This was so good omg!! Once I got to about the 10% mark, I literally didn’t want to put this book down! I love Gene & Luis & Dodger & Vince & Baker & Ernie & all the Kyles! I love the Beaverton Beavers so so much!! 🥺 this book was truly just so joyous and made me so happy, even when it made me cry! I truly can’t say enough how wonderful this book is and I hope everyone picks it up when it releases on 4/9!!! 🥰

I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. It was pretty well written and I liked the characters on their own, but I genuinely didn’t get the chemistry between them. I also hate that we didn’t get Luis’s POV because I feel like we missed out on a lot of potential chemistry. I don’t think this is a relationship that would last because I just didn’t feel many sparks between them. I loved reading about Gene’s story and I feel like his character was so strong! 3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book! It was cute, happy, and absolutely lovely. I’m not normally a sports romance kind of person, but this one really hit it out of the park (pun very intended). I loved seeing Gene and Luis grow and work together both on and off the field. I think the length of the book was good, it kept my interest the entire time and nothing felt excessive or unnecessary.

While a fun and happy book, it still tackled some decidedly heavy topics: transphobia, homophobia, anxiety, panic attacks, imposter syndrome, and some others that I’m probably forgetting. But it felt like a good balance of sweet and serious.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw the summary of this book, I knew I needed to read it. I don’t keep up with sports much, but baseball has always been my favorite. This book was beautiful and filled with joy, while not shying away entirely from the messy realities of life. I loved the characters, especially Gene and Luis who seemed so different but fit so well together. There was lots of baseball but it didn’t feel too overwhelming to the story. Gene loves baseball, so it only makes sense that baseball was so important to the story. This story gave me hope and felt like a comforting hug. I absolutely loved it!

CW: anxiety, panic attacks, transphobia, homophobia

Such a fun and charming romance!

Sports romances are usually very hit or miss for me. I found myself enjoying the baseball concept a lot more than I expected to. The representation was also very well done as well. The length worked really well for this book, it didn't feel too short or too long. It held my interest for the vast majority. I enjoyed both Luis and Gene, and I only wish we could've gotten Luis's POV. Their relationship was super cute, and the representation was so good.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. The sports and the romance are fairly equally balanced throughout, and the plot is easy to follow. This book definitely has the right amount of charm and sappy moments that make it the perfect romance read. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun summer read!

I would also like to thank NetGalley and The Dial Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 4.5/5

3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the arc in exchange for an honest review (pub date 4/9/24).

I liked this book. It didn’t blow me away but it was charming, cute and funny in places. I think it could have been much shorter (cut out a few “roadies” and some of the will-they-won’t-they) and had just as much as an impact.

I enjoyed the many different relationships and aspects of queerness and mental health represented. There really is a character for everyone to relate to (and a cute puppy dawg).

CW/TW: anxiety, panic attack, abandonment, transphobia, homophobia, deadnaming, imposter syndrome, car accident, misogyny

THE PROSPECTS is a fun and engaging romp of baseball, romance, and queerness with a dash of anxiety and overcoming obstacles.

Gene Ionescu is the first openly trans player in professional baseball and has big dreams of making it to the major leagues. For now though, he's enjoying playing for the Beaverton Beavers, a minor league team where he's found something of a home and a family among his fellow players. However, his dreams face an obstacle with the announcement that Luis Estrada, former teammate, baseball rival, and longterm crush, has been traded to the team. Now, Gene and Luis must compete for their positions while Gene faces the possibility of losing everything he's worked so hard for.

THE PROSPECTS shows characters struggling with queerness and anxiety in a way that invites discussion and shows how these characters grow, both together and individually. The story deals with the struggles of the trans community, especially regarding sports, very well, and really shines a light on queer issues in professional sports.

I couldn't put this book down and devoured it within a few days. I loved cheering for Gene and Luis and seeing how their struggles and hard work paid off.

I cannot believe this was KT Hoffman's *debut* novel! "The Prospects" is incredible. The writing is so enjoyable and the characters are all so easy to love. The book flows so well throughout the baseball season and gives you a good feel for what all the players are going through. Gene is the first out transgender baseball player in the minor leagues. His dream is to make it to the big leagues, but while he works his hardest to reach his goals, he faces society's and his own beliefs about what someone like him can do. Luis has been in the big league, but an injury and crippling anxiety bring him down to the minors. When he gets traded to Beaverton, he and Gene have to work through their issues on the field while navigating their growing attraction off of it.
I absolutely adored this book and I would happily read another 300+ pages of Gene's time in the majors

The Prospects by KT Hoffman takes place during one season on the fictional minor league team, the Beaverton Beavers. Gene Ionescu is the first openly trans man to play in the league, and he's content to remain where he is, loves his team, his teammates, and doesn't dare dream of more. Then a blast from his past shakes things up as a former college teammate, Luis Estrada, is traded to play on his team. A lingering animosity from their history is exacerbated when Luis replaces Gene at his position at short stop. The friction between the two impacts their performance, leading them to start practicing together, getting reacquainted, and forging a new friendship. A sweet romance unfolds with some heat and low drama. And Gene starts to want things he's never believed possible. This is very much a baseball story--there's even a play-by-play from the color commentators occasionally. I'm not that into sportsball, but it's hard not to get excited about how the players fare game to game. Rooting for the romance intertwines with rooting for the team and for side characters who have their own journeys.

