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!

The Prospects by KT Hoffman was a heartwarming and empowering read! This story follows Gene who is a professional baseball player trying to get called up, and is struggling with the idea of being the first transgender major league baseball player. Someone from his past, Louis, gets traded onto his team and he has to navigate not only his feelings of questioning his sports ability but also his attraction to Louis. I found this book SO entertaining. It had the perfect amount of storyline and romance. The characters developed outside of their relationships just as much as they developed together. The story was sweet, fast paced, and enjoyable all around.

This book….what a gift. I loved it. The story of Gene is of a trans baseball player learning how to allow himself to want. And Nada? His book boyfriend? Oh my goodness he is learning how to be himself. There is so much about growth and self discovery. But the characters are funny and charming. I was rooting for them the whole time. (The support characters were pretty awesome too). It has some steam, and honestly while I have read MM romance, I have not ever read one where one M has a vajay. The author did such a great job, I never once felt like it was anyone other than these exact men with their exact parts. Anyway, yea KT Hoffman! Can’t wait to read your next book!

While the author's prose was excellent, the audience needs a prerequisite understanding of baseball to know what's going on. Fans of sports romances are not often actually fans of sports, make no mistake. If a sports romance is done correctly, it can make the reader care about the sport. I did not go in caring about baseball, I went in caring about queer romance. I still do not care about baseball. I am concerned that there was too much baseball jargon too fast and it will ultimately put the reader off.

The prose, like I said, was masterful, though.

So cute! I love a good queer sports romcom and this one did not disappoint! Not gonna lie, Luis is not the most likeable character when you meet him. The more you get to know him, and learn about his experiences, the more he grows on you. And Gene - well, Gene's the cutest trans man I've ever met. I love the way this novel illustrates both the negativity that comes from those outside of the queer community as well as the love and support that comes from within the queer community.

This was such a fun read! I usually don't read sports romances, but when I hear a romance has queer rep, I am always more likely to read it. This one caught my eye when it was announced and it did not disappoint! I couldn't put it down. This was such a good debut and I can't wait to see what else KT Hoffman comes out with!

KT Hoffman has created two of my new favorite charcters in her marvelous debut novel. Nes and Nada are couple goals. A true romance with the HEA we deserve. Go preorder this book now. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Random House, Dial Press Trade Paperback, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

This book was a total home run for me. ⚾️🏟️🎉

In a delicious second-chance set up, Gene Ionescu, the first openly trans professional baseball player, is about to become teammates with former-friend-and-current-rival Luis Estrada. Following a season of Minor League Baseball set in the Pacific Northwest, we see Gene and Luis reconnect and try to bring their team to the championships.

This book was: adorable, angsty, heart warming, hot, funny, tear-inducing, queer as hell.

I loved the (mostly) Minor League setting and the mix of tweets and broadcaster commentary. Loved the relationships between Gene and his mentors, Vince and Baker.

I liked the pacing and Gene and Luis’ development from floundering teammates to successful parters in baseball and life. Around midway I was nervous about how they’d make it work, but by the end I was tearing up and fully buying in to their happy future together.

Highly recommend for any fans of KD Casey or anyone missing baseball season! Can’t wait to see what KT Hoffman writes next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this arc!

Not only is the cover art gorgeous, but the book itself is brimming with queer joy, meaningful conversations, and a sweet dog! The characters and prose are true strengths of this story.

The pacing lagged just a little bit in some places, and some of the baseball talk went over my head as someone who doesn't follow the sport myself. These things docked the rating for me.

Overall though, this was a lovely romance story that had me both laughing and crying. The characters were so relatable and I love them!

Reviews posted on goodreads and storygraph.

I literally started this yesterday and when I looked up from the book, I was already more than half way through. I could not put this down!

Gene Ionescu is the first openly trans professional baseball player and now shares the same playing field with his rival, Luis Estrada. Even through their ups and downs, Gene and Luis have such a strong bond and their growth together and separately really showed throughout the storyline. This is such a heartwarming and comforting debut, it literally felt like a warm hug that made my little gay heart so happy.

It was also so fun reading a story based in the same city I live in and I think part of them made me love it even more.

Do I know or understand baseball and some of it’s references? Not really, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this and would recommend if you love the queer found family trope!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the arc for my honest review!

Tropes:
-Trans and gay rep
-Found family
-Rivals-to friends-to lovers (but also some second chance)
-ADHD and anxiety rep
-Some spice
-PNW based!

I really liked this book! It combines baseball, a queer love story, some drama and fun, sexy times, and a lot of much needed representation. I thought it was so cool to read a book with transgender representation, especially when it comes to queer representation in sports romance. For a debut novel, this was really good. I loved the story of falling in love on the same team in the minor leagues and dealing with a different kind of love. There was so much to love about this book and I truly look forward to more from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the eARC of this awesome book.

Thank you NetGalley, Dial Press, and Random House for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Oh I am very emotional after finishing this. What a wonderful debut novel and what a wonderful way to show gay trans love.

I myself am transgender and gay (bisexual and bigender to be exact) and while not exactly in the same way as Gene, our similarities shocked me immensely. I felt undeniably seen.

This book came to me at a time where I was already diving deep into the gay sports romance world; and while most I've read have been strike outs (hah.), I can confidently say that "The Prospects" is a solid, bases loaded, home-fucking-run. A real grand slam.

The love and appreciation for baseball was authentic and shined through the text; which was only elevated through Luis and Gene's complicated relationships with the sport. To truly love something you have to learn how to grapple with its flaws. Professional sports being no exception.

I truly fell in love with Gene and Luis. They were real, sexy, and fun in ways many sports romances rarely achieve.

I have so much more to say, but I'm having such a hard time limiting it to a reasonably lengthed review. So to quit while I'm ahead, all I have to say is a hearty thank you to KT Hoffman for creating something so beautiful. I hope to read more from you in the future.