I felt like this book was more or less average. I liked that the characters were different than the usual sports romance and that the issues they faced were more about internal struggles and less about external factors. I think the storyline of alcoholism was portrayed well. However, I never really got attached to any of the characters other than the dog.

Any description of this book I give will not do it justice. A famous pitcher and a relief pitcher fall in love. YOU SEE? IT DOESN'T DO IT JUSTICE.

I loved this. I loved everything about it. The writing is slow and evocative and beautiful in present tense third person (which always has ethereal undertones to me). There's so many lines from this that I loved, just for how beautifully the emotions were captured and expressed. I loved Charlie and Reid, and how their bonding over their divorce and Charlie helping Reid with his pitching and board games. That Charlie realizes he's queer and where so many books would make this a big plot line, Charlie barely blinks.

I also really appreciate the good portrayal of therapy in this book. That it's not portrayed as the end all solution for Reid, but that his therapist is just someone help Reid talk through things and point him in a helpful direction when he needs it. Reid's sobriety is depicted as something he is constantly working for, as opposed to something he can just check off a list.

Also a point of note: there are several women characters who are well drawn out and have good substance to them. It's something that frustrates me in MLM romances, and I just really appreciate that here there are a couple women characters that have depth and are well written here. Charlie and Chris are friendly despite getting a divorce. We don't see too much of Stephanie, but she has the feel of a character who is well drawn out.

Really, this is a fantastic follow-up to Unwritten Rules and I can't wait for the next book. (I have a speculation on who it's going to be about, but I guess we will see.)

CWs: alcoholism and addiction, anxiety, brief references to sexual assault, references to biphobia and homophobia, racism, sexism, antisemitism. Thanks KD Casey for putting a great CW list in the front of your book. Can we normalize this please?

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fire Season is a slow burn but high heat friends to lovers MM romance about two swoony baseball pitchers that left me wanting more!

Reid Giordano finally gets the call to go up to the majors to be a relief pitcher for the Oakland Elephants after years of bouncing around the minors, dealing with a shoulder injury and getting sober. He’s determined to make a name for himself and to stay where he is - in a place where he can succeed, grow and build a life for himself that means something. Reid has a huge personality, constantly making jokes, ribbing his teammates and filling the silence with excitement. But he also struggles with maintaining his sobriety, with his anxiety and his sense of self-worth. In his darkest, lowest time he turned to his grandmother and his Jewish faith to help him carry on and that’s something he holds on to keep himself on track, especially when things around him feel out of his control.

Charlie Braxton is the star pitcher for the Oakland Elephants - the face of the franchise, a multi-millionaire and someone who is more lonely than he’s ever been before. He’s quietly going through a divorce, living in a new house by himself and working through it all in his typical silent way. Charlie is earnest and quiet, observing the world around him and considering what to do next to ensure those around him are taken care of. I feel like his anxiety was a commonly accepted part of his character, which was great, but it wasn’t really something that he opened up to anyone about and I would have loved to see that. He feels a connection to Reid in a way that he never has before with a man but his openness to starting a relationship was adorable and made me love him more.

As pitchers, Reid and Charlie form a quick bond, both in need of a friend and connecting on a really intimate level. They’re coworkers and friends first, then roommates with lots of mutual pining, and then something more, something special. Their relationship is a slow burn, but once it gets going, it’s steamy and really sweet. It captures the uncertain nature of Reid’s contract and the amount of time they have together, making things feel urgent, heavy and emotional. They may play the same position on the field, but they couldn’t be more opposite yet are so supportive of each other. I wish we could have seen more in their future about them together, happy and continuing to navigate life as a couple.

Like in Unwritten Rules, Fire Season handles some heavy topics (alcoholism, addiction, substance abuse, anxiety) with grace, weaving them into the story and bringing light to so many issues in the professional sports world today. One thing I had to keep reminding myself of was that Fire Season takes place before any of the events of Unwritten Rules, which threw me off a bit but made Reid and Charlie’s interactions in that story even more sweet. I had to feel a little sad about that though that Zach was so scared about loving Eugenio when Reid and Charlie would have understood better than anyone else.

