You Should Be So Lucky is both melancholy and hopeful—the kind of book you hug to your chest after reading the final page.

I couldn't help but fall in love with Eddie, the rising baseball star who suddenly finds himself traded and in a major slump, and Mark, the heartbroken journalist who's lost interest in pretty much everything, as I watched their love story unfold in one of the loveliest, most patient slow-burn romances I can ever remember reading. Every moment of the narrative was a joy, which is impressive, considering how deeply the author examines grief and loss throughout the novel.

I can already tell that, like its predecessor, We Could Be So Good, You Should Be So Lucky will become a touchstone title for me, one that I will wholeheartedly recommend to romance and historical fiction readers alike.

I love Cat Sebastian's historical queer romance books. Each and every one! This one did not disappoint. I really enjoyed We Could Be So Good, which is set in the same world and which some character's from appear in this book. I did not live in the 1950s in NYC so I can't really saw how accurate the queer experience is, but I think it is a really great portrayl of what it might have been like to be queer in that era. Both Mark and Eddie's character's felt really fully developed and had growth and change throughout the book which is something I enjoy in a story. I have been reading romance for years now and have gotten really picky about what I look for in a story and this avoided all the overdone tropes I don't enjoy. The portrayl of Mark's grief was very poignant and heartbreaking as well. Overall I really enjoyed this book and will continue to read anything Cat Sebastian writes!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc. All opinions are my own!

I have been wanting to read a Cat Sebastian book since I saw the ARC for We Could Be So Good last year. Something about it caught my attention- so needless to say I was THRILLED when I got approved for this arc. And it did NOT disappoint. This is hands down one of the top books I have read of the year. This is probably the slowest of slow burns I have read, and I legit loved every second of it. This book made me FEEL. I loved the dual POVs. I loved the characters and this world and the growth that they both had because of each other.

Eddie O'Leary thought he was doing great. He was on a team that he loved with players he enjoyed hanging out with. He still had to hide part of himself, but he knew where it was safe to do so. Then everything got ripped out from underneath him- he was being traded to the New York Robins. He was NOT happy about it and made that clear on national TV when he blasted everyone on the team. Now he is in a city where he knows nothing about what is safe. He is on a team that is giving him the silent treatment. Reporters are literally lounging in the locker room to ask him questions about his slump. Oh yeah now he is also in a hitting slump since the trade. He wonders when he will get moved down to the minors, but instead of that happening, he is told that a reporter is going to be doing a weekly diary piece on him. A not sportswriter reporter named Mark Bailey. This is when everything changes.

Mark Bailey is adrift. He goes to his office but has officially been retired from writing for months. He has a routine that helps him now drown in his grief. The grief of his partner of 7 years. The grief of a relationship that he had to keep under wraps because of what they meant to each other. The grief of being a secret to someone despite loving them wholeheartedly. Well no more. His "boss" gives him a new assignment. He is going to write a diary piece on the new infielder for the Robins. Yes the one in the hitting slump that everyone is trying to get their hands on. Yes the really cute one that makes Mark start to feel things again. Yes the man who smiles so brilliantly when Mark walks into a room. The man who has slowly but surely started to bring Mark's walls down. The same one who doesn't want to keep him a secret though he can't shout it from the mountaintops. The one who makes him want to change up his routine. The one who makes him question what's next?

Watching Eddie help mark come out of his shell was soo beautiful. The patience Eddie showed him in becoming comfortable and how much he wanted to be Mark's person. Mark was the perfect grump. I think that the grief portrayed in this was spot on. The harder things are the little things. The routines you build around each other that either have to keep going without the other or change completely when one of you is gone. I liked the pace of this book and felt that once I started I could not put it down.

Favorite things:
- Lula taking Eddie to the bakery
- First kiss
- Eddie's smiles and how he shows Mark he cares
- Eddie telling his mom about Mark
- Mark tagging along for a midnight hit session with Eddie's teammates

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I already have We Could Be So Good on hold from the library LOL. Are there any other books like this you would recommend??

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC e-copy of You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian.

Eddie O’Leary, shortstop, just got traded to the New York Robins, and if the locker room interview insulting his new teammates doesn’t prove he isn’t pleased, then maybe his historically bad batting slump does. Mark Bailey, reporter, is still grieving the loss of his former partner over a year after his death, and now he’s been tasked by The Chronicle with following around a bratty baseball player that he wants nothing to do with. But Eddie and Mark have more in common than they think, and there’s an attraction between them that could spell out trouble for a professional athlete if they’re found out…

Not to be dramatic, but I have been waiting to read this book all year (I literally requested it on January 1). I love baseball. I love queer love stories. I really enjoyed We Could Be So Good. Before even reading it, I knew I would love this book… and I was not disappointed. It’s full of just the right mixture of baseball and gay yearning. I am, however, disappointed that it’s over. When can I read the next one?

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - EXCELLENT

Holy crap I don't have the world to describe how much this book means to me. As always, Cat Sebastian's mastery of character crafting is evident. She created such loveable characters that I was invested from the get-go. The strength of this book is in all its feeling. Eddie and Mark spend so much of the book yearning - for each other absolutely, but also for queer joy and belonging. I felt so seen by their journey. Unfortunately the differences aren't so great between today's attitude towards queerness and the 1960s attitude and I felt the ache of every rejection the characters felt, every instinct to hide or downplay the queer parts of themselves. Rather than being clouded by homophobia, this book is unfailingly optimistic and defiant in its insistence that queer joy is still possible despite the parts of society that do their best to squash it. My heart was so full of feelings the whole time I was reading. I cried, I swooned and I laughed all the way through this absolute delight of a book. This is 100% going to be one of my favorites of the year (if not my favorite)!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Avon for giving me an ARC for one of my most anticipated books of the year 🥰

You may feel like you've read a billion grumpy/sunshine stories, but do not sleep on this one because it's definitely the best of the trope! I can always tell I especially love a book if I'm highlighting passages since I am not one to usually do that, but here I couldn't help myself!

Our Sunshine MC Eddie was just a character I loved from truly the first page. He's going through <i>a lot</i>, but he doesn't let it keep him down. He's truly a golden retriever bouncing around just wanting to play good baseball, make friends, and be loved.

"Eddie has to be careful, otherwise he's going to open his mouth and give this man five paragraphs of lunacy, starting with "You're pretty" and ending with "Are you always this bad at your job?" with maybe some "Can I touch your suit?" thrown in their to maximize the horror"

And grumpy Mark. He's truly been through the ringer, and is just coming out the other side of grief. A lot of times the grumpy MC doesn't seem to actually have a grumpy personality, but Sebastian completely nailed it with Mark. You just want to hug him (even though he'd hate it), and I loved the way his true personality unfolded as he finds his spark for life again.

"'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.'"

Set against the backdrop of 1960's baseball, this is a book that you want to savour. Every word, setting, and character feels intentional. It's cozy and comfortable and will definitely be in my top reads of 2024, if not the very favorite. Highly, highly recommend.

This romance was not quite up my alley because it revolves around sports but I still greatly enjoyed it and would definitely read other novels by this author.

I loved We Could Be So Lucky so my hopes and expectations for this book were very high.

And it’s safe to say it surpassed all of them. The writing is absolutely beautiful, and I may or may not have a million highlights.

For a book that deals with grief and the difficulty of being not just a gay athlete but one in the 60s; it manages to be incredible sweet and full of hope.

I greatly enjoyed Cat Sebastian's We Could Be So Good last year and this book, set in the same universe, was one of my most anticipated books of this year. To say it did not disappoint would be a vast understatement: I did not think it was possible to love it more than WCBSG but here we are. I am not one to typically seek out sports romances but I knew I could trust Sebastian with this one. It is definitely one of my favorite books of the year. Sebastian has hit a home run with this book in every sense of the word.

This is the story of Eddie O'Leary, a young and supremely talented baseball player, who has--to his shock and dismay--been traded to a new expansion team in NYC. He arrives under a media cloud, having made his intense dislike for this trade abundantly clear, and the media scrutiny remains focused on him as he sinks in
to a record breaking slump that nearly breaks his heart.

He soon makes the acquaintance of Mark Bailey, the brilliant and incisive book and culture columnist for The Chronicle, who has fallen into a slump of his own--one forged from deep grief and loss. A loss he isn't able to publicly own or express. Andy, the owner of The Chronicle (and one of the protagonists of WCBSG) has assigned Mark to write a series of columns about Eddie and an in-depth cover story about the expansion team itself.

Eddie and Mark come together under these awkward circumstances, both of them resistant and hesitant about the whole idea. Slowly, as the enforced proximity of this interviewer/interviewee relationship progresses, they learn more about each other, about themselves, and find commonality, understanding and trust in each other.

The progression of their relationship is simultaneously hilarious, deeply vulnerable, and emotionally complicated. Eddie's sunny but often unvarnished and uncensored personality meets Mark biting and grumpy self and somehow they find their way to not only understanding but a way of seeing what is under the surface, a way of comprehending the depths of each other in such a caring and deeply kind way.

Their banter is epic--funny and laugh out loud hilarious at times. Their vulnerability made my heart ache. The depth of their personal loss, their hidden lives and love, the way they want to fully be who they are was written so deftly.

Grief was handled in such a tender fashion. Mark is grieving when we meet him and