enemies” as sold in the blurb. There’s also a whole lot of baseball on page, so if you are looking for a sports romance with some actual sports involved- this is then book for you!

I am so happy to see more own voices stories from trans authors. And this one is filled to the brim with so much joy & heart. I loved it!

I’m astounded that this was a debut novel. It’s one of, if not the, best I’ve ever read

My first LGBTQ representation book and it did not disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc. This book is so different and refreshing to other romances I’ve read
before. It’s the first baseball romance I have read and I really enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing what else KT Hoffman will write in the future.

This book was adorable. I don't know anything about baseball so whilst I had no idea what was happening with the game I still enjoyed being along for the ride. Gene and Luis are so freaking cute together and I loved seeing the progression from rivals to friends to lovers. They have fantastic banter and there is so much queer joy. The representation is done beautifully with a range of diverse characters. There are so many lovable characters I can't pick a favourite. Vince and Gene's friendship was at the top though. I thought the ADHD and anxiety representation was also done extremely well. Seeing how anxiety affects Luis was heartbreaking. I loved that both Gene and Luis felt very human. They both had their flaws but we get to see them grow. This book will make you feel all the emotions.

The Prospects
KT HOFFMAN
SPHERE (Imprint of Random House)
May 2024

Gene Ionescu plays baseball for the Beaverton Beavers—the Triple-A minor league team with the hope of hitting major league for the Portland Lumberjacks.
He lives with Vince, captain og the Beaverton’s and his best friend, who’s married to Jack. Jack has hearing difficulties and signs, which is incorporated into much of the story. Vince himself faces ageism from a sport dominated by cis straight men. Which is why Vince is only out to a few people.
It’s Gene’s birthday, and he’s surrounded by his team, when the celebration is interrupted by a news alert.
Luis Estrada – more on him soon - has been traded to their team, and brings with him an adorable husky, Dodger.
Unfortunately he’s a shortstop, and so is Gene.
He’s also Gene’s frenemy; they shared a field in college, and this year they will face each other twenty four times on the baseball pitch.
Their history at college is complicated, and it’s clear as the novel progresses, what those issues were.
This is an enemies to lovers trope at play here, we a couple of significant differences. Gene is no longer ‘Nes’.
He is the “first trans man to get his name sewn out in patches across the back of a professional baseball jersey.” The first trans man to play baseball for a living and is out and proud as a gay man, too.
He is small but mighty; fierce and determined.
As he says, Gene “has picked and chosen the parts of manhood he enjoys and skipped over the rest, like a boy buffet.”
As the author tells us, this is full of ‘trans hope and gay kissing,’ and I’m a hundred percent here for this.
The banter, the flirting, the fighting, the sizzling chemistry, the tender moments – I loved it all.
The ‘Kyles’ and Baker the coach, were also terrific additions to the narrative. This isn’t the kind of queer romance with only two LGBTQIA+ people in the book. After all, that wouldn’t be an accurate representation of the world we live in. And the issues Hoffman debates are also varied; bigotry, homophobia and transphobia – see the frequency of Gene’s tests due to testosterone injections – ageism towards Vince who continues to play putting his health at risk, Baker who keeps her own sexual identity private apart from with a few people, Gene’s ADHD and Luis’s severe anxiety and need for an emotional support dog.
Of course it’s not all social issues and stats. There’s fun with the Alphabet Roast game the team play on the bus, the spicy scenes, Gene’s exuberant family and the sweet, adorable moments.
The Commentators Dan and Nancy plus online and other news reports give sports updates without it becoming monotonous.
I adored the fact that there are discussion questions, say, for book groups, at the end of the book followed by ‘extras’ like in a limited edition Blu-ray; for instance the team’s walk on songs, and even Gene’s bagel recipe. I mean, a free recipe people!
From the acknowledgements, words from the author himself encapsulate the parts of this book that brought me joy;
“It’s about letting ourselves want those unimaginable dreams that we may never have seen someone like us achieve —the dreams we’ve been told we aren’t allowed to have at all.”
Overall, this was a big ball of joy and hope.
Hoffman is a sheer delight to read.

“He understands wanting to look queer. It had made his life harder, but it also made everything in him quiet in a way he never thought he’d achieve.”

