I really enjoyed this book but my only complaint is how much terminology about baseball was used. I think there could have been an easier way to describe what was happening without making it as confusing for someone like me who doesn't know much about baseball. If you are a baseball fan this book is for you!

Thank you to net galley and random house publishing for this ARC!

this was great, a love letter to baseball and a fantasy in which baseball loves us back when it so often doesn’t. delightful i have already recommended it to all my friends.

I have so many thoughts about this book, but none of them are bad. I have absolutely no criticisms. It's one of my top favorites I've read this year. It was so entertaining while also managing to be emotional. I don't even think I could pick a favorite character because they were all sooo good.

Starting with our main characters, Gene is our protagonist. He's just amazing. We watch him through the whole book, just living his life and being fully himself. His friendship with Vince was a strong point, even when they're in a conflict. It really felt like a real little family. I loved following him in this book. His relationship with Luis was so sweet and adorable and I JUST LOVE THEM OKAY?

Luis makes me want to bawl my eyes out. There's something about characters who grow through a book and decide to fully be themselves and rely on those that they love. Luis, in particular, was my favorite in this book. He had some moments in this book that really struck a chord with me. He's lovely and sweet. He deserves the world, okay? I'm protective of these guys.


Normally, I get confused during romance books with a sports element. Often, I feel that things aren't explained well or there's just so many aspects to it that aren't explained at all. However, this book does a really good job of not making me feel like an idiot for not knowing anything about baseball.

The Prospects is a fun, lighthearted book that also manages to make you want to cry. If that's not great writing, then I don't know what is.

The Prospects by KT Hoffman was really everything I love about a sports romance with added layers of depth that really set it apart. Gene is a queer trans man making a name for himself in the minor leagues. I absolutely loved his character. Gene is so authentically and unapologetically himself while also being loyal, optimistic and earnest. When his former college teammate, Luis, gets traded to the Beavers their long simmering chemistry becomes undeniable.
Outside of the central romance there are so many little details that show how much thought and care KT Hoffman put into this story. My favorite was the character Jack, Gene's best friend's husband and also deaf. When Jack is communicating with sign language the author goes into a level of detail I rarely see. The author describes the hand movements, lip reading, and the emotion behind the signs.
Overall, a spakling debut and I can't wait for more from Hoffman.

title: The Prospects

author: KT Hoffman

publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback

publication date: April 9, 2024

pages: 384

peppers: 2 (on this scale)

warnings: some mentions of transphobia

summary: Gene is a baseball player who's mad that Luis has been traded to his team, but at the same time, Luis is hot and interesting. 

tropes: enemies-to-lovers

what I liked: I never found anything I liked about this book, which is a shame because I like the idea of reading a book about a trans professional baseball player.

what I didn’t like:

way more baseball information than I wanted.
too soap-boxy about trans information
no heat between the two characters
some head-hopping

overall rating:  (of 5 stars) --> I don't feel comfortable rating this book. I could not make myself finish it; however, somebody who likes baseball more than I do might find it compelling. In theory, I like this book. In fact, I DNF-ed it.

*3.75/5
this book was so refreshing, i absolutely loved reading about gene's story, his character, his love for baseball, also his feelings for luis and their love story. i loved the dynamics described between gene and his best friend vince, between gene and the coach and the team. i think the ending was perfect for this book. on the other hand, since i am not a baseball fan and i literally know nothing about the sport, i had a bit of a hard time getting into the book at beginning as the baseball talk and descriptions seemed very competent and detailed but often felt a bit repetitive and confusing to keep up with. it was also a bit confusing to keep up with the mentions of gene and luis's time and relationship in college.

arc provided by netgalley and random house publishing group in exchange for an honest review.

4+ stars. This was fun and really refreshing for getting around a lot of the things I normally struggle with in romance books. I felt like Gene had a life outside of his romantic relationship, and I appreciated the fact that his friendships were not orbiting around his relationship either. Especially especially the fact that so often in m/m romance you see female characters there to be hyper competent and supportive. Both Vince and Baker fuck up in ways that feel more human and less supportive side character. Having said that, there's a lovely supportive vibe that this book resonates with overall. I enjoyed Gene and Luis, separately and in their arc together. At no point did I have to just screw my brain off for a moment to buy anyone's actions or feelings.

The one caveat I have is that I think the balance of maintaining a throughline of a theme in a book without making the call backs to it overly repetitive is a delicate one. And, for me, this book erred a little too much on rehashing the theme and could've been edited down a bit more. Since I read an ARC, I plan to get this book when it comes out and see what the final draft actually looks like.
Oh final thing, I did like how the baseball is described. It didn't feel like set dressing, but rather a separate living character. Having said that! I am by no means a sports gay and so I make no promises to people who actually know what baseball is and didn't have to search what a shortstop does.

