I very much enjoyed this latest Cat Sebastian comfort read. It can absolutely stand alone, though I reread We Could Be So Good (a joy to reread) before diving into this one and was glad I had, mostly because I forget pretty much everything about the characters once I finish a book and wanted a few reminders of the returning cast here. But again, you'll be totally fine if you haven't read We Could Be So Good (though do yourself a favor and READ IT!) or if you read it awhile ago and like mine, your brain is a sieve that retains little more than vibes.

This had everything I love in my favorite books by this author: wonderful characters that feel so real and relatable, so many little details about the ways they love one another, PRAISE KINK!!!, lovable side characters, A DOG!!!!, and the slow building of a relationship I can root for the whole way through.

Also, baseball is the one sport I actually do love so I was pretty much in heaven here. Don't be put off if you're not into baseball though, because the focus is more on how people feel about the sport than actual play by plays.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say this doesn't have a third act breakup, I think it's a selling point. It certainly filled me with relief and happiness. There's even a precise moment when I could pinpoint what would trigger the third act breakup in most books and the relief when instead of a misunderstanding the characters just TALKED TO ONE ANOTHER. My cup of reading joy overfloweth or whatever. So, yeah, this book was a total pleasure to sink into and I highly recommend it.

Only Cat Sebastian could make me read and, what's more, enjoy (albeit somewhat begrudgingly) my first sports romance. I will admit to skimming through some of the baseball-y scenes, but of course the adorable romance made it all worth it. Reading Cat's books is like drinking a hot cup of tea or cuddling your cat, and this one is no exception! Although, perhaps I should say dog because Lula (Mark's dog) completely steals the show.

Most baseball players aren't friendly with reporters, particularly ones having as rough a season as Eddie. But Mark isn't just any reporter. He is completely new to sportswriting and not generally a fan of sports, however he needs to get back on his feet after losing his partner. As both men struggle with their work, they find that they might be alike in more ways than one, but can they risk the scandal of being outed and together?

This was such a sweet romance. Mark is still grieving the loss of his partner a year previously. This is a very realistic depiction of grief. He is sort of stuck in his life and career, so his friend/boss at the newspaper gives him an assignment to write a series of articles featuring the rookie baseball player, Eddie. Eddie is in a true slump. He has been traded to a new team and managed to insult everyone he could in the process. He and Mark work together and gradually fall for each other. Eddie's loneliness is heart-breaking, as is Mark's grief. This book does not shy away from the difficulties a gay man faces in the early '60s, which adds another challenge the pair have to work through. I love a slow-burn romance and this fit the bill.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyage for the ebook ARC of this book.

I love baseball and I love queer romances, and this book delivers so much of both along with so much more. This is the first book by Cat Sebastian that I’ve read, and I already know I’m about to blow through her back catalog after this one.

Eddie O’Leary is a young baseball player having one of the worst slumps the sport has ever seen, after having one of the most promising rookie years—and Mark Bailey is the arts writer who gets assigned to cover him. They’re both out of their element and a bit lonely: Eddie is being shunned by his new teammates, homesick, and queer in a big city where he’s constantly being recognized. Meanwhile, Mark is still recovering from the death of his partner, and is extremely wary of every new person he meets, even as he tries to be more open about his identity than he ever could be before.

These characters were squeezing my heart in their hands from the first couple chapters. Both Eddie and Mark begin in a place where they’re desperate for a sense of connection, and wind up mentally latching onto one another in their heads without letting themselves be as openly vulnerable as they wish they could be. In 1960, the stakes are high, but they carefully drop hints as they circle each other, so very, very slowly, until they can no longer hold back, and their connection is undeniable. Their opposing personalities balance each other out so nicely, and they are unbelievably sweet together.

This book is so much more than just a romance, though. It’s a compelling story about grief, acceptance, allowing one’s self to be vulnerable, hope, and learning to love and trust again. So many of the side characters help Eddie and Mark to grow in different ways, and help create such depth and complexity to this world.

As queer men of this era, Mark and Eddie always have to be careful, and while keeping a relationship secret can be fun and sexy, it is also scary and uncomfortable. Something I love about this story is that neither man is ever outed traumatically, nor are either of them unsure about their attraction to men. Their queerness is not an obstacle to their identities, even in this time, and they’re still able to find community and love and unlikely allies in the people around them.

One of the best parts of this book is that it loves baseball just as much as I do. The sport is used as a metaphor in so many ways, and as Eddie learns to break out of his slump and starts playing well, the game evolves and the team rallies and the book uncovers another aspect of the game as well as another aspect of connection.