I already can’t wait for whatever comes next from KD Casey - these baseball stories are complex, emotional, special and have my whole heart.

K.D. Casey is a new author to me, but I am adding them to my short-list of writers that do M/M sports romance really well. Casey obviously knows baseball -

"Baseball is a card game interrupted by occasional hitting."

"Hitters come to take their at-bats, either getting on base or retiring to their dugout. Outfielders wave their fingers to remind themselves of how many outs there are in the inning. It's calming, the way familiar things are."

Everyone in baseball knows low-key quiet pitcher Charlie Braxton and that curveball:

"Man, I guess those rumors are true."
"Rumors?" Braxton asks.
"That you got the best curveball in the whole damn league and nothing to say about it."
A shrug from Braxton. "What's there to say?"

And Michael Reid Giordano? He's got issues - issues with drinking, issues with losing his curveball, issues with holding onto his relief pitcher spot by the skin of his teeth. And when Reid and Charlie meet, and Charlie offers Reid a room in his empty house as Charlie and his wife Christine finalize their divorce, it leads to something neither man expected.

Charlie is a nice guy - he signs autographs for the process server giving him his divorce papers and does a quick video for her grandson - ridden with anxiety, too shy to speak at length in public, worried that the public will blame Christine for their divorce. I love how Charlie figures out his bisexuality:

?Whatever switch within Charlie was previously set to "Hey, am I...?" flips to a sudden pulse emanating from his spine, wrapping around his abdomen and throat and cock. A surety pointed to Reid like a compass needle next to a magnet. With it, a single interjection, a crystal-clear 'fuck' that describes both his situation and what he wants to do right now.?

Casey does a stellar job with the complexity of Reid's character and the mechanisms he and his therapist have created to get him through every day without taking a drink, as well as his Jewish heritage: "When I first got sober, I kinda liked that there are so many holidays and rules. There's always something to look forward to. I can't really explain it. It just feels right. Like it'd been waiting for me to come back to it in my own time."

In much the same way, the relationship that develops between Reid and Charlie just feels right, and Casey gives them and we readers time to settle in a relationship that is equal parts very sexy, supportive and solid. Together they overcome problems without having it feel like some sort of cliched afterschool special. I look forward to reading more by KD Casey! 5 stars.

Heat Factor: They are very enthusiastic. And enjoy marking.
Character Chemistry: It’s really sweet
Plot: Charlie’s work life is very stable, but he’s getting a divorce, so he’s trying to figure his life out again. Reid’s constantly unsure of where he’ll be playing, and he’s a recovering alcoholic, so he’s taking everything one day at a time
Overall: Ugh, Charlie, squeeze my heart in your enormous hands, why dontcha?

I snapped up this book immediately when we got the email that it was available from Carina, but I also had to gird my loins a little bit because I was feeling some trepidation that I would be as emotionally wrung out and filled with angst as I had been with Unwritten Rules. It can feel really good, but also you have to be prepared to deal with those feelings, you know?

So, Casey is just really good at getting in that angsty headspace. Though thankfully (for me) the dual POV helped to tone down the angst (a little) in this book—it was a lot in Unwritten Rules with just Zach struggling bigtime. Fire Season is written in a close dual 3rd present, which is a lot to take, I will grant you (oof, 3rd present…). But it’s also really effective. I’m not actually in Charlie’s head, but I’m close enough, and he’s confused about what’s going on with his life, and I’m confused about what’s going on with his life, and we’re both just having a lot of feelings, okay?