This review is not spoiler free

I am going to preface this by informing you that I know absolutely nothing about Baseball – I have never played it before, I have never watched it before, it is not a game I have any particular interest in and therefore have zero knowledge of. Consequently, this means that I had not a single clue what was happening during the games, or what any of the sports jargon meant, but that is my experience with every single sports book and it doesn’t impact my enjoyment at all. For someone who is not at all a sports enjoyer, I love sports books so much, probably for the found family element within teams, but alas. Regardless, I absolutely adored this book, it was so sweet and sad in places, and so beautiful!

I loved the main character, Gene, so much, and it broke my heart the way that he wouldn’t allow himself to want anything, and how he’d only let people see the good in him, and not the bad too. I loved watching him throughout the book and letting that hope turn into want and allowing himself to want big things for himself instead of just being comfortable with what he had, and aspiring for more. I loved his dynamic with the team, and I loved that he always wore his trans flag cleats, and that even though he’d faced prejudice for it and it had been harder for him, he loved being out and proud and loudly a trans man in sport. I loved the way that he and Baker had an understanding of each other, and both looked out for each other, even the times when they were angry and expressing themselves wrong, they’d still been saying what they’d said with the other person in mind. I adored Gene’s dynamic with Vince; their friendship was my absolute favourite thing. And I truly truly adore Gene’s dynamic with Luis – the steady trickle from reluctant teammates again to friends to more, and how his growing feelings for Luis made it even harder for him to come to terms with the fact that in this sport, people come and go and leave. It was sad watching him struggle with that, knowing that Vince would be retiring soon and assuming Luis would be moving up soon, but I’m glad that he managed to come to terms with it and find it more bearable than he had, and that he still got to keep the people that meant the most close.

My favourite character was Luis, I loved him so much, he was very misunderstood and people, including Gene, often thought the worst of him because he was closed off, and didn’t often share parts of himself, and wasn’t comfortable in team social situations. I resonated a lot with how vicous his anxiety could be, and it was heartbreaking to learn that he’d been in that car accident because he’d been having a panic attack. I loved that he had Dodger, his emotional support dog, and seeing Dodger interact with Luis and how he comforted him when he was getting anxious. It was evident to me how much baseball was making Luis anxious, especially when he had a panic attack again about being moved up, and how he’d shared that it wasn’t the first time that it had happened, and I’m glad that he made the decision for himself to take a step away from baseball and go back to school instead. It was really sweet when he came out to his family too and how supportive and accepting they all were. I loved his dynamic with Gene too and the slow build up of their friendship again and their relationship, and how it turned out that Luis had liked Gene back then too, before he’d came out, and had kept tabs on him, bless his heart. I also loved that the last game they’d played of the season, they’d worn each other’s jerseys to make it evident without really saying anything that they were dating.

I absolutely adored Vince too!! I was quite annoyed with him tbh when he took his frustration and anger out on Gene about it being his last season and how he couldn’t perform due to his injury, but I was so glad when they made up again. Their friendship was so sweet and I loved it so much! I loved that Gene had been made to feel instantly welcome by Vince coming out to him and introducing him to his husband, and how Gene lived in the apartment attached to their house. I loved their weekly rituals and their entire dynamic! And I loved how Vince had teased Gene about Luis even before Luis was on their team, and how he just continued to do so as Gene got closer to Luis again and ended up with him. Vince’s relationship with his husband was so sweet too, and it filled me with joy to learn they were going to become parents once Vince retired.

All in all, I really really loved this book !!! And I’d love to read anything else the author writes, even more books about sports that I don’t understand, because this was really enjoyable and I adored absolutely everything about it!!

Cutest baseball romance I’ve read so far! My Queer heart is singing!! Love seeing LGBTQ representation in sporting romance books.

