This is a WONDERFUL new novel from KD Casey, with their signature lovely interiority, tender romance, and of course, plenty of baseball! Charlie is a newly divorced star pitcher who thinks he’s…probably?…straight. Reid is coming off a break from baseball after taking time off to deal with his substance use disorder. When Reid gets assigned to the Oakland Elephants, a relationship starts to smolder, though the flames are constantly in danger of being smothered by all of life’s other problems.

I love the care and gentleness with which Casey writes these relationships. There is no annoying miscommunication trope in this book! Charlie and Reid talk things through, they give each other the benefit of the doubt, they listen to each other. It’s really beautiful! And the sex, of course, is hot hot hot.

Personally, I love third act breakups, and this book doesn’t have a traditional one. So Unwritten Rules is probably always going to be first in my heart for how unbelievably angsty it is. But I loved how sweet and considerate Charlie and Reid were with each other.

Speaking of Unwritten Rules, I love how the two books interlace with each other! I now need to reread Unwritten Rules to see all of Charlie and Reid’s interactions. I also LOVED seeing Zach in this book. All of his moments reinforced how lost he is, how much he’s keeping himself from getting close to other teammates because he’s afraid of who he is. I love him so much and I’m so excited that Eugenio is coming for him!

Characters I am hoping to see more of in future books — Gordon (Gordon hive rise up!!) and McCormick. This book has the most Gordon thus far, but I would always love more, lol.

Anyway, I am a Casey fan for life and I highly recommend this book.

Fire Season is the second book to Unwritten Rules. The books can be read as standalones, although the second book actually occurs just prior to and then concurrently to the first book which gives an interesting perspective.

I downloaded this book and read it in one day - a testament to how much I enjoy these characters in KD Casey's books. Both have been M/M leads, and in both cases baseball players at different stages of their careers. They have vastly different experiences growing up, and in terms of the trajectories of their baseball careers. They are both divorced, and Charlie has a history of anxiety and Reid has a history of alcohol dependence. And then there's their different religious backgrounds, Reid is a trade to Charlie's team. They are both pitchers, Charlie is the starting pitcher and Reed is the seventh or eighth innings.

From the outset there is a vibe between them but Reid is reluctant to act on the feeling given he is a week to week proposition. When he starts playing well, he gains confidence and Charlie offers him a room at his place, which will help him get through each day made more difficult living in a hotel. The pair become inseparable, and well and truly catch all the feelings. It's the first same-sex experience for Charlie, and Reid is wary about Charlie knowing what he wants. There's a particular scene that will just make the coldest heart melt (it involves dancing).

I loved how the characters in this book were developed. The pacing was great and reflective of the checking in that seemed to fit both these characters. The issues of significance were really handled well in this book and it's so very real. A poignant story about two great characters, neither of whom understood what had been missing from their lives, until they met.

And now the wait begins for the next one ... read this when it comes out in July,

I was really (truly) thrilled to get the email from NetGalley, letting me know I’d been approved to snag an ARC of KD Casey’s queer baseball romance, Fire Season. Well friends, I’m here feeling ALL kinds of feelings and ready to tell y’all the (mostly) spoiler free things.

As always, a huge thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for this ARC. Thoughts below are my own.

Without a doubt Fire Season is a deeply, deeply wonderful romance full of longing, connection, joy and bravery.

It centres around Reid, a relief pitcher who is in recovery from alcoholism, being called up to the Oakland Elephants, and Charlie, a currently in progress divorcee, Cy Young award winner, anxiety experiencer, and general handsome giant of a man.

The MOMENT these two meet in the clubhouse on Reid’s first day I was SMITTEN. There is such an ease in which Reid and Charlie connect and experience each other. Yes, of course there is genuine attraction to each other, but at its core there is such deep and pure friendship. It’s so authentic, that some moments we get to experience as readers of Reid and Charlie, felt so personal and intimate.

Besides the high-pitched squealing sounds going off like a rocket in my heart, I LOVED that there was not just a centralized story of addiction and recovery, but of personal realizations, of acceptance and of growth. There are so many things I want to say about this book, and I fear that I don’t have enough words to do it all justice.

Avis will melt hearts. Slow dancing in hotel rooms will be set to a swoon factor of ten. Missing someone from the other side the bed? I mean, I am UNWELL. This book just drop-kicked my heart and refused to stop.