The premise is that Charlie’s getting divorced and is living alone, so he invites the newly acquired relief pitcher, Reid, to live with him. Reid’s tenure with the team will only be as long as the team finds him useful; whereas Charlie’s the starting pitcher who’s been with the team forever with no end in sight. They’re drawn to each other, but…

There’s also a lot here: Charlie’s the poster child for privilege—he’s a millionaire cis white guy who got signed with a team and has never had to struggle for his spot. He’s got anxiety, yes, but he has no idea the level of struggle that Reid is dealing with constantly given his history of alcoholism (and its impact on his career), his uncertainty about continuing to play (not just with Oakland, but if anyone will want him at all), his solvency, and his constant pull to use alcohol as stress relief. Charlie is also completely clueless about Judaism, including how his seemingly secular cultural expectations are rooted in Christianity, but he does go about talking to Reid about Judaism with care. He talks to Reid about everything with care, which is his charm.

Tension comes from the negative space, and we get a lot of that here. There’s plenty of room for the reader to interpret what’s happening, or to watch Charlie and Reid interpret what’s happening, but we’re also being led to the correct conclusions. For example, in this scene Reid has just arrived and is making his presence known in the, er, pitching warmup area (look, I have actually seen baseball games, unlike all the other sports, but I still know nothing about sportsball):

"Charlie tosses another pitch. It drops reassuringly where it’s supposed to. A nice enough pitch that Giordano actually whistles.
"Charlie’s warmed up enough that he has a light sweat at his arms and hairline. If his cheeks go involuntarily pink, it’s from exertion."

(Hint: It’s not from exertion.)

I was extremely invested in Charlie and Reid, so concerned for them, and yet nothing terrible really happened. The mere knowledge that Charlie’s divorce might be made public or Reid might be traded or Reid might have a relapse or people might think Reid had a relapse or Charlie and/or Reid might get injured or they might be found out was enough to keep the tension high all the time. Add to that the way that Reid and Charlie just see and take care of each other and AHH! It’s just so lovely!

Okay, so I really enjoyed this book (obviously), but no book is for everybody, and I think the style of this book might not work for some readers (beyond just the 3rd present tense). I had an ARC that had (intentionally) crummy ARC formatting (the joys of advance copies!), so I assume that a lot of that will be corrected in the final release; however, Casey doesn’t always use dialogue tags or even dialogue at all, and she uses incomplete sentence thoughts to evoke feelings, which can make the text harder to follow. For example:

"He uses the bathroom. He’s drying his hands on a purple-streaked guest towel when his phone buzzes.
"It’s possible Reid changed his mind. With it a swoop of disappointment.
"Reid: Tonight after the game stil [sic] good? Like he’s excited or nervous or both.
"Charlie smiles at his phone. Yeah stil [sic] good.
"He collects Avis from the floor, tells Christine he’ll drop keys off in the next couple of days, or she can let him know when she’s in the city. And he drives back, drumming his hands on the steering wheel, a radio station playing music he doesn’t recognize, windows open so that Avis can appreciate the breeze."

Romance prose is often more straight-forward, even if it’s poetical. I’m personally more accustomed to seeing this style of prose in lit fic. Writing is writing, but some writing makes your brain work harder, so know what works for you! But the negative spaces, the evocative thoughts and feelings…they’re really well done here. And I’m so glad we got both Charlie’s and Reid’s POVs because they’re both such sweethearts.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

Exceptional! KD Casey is a brilliant writer and with a knockout second book, they’ve become an autobuy author for me. I was charmed by Reid and Charlie immediately and wholeheartedly rooted for their happiness at every turn. This romance blends baseball high stakes and real life challenges (sobriety, divorce, etc.) with a powerfully gentle romance. I can’t wait to read what KD Casey writes next.

One of my more recent bookish obsessions has been sports romances, so when I saw Fire Season was available to request on NetGalley, I immediately hit that button. I may not actually like baseball all that much in real life, but I certainly don’t mind reading about it, at least not in this context!

Fire Season was such a great addition to the sports romance genre. There were a lot of light-hearted and fun moments interspersed throughout, but it also covered some heavier and more serious topics. I think the book did a great job of balancing the two—never keeping it too light when there were some significant issues happening, but never staying down and dark the entire time.