REVIEW
cw: mentions of trauma, death, queerphobia, transphobia, panic disorder, anxiety, racism,
Gene Ionescu is the first openly trans player in professional baseball. When he's reunited with his college teammate, Luis Estrada, the carefully constructed life he's created for himself is threatened. Luis has always been his rival on the field, but as they grow closer, Gene begins to allow himself to hope for something more.
This was such a beautifully nuanced story. I absolutely ADORED Gene from the first page. He had such a self-deprecating, but also hilariously dry sense of humour, and I loved how much positivity he exuded. But I also appreciated his more vulnerable moments, as well as the commentary on the binary idea of baseball vs softball. Conversely, I hated that Gene was treated like a novelty (as he said himself) before Coach Baker signed him. I hold my hands up and say I have little knowledge of baseball, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment. There is a lot of baseball terminology, and I didn't understand most of it. But I honestly didn't care, because for me, as a baseball-dumb Brit, the story was more about the wonderful characters and the themes of love and acceptance. I loved the team camaraderie, and Gene's friendship with each player was fun, but most of all, I loved Gene's friendship with Vince, and the found family feeling he was able to find with Vince and his husband Jack. They were hilarious but also supportive friends, even when Vince was struggling. Speaking of which, the focus on the wear and tear of pro athletes was well-written and sadly realistic. I loved Coach Baker and her no-nonsense attitude.
Luis was such a sweetheart. I adored his kind heart, and I loved it when Gene and Luis truly started to open up to each other, especially when Luis spoke about his anxiety and the expectations around being the son of a famous player. His anxiety was well-written and I loved how Gene helped him when he was particularly vulnerable. Their first kiss was so cute, and I absolutely ADORED their late-night conversations in chapters seven and eight. I loved the entire Futures Game trip to NYC, both because of how much closer it brought Luis and Gene, but also because of the shift in reporting that Gene experienced afterwards. The detour to Luis's home and the accompanying event was so beautifully written, and the intimacy between Gene and Luis felt authentic and natural. I loved how much humour they shared and their conversations felt organic. I definitely giggled and swooned in equal measure reading this book.
I'm not a fan of third-act breakups, but it at least made sense, and I was relieved that it wasn't drawn out and that both Luis and Gene were able to communicate soon afterwards. The ending felt earned, and I loved how optimistic I felt afterwards.
What a truly joyous and uplifting debut!

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️.5
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own*

Favourite Quotes:

Luis Estrada is a shortstop. And Gene is a shortstop.
And Gene doesn’t have a Gold Glove. Gene doesn’t have a former superstar dad. Hell, Gene doesn’t even have a sizemedium jersey.

“It’s a lot easier to let people in now that I’m not trying to keep myself in.

The craziest thing, the thing that hitches Gene’s breath, is not that Luis wants him, but that Gene wants to let himself be wanted.

Gene notices that something in Luis’s face has opened up. Partly, Gene is sure, it’s the simple act of being home. But the other part, the part that queer people maybe understand better than anyone else, is the act of a parent changing the shape of their home so it can fit you, and loving you as much as they always have. More, because they know you better now.

With Luis, he wants to be known, in his entirety. And it doesn’t feel so scary, letting him in— it feels like coming home, in every sense of the word.

Thank you for sending me a copy of The Prospects, this has been on my TBR for so long and it was such a lovely story. I couldn't put it down. Gene and Luis' story was beautiful. Although I didn't know much about baseball before this book, it definitely didn't take away from the story for me. I imagine if you love baseball and romance this would be the perfect book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

This follows Gene, the first opening transgender player in the minor leagues, and his teammate Luis. Gene and Luis used to be friends and end up both playing for Beaverton Beavers. I loved both characters and feel like the plot was well written in a way that made me so happy to have read it by the end. The side characters were great too and the relationship between Gene and Luis felt realistic.

"It’s hard, sometimes, to find the people you don’t have to rehearse for."

This is a book that will fill your heart to the brim with hope and joy. These characters are all so loveable you just want to hug them and see them get all the happiness they deserve.
I loved that it was not your typical over-the-top funny romance, that it was instead a quieter sort of humor but that I still highlighted dozens of passages that made me laugh.
The characters are flawed and struggling which makes them incredibly relatable, they are desperately cute without ever being cheesy because they’re still bantering and teasing in such a fun way. And the dog! The dog was everything!
Although I enjoy most sport romances, I have to admit that I don’t know anything about baseball and its rules, however, it didn’t prevent me from understanding the stakes of the game scenes.
I could not recommend this book enough.

