Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

I’m trying to think of how to start this review & the only salient things I can think of are: You Should Be So Lucky is so soft, so lovely, & so in tune with the beautiful happy & beautiful sad & just sad sad moments of life (that’s something Cat Sebastian talks about some in her Author’s Note!).

Honestly, this book is a master class in writing romance to me—& for that matter, basically all of the author’s books I’ve read are!

There are so many moments I loved in this book—so many precious details that I savored about each of the leads: grumpy, not all the way nice, grieving reporter Mark Bailey & oversharer baseball player Eddie O’Leary.

YSBSL is pitch perfect in making the reader see why they’re falling in love & making the reader fall in love with their love too.

It’s an emotional stunner, friends.

5 ⭐️. Out today!

CWs: grief, loss of loved ones including a partner, references to homophobia & racism, reference to being outed without consent & being exiled from family.

[ID: Jess wears a purple sweatshirt & holds the ebook in front of red flowers.]

3.5-4 stars

This was a really sweet and tender love story. It takes place in the same universe as We Could Be So Good, but it's not necessary to read that one first to enjoy You Should Be So Lucky.

The slow burn friends to lovers, forced proximity romance between Mark and Eddie developed so quietly and gently. Both have reasons to be hesitant and keep their distance, but it was beautiful to see them connect and truly see each other. The book did start off slow for me though and I think there were just too many details about baseball. It took away from the building romance between Eddie and Mark, but this is very much an "it's me, not you" issue. One thing I truly loved though, was the found family. It was so wonderful to see old favorites from WCBSG (Nick and Andy forever!) and also Eddie's teammates (after the initial cold shoulder). The ending was very sweet and it made my heart so full to see these characters grabbing onto their happiness. Overall, a very heartfelt and enjoyable read, but sadly I didn't fully love it.

CW: death of loved one (past), grief, homophobia, hazing/silent treatment, heart attack (secondary character), MMC is kicked out of his home and abandoned by his family (past), mentions of addiction/substance abuse and infidelity (secondary character)

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

AHH!! This book is sweet and tender and absolutely transporting - a really great easy spring read. 4.5/5 stars!!

The backdrop of 1960s baseball is so rich and the side characters (George <33) are so lovely and interesting that I almost wish a little less time was spent with Mark and Eddie themselves and more time was spent in the world around them. I never thought I’d say this in my whole life, but I kinda wanted… more baseball.

Half a star off because this book is a LONG 400 pages. There’s a good hundred pages throughout that I felt could have been trimmed without taking any of the magic away - a lot of the same thoughts and conversations are repeated with only slight variations. Still, I was captivated the whole time, and never felt bored even during the slower bits.

I know I already said it once, but it bears repeating that this book is SO SWEET. I don’t know if this makes me cynical or if it’s just that I’m still a bit new to the romance genre, but I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop… And it just never did — for better or for worse.

There’s surprisingly not only very little period-typical homophobia, but very little conflict at all, making this a perfect comfort read and great for anyone going through a bit of a reading slump (no pun intended).

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC!!

I adored this book so much!! It’s one of those books that I never wanted to end. I think I will need to get the audiobook to listen to, then the paperback to hug and highlight and read over!!

“They stand at the doorway for a minute, too close, Eddie stealing glances at Mark’s mouth and Mark doing the same thing, and the fact that they aren’t kissing is taking up more space than any kiss possibly could.”

The story is emotional but also humorous at times and Oh So swoony, too! Eddie is so sweet and earnest, wearing his heart on his sleeve. He is the perfect foil for Mark who hides all his feelings behind a cranky, grumpy exterior.

“He feels like every part of him is wrapped around Eddie, like they’re tangled up in something dangerous and lovely and terribly, terribly precious.”