The two main characters, Reid and Charlie were an interesting contrast to each other. Charlie was a hot-shot pitcher, but outwardly was shy, awkward, and incredibly anxious. Reid on the other hand, was considered a has-been pitcher struggling to keep his place in baseball, while still portraying confidence and enthusiasm for himself, despite his many doubts and insecurities surrounding his career and personal life.

Charlie and Reid complimented each other so well. Even though Charlie had a hard time opening himself up to others, Reid helped him feel more comfortable by taking control of the conversation and continuing to pursue a friendship with Charlie despite his anxiety. Charlie also kept Reid centered, and even though no one person could help with his recovery from alcoholism, the stability of being in such a comfortable and honest relationship certainly helped Reid.

These two were so endearing together! Their chemistry was apparent from the very first moment they met, and it only built on itself as they got to know each other better. I just loved how they accepted each other and their flaws so unconditionally. And I can’t mention enough how much I adored the dynamic between the two of them, Avis (I won’t say who Avis is cause spoilers!), and Charlie’s neighbors. It was so sweet and domestic. I loved it!

Even though Fire Season is definitely a romance, it’s also a book about healing and learning to accept yourself, scars and all. At the start of the book, Reid is struggling with his journey of recovery from alcoholism. It’s not a smooth ride, and there are definitely setbacks, but I loved how messy and raw it was. The discussion of mental health in sports is so important and one not talked about nearly enough. Reading about Reid’s struggle with it was so nice to see. The book didn’t shy away from the rougher parts of his addiction, but it also normalized having a therapist and learning to heal and move on from past mistakes, which is also just as vital!

Additionally, Charlie struggled with severe anxiety. This wasn’t as large a part of the plot as Reid’s addiction was, but I love that it was included at all. I wish it had been discussed a little more towards the end of the book, as it was in the beginning, but even so, I’m so glad we got to read about anxiety representation in sports, too.

If I had to be nitpicky, I’d say the book dragged a little towards the end, when I feel it could’ve been wrapped up a bit quicker, but I wasn’t too bothered by it, especially because I enjoyed the rest of it so much. And I really did love Reid and Charlie’s relationship! It was developed so authentically, and even through the more difficult parts of their relationship, they always supported each other.

Fire Season was such a great story, and I’m so glad I was able to read it! I wasn’t aware that this was a second book in a series, though, so I’ll definitely go back and read Glasser’s story! For those of you wondering, this one does stand alone super well. I didn’t even realize it was a sequel until I read the acknowledgments!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading sports romances as much as I do, but also want something a little heavier than your average light romance.

I'll be honest, my favorite parts of this was that Reid was both queer and Jewish, it's really rare I see those two identities together and as a queer Jew that really resonated with me. I overall really enjoyed this book but I am not really into sports so I was basically lost the entire time until something to do with romance or Reid's past and identity were brought up. If you're going into this book and don't know a lot about baseball, you might be very lost at times. I also think Reid was easily more complex than Charlie, I didn't feel very connected to Charlie at all and felt he could afford a lot more character depth than Reid was given. I wouldn't necessarily call it slow burn, but it wasn't fast either. There was a lot of spice in the second half of the book and the first half had a lot of mutual pining. Once they admitted their feelings, the relationship had already started, there wasn't really much slowness between those two points.
But that being said I still enjoyed this book for the queer romance and jewish rep. But the sports took me out a lot and I ended up taking a very long time to finish this book. Overall I can see a lot of people really enjoying this book even if it wasn't my favorite.

A book about respect, trauma, addiction, second chance and getting to know oneself and what it means to be in love !!!
An LGBTQIA contemporary sports romance where, in a time of crisis when it comes to work and worth, two men find themselves drawn to each other in the most tender (and spicy) way!!
I really liked this book!!
It was refreshing and honestly so good to read.
Charlie and Reid are great both as characters and as people and I’m very glad I had the chance to meet them!!
The doubts and the questions about both their sexualities and their feelings weren’t faced with terror or judgment … simply uncertainty.
And the matter of Charlie’s wife … well let’s say I wasn’t expecting how it turned out !!!
People should read this book if not for the romance (though it was GREAT) even just to learn something about love and tenderness !!!