Trigger Warnings: panic attacks, past car crash, mentioned transphobia, explicit sex scenes

Gene Ionescu, of the Beaverton Beavers minor league baseball team, is the league's first openly trans player. His life is mostly perfect - his team is supportive, he lives with his best friend free of rent, and he gets paid to play the sport he loves. Until his former college teammate and minor league legend Luis Estrada gets traded to the Beavers. To make sure Luis gets called up to the major leagues, thereby leaving Gene alone, the two start training together. But as they start to gel together on the field, they get closer off the field as well.

First things first: I LOVE TRANS SEXUALITY! Gene is SO proud to be trans and SO proud to be gay and it was so empowering to read since I myself am trans nonbinary. Luis knew Gene before and after his transition but he makes it so clear that he sees Gene as a man. Their romance was so well-developed - though it was a bit insta-lust-y, I loved how the two actually shared their concerns and talked to each other instead of having sex all the time (like I see in some other adult sports romance books). Likewise, the third-act conflict between the two did not feel contrived at all, and instead stemmed from the flaws both characters expressed throughout the book. Instead of making me want to bash my head open like most third-act breakups do, the conflict demonstrated both characters' maturity and willingness to grow.

The plot itself was motivating as well, with Gene grappling with his sudden desire for more than just a minor league baseball career. I'll be honest, I'm not a baseball person, so most of the technical terms were completely lost on me, but I really loved the moments before and after games.

My only criticism would be the side characters. We only really learn about one side character, and that's Gene's best friend, Vince Altman. We don't get much information on the other teammates, though we spend time with several throughout the book. It's always difficult to establish a ton of characters in a book, so it wasn't a huge issue, but it got hard to differentiate between the different teammates after a certain point.

All in all, this was an excellent sports romance that I highly recommend!

Phew. Let me start with the fact that this book feels like home to me. It hits close to home as is; bringing back memories of garlic fries (the best baseball food, sorry gene), sitting in the nosebleeds and cheering for Ichiro (before he got traded), and cold breezy Seattle nights. If I were close enough to being a fan to any major team sport (ie. football, baseball, soccer, hockey, etc), it would definitely be baseball. Do I understand everything about it? No. Do I love all star games? Yes. So this book was a welcome venture into a part of my life I haven't gotten to enjoy in years.

The characters were loveable, but I will always have a soft spot for Luis. Give me a leading man with anxiety and I'm all in. Boasting a diverse cast of characters, however, there's more to love than just Luis. There's my favorite grumpy old man Vince, Dependable, silly Gene, Vince's husband Jack who has sign names for his favorite people. The Kyles, who may or may not be in a relationship together, Ernie, the big broad loveable lug, Dani, unhesitant to call her little brother out, Art and Franklin, dads of the year. With beautiful representation of all kinds all around, there's truly something to love in every facet of this book.

And as much as I enjoyed the main plot, I enjoyed the little moments a bit more, I think. Gene and Vince's joking, Luis' love for the muppets. Dodger!! The way I silently cheered THEY'RE VERSE!!! the soft but sexy spice, Luis and Gene's intangible attraction to each other (rivals my ass). It's safe to say this book has a place in my heart, as do Gene and Luis. I can't wait to get my hands on it and read it time and time again, because, as a trans guy who loves trans rep in any way I can get it, lord knows I will.

You guys- I can not stop swooning over this book. These boys captured my heart and had me kicking my legs for joy, and wiping tears from my eyes.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gene is the first openly trans man to play professional baseball. Luis is his former college teammate, turned rival.

At the start of the story Luis gets traded and the two of them become teammates again; forced to play nice for the good of the team.

What follows is legitimately one of the sweetest (with a hint of spice) romances I have ever read.

A few of my favourite things:
⚾️The little details of their relationship had me swooning. The small things they would notice about one another; the winks, the furniture- all of it was just so sweet and heartwarming.
⚾️ The mental health representation in this book was so well done. As someone with both ADHD and Anxiety I saw a lot of myself in these characters.
⚾️ The found family relationships. I always love found family, and this was no exception.

The Prospects will be released April 9th, 2024 and I can not recommend it enough!

Huge thanks to @squashgoblin for writing this beautiful story, and to @netgalley , @thedialpress for allowing me to read this eARC. Ill definitely be needing a physical copy for my trophy shelf!


#theProspects #netgalley #romance #representationmatters #geneandluis @randomhouse

I love baseball. I love romance. I love queer joy. So safe to say I loved this. I vividly remember bawling my eyes out at For the Love of the Game and that movie isn’t all that good.

Gene is the first trans man to play professional baseball, and he might have a big ‘ole crush on the shortstop, Luis. It’s a lot of learning about how it’s ok to want things.

And I cried. Loved it!!!

I mostly picked this book up because of the blurb from Casey McQuiston on the front and boy am I glad I did! This book was a joy to read from start to finish and I just want to give all the characters a big hug. I’m not a baseball fan so I did get a little lost in the weeds with some of that throughout the book, but this is really first and foremost a love story, a literal one between Gene and Luis but also one between the underdogs and their big dreams and how it’s okay if the big dream changes over time.