If you want a new, unique and fresh take on a sports romance then you need to read this book!! I feel like we just got enough information about baseball to make it understandable for the plot without it drowning the romance story line out. I love the rivalries and the tension that the sports element brings to contemporary romance books. I thought the pacing was brilliant. It was an overall cute and rewarding read!

This was a really beautifully told story that showed what we all hope will become the norm in major and minor league sports. The optimism in this was really refreshing and stories like this are so so important (write more please!)
Please note my rating is mainly impacted by the fact I have no idea about anything to do with baseball (as a Brit) and I didn't find this easy to follow as a result. It is not a criticism to the writing or characters themselves.

This is a baseball heavy sports romance. If you like baseball, you will like this. I unfortunately, have never seen a baseball game and therefore a lot of the story was lost of me. The first 30% especially is incredibly heavy on the sports terminology and I almost gave up as a result. I'm glad I didn't but I do wish the sports content was a little more beginner friendly.

The characters were well fleshed out and I found myself rooting for Luis from the get go (what can I say, I love a broody quiet one (especially with a dog)).
I did find the enemies/rivals to lovers trope to be slightly confusing - it was only at around 80% that it was suggested the reason the pair fell out of contact, and even then it wasn't entirely clear why the two seemed to hate each other at the start - especially considering they used to be friends? (question mark because I am still unsure if they were friends or acquaintances).

Gene's ADHD was touched upon well and Luis' anxiety handled well (diagnosed with both it was lovely to see the representation). These diagnoses did not dominate their characters which I found extremely refreshing. Sometimes the person the character is can get lost behind their illness/neurodivergence/disability in books that have representation. I cannot speak on the trans-representation but I enjoyed reading Gene's story and experience and the story made it very clear this was just Gene's story - not all trans people's. I loved Luis' coming out story and related to it heavily(having a parent that knew before I did).

The writing was enjoyable and I liked that their was a plot in the terms of Gene's career. There was one instance where the two were mid conversation and it abruptly cut off. I believe it ended due to the suggestive nature but the formatting choice made this unclear and I re-read the paragraph a few times to make sure I hadn't missed something. I think an end of chapter would have made this clearer and it bugged me a bit. The third act-breakup kind-of made sense but considering there was not much fluff in this book I feel as though this could have been left out/shortened to a disagreement rather than a full on breakup. It was later referred to that Gene was letting Luis make a decision but this didn't fully come across and I felt as though Gene had broken up with Luis rather than give him time to make a decision.

I loved the optimistic ending and will stop my rambling-personal review to leave you with some of the tropes!

- LGBTQ Romance
- Sports (baseball)
- ADHD/Anxiety Representation
- Companion Dog!!
- Spicy scenes

Thankyou to netgalley, the author and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have not stopped thinking about this book and I honestly cannot get over how perfect and swoon-worthy it was! This book is not just an adorable and heart-warming sports romance with so much representation but it deals with heavier topics such as discrimination, mental health and transphobia. 

I adored Gene and Luis so god damn much. I have never rooted for characters more than I did for these two. Both are going through their own journeys and I just wanted to wrap them up in bubble wrap to protect them.

Gene is an amazing character who I instantly loved. His love for the game was just so realistic I found myself rooting for this team even though I've never watched a game of baseball in my life! His story was told with such care and passion that you can tell how important Gene is as a character to Hoffman!

Luis was a character I instantly connected with. His anxiety and the way he was struggling was realistic and relatable. I loved watching his development throughout this book and seeing him grow and open up. Not only did we get two amazing main characters but the side characters in this book were amazing and I could honestly read spin-offs for all of them!

Words will never do this book justice! It was sexy, hopeful and brought me to tears so just go pick this absolutely amazing romance where gay and trans people are celebrated and championed in sports!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm really glad to be seeing The Prospects getting so much love and it's not even been released yet! I've read a few books now with rep for trans identities but most have been on the younger side, so it's nice to see those stories being told for older audiences too! I even picked up this book in the special editions that's soon being released! 5 stars!

Never have I wanted a fictional sports team to win a championship as much as I did the Beaverton Beavers. That, I think, is the mark of a good sports romance: not only are you rooting for the main characters, you’re also rooting for the team as a whole.

The Prospects is a book I read way back in January and, two days out from release date, I still have no idea how to review this one. It’s easily one of the best sports romances I’ve read, and probably one of the best romances full stop. Which, of course, leads to the age-old question of how on earth can I put into words how good this was?