I highly recommend for joyful, positive queer romance, acceptance, found/real family love, and friendship goals.

I really adored The Prospects. Gene and Luis were so cute together and great as individual characters as well. I’m not a huge sports person but this book made me care about baseball! Absolutely 100% would recommend, it was delightful!

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (4.5 stars)

The Prospects by KT Hoffman gave me such a book hangover. This novel had me in a chokehold. It was so hard to put down while reading it, and almost impossible to stop thinking about after finishing it. (And I don’t even know anything about baseball?!)

What I loved most about this book was that while it didn’t shy away from touching on heavier topics like the discrimination faced by our leads, their journeys with mental health and gender/queer identity, and finding their place in spaces not inherently built to include them, this was balanced out with pure, heartfelt joy and acceptance. Hoffman has managed to craft an exquisitely written, hopeful novel that doesn’t feel cheap or gimmicky. These characters have earned their happy ending. You can’t not root for them.

And what a great cast of characters there was! Gene and Luis stole the show. Their individual character arcs were done expertly, and that romance? Perfection. It was great to see them grow individually as well as together throughout the novel. Plus, those sex scenes were intimate and real, and so hot.

The Prospects is a story of resilient optimism and queer/trans triumph. It is the perfect story for queer readers looking for some much-needed positivity and feel-goodness.

✨✨BOOK REVIEW✨

Who doesn’t love a good underdog story?! My second book as part of the Trans Rights Readathon 2024 was “The Prospects” by debut author KT Hoffman. I was lucky enough to receive an e-ARC from The Dial Press / Random House and NetGalley for my honest review.

The Prospects is the story of Gene Ionescu, the first openly trans male to play on the minor league baseball team the Beaverton Beavers. With hopes of moving up to the major leagues with the Portland Lumberjacks, everything is thrown for a loop when his former college teammate/frenemy Luis Estrada is traded to the Beavers just before the first game of the season. I was seriously rooting for Gene from the very beginning and it was so fun to see how the relationship between he and Luis evolved. The romance tropes you can expect are friend to lovers, forced proximity, second chance/missed opportunity. So much representation here with a trans MC, neurodivergent, deaf, gay and lesbian characters, same sex adoption…

I’m not big on beaver typically, but I’ll make an exception for the BEAVERTON Beavers any day of the week. As a gay male who crew up with a Dad and 2 brothers who were all obsessed with sports, I know enough about baseball to have been fully invested in the Beavers storyline. While I of course found myself rooting for Gene and Luis’s relationship, there were times where I was rooting for the Beaverton Beavers and the players’ success first and foremost. I loved how each chapter header was their updated season record, it kept me invested in their progress.

A quick and run read, I give this a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

Stepping up to the plate of Baseball romances, I never thought I would be down bad for them. With my minuscule background, being from St. Louis (Go Cards!), in the sport I wasn’t sure how I’d fare. KT Hoffman hits it out of the park with his book, The Prospects. At the start we meet Gene Ionescu, a trans player, making his way through the minor leagues, careful to only hope for the best, never letting himself want more than he can have. When a shake-up to the line-up sends him reeling, he now must confront his past as it stands in front of him. Luis Estrada, his old college friend, and teammate is now on the roster, someone who virtually disappeared from his life overnight, now sits in his locker room. As the season goes on, they will have to learn not only how to be a team again, but they will have to face the past to move forward…and maybe…just maybe…they’ll figure out so much more about themselves and each other in the process.
 
What Hoffman has crafted here is nothing short of a beautiful and joyful queer romance against the backdrop of baseball. Right off the bat, I loved how this story was low angst, yet kept me glued to the page wanting to see what play came next, just how Gene and Luis were going to navigate their next moves. It warmed my heart reading this uplifting trans story because I find you don’t often see queer joy like this so unabashedly on the page. Then the heart of the novel comes through in talking about the trials LGBTQ+ people face in not letting ourselves want too hard, want too much, afraid things could be ripped away in a heartbeat. Both Gene and Luis face this in their own ways, exploring how to let themselves push for more, want more. I ached for them as they fought their internal selves to realize that wanting something is not dangerous, even if the result could inflict pain. Then there is fear of the things you have leaving, I find that queer people especially feel burdened by this afraid that once they let themselves truly show, people will desert them. Gene learns a hard lesson that just because someone leaves, just because life changes sometimes, it is not always bad.
 
Hoffman imbues this story, laced with large lessons, with such joy, such hope and I loved every second of it. I cried for Gene and Luis as they played their hearts out, as they learned hard lessons, and for the queer joy I felt reading this book, in letting yourself have what you want. A heartwarming, astounding debut, this story, like a sports highlights reel, will replay over and over in my mind. Catch me in the stands at the next Portland game crying over them again and again.
 
Taylor Swift Songs I associate with this book: Untouchable, Fearless, Jump Then Fall, All You Had To Do Was Stay, I Wish You Would, Say Don’t Go, Treacherous, gold rush, The Archer, Sparks Fly
 
Scarf Rating: 🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣🧣(10/5)
 
Thank you Netgalley and The Dial Press for an the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Prospects, by KT Hoffman, is a cute- if predictable- queer sports romance.

I enjoyed the banter between Gene and Luis, and how they grew closer together. I'm not much of a sports person, so this will probably be better enjoyed by those that follow baseball, but overall it was an enjoyable read.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I’m loving that the small corner of trans romance is growing, and many of them have been so great, with The Prospects being no exception. I can’t recall that I’ve read any baseball romance, but I love that this is one of two queer baseball books coming out in the first half of 2024. And as unlikely as the concept is, by K.T. Hoffman’s own admission, given the current political climate particularly related to trans people and sports, this is a wonderful escape and symbol of hope.
Gene is the first openly trans minor-league player, and I appreciate how this is handled, exploring how he deals with transphobia, while also largely being affirming of him and his dreams.
And then, there’s Luis. He and Gene have a bit of a rivalry in their past, with the game having got between them when Luis first got drafted. Initially, there’s a bit of rivalry, as they’re competing for the same position on the team. But beneath this history and their personality clashes, they begin to bond in a beautiful way, and Luis is just as soft and sweet, if not more so.
This book was a soft, warm hug, and I’d recommend it to readers interested in a queer sports romance.

Warm fuzzy charming delightful. Gene and Luis are precious angels and I’m so happy to know them and the whole team.

*Actually a 4.75!!*

This book is about Gene and Luis and I love them. They are minor league baseball players who are trying to climb the ranks and are thrust back into each other's lives after having played together in college. There is initially a lot of tension between the two...which becomes a very different kind of tension. Totally adorable. I love how Gene's trans identity was portrayed. It wasn't the central story line and that made it that much more beautiful, you know? Like him being trans is important and intrinsic to him, but his life and story are so much more than that. It's just a part of him. And Luis is a little cutie patootie. AND their nicknames!!!

What keeps this from being a 5-star for me is that I didn't fully understand why Luis was being low-key mean to Gene at first? And we never really got clarity on why they quit speaking to each other after college? I would've liked a dash more context to their history. There were parts of the book where I wasn't itching to pick it back up, but by the time I got halfway through I was hooked. it back up Also, unrelated but I think the cover could look a little more professionally done, though it is cute.

Overall, absolutely loved this and would recommend!!

WOW did i love this. Gene is the first openly trans baseball player in the minor leagues with a big heart and bigger dose of optimism. When Luis, a teammate from college, joins the Beaverton Beavers, Gene's life gets infinitely more complicated.
Things I loved in this book: the trans joy without the necessity of trauma, the found family of the team, the inherent transness of Gene and the way in which he embraces that, the metaphor of baseball and the underdog, the care with which these characters treat each other, the softness of the men, the way that Luis' anxiety and panic disorder are dealt with. I could go on and on.
I didn't want to put this down once I'd picked it up. I want to hang out with Gene in real life. I was also so struck by Luis' comfort with Gene's transness, the way he didn't bat an eye about Gene's body when they finally get intimate - that if it required any processing from him he does it off the page. i also loved the 3rd act conflict - it felt so honest and rooted in the emotional heart of these characters and their journeys and though i knew an HEA was coming i stuttered for a second with Gene at the loss.
I can't wait to read everything KT Hoffman writes.
Also i loved the recipes and playlists at the back.

I ADORED this story! Everything about it was perfection. The characters, the story, the mental health awareness, and trans representation. I loved everything about it.

This book gave me so many warm, and fuzzy feelings. It made me laugh and made my heart hurt, I went through all the emotions during this book. I wish the world we lived in was ready for a real-life story like The Prospect, but I fear transgender athletes are still going to struggle with getting their deserved recognition in professional sports. But still, The Prospects paints such a beautiful picture of what could be though, and I hope, one day, we get to see a real-life Gene achieve their dreams.

The Prospects is a heart-warming story following two minor league baseball players as they struggle with mental health, expectations, and falling in love. I cannot wait for KT Hoffman's next book!

This story is both inspiring and thought provoking as much as it is a beautiful love story. Gene is trans, with a love for baseball and a dream that feels impossible. Luis used to be his teammate and has spoken to him since before he transitioned. They both have their own hopes, dreams and fears. But most of all they have love. I adored the way this book told a story that currently feels unachievable in the real world in a way that made me desire for it to be real. I really enjoyed it