Even the way the fanbase reacts to Eddie’s slump reflects baseball fandom at its best. They are frustrated, of course, but they begin to rally around him, always hoping for him to do better. The team still isn’t anywhere close to the top of the league, but that’s not the point. One of my favorite quotes from the book sums it up nicely: “Rooting for a team doesn’t always mean that you need to see them win; sometimes you just want to see them fight, do their best, or even just keep showing up. Sometimes you want to look at a guy and say: Well, he’s fucked, but he’s trying.”

I really loved this. Beautiful and gentle and complex and hopeful, the romance mirrors the pace of a baseball game, slow and steady, and it’s a gorgeous story of healing and love.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC!
Pub date: 07 May 2024

As someone who doesn't like baseball but who loved "We Could Be So Good", I had lower expectations for this one - and ended up pleasantly surprised. It was incredibly enjoyable queer romance that felt like a hug. It was warm and comforting, and had a lovely take on grief and learning to live again. It was a book I enjoyed reading far more than I expected to!

Slow-burn forced proximity romance here with Mark, newspaper reporter, being assigned to write about Eddie, the new baseball player who has basically thrown a public tantrum over his new team. They’re both individually lost and lonely and stuck with each other. Mark’s been grieving the death of his partner, who he basically had to keep secret for their entire relationship, and it’s been a pretty rough time of it. When he’s assigned to write about Eddie, he’s only begrudgingly doing the job, and also trying to find an angle to make the kid seem more sympathetic, rather than the asshole that every other news reporter is portraying him as. Eddie’s just shocked out of his comfortable situation in the Midwest where he got to play ball, see his mom occasionally, and know where to keep his private life out of the spotlight. Being in a new place that doesn’t feel like home and where everyone is watching him fail at baseball is fairly excruciating for him. But Eddie and Mark start a tentative friendship and it takes a lot of convincing on Eddie’s part to get Mark to take a chance on him. I liked seeing Mark finally opening up about his previous partner and the difficulties he had there, plus seeing Eddie getting along with his teammates better. It was definitely a slow and quiet type of romance that involves being yourself in a world that doesn’t really accept you.

Taking place in 1960 New York City, Mark Bailey is the non-sports-writer assigned to cover Eddie O’Leary, the young baseball player having the worst slump anyone has seen in years. Mark is caustic, still reeling from the death of his late lover, and essentially has his claws out for anyone who shows him kindness. Eddie meanwhile is homesick, being ostracized by his team, and has no idea how to be queer when semi-famous - and is absolutely besotted with the handsome writer who wears nice sweaters to the press box. The two men orbit each other, cautiously cautiously cautiously, and when they finally collide, sparks fly. This grumpy sunshine queer mid-century historical sports romance has exquisite writing, exceptional eye for detail (Sebastian really transports to the reader to 1960), and absolutely stunning moments of emotional growth. This is one of those books where you feel like you’re listening to a ballgame on the radio, and you both want your team to win, but you don’t want the game to end anytime soon.

This book is a powerful story about grief, acceptance and allowing yourself to love even when there are risks. Cat Sebastian has slowly started to become one of my favorite authors. The way she portrays queerness in history, without aiding plot points of someone being 'blackmailed' into coming out, or having something horrible happen to them is really refreshing. This book takes place in mid-century NYC, where queerness isn't accepted and will be used in many jobs as a reason to fire you. Eddie O'Leary is trying to learn to accept his new life in NYC, while feeling alone and being ignored by a team that thinks he hates them. Mark Bailey is alone, a writer for the Chronicle who is still reeling from the death of his partner. He too is alone. But when he is given a chance to write a diary for the new hot-shot on the Robins, he has no choice but to take it. As their acquaintance-ship moves to friendship to something more, they have to navigate their own grief and loneliness and figure out how they can fit that together. I loved this book. It was so well written.

✨Slow Burn
✨ 1960's New York
✨ Queer
✨Grumpy/Sunshine
✨ Baseball/Newspaper Writer

You Should Be So Lucky follows Eddie, a baseball player with a crappy attitude about being traded to New York, and Mark, a writer who somehow ended up being assigned to write Eddies series. This is very much a grumpy/sunshine, Mark is a particular person who likes what he likes and doesn't want to be someone's secret, and Eddie is 100% a golden retriever once you really see him. It's slow burn, it's a little bit steamy in just the right spots, this one is something special.

I don't even know where to start with the rest of it either. George, Ardolino, the cherries! Oh the cherries got me right in the heart. And don't get me started with the tea cup. Or the dog walking. Or his MOM! Oh I almost forgot about his mom.

Anyway, yes I highly recommend this one. Make sure you pick it up May 7th.

Huge thank you to Cat Sebastian, Avon, and NetGalley for letting me read this one early.

