I absolutely loved this book!! I am a huge baseball fan and it was amazing to see the various different types of representation within the baseball world. I loved Gene and Luis and their friendship and relationship. They felt like real people and their actions made sense. I highly recommend this one!

This story was so unique, as a baseball fan I absolutely loved reading Gene's story. However, it did feel a tad long and drawn out in my opinion. That being said, as a debut novel, KT is a fantastic writer and the book was definitely fun and a good romance.

⚾️eARC Book Review⚾️

“Maybe—maybe—this is what it feels like to let people love you even when you fail.”

The Prospect by KT Hoffman
Pub Date: April 9, 2024
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(4/5)
Spice:🌶🌶️🫑 (2.5/5)

Review:
Gene Ionescue is a trans, gay career minor league baseball player. He has spent the last 2 seasons at Beaverton the triple A team for Portland. Luis Estrada Jr. has been traded to Beaverton after returning to baseball from a bad injury the year prior.

Gene starts the season with deep loathing for Luis as they played college ball together. When Luis declared for the draft he didn’t tell Gene and that left a bad taste in genes mouth. However, when Coach Baker moves Gene to second to let Estrada play short stop, it’s clear the two will need put their differences aside to work together.

K T Hoffmans debut novel is stellar. He does a great job of telling Genes story. While the story was a bit slow to start, once the boys got passed their differences the story really opened up.

My favorite additions at the back of the book are genes bagel recipe and Luis’s running playlist


If you like:
- A league of their own
- Queer Love
- Enemies to Lovers
- Judaism

QOTD: What is your favorite baseball team or stadium?

Thank you to Net Galley and Dial Press/ Penguin Random House for proving me with an eARC of this novel.

This book was SO GOOD! First off, it’s more like six stars for the prose alone. This kind of writing made me get sucked in every time I picked it up. Like truly I’m so excited to read the next KT Hoffman book.
Also— and I cannot emphasize this enough- he really had me out here caring about sports. Like I’ve always liked baseball to an extent, and yes there were terms I didn’t know, but this book made me want to watch a game!
Gene is the most optimistic character I’ve read in such a long time and truly what a joy to be in his head. Also this book was so gay and I loved it. Luis is also such a sweetheart! I love their love story, I love Luis’s journey to finding himself over the novel, and I LOVED the dog. More dogs in romance novels please! 🙏 This has a plucky underdog minor league baseball team, the first trans minor league baseball player, plus queer friendship, and sports teammates I would actually want to hang out with. LOVE. 💕

This was such a cuuuute romance! There’s rivals to lovers, there’s secret dating, there’s so much pining! there’s mental health discussions, there’s washing each other’s hair, there’s holding while crying…

If I summarized this book in one word it’d be hope. Letting yourself hope, and having the courage to reach for the things you want.

I loved Gene, the MC. He’s a ray of positivity for everyone but himself and wants to make sure everyone else is happy, while struggling with letting himself be happy. There were some parts in the book where he talks about the difference between hoping and wanting, and what he will and won’t let himself do. It felt so precious and real.

Luis, is a sweetheart of a love interest. He is a bit shy and keeps to himself, especially because of his anxiety. But despite that, it felt like he was a lot more open to love than Gene was. I loved how even though they both cared for one another, Luis felt like he was ready to commit fully from the get go.

And I loved these two together. It’s possible it got a bit codependent at times, but like I’m more okay with that in romances? There was just so much love and support between these two. I pointed out a few instances at the very top, but believe me, they’re really cute together.

I also thought the third act breakup was done well and made sense within the story. It didn’t make me angry at all! 😲 And that’s a big accomplishment.

I also loved:
+ ALL the characters
+ how supportive the team is
+ a sprinkling of spice
+ the little extra stuff in the book like the game-time commentaries, bagel recipe, playlist etc.

What I liked less:
- Okay, it’s a baseball book, so I’m not blaming the book for this, but I didn’t realize how much prior baseball knowledge I’d need to read this? There is a GOOD amount of terms in there, and a lot of details at times about the games. And it basically read like a foreign language to me. I needed a glossary or a crash course in baseball.
- This is usually my issue with romances with “enemies” to lovers, where they were only enemies because of misunderstandings in the past… I need those misunderstandings to be ironed out on the page. I want them to talk about it, understand one another and then move on from it. This is somewhat done in this book, but there are aspects I’m still confused about why the LI acted a certain way in the past or at the beginning.
- A bit slow for me at the beginning though likely because of the first point here.