Firstly, what stuck out for me was the amount of love K. T. Hoffman has for the game of baseball. It infuses the entire book and it’s clear that Hoffman knows what he’s on about with the game. Frankly, after reading a book last year that butchered my favourite sport beyond recognition, it’s very refreshing to read a book where the author knows a sport deeply. Maybe that’s a me thing, but if I’m reading a sports romance, I want a good chunk of it to be about the sport as well as the romance.

Second of all is the cast this book has. Every single character has been crafted with such care and love that they feel like they could be a real team (hence why I’ve never needed a fictional sports team to win a championship as much as I did reading this book. In fact, if they hadn’t, I think I might have treated it the same way as when an actual team I support failed). I know this one probably doesn’t have tie-in books or sequels coming, but god if I don’t need it anyway! If only to see them all once again.

In terms of plot, I have to say it’s not really stuck with me beyond a few scenes (ear piercing as a love language!) and Gene’s fight to get into the majors, but that I think says more about my memory than the book. (If it means I can read it all over again as though it’s the first time, I call that a win!) But that doesn’t really matter in the end: it’s the emotions of it that stuck with me and have kept me rotating this book in my mind for three months straight. And this book is a great one for all of that.

All of which to say: put this on your radar, if it’s not on there. If it is, prioritise it! Make sure it’s the first thing you read on 9th April! You won’t regret it one bit.

4.25 ⭐️

M/M sports romances are my jam. Like, they are my kryptonite, I devour them. Usually tends to be hockey/football, and I am a fan of those sports so I understand all the references. I'm not familiar with baseball, so I didn’t know much in terms of the terminology and heavily game focused scenes, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story. On the whole I did enjoy this, and my enjoyment grew after the first 20 percent of the book. Also, there's a dog. Need I say more?

I really loved Luis - as a fellow anxiety/panic disorder sufferer I really felt a strong connection to this character. He was just so soft and sweet and thoughtful and ugh MY HEART. The way mental health was characterised particularly through him struck a chord with me. There were several times that I shed tears, which shows how deeply connected I felt to this character. Now, I will say, I started off not being too keen on Gene. This could be as a result of the narrative voice being 3rd person/present tense and therefore feeling a bit more detached than some other narrative styles. However, Gene really did grow on me and after the first 25 percent of the novel, as we got to know him better, I grew to love Gene just as much as Luis. In terms of the romance, I found the relationship to be absolutely beautiful, chef's kiss. I really enjoyed the way that it was crafted.

The main thing that hindered my full "5 star level" enjoyment of this was that it was written in 3rd person/present tense. Personally, I find romances to be much more engaging when they're in 1st person as I feel I can really get into the headspace of the characters. And generally I find present tense to be a bit jarring, it makes it harder for me to be fully immersed in the story. However this is not a fault of the book, and some people really prefer this style of narrative voice.

Overall this was a really enjoyable read, and I really did love a lot about it. I think it says a lot about hope and that in itself is beautiful. I think the author has written a wonderful story and I am really thankful that I have read it. Thank you so much to Little Brown Book UK and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

DNF. I was bored. I was SO BORED. There's a very specific market for this book (I feel like the TikTok people will love it) and it is largely an intersection of people who don't like their romance to be too quickly paced and people who like / understand / care about baseball. I am in neither of those categories. Getting to just 10% in felt like an enormous struggle and I just didn't care about any of the characters or, indeed, the baseball that dominates. I think this is attempting to pitch itself with the 'Ted Lasso Positivity sports romance' angle, but what makes that show so watchable, regardless of all the football involved, is the characters are interesting to be with and I just didn't get that from what I read. Not for me.

It has been said before, and will surely be said again but this book is SO SOFT. I adored Gene and Luis and their journey towards happiness and them coming to realise it may not take the form they initially expected. I loved the side characters and all of the relationship dynamics we get between them and the MCs. I thought the representation throughout was great, trans and POC MCs but also ADHD and anxiety and the impact these have on their lives.
It is baseball heavy but understanding (or lack of for me) didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book, and most things could be worked out through context.
The whole thing is beautifully written and I can’t wait to see what KT writes next.