[5 ⭐️ read review!]

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

Ahhh this book.

If you haven’t read a KD Casey book you must! Please 🥺.

KD Casey is rapidly becoming one of my fave writers & for me the author shares many of those characteristics I love so much about Kate Clayborn’s writing: they’re deceptively quiet-ish plot wise but they’re absolutely stunning stories with so many romantic, smaller moments that add up to huge incontrovertible proof that two people have found their person 🥺🥺🥺.

Oh yeah, & there’s baseball 😅.

In Fire Season Reid Giordano, a recovering alcoholic who’s trying to find his way back professionally to the pitching he was once capable of—is traded from the minors to the Oakland Elephants.

There he meets Charlie Braxton, a star pitcher who’s known for not saying a lot & who’s keeping his impending divorce a secret.

They become friends & eventually more in the midst of stresses like Reid possibly being temporary in Oakland, Charlie’s experiences with anxiety, & Reid’s continual work toward maintaining his sobriety.

Despite the last paragraph the overall tone of Fire Season is of hope & growth & making deliberate choices to try to be better & stronger.

I absolutely love this book & I think its romantic moments—like them dancing together in a kitchen—will live with me rent free.

Please check this author out! & then come chat with me 😆.

5 ⭐️. Release date: 07/19.

CWs: Reid often has an impulse or thought to drink & goes through specific strategies to resist. References to Reid lying about his drinking during his previous relationship, how it affected his game, and how he “woke up in a stranger’s bed one morning with no memory of how he got there.”

[ID: an ebook rests on an open black hardback on top of a white quilt. A pink gladiolus is above the ebook.]

3.5 Stars - thanks NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was hesitant going into this read, as I reviewed book 1 of this series last summer and... didn't love it. That mostly had to with the 10-year time jump shenanigans that happened over the first act. This book, while still suffering from, to me, the same issues with writing (narration in 3rd person personal, run-on and incomplete sentence structure (almost stream of consciousness ((in 3rd person!)), and it was loooong.

However, this second entry into the series was much more enjoyable. It definitely had some tougher topics to cover, but it did so respectfully and well. The characters were what drove the plot here, and while I usually enjoy it, the slow burn relationship building was almost too slow at times to hold my interest. Once I put the book down for a day, I was ready to pick it back up and carry on with the story.

I wish I had enjoyed book 1 more, as they characters from that book are present in this installment, but I barely remember much about them unfortunately, and that took me out of the story a bit.

Overall, I enjoyed this much more than book 1 and if the series continues, I hope the improvements between 1 and 2 continue.

While I enjoyed the first book a bit more, this is still a good story to read. Following Charlie and Reid as they navigated through their struggles then watching them come out the other side to their HEA made for an interview story will pull you in from the start.

What I love about Casey’s baseball romances are they ways in which she tackles addiction, disability, mental health, religion, masculinity, and queerness in a sports context, where this is little to no room for the conversation, and where the stakes for most players are so high given how short careers can be, they are afraid to show anything that could be perceived as weakness. I also love the way that she captures the slow pace of baseball in the way she writes, the way that you can feel the hours spent standing around in the heat. This book is a wonderful romance between two people who have found each other at a turning point in their lives. It’s got some spice, yes, but I’m staying with Casey’s books for the slow ache of it all, for the messy imperfect people who find love.

This was my first book by this author and I was not disappointed. I’m a sucker for baseball stories and this was no exception. I absolutely loved this book. The slow burn, the spice, the couple - all perfection.

There were multiple TW so check before reading - however, all the TW topics were handled very well. This is book 2 in the series but can be read as a standalone.

I was given an Advanced Reader Copy by NetGalley for an honest review.