Casey does a brilliant job immersing her readers in the minds and hearts of her characters but also of the game of baseball. I was transported each time we found ourselves on the mound or in the clubhouse with Charlie and Reid. It made me love each moment I had with them AND dread coming to and end.

A truly heart first read, Fire Season is everything it sets out to be, and more. Grab your copy when it lands in store July 19th 2022, or anywhere you get your books.

Note: There are heavier themes that this deals with, and with any book, check the content warnings if anything might be a challenge for you to experience.

❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋💋

This was slow build, m/m , intense and enjoyable to read.
The characters are very good, chemistry is great.
I can’t find much fault with it at all.
As long as the writing style is to your liking you can’t go wrong with this one.

I enjoyed it, right up my street, the style, the pace, the tense passion and the whole plot. Great stuff.
I’ve read this author before and look forward to doing so again soon.

I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review

TW: main character is in recovery and alcoholism is a constant topic in this book, but he remains sober
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I love love loved the focus on Reid’s sobriety in this book. Knowing he was sober is what made me request this eARC, actually. The constant work that Reid put into his sobriety is admirable. I love how readily Charlie accepts and encourages Reid’s sobriety, and his interest and support in Judaism.
I loved that ending: “Let ‘em talk.” That really resonated with me. I’m someone who use to constantly worry about other peoples opinion on my sexuality (still do, unfortunately, though not as deeply). Something I need to remember is that I can’t change how other people think, all I can do is live authentically and let them talk. 🤷🏻‍♀️
This was a really good read for me. You don’t have to read book 1 to enjoy this one! If you’re interested in a low angst romance between teammates, a Jewish MC, sobriety, a bisexual awakening, and baseball, you should check this out.
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4 stars, FIRE SEASON by K.D. Casey is available July 19. Thank you to Carina Press and NetGalley for sending me an eARC to review!

The only reason I didn’t devour this in one sitting is because my body failed me and I woke up with my phone still clutched in my hand.

I loved this. They fell into their relationship so naturally and without any idea it was going to happen at all. No panic. No drama. No unsupportive front office staff or players. Honestly, this whole thing was just so refreshing.

I have not read the other book in this series but I’ll check it out.

Thank you to Netgalley, Carina Press, and KD Casey for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed Fire Season, although I knew I would, because I loved Unwritten Rules, the first book in the series, as well. This story with Charlie and Reid actually takes place before that one, which is a bit confusing. If I hadn't read that in the description, I maybe wouldn't have made the connection between the two stories beyond the fact that they are both MM sports romance. Charlie is so confident and comfortable in his own skin and Reid is still finding his footing after a spectacular public failure. It was nice to see the two of them learn to support each other. And, like the first book, the baseball is super-detailed in a way that really appealed to me. I would absolutely read more from this author.

Well, I was hoping for a sexy romantic book about baseball players that fall for each other. I was a bit bored with this story. The main takeaway for me was relief pitchers have a hard time believing that they can be on the team for the full year. Reid was stressed the whole time about it. Which wasn't really fun to read about. Charlie was a great character that was needed for Reid's anxiety. Epilogue was just okay.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was everything I love about the sports romance genre.
Fire Season was a high tension slow burn between a non-typical set of characters. Both Charlie and Reid are somewhat recently divorced. Charlie is the quiet star pitcher on the team sitting comfortably with a large, long contract, whereas Reid is a recovering alcoholic with a bad reputation that has spent almost all of is career in the minors, fighting for a spot on the team he knows it's unlikely he will be able to keep. Warning: Reid's recovery does feature heavily in the story.
Going against the grain, the two main characters being semi famous people who were both previously married to women entering a relationship together and what that would mean for public perception was not a major topic of discussion, which was extremely refreshing for the genre.

I saw that author Rachel Reid as recommended the Unwritten Rules and that was enough for me pick up Fire Season without any further research. Her recommendation was perfect and this is the most obvious if you enjoyed her Game Changer series, you will undoubtably like this Unwritten Rules series and vis versa.

Sometimes a book is a sweet, sexy, fun escape and sometimes it's therapeutic, and sometimes it offers advice you didn't know you needed. Fire Season by KD Casey flawlessly provides all three. Another five star read in what's shaping up to be an incredible series.

This book was a bit more intense than I thought it would be but I enjoyed it. I kind of wanted a moment where they actually tell their teammates but it makes sense that they didn't. I just don't think they explored their feelings as much as I wished once they actually got together.

I received an arc through netgalley.

4.5

Well, that was absolutely lovely.
I adored "Unwritten Rules" when I read it last year, but I clearly remember feeling a tad overwhelmed with the sheer amount of baseball and baseball lingo the book had: I'm Italian, and baseball is not part of our culture, like, at all. "Fire Season", on the other hand, has much less baseball lingo, so I managed to follow the story a bit better, even though I still have absolutely no idea how this sport is supposed to work.
Nonetheless, I still adored the story and I LOVED both MCs to bits.

Unlike "Unwritten Rules", K.D. Casey gifts us with both POVs of her protagonists: I loved getting to know them both so intimately. Charlie was the absolute best: he's naive and a bit oblivious, so sweet and lovable and definitely too good for this world. I adored him, and I found him also 100% relatable: give us more queer characters discovering and exploring their sexuality later in life, please and thank you.
I also adored Reid: he's much darker, louder and more chaotic than Charlie and he has so many hidden vulnerabilities and hurts that I wanted to jump into the story to hug him half to death. He was really something special and I appreciated how respectfully K.D. Casey portrayed his alcohol addiction (and also, Charlie's anxiety). Their relationship was lovely, sweet and honest and bursting with chemistry. I also LOVED the side characters (especially Avis).

After finishing this, I opened my copy of "Unwritten Rules" to find every instance where these two appear on page and LOL: "Fire Season" is set before the events of "Unwritten Rules" and reading Zach's thoughts about their """bromance""", how they're always touching and dancing together, but nobody bats an eye because it's 100% baseball behavior, was frankly hilarious and made me feel hopeful about their future. Because well, as with Zach and Eugenio's story, this book has a bit of a blurry HEA, tinged with bittersweet feelings and unaswered questions, although it's definitively a happy one.
So yes, minor issues aside, I really adored this book and I'm looking forward to reading K.D. Casey's next masterpieces!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had such fun reading this! KD Casey did a fantastic job of balancing the romance elements with the sports elements and inter/intra-personal conflicts. I loved the way the relationship (both romantic and otherwise) developed between our two main characters, as well as how their relationships with the secondary characters played out. While I can't personally speak to some of the rep (I'm not Jewish and I don't have a substance abuse disorder), I thought the anxiety rep was gracefully and realistically handled.

Truly, I just really enjoyed getting the chance to read another of Casey's novels, and I fully intend to pre-order a copy. (Fingers crossed there will also be a print copy -- not just an ebook! -- at some point!) I'm definitely gonna recommend this book.

I adored this book so much. It's a lovely, mature, adult romance, between a star pitcher with anxiety issues going through a divorce (Charlie) and a relief pitcher who is trying to revitalize the career that got sidelined by alcoholism (Reid), who become roommates and fall in love.

I adored every moment of it. Both of them are lovely and genuine and fragile and infuriating and real. Their relationship is so natural and you completely understand why they are right for each other and root for them to make things permeant despite all the complexities in their world.

The mental illness/addiction rep is really thoughtfully done and the discussions of therapy are honest and well done but don't distract from the plot. The side characters and fabulous and the complex friendships between all of them (especially the parts involving Charlie's ex, Christine) add so much.

The baseball is always excellent and informative and I mean, exciting. This book got me to care about a trade deadline. Like I was actually holding my breath about something I definitely never thought about before, and the pay-off was so good.

I thought the ending was realistic and lovely and deserved. And, I know this review sounds like this book is very heavy, and yes it deals with some difficult topics but it's also sweet and sentimental and funny at times and DEFINITELY sexy. And just so well-written, and mature. I adore it so much and totally recommend.

I didn't know how KD Casey could top the tenderness of Unwritten Rules but somehow they did. This book has everything: high heat, sweetness, some of the most tender moments between characters I've ever read. I especially loved the later in life queer discovery MC Charlie went on and Reid's vulnerability through recovery. KD Casey is an auto-buy/request author for me and I am already wild for the next book in this baseball romance series.