I loved this book so much. I loved We Should Be So Good so much and this held up to that as well. I love the universe and seeing Andy and Nick again was wonderful. Eddie and Mark were marvelous and I loved the baseball setting. The universe is so well written and I love this book so much. It was amazing and the depth the characters and the universe was so good. I love how Cat Sebastian writes and everything about this book. I can’t wait to read what’s next.

*Thank you netgalley and Avon for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review,

This was my first Cat Sebastian novel but it absolutely will not be my last. Mark and Eddie are so charming and I loved their story and the building of their relationship. The spice level was mild to mid, which was honestly perfect for the way this story was so focused on the emotional parts of their relationship and their connection to each other. The one thing I didn't love about the book is the time period that it was set in, which made a big part of their story the fact that they had to hide their relationship, but I should have realized that Sebastian's whole thing is historical queer romances, so that's really on me. Once I realized that's kind of the THING about this book that does actually make it special, I was able to relax and enjoy the story a lot more. I really loved this and look forward to reading more of Sebastian's novels.

You Should Be So Lucky follows an extroverted baseball player in the biggest hitting slump of his life and the reserved reporter hired to write about him. It has deep themes of grief, acceptance, overcoming failure, and choosing love.

Although its conflict isn’t too heavy, it was actually nice to read such a sweet story. You think gay men in the 60s and you assume tragedy, but this was a nice change of pace. I think it takes a very nuanced situation and handles it with respect and grace. I loved both POV characters and the surrounding characters made the environment feel real.

I’ve never read The Haunting of Hill House (and the author does a great job describing it so I didn’t feel lost) but I really enjoyed the recurring references and discussion of the book along with the lesbian take on it. I’ve read a lot of ways characters have come out to each other or checked if the other was ‘okay’ with gay people, and this was a unique way to show the audience as well, even if it wasn’t Mark’s conscious decision.

Very light spoilers: There’s a part where Mark tends to Eddie’s minor wounds after a fight at a game, and I think it might be my favorite scene. It was short, but their tenderness hit a peak there and it was really sweet. They keep getting sweeter through the course of the novel. So cute, would recommend!

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Cast Sebastian returns to the universe of We Could Be So Good with You Should Be So Lucky, a companion novel set in 1960s New York. Readers follow Mark, a reporter for the Chronicle who is making his way through his grief from the death of his partner over a year ago. When Mark is assigned to ghostwrite the ongoing diary entries of a hot-headed baseball player, he is less than thrilled with the assignment. Eddie O'Leary is a baseball player in the worst slump of his life. He was transferred unexpectedly to the Robins in NYC, far away from his home in Omaha and everything he knows. And now he can't even play decent baseball. As Mark and Eddie meet to discuss Mark's publications, they grow increasingly closer and Eddie has to decide what things he values most in life.

Cat Sebastian has done it again. All of her books pay beautiful homage to the time period in which they're written, including the struggles for the queer characters that live during those times. Despite the time period associated difficulties, I would argue that every Sebastian book centers queer joy and building of relationships in ways that are sustainable for characters given their circumstances. Each book builds not only a relationship between our MCs, but also builds a community of support around them.

The stars of any Cat Sebastian book are her characters. What amazes me is not just that Sebastian manages to build characters that are easy to root for and perfectly flawed in a way that is utterly human, but also that in all the books Sebastian has written, her characters are highly differentiate from one another. Sebastian is not a one-trick-pony author who repeats the same successful dynamic. She establishes characters that are uniquely themselves and invites them to come together in ways that suit them as characters, even if it might not work for others. Specific to this novel, I loved the acerbic and cynical reporter Mark coming together with cinnamon roll country boy Eddie. Mark and Eddie are absolutely a lovely grumpy sunshine dynamic but are also far more than the trope.

As always, I am happy to have had the opportunity to read You Should Be So Lucky early. I look forward to going through Sebastian's extensive backlist as well as any future work she writes.

This is the fussy-cat + golden retriever queer romance of my dreams!
It is a SLOW burn mid-century NYC gem, between Eddie, a star baseball player has lost his swing, and Mark, a reluctant journalist is tasked with covering his first baseball season. These two opposites share one important similarity: they are both lonely; whether from grief (Mark's loss of his long term partner) or from anonymity (Eddie's been transferred to NYC and the team is giving him the cold-shoulder after his public comments about them). Between interviews, and then increasingly frequent late-night phone calls, Mark and Eddie develop a friendship. Between chats about book, their families, Eddie's swing, and being queer, they slowly cave into the pull that seems to be tightening between them, eventually sparking into intense desire and longing.