There’s a lot to enjoy about this book. It’s slow burn. It’s got a dog. It’s well done. The anxiety rep is on point, along with being in recovery, Charlie and Reid are human, neither are perfect. It was great to see them come to terms with what they had to deal with in order to move forward together. There wasn’t any point in the book I found to be lacking or boring. This is a solid sports romance.

I would enjoy more books in this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Carina Press for the digital review copy.

An emotional sports romance with Charlie Braxton the successful baseball pitcher befriending struggling relief pitcher Reid Giordano. Both Charlie and Reid have baggage so to speak. Failed marriages, anxiety issues and alcohol struggles. Together though, they seem to be able to conquer their fears somewhat, forming an unusual friendship whereby they face their dilemmas in life and relationships together. Reid especially is dealing with the unknown when it comes to his career, being a relief pitcher he has the worry of being traded - again. Charlie is hiding his impending divorce from everyone, whilst also coming to the realisation that he might be attracted to men. Very much a sports romance, featuring a lot of baseball terminology, which to be honest went over my head a little (we don’t have baseball in the U.K.), nevertheless I got the gist of it. Highly emotional with some extremely intimate moments with them both bearing their souls. I loved them. Written in dual POV, we get to see all their faults and insecurities, which made them seem more real and all the more loveable. A highly entertaining, sweet read. I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

3.5 rounded to 4 Starting off this review with the caveat that I am a huge baseball fan - the baseball parts of this book were great. It’s always so good/eye opening to be on the players’ sides of things like a relief pitcher on the margins or being a star pitcher but *not* wanting to talk about it. Reid and Charlie had a nice slow build relationship and did a good job of communicating problems with one another - there was a lot of maturity in this book, and I really appreciated that.
Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

I didn't know that Jewish sports romances was a niche I needed but K.D. Casey is really making me a superfan with with every single book they write.

I'm going to be honest and say that even though I don't know baseball at all, the tone and Jewish-ness of this story really resonated with me. As an east coast Jewish girl with the typical sports-obsessed family (my cousin just had a Yankees-themed birthday party for his two year old in Queens), I really relate to this author's Jewish characters. They feel like home, so even though the sports aspect is a *shrugs shoulders* situation, I get this story.

I was a bit worried that this book would feel too much like Unwritten Rules, but it really felt like it's own story. I was immensely relieved at that.

I enjoyed the slow burn, friends-to-lovers story because we get to see these two go from strangers to friends to more over time. Everything felt well paced and organic, though for fans of a more fast-paced story, this author's writing might not be for you. It is the kind of story that feels like it takes its time.

I also really liked the Jewish elements of this story. The way that Reid practices Judaism is a bit different than the characters in this author's previous books, and I really enjoyed that. It is extremely apparent that this author is also Jewish from the way that they write Jewish nuances, and so I'm happy to see a range of Jewish expression shown in their stories. I would really like to see a super observant Jew also as a MC in the future (hint, hint) because that's rarely shown in queer romance, for many obvious and not so obvious reasons.

The addition of substance abuse and anxiety representation was also very welcome. I think the author showed those two characters and their struggles with care and nuance.

I think the ending of the story could have been more satisfying as to their long-term relationship, but I think we got a very lovely slow-burn romance here with lots of sports elements. Another wonderful book by K.D. Casey.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

I’m a sucker for a good sports romance, and I really loved this emotional, angsty, expertly paced, and fluidly written baseball romance, KD Casey’s second full-length book, which takes place in the same world as (but is only loosely connected to) her excellent debut novel Unwritten Rules. Like in Unwritten Rules, Casey is weaving some heavy issues and off-field struggles into a lovely slow-burn romance between two teammates on the Oakland Elephants baseball team. But while Unwritten Rules was a coming out story – dealing primarily with the POV MC’s dogged, some might say paranoid, determination to stay in the closet before finally navigating his way out of it – Fire Season focuses most intensely on relief pitcher Reid Giordano’s addiction recovery journey – as well as the ever-present, “just business”, cold-hearted uncertainty of being a journeyman player in a game and a league that pampers and protects its franchise stars but treats the rest of them like interchangeable warm bodies.