I loved the setting, the atmosphere… 1960, NYC, and baseball! I think this is my favorite book of 2024 so far!
-5+ Stars!-

This is historical MM Baseball book. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were not what I expected and so delightful. The historical baseball aspect was really well researched and I felt as if I was attending a 1950s or 1960s baseball game. I also really enjoyed the dual POV, it was such a great way to get to know the main characters. The secondary characters were also developed so you got to know them also. Overall, a wonderful book.

You Should Be So Lucky is the second novel in the Midcentury NYC series. This novel is set in the same universe as the first novel, We Could Be So Good, while having its own set of characters. Like most other series, readers may prefer this one or the first one or vice versa. For me, I think this one was a little better than the other even though I did enjoy the other novel. The story is set in 1960 and is surrounded by the world of baseball. Mark Bailey usually writes for the arts page but has been assigned to be a sports reporter. His assignment is to interview professional baseball player, Eddie O’Leary, who is originally from Nebraska and has been traded from his team in Kansas to NYC. He has hit a batting slump and is determined to break it.

The story keeps its focus on the two characters who are going through their own journeys. Eddie’s is more career-related whereas Mark’s is more personal. Mark is grieving the loss of his partner, who was also a secret because of the time period, of seven years. There is some exploration of queer acceptance, like Cat’s other novels, which are well-done for me. Both characters were not always the most likable, but they were well-written and enjoyable. There is a grumpy/sunshine dynamic between them without it being too over the top. The two characters had great chemistry and since romance is the core of the story, I felt it was well-done. The two characters played off each other well and I think their stories were woven together well. I think there is more still that could have been explored and yet there are moments that felt long, but, overall, this was an excellent story.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Avon, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

⚾️ You Should Be So Lucky ⚾️

“When the world has decided that people are supposed to be a certain way, but you’re living proof to the contrary, then hiding your differences is just helping everybody else erase who you are.”

Oh my HEART, this book! It’s everythingggggg. Eddie is a treasure that needs to be protective at all costs. And Mark. Grumpy, curmudgeon Mark 🥹. He is everything.

Set in 1950s New York. Eddie is a shortstop to the Robins baseball team in the middle of a terrible batting slump. Mark, a write though definitely not of sports, has been tasked with writing a series of articles about Eddie. As they spend more and more time together, they realize their connection is a home run.

I cannot get ENOUGH of Cat Sebastian’s writing. This was set in the same world as We Could Be So Good, but can be read as a standalone. You don’t need to read Nick & Andy’s story first, but you absolutely should because it’s equally delightful.

Check this one out for:
⚾️ historical queer romance
⚾️ Grumpy sunshine
⚾️ Sports romance
⚾️ Forced proximity

I cannot recommend this one enough! Thank you to Avon & Netgalley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

genuinely lovely, moving, thought-provoking, funny, rife with good baseball details (which is to say the slog, and the failure, and the team). really well-written in how mark and eddie struggle with different forms of loss, finding each other, and fulfilling the the missing gaps in each of their lives.

I am OBSESSED with Cat Sebastian's latest mid 20th century queer M/M romance series. In this latest installment a grieving reporter falls for a baseball star struggling to get his groove after getting transferred. The author does such a great job placing the romance in the context of the time period where it was dangerous to be out as a gay couple and men had to hide their relationships, ESPECIALLY professional sports players. A swoony, dual POV, opposites attract queer sports romance that you don't want to miss, especially if you are a baseball fan! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! I really hope there will be more in this series!

This fantastic novel succeeds on so many levels.

As a romance alone it works well: Mark and Eddie are layered, likable characters, they have intense chemistry (the sex scenes are not particularly explicit but are still 🔥), their banter is charming, and watching them slowly learn one another is lovely and engrossing.

But Cat Sebastian gives us so much more than that! The book is also a love letter to baseball and mid-century newspaper culture. Sebastian’s done loads of research to flesh out this world, and it feels both authentic and beloved. There are some on-field scenes and characters do talk about the game, but more than that we get things like musings on how baseball is a generous sport—one that assumes some amount of failure on the part of its best players.