Sweet, sweet, Eddie. Sigh. His charisma, hopefulness, love of his Mama, ability to put his foot into his mouth yet overall goodness was so adorable. And my soul-twin Mark! He is such a fussy introspective reluctant pet-owner who HATES early mornings but needs his coffee and clothing a certain way. If you love reading about opposites attract, male vulnerability, 'us-against-the-wold', and cheering for characters to overcome obstacles, you will swoon over this read.

Sebastian can bring me to my knees over a SIGH. Or a simple knee touch in the back of a cab, or the first line of a phone greeting after an absence, and make me cry over a darn jar of maraschino cherries. Yes, there is romance, but there is also found family, grief, and human connection that bolster this read into top tier status.

I enjoyed this one, but not quite as much as We Could Be So Good, which may be the most yearning romance I’ve ever read. This is in the same universe but can be read as a standalone! I really like Sebastian’s writing and how she manages to capture being queer in a time where it was dangerous. I liked Mark and Eddie and all the kooky side characters in this book. I hope Sebastian continues writing stories in this universe!

god what a lovely book about grief and queerness in 1960. how do you mourn someone no one could ever know meant something to you? how do you learn to accept love again when loving you puts your beloved in danger? what kind of person does it make you to ask someone so special to risk everything for whatever scraps of a person is left in your heart?

i appreciated the conversations in this book about queer identity and how isolating it can feel without community. how can you let anyone truly get to know you when you can’t share the most important person in your life? the very foundation on which your whole identity is built?

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!! I LOVE GAY PEOPLE I WISH THEY WERE REAL!!!!

What a sweet book! I feel like I got a really good snapshot of what it was like to work in baseball, as well as what it was like to be gay in the 1960s. This book is like A League of Their Own, but in the 60s and with men. The characters felt real and relatable. My only qualm with the book is that there wasn't some super large conflict (other than homophobia lol)

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm no stranger to gay romances, and it's clear that Cat Sebastian knows what she's doing. This is a well-written slow burn about two men who are broken in different, yet equally devastating ways. Mark and Eddie are so cute together, and I love their interactions. Highly recommend!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
You Should Be So Lucky is the latest offering from Cat Sebastian, and while not in an “official” series, it’s technically a companion novel to her prior release, We Could Be So Good. As such, while it’s a standalone, some of the major characters do overlap (Andy from WCBSG is a supporting character!), so, if you like one, you’ll inevitably like the other.
I love that Cat Sebastian is continuing to explore the mid-20th century, in spite of it not being a massively popular time period in historical romance. And while I’m not a baseball fan, or sports fan in general, I loved getting some nuggets of baseball history amid the fiction. And the narrative continues a thread explored in Sebastian’s previous mid-century works (including WCBSG), regarding the prevalence of homophobia in the 50s and 60s, and how much more complicated it is when you’re a professional baseball player.
The two leads are great, and the central romance is really sweet. Mark is rather closed-off and prickly, while Eddie is much sweeter (although they both have their dickish moments). They’re bonded by their mutual experiences with grief and loss, and provide a lot of support for each other. Their relationship is also full of great banter and humor, as well. Sebastian’s books of late have often been more slow-burn, and largely vibes-based, but this book, like its predecessor, worked really well in that regard thanks to the strong central romance.
This was another enjoyable read by Cat Sebastian, and I’d recommend it to readers looking for a mid-century historical sports romance.

4.75/5 ⭐️ 1/5 🌶️
I didn’t think I would ever love a book about baseball, but here we are.

“I love you,” Eddie says without really pulling away, so the words are half swallowed by Mark’s mouth. “You’re a nightmare,” Mark returns, in precisely the same tone of voice. Eddie can feel that he’s smiling.

The story starts in 1960, where Eddie O’Leary is having the worst slump of his baseball career. He’s been transferred to a new team, a new city, and on top of it all, his lack of a filter has made all of his teammates give him the cold shoulder. When the Robins’ owner tells Eddie that he is going to be getting a ghost-writer to write some journals for the newspaper, he is less than enthused to put his slump at the forefront of the news.

Mark Bailey is NOT a sportswriter. He is a journalist, who after spending the last year of his life locked away with grief and longing, is tasked with writing newspaper diary entries for the Robins’ newest player. Mark does not want to spend his time out and about with the loudmouth shortstop of the Robins, but soon, the men strike up an unlikely friendship.

I absolutely adored this story. Cat Sebastian has such a lovely prose and although the story’s plot felt slow at times, Eddie and Mark’s slow burn was everything I needed. I love a character dynamic where one person is so grumpy to protect their tender heart and the other person loves them like its breathing.

“It’s completely adorable how you get like this.” One of Eddie’s arms has snaked around Mark’s waist. “My mom has this cat who likes to be pet, but he hisses on the way to my mom’s lap every goddamn time. It’s fucking hilarious.”