I loved both of our main leads and how they communicate throughout the story. It an enemies to lovers story between Gene and Luis, they have a past as teammates and friends but that was before Luis was called up the majors and drops out of school and doesn’t keep in touch after he goes. In the meantime Gene had come out as trans and it’s been ten years since they last worked together and they now find themselves on the same minor league team again. But the attraction and respect for one and other is there right off the bat (all the puns intended) and I loved how soft they were with each other, even when things get tough between them they are still respectful and work together.

This story was so sweet but also with a bit of spice and definitely something that anyone who is a fan of a sports romance should pick up!

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing and the author KT Hoffman for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this so much! The narration is compulsively readable--I couldn't put it down for the life of me! I absolutely fell in love with the main characters and was genuinely rooting for their relationships in ways most romance books don't make me feel. I will definitely be featuring this book on my page closer to release. Thank you for the ARC!

A sports romance with past teammates, to kinda rivals, to teammates, to lovers. Throughout the story you couldn’t help but root for this baseball team. It was an easy and fun read with a sweet and happy romance.

However, I was bored during most of the baseball scenes and there were quite a lot of them. There were parts of the story that seemed to drag on a bit too long. Also, the main character was basically the only character with a personality.

the book follows gene, a transgender man trying to get into the major league in baseball. it has a sweet romance between two players, great character arcs for all of the main cast, a cute dog, and funny dialogue!

gene was a wonderful main character - optimistic characters are hard to find, especially in queer stories, and he felt like a breath of fresh air. he was willing to defy the odds to succeed even when it felt that no one hoped that he would succeed. you couldn't help yourself but root for him.

the romance was tender and delightful. i really enjoyed how the characters had a past (and more specifically, a complicated one) but they didn’t get a chance to talk until they joined the same team. it led to tense moments and made their relationship a lot more interesting. they both had problems they had to overcome before being able to put themselves out there, and i love how the book encourages self-growth, while still stating that no one should go through things by themselves. the characters allowed themselves to be loved and seen, and seek help from others when they were at their lowest points. also, i absolutely love it when in sports books, the characters don’t like each other off the bat, but grow to respect each other purely due to talent in the sport. i like seeing them put in the extra effort and learn to trust each other by practicing together. it was so sweet to hear their early morning conversations as they decided to do some practices without the rest of the team.

i like how the team was made out of people who needed second chances - people who others gave up on, but baker knew just needed a push to become good again. their team was the unlikely underdog that could win only after all the players clicked together. baker, the coach/manager of the team, was another great character, and i like her relationship with the players - she is someone they can lean on, but she isn't afraid to speak her mind.

i really enjoyed how someone, despite being amazing at baseball, realizes it’s not a path he wants to continue in life and he doesn’t force himself to stick to it. learning that you enjoy new things in your late twenties and finding yourself again is very comforting. he shows that you don’t need to have it all figured out and that you are allowed to change, which i appreciated.

despite not knowing anything about baseball, i like the way the games were explained. a combination of a transcript of two commentators talking about the game from an unbiased view, and a gene's thoughts as he is at the field.

the extra details that the author added- gene’s bagel recipe and a playlist made of the players’ favorite songs - are super sweet. it's wonderful to see how much thought went into these characters.

overall, i highly recommend this sports-romance book! it has great descriptions of baseball, a second-chance romance, and it is just a positive book that would brighten up your day :)

i really liked this book! queer and trans romance, family mess without too much family in it, side characters i want to read many novels about, reconsidering dreams, mental health, and so much baseball! i had been hearing about this book for many many months before finally reading it, and i am so glad i finally got to. i'm going to be recommending this book for quite a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book. It was so much fun. I don't read to many sport romance books but this one was just amazing.

I'm not a baseball fan, but that didn't matter at all reading this book. It was such an absolute delight, and I had so much fun reading it. It also had a specific PNW flavour to it which definitely made me even enjoy it even more.

Thank you so much for this eARC! I!! LOVE!! BASEBALL!! ROMANCE!!! TRANS GAY BASEBALL ROMANCE!!! Not only are the main characters easy to love and root for even when they make mistakes, but the baseball part of it was also so much fun. Personally over the last year I have learned so much more about the game and it made me enjoy the game parts of this book so much more. We love to see a minor league team win big! and even fictional perfect games make me want to jump up and down! And the spice? Top notch, incredible build up and immaculate payoff every time. I need to add this baby to my shelf ASAP.

I think this was a great baseball romance.

Gene is an openly trans player and is reunited with a previous teammate, Luis when he comes to the Beaverton Beavers team. They rediscover their friendship while learning to work together again.

The plot was fantastic and carried smoothly through the entire book. I loved reading the journey of both Gene and Luis. The story is full of hope and baseball is always at the forefront. The tension was spot on! This was a fantastic second chance, enemies to lovers novel!