The set-up is simple. Reid Giordano is a 34-year-old relief pitcher who’s been pinging back and forth between the major and minor leagues. He’s also a recovering alcoholic who now avoids any substance use – which in a baseball context, means staying away not just from boozy outings with his teammates and mini-bars in endless hotel rooms, but from the pain pills, sleeping pills, and anxiety meds that team docs pass out like candy. He is dogged by his reputation as a hard partier and by a notorious incident in which he seemed to be pitching drunk; he took a season off while in recovery and has been struggling to regain his form, his self-respect, and his place in the game, all the while being estranged from most of his family.

The book opens with Reid being traded to the major league Oakland team, where he’s paired (for baseball reasons I don’t pretend to understand) with star pitcher, face-of-the-franchise, and soon-to-be-divorced Charlie Braxton. Reid – loud, brash, and jokey – and Charlie – quiet, somewhat emotionally repressed, and shy – instantly connect on both a baseball and a personal level, and Charlie offers for Reid to crash at his new, sad post-divorce pad while Reid waits to see if his call-up to Oakland will last beyond a game or two.

And from then on, it’s a story of the evolution and deepening of this connection, with a lot of interior angst as Reid navigates not just his addiction but his fear of committing to something he doesn’t believe can last, while Charlie comes to terms with the breakdown of his marriage and with being bi. Meanwhile, the specificities of the game and its calendar drive the story forward and provide most of the external drama. While Charlie has his huge contract and no-unwanted-trade clause and piles of cash, Reid’s situation is highly tenuous and liable to change from one day to the next. Will Reid be demoted back to the minors? Will he be traded before the trade deadline? Where will he end up after the season?

Unlike Unwritten Rules, this is dual POV – but it’s really Reid’s story. Although I can’t speak to the use disorder and recovery rep from personal experience, I thought the addiction recovery journey was extremely well done. Casey shows how Reid’s not drinking is a choice he makes from day to day, sometimes hour to hour, sometimes minute to minute, in a career and a lifestyle where he is surrounded by triggers all the time. But while it’s definitely hard, it’s not all joyless struggle: Reid is actively making choices that allow him, not just to function, but to be a person he respects and likes, which enables the connection he develops with Charlie. And I love that he has an excellent relationship with his therapist, and he asks for help – from her, from Charlie, from other teammates – all the damn time, not necessarily because he wants to but because he knows and accepts that he has to. A lot of romances reference mental health and therapy, which is great, but here we really see Reid doing the ongoing work and making decisions every step of the way, even when there are a lot of things that are completely out of his control. (In fact, that is one of his assignments from his therapist: listing out the things that he can’t control and the things he can, and reflecting on whether and why one list is harder than the other). But it’s not preachy or pedagogical, and it is interspersed with these small moments – the semi-colon tattoo; the pictures on his phone – that are really affecting and that make him a really rich, human character. Reid’s Judaism and how he relates to it and what it gives him adds another dimension: it’s not the main thing about him but it’s an important thing about him, and the way that Reid explains his religion to Charlie and how Charlie (curiously, respectfully) wants to learn more about it is an important way they connect outside of baseball.

For his part, Charlie is a guy going through some things, but he’s also pretty even-steven and maybe not quite as compelling as Reid. I’ve written elsewhere that I love me a good biawakening story where the biawakened is chill about the whole thing – I like it when this particular discovery is “YAY!!” rather than “oh noes!!!” – and that’s pretty much the case here. For Charlie, realizing he’s bi is bonus, which, YES CHARLIE, IT IS, LOVING THIS POSITIVE ATTITUDE!!