Overall rating: 4.5 ⭐

Thank you so much to Random House, Dial Press Trade Paperback and NetGalley for the eARC!

This book had me squealing, I thought it was so cute. We follow Gene "Nes" Ionescu, a trans minor league baseball player for a team in Oregon. His former teammate and current rival, Luis "Strada" Estrada gets traded to his team leading the rivals to friends to lovers. The cast of characters is pretty diverse with plenty of queer and disability rep (even with 3 teammates named Kyle). I absolutely loved the trans joy and hope we got to experience with Nes as he gains confidence in his baseball skills and started to want things for himself and his future.
I'd consider this romance to be about a 2 on the spicy scale and damn was that spice done well.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for this advanced copy, all opinions are my own.

This book was so fun and joyful! It is filled with heart and hope and characters that you can't help but root for. Hoffman wrote characters (not just Gene and Luis, but the side characters as well) who are flawed and multi-dimensional. They make mistakes and say the wrong things, but they're supportive and the best sort of found family. I love that while the author doesn't shy away from the fact that transphobia and homophobia exist, none of those things play a central role in this story. Yes, Gene is a trans gay man in professional baseball, but it's not a major source of angst or drama in his story. It just is who he is.

This book did drag a bit for me in parts, and there was a lot more "telling not showing" (though I feel this is common with 3rd person POV) than I like to see in romance. Additionally, I think we missed out by not getting more of Luis and Gene's backstory. I think that could have added a lot of depth to their relationship, and also helped explain their adversarial relationship in the beginning. That said, this is a debut for this author, and it's a VERY solid one. I'm looking forward to reading more of their stories in the future!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved Gene's relationships with Baker, Vince, his teammates, and most importantly, Luis. This book just filled me with so much joy. I could've easily read another 300 pages.

I love love love LOVED The Prospects. I loved Gene and I loved Luis. This book was charming, funny, hopeful, heartfelt, made me have feelings about minor league baseball. It's everything you need.

These chaos muppets were a delight. The anxiety rep was top tier. And not in the “I did something impulsive and possibly regrettable because ahh! But thank goodness they still understood and forgave me” but like…there was no looking for or needing forgiveness for anything. Just patience and understanding and I really appreciated that.

I’m still not a sports reader and there was a lot of that. I know! It’s a sports romance. Why pick it up? Idk sometimes I like to double check and this sounded good! And it was. I just…might have read faster for parts. But I’m 10000% sure my yuck is another person’s yum so whatever.

Ahhhh idiots in love supremacy!! Jeez I absolutely adored everything about this book! I'm not even a baseball fan but this had me in a chokehold. I will definitely be recommending this to absolutely everyone I know that enjoys queer romances and sports. I need more Gene and Luis.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press an imprint of Random house for this Arc!

The Prospects was a super cute story about two gay men who play minor league baseball one of them being Nes who is a Trans out and proud gay man! Gene(Nes) wants to achieve greatness and rise to being an MLB star. But Luis who is Genes rival gets traded to the team and it starts to offset what Gene has wanted all along. But there is history between the two and maybe as always nothing is what it seems. Both struggle with internal issues and that’s what for me helped drive this story along was the brilliance
Of watching the characters navigate their trials and working through their feelings it’s a more realistic less cheesy way. It’s always refreshing to see romance stories not just have romance but include others things as well to the same degree in this case mental health and baseball. Both were covered substantially and I even learned a little bit more of baseball than I knew. The author also includes a playlist at the end and a recipe and to me that was fantastic because I for sure added the music to my phone and have been listening to it frequently in the car. Honestly I can see this getting a sequel or even a series.

As soon as I requested this book from NetGalley, I KNEW it was going to be something special! This book is an absolutely phenomenal read, especially if you love sports, romance, and rooting for the underdog.

Gene, our precious little bean of a main character, had my heart from Page 1. I’ve never wanted to hop into a book to hug & cheer on a character so badly!

Luis is Gene’s College Teammate turned Minor Leagues Teammate (and longtime crush!) who’s rather aloof. He quickly squirmed his way into my heart (along with his lil doggo).

This entire book had me utterly captivated and totally hooked on how their relationship was going to play out. I’ve never shipped characters harder than I did with these two.

Thank you to NetGalley & KT Hoffman for the ARC (that I read post-pub date) 😊

This book was a little slow at times, but once i hit 20% into the book i found myself really enjoying the storyline of trans mlm love. As someone who has struggled with their gender, and sexuality. and played sports i felt seen in ways i have yet to express, emotionally turmoiling. I loved my time reading and cant wait to go buy this book asap. 4/5 stars

this was such a fantastic joyful debut novel! luis and gene made my heart ache and made me smile in the best way. what a beautiful book about love and hope and believing in joy and second chances. the 3rd POV had me a bit lost at some points but I didnt even care because its a gorgeous story. I will definitely look out for KT's future releases!

Alex Mendoza and Cassie Gonzales give us a vibrant cover to catch the eye and make us want to read the blurb for The Prospects. They capture the overall feeling of playing baseball and the friendship between Gene and Luis. The joy leaps off of the cover.

According to the Acknowledgments section, this is KT Hoffman’s intention with The Prospects. Baseball is a rollercoaster of emotions, but overall it is about hope. Hoffman does an excellent job of portraying this throughout the story with an intermingling of sportscasters reports and Gene’s story along with his telling of his teammates journeys. My stepfather Jack was a huge baseball fan and I grew up with baseball permanently on the screen when the pre-season started. The Prospects gave me warm fuzzies of an innocent time in my life.

The author tackles homophobia, transphobia, low self-esteem, ageism, anxiety, and ADHD…whew! This all blends seamlessly in Gene’s story. I just love Gene and Luis together. I do think the story has too much filler and could have been edited more, but the trend nowadays seems to be longer books when the story would be better with fewer pages. The phone text exchanges should have been formatted differently than the rest of the dialogue so that it reads better.

Overall, I loved the story. I just had an issue with the length and that’s on the editors and not the author. Gene and Luis are sweet together. I love the baseball journey. The secondary characters are strong, heartfelt, and funny. I recommend this book with the heads up that it’s chewy.

I really really liked this! I loved how the relationship developed and the third act conflict made sense for their situation. Also the representation as a whole for this book was really well done, at least for the aspects that I can speak on from personal experience. This is one of my favourite baseball romances I’ve read!

I adored this debut novel by KT Hoffman! It tells the sweetest tale of a second chance romance for two minor league baseball players, It's single POV and Gene is a trans man who falls for his teammate. There's a lot of baseball! But, it was such a touching, romantic, sweet story. With a nice helping of spice. Highly recommend!

One of the most positive, beautiful love stories I’ve ever read.

THE PROSPECTS follows Gene, the first openly trans professional baseball player, as he navigates his journey to (hopefully) the majors. Through love, loss, and heartbreak, Gene finds so much more than he could’ve bargained for.

Truly cannot get over Gene! I absolutely loved his voice, his optimism, his hope, his utter fear of wanting things (relatable), and his heart. Definitely one of my favorite characters I’ve read this year. And don’t even get me started on Luis. Gene’s shy, anxious guy. Falling in love with Luis through Gene’s eyes was so special.

I adored how real THE PROSPECTS is. Hoffman’s voice is authentic, humorous, and so smart. It also really allows the reader to fall into the world, face first. It’s an exhilarating feeling and I truly didn’t want this story to end.

And how satisfying! The ending is hard-fought but so deserved. I was cheering the entire time. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to such a heartwarming story.

If you love baseball, stunning love stories, and a snarky and so lovable MC, THE PROSPECTS is for you. I adored this book immensely.

Gene and Luis were teammates in college, lost touch when Luis was drafted, and are suddenly, horribly thrown together as minor league teammates for the Beaverton Beavers. Gene will do whatever it takes to get Luis away from him--even if it means helping him make it to the bigs. But old grudges will melt into chemistry (oh, it is sexy as hell) playing the game they both love. You can be the most optimistic, hopeful person and still be afraid to truly want your deepest dreams.

A story in which the protagonist's transness is central because it is part of his identity, but it is not the focus of conflict. It's celebrated. How thoroughly wonderful to see from such a big publishing house.