Layered on top of this is a really astute narrative on grief and loss, whether that be loss of a partner or a job or that ineffable something that makes you exceptional at what you do. Sebastian is relentlessly generous with her characters, and I was repeatedly impressed by her presentation of Mark’s grief as illogical and nonlinear and relatable. I respected her choice to include in his process of recovery a friendship that he knew would make him confront loss again, instead of giving us plotting that tried to suggest that grief was something that could be ignored or avoided successfully.

I also appreciated the book’s engagement with mid-century homophobia. This is not a book that fetishizes trauma or gives us big, splashy acts of violence against queer people. Instead, it lays bare the mundane violence done through forcing people to hide their lives and their relationships, the ways that people had to shave off parts of themselves or ruthlessly compartmentalize to protect themselves and their jobs and their relationships. A less nuanced writer might have placed a moral valuation on being “out,” and easily villainized William’s insistence that he and Mark stay in the closet. After all, it causes Mark a lot of pain. But the book is very clear that the real villain is a social and legal structure that makes this a choice that anyone has to consider. That there are negative consequences to either choice is not the fault of any character.

Sebastian keeps so many balls in the air and still makes the book laugh-out-loud funny at points. Mark’s acerbic narration was an endless delight. The banter between Mark and Eddie is funny too. And I haven’t even managed to touch on the book’s engagement with the racial politics of mid-century sports (at one point Eddie thinks that he’s “always figured that nobody wants to waste their time sifting through the bigots to figure out who the non-bigots are, so they play it safe” as he notes that his Black teammates were mostly friendly with each other), or Mark and Eddie’s ongoing discussion of queer fiction like The Haunting of Hill House and The Talented Mr. Ripley, or the layered characterization of secondary characters like Price, George, Constance, and Ardolino.

I highly recommend.

Sebastian has done it again! After devouring her previous book in this universe, WE COULD BE SO GOOD, I was beyond delighted to learn of this book, though I was skeptical that it could live up to the high standard set by its predecessor. And boy, was I so happy to be wrong!

Mark and Eddie were such a wonderful pairing—while Mark is certainly the grumpier of the two, this wasn’t an explicit GrumpyXSunshine trope, which I appreciated. What I love about Sebastian’s writing is the infusion of positive queer representation set in a time period where it feels almost impossible.
Just like in WCBSG, Cat’s research is evident in the fantastic worldbuilding that is done in this book. The imagery was just wonderful, and it helped to paint such a vivid world that Mark and Eddie lived in, one where their beautiful love story could blossom. I loved this book, I loved these characters (especially the fickle Lula the dog), and I could not recommend it more.

A huge thank you to Cat Sebastian and Avon and Harper Voyager for the digital ARC!

I didn’t foresee a book making me care about baseball, but here we are! And what a perfect book this is! At its heart it’s about making a comeback no matter the setbacks! It can be trying to get your swing back in a game you’ve loved your whole life! It can be about healing a lost love and finding the motivation to want to write again! It can be the underdog team trying its best to make it in the league! But no matter what it was I was full on rooting for them!
My favorite thing about this book is that while it takes place in the 60’s, and does a great job of mentioning how unsafe it was to be perceived as queer during this time, the book still feels safe! Mark often describes his apartment as his safe bubble and that’s what this storyline was! The world is terrible but we knew as long as we were in the story with these characters it was okay!
And the romance!?!!!! Eddie and Mark’s love is so tender and beautiful! Watching these men grow close and learn to trust and love each other in this beautiful slowburn was everything I needed! Especially Mark who was so closed off and guarded but when he started letting Eddie in I cried!
This books batting average is a solid .400 even if Eddie O’Leary’s might not have been in the month of June!

Eddie O’Leary is a pro baseball player who got traded to a team in awful circumstances and very loudly voiced that opinion when asked. He regrets it, but he's stuck with a team that won't even acknowledge his existence and the disappearance of his baseball skills. Mark Bailey writes for the arts pages, or he did before his life went to pieces after the death of the partner he was never allowed to recognize publicly. They're brought together by a last-ditch effort to give Eddie better press and get Mark out of his house, and what started as obligatory interviews quickly turns into a friendship that has the potential to be so much more.

Eddie is a sweetheart and the perfect partner for the kindness Mark tries to hide underneath his grumpiness. They're so opposite in temperament and on the surface that you know they'll make a perfect couple. Every single interaction they have is sweet enough to give you cavities and that is why I love them. Even when incredibly sad things are being discussed, it's like a comforting hug for them to be together.

I'm convinced Cat Sebastian is incapable of writing a bad romance. She has mastered the art of back and forth between the characters and making hurt just enough to keep things interesting without ever getting overly dramatic. It makes reading her stories a pleasure because you get fully developed characters you can fall in love with and experience them falling in love. Even when you know they're facing a million and one obstacles, she surrounds them with people who are in their corner and willing to support them. It's the best kind of LGBTQ romance because it includes the hard truths, but shows that there can be happiness to go along with those. I tried to consciously find something I could complain about or suggest changing, but it's honestly perfect.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the wonderfully sweet and romantic read!

I didn't know how much I needed a queer 1960s baseball player/ reporter romance novel in my life until I read Cat Sebastian's latest. She writes tenderness & emotional intimacy like no one else. Golden retriever Eddie is in a wretched batting slump and grumpy, grieving reporter Mark is sent to cover the train wreck. Gentle, sweet, sexy perfection.

The brilliance of Cat Sebastian's work is that it shows the true romance of the everyday, the thoughtful details and gestures that sum up to swoony, all-consuming love as her characters slowly change and evolve. A beautiful follow-up to We Could Be So Good, which was my favorite book of 2023. A nuanced exploration of love, baseball and NYC in 1960 - a world on the precipice of change, where love is the answer to getting out of a slump.

It is 1960 and Eddie O’Leary has recently been drafted to the new Major League Baseball expansion team, the New York Robins. Unfortunately, Eddie’s knee-jerk negative reaction to finding out he was being traded to the Robins was caught on camera and now he is the villain of the team. None of his teammates will even talk to him, the fans hate him, and to make things even worse, Eddie is in the worst batting slump of his life. On his old team, Eddie was a star player, had friends, was close enough to home to visit, and had enough privacy to occasionally seek some companionship with another man. Now, Eddie is both one of the most recognizable faces in the city, while also being unbearably lonely and wondering if what looked like a stellar career in the major leagues is going to be over in his second season.

Mark Bailey lost his partner, William, about a year ago and he is still mired in grief. One of the hardest parts about losing William is that to the rest of the world they were simply friends and roommates. Mourning the man he thought he’d spend his life with while not revealing their love to anyone else is incredibly difficult and Mark has basically spent the last year in stasis. Technically, Mark is still a reporter for the Chronicle, but in practice, he is barely writing anything anymore. However, Mark agrees to write a series of stories about Eddie, which the team hopes will help with a little PR.

Mark assumes Eddie is an obnoxious jerk who doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut in front of the cameras. Instead, he realizes that the shock at his trade made Eddie react with emotion instead of media savvy. In fact, Eddie rarely seems to know what is good for him, leading with his heart and an openness that the more sharp and grumpy Mark finds almost shocking, while at the same time surprising himself by how much he wants to protect Eddie. The two men become unlikely friends and the attraction between them grows. But while Mark lived in the closet with William, he hasn’t been as discreet lately, which means that any interaction with Eddie will face scrutiny that a professional athlete can’t afford. However, Eddie knows that he wants happiness and he wants to be with Mark, and he is willing to take the chance to make that happen. Mark and Eddie are an unlikely pair, but two lonely men might just find a way to happiness together.

Oh, I just loved this book so much. It is all the grumpy/sunshine, slow burn deliciousness that just made me so happy. I adored Mark and Eddie together and I just sank into this rich and beautiful character-driven story. These men seem so different on the surface, with Mark a sharp and sometimes grumpy man who is still mourning the loss of his partner and figuring out how to go forward. And Eddie is this sweetheart who has such an open heart and doesn’t always know how to protect himself. But underneath the surface, they are two very lonely men who are facing lives in upheaval. Mark has lost the man he thought he’d be with for the rest of his days and trying to understand the new shape his life will now take. And Eddie’s reaction to coming to the Robins has left him the object of the fans’ ire, while his teammates literally ignore him. The pain that he feels as day after day no one will even speak to him is so palpable, my heart broke for Eddie. And on top of that, he is dealing with this batting slump that makes him question if everything he thought his life would be is suddenly over.

As these men meet and grow their friendship, they end up easing one another’s loneliness and finding this lovely connection. Mark can’t help but be wary that any connection to him will put Eddie at risk, and he tries to keep his distance. But while Eddie might be naive about some things, he knows what he wants and what he is willing to risk. There is just such a sweet tenderness that grows between them and the romance is just lovely. This is a slow burn and a quiet story that is really a chance to watch these men blossom, both in their individual journeys and with one another. I think there may be some readers who find it too quiet, as there is not a lot of external plot, but I really adored every moment of this story and just felt like I could sink right into it.

Cat Sebastian is so good with historicals and really enriching them with a great sense of time and place. This story takes place in 1960 New York City and Sebastian brings it all to life. There are such great details about life in the city in general, as well as for gay men in particular. We also get to see baseball of that era and I enjoyed how it is integrated with the larger story. This isn’t a “sports book” in the traditional sense, as we don’t really see Eddie playing or watch games or practices. The fact that Eddie is a professional athlete facing this slump is more to develop his character than to focus on baseball itself. But it works so well as a backdrop to the larger character growth, along with really rounding out some of the larger story themes. I liked how many of the side characters are a lot more than meets the eye at first, particularly the team manager.

This story is part of the same world as Sebastian’s We Could Be So Good. Mark works at Andy’s paper, and Andy and Nick make appearances here. However, it doesn’t appear to be officially a series and this book will stand alone totally fine if you haven’t read the other. However, these books are just so good, I encourage you to try both. I absolutely loved this book and I found myself touched and moved by the story and the characters. I definitely recommend it, particularly for fans of slow burns and grumpy/sunshine stories.

5 Stars!

I was so pleasantly surprised by You Should Be So Lucky. Oftentimes books with this type of plotline rush headlong into the spicy stuff and you're left completely bereft of any sort of real longing or romance. Luckily, we don't have that problem here.

It's the 1960s, homophobia is still rampant, and baseball is the centre of the world -- at least according to Eddie O'Leary, a baseball player who's swift fall from grace has been the topic of conversation and ire throughout the baseball world. When Mark Bailey, a whip-smart reporter who So doesn't cover sports, and who is grieving the loss of his secret lover, gets assigned to do an expose on Eddie's plight they strike up a quick friendship that boils over into something neither of them thought they'd ever have.

Listen. I was sick as a dog while reading this and I still blew threw it in two days. The Eddie and Mark's voices were so distinct and I loved being in both of their heads. Mark's candor and his brutal mouth were so relatable, not to mention the way he used his aloofness to try to keep people at arms length. And Eddie, the sweet baby, I would protect him with my life, managed to be adorable and silly without being insufferable and without sacrificing his strength. He didn't give Mark a chance to push him away. So perceptive was he to all of his little moods and changes and if that's not love, what is? I mean, a boy who loves his momma but is more than willing to jump into a fight he has no chance of winning - Mark and I were both helpless.

And there was such love in this book, not even just between the leads, but familial love, friendly love, the love between comrades. This book is about grief and how it hits you in the throat when you think you've got a handle on it. On piecing yourself back together again when your worldview is shattered and realizing that the breaking was the best thing that could have happened to you in the end.

If you're looking for a knockdown, drag out, drama filled climax - this isn't it. If you are looking for Affection, softness, the quiet, daily struggles of just trying to survive and live a life you're proud of -- you'll want this.

I loved this book. I will absolutely be buying it and reading it again.

This universe has all the tender and all the feels and I want all the books forever.

Nick and Andy will always have my heart, but Eddie and Mark came in and said, hey, scooch over, we're gonna take up some space too.

Eddie O'Leary is a pro baseball player just traded to the new NY Robins who said some stuff about the trade and everyone, including his team, hates him. Mark Bailey is an arts reporter tasked with working with Eddie on a weekly news diary. Mark lost his long time partner and has been a hermit, but sweet golden retriever (except when he's mad on the field) Eddie brings him back to life. It is tender. There is no soup, but we do get some comfort cornflakes. There was, for me, too much baseball. I don't really need that much baseball. But I made it through.

Things I loved: Lula the dog who has personality and has Mark wrapped around her paw. Mark's relationship with veteran sports reporter George - it's not just the romance relationship we see, but this stand in father relationship was absolutely so kind and tender. Eddie's mom! What a supportive queen. I loved her. And of course Mark and Bailey together and that slow dance they did to see if they could maybe be something in a world that wasn't open to people like them.

Cat Sebastian writes the most loving, tender ding dongs that you would absolutely die for. And these two are no different.

You Should Be So Lucky is out now. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

instagram.com/encyclopedia_britanika

⚾️ A sensitive, sweet, and sexy queer sports romance?! This one is a gem!

It’s 1960 and journalist Mark Bailey is adrift. He lives in his late partner’s apartment with his dog, Lula, and begrudgingly writes about arts for the New York Chronicle. Right now, though, the biggest story in the city is about sports, specifically Eddie O’Leary, the new short-stop for The New York Robins baseball team.

Eddie’s angry. He’s in a horrible slump and isn’t happy about being uprooted to play on a team that has the worst record in baseball. He mouths off about his new team and is iced out by his teammates. To boost Eddie’s reputation and to sell papers, Mark agrees to write a weekly diary in Eddie’s voice.

As their working relationship grows over dinners and drinks, these two men start to form a deep friendship, which slowly turns romantic. Both eventually come out to each other, and question whether they can even have a serious relationship. Mid-century America and the public spotlight that’s on Eddie seem to make any real relationship all but impossible. Plus, Mark has no interest in living as someone’s secret, which he had to do in his previous relationship.

I loved the care Cat took in exploring the time in which this queer love story takes place; it never seems “teachy” but instead is a legitimate concern for Eddie and Mark’s HEA. The way each character changes as they get closer and closer—and how each helps the other grow—is so realistic and entertaining. I was thrilled with the baseball talk, too! Eddie and Mark’s sweet romance is one to savor. I adored it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

You Should Be So Lucky follows 60s baseball player Eddie O'Leary as his hitting slump throws him right in the path of arts reporter Mark Bailey.

This book felt magical. It was gentle, it was tender, it was clearly written with love. It's perfect for cozy days and for soothing heartbreak, and it strikes the perfect balance of historical and romance. It managed to feel familiar and comforting while also feeling fresh and interesting. Cat Sebastian is an incredibly talented writer, and You Should Be So Lucky thoroughly demonstrates this skill. Seriously, this book has it all, and none of it is overdone or arduous or cringe. Every little glance, every kiss, every theme is beautifully executed and explored, and the characters and their world are fully realized in a masterful way.

Even if you're not the biggest baseball fan -- I'm definitely not! -- there is so much to love here. I wish all romance novels were at this caliber, and I'll be anxiously awaiting whatever Cat Sebastian does next.