Charlie’s bigger issue is his ongoing divorce, which, while fairly amicable, is still painful and also tied in with PR and media and blahblahblah. Honestly, I really didn’t give a shit about his ex and her storyline: she wasn’t bad, just kind of extraneous, even though her shacking up with Charlie and Reid while evacuated from the marital home during wildfire season is what gives the book its title. Like, I think we’re supposed to assume that Christine being physically present while Charlie and Reid figure out their relationship is what pushes Charlie to own it, as it’s hard to hide when Christine’s around and he eventually confides to her (and gets her blessing) and comes out to his family as well. But again, meh. Especially because, of Charlie and Reid, Charlie is the one who’s all-in from the get-go; it’s Reid, with all the uncertainty surrounding his career and his future, that is holding back on allowing himself to get fully emotionally invested.

One thing that pleasantly surprised me, though, was that Christine was not at all interested in getting/keeping Charlie’s money and fame – something that the blurb, with its line about Charlie being used as an ATM, led me to expect. In fact, the main person using Charlie as an ATM is Charlie: his tendency is to avoid dealing with emotions or feelings or hard things by throwing money at it – Christine is unhappy? Buy her a car! – rather than actually dealing with it. So part of Charlie’s journey has to do with both Christine and Reid calling him out on this avoidance technique and pushing him to, you know, not.

This wraps in with another thing I really enjoyed, which is how Christine and Reid repeatedly call out to Charlie’s face that he is completely blind to his privilege – not just as a rich, well-educated white man from an intact family (which is boatloads of privilege on its own) but, baseball-specifically, as a player with as much job security and pampering as it’s possible to get in professional sports. Part of the reason why Charlie’s so all-in from the beginning is that it doesn’t cross his radar that huge disruptions like being traded or sent down are, in fact, not just possible but likely, and that this can’t just be hand-waved away. Reid, for his part, is extremely aware of and eager to avoid any insinuations that he is being kept on because he’s Charlie’s buddy; he is determined to prove that he earned rather than slept his way to his spot, something familiar to many FMCs in M/F romance, but less common in M/M. I thought this was really cleverly done, as Reid’s determination to put in the work to make it on his own helps the baseball resolution of the story seem more plausible.

Like Unwritten Rules, this is a sporty sport romance. I am at most a casual fan of baseball and not particularly knowledgeable about it and, yeah, there was some googling going on. You definitely don’t need a lot of baseball knowledge to enjoy this, but you need to like a lot of sport in your sports romance. I love when sports romances are about the nitty gritty and the routines and rituals and superstitions and the day-in, day-out grind of the season and its demands, so this worked great for me. But if you like your sport romances more “hot bods doing sporty things mostly off-page in between athletic shag bouts” (not that there's anything wrong with this!), then this may not be the book for you.

In sum, this just really worked for me – even better than Unwritten Rules, which I very much enjoyed. I like that, unlike with many sport romances (including UR) coming out was just another issue for them to navigate rather than the issue hanging over everything. The character work was great, the baseball stuff was excellent, and the resolution was super-satisfying even if somewhat understated (no big Pride-flags-in-the-stadium moment here). Even though this is tonally very different from Rachel Reid’s Game Changer series (not to mention, you know, baseball), I’d shelve this right up there with them – which is basically god-tier sports romance achievement as far as I'm concerned.

This review was published on Goodreads on 21 June 2022.

Fire season by KD Casey is a book that I will continue to think about way after I have finished it. It’s compelling and hard to put down. Reid gets sent to Oakland to be a relief pitcher. Their ace pitcher Charlie Braxton who’s going through a divorce and trying to keep it together, let’s Reid move into his house. These two men really need each other. Charlie is lonely and Reid is a mess.
I felt at one point that Reid’s addiction was taking over the whole book but isn’t that what addiction does, even in recovery. It consumes that person, their just trying to live day by day or in Reid’s case thirty minutes by thirty minutes. It was so detailed and written from the heart, I would believe that Reid was a real person. His alcoholism was portrayed so well by the author.
Charlie, well I love Charlie. He’s big,shy,all around the nicest guy, and he’s very supportive of every one he cares about.
The baseball parts were also detailed and very interesting. I love baseball through KD Casey’s eyes. In real life not so much. 😂
This was a great sports romance and I really enjoyed every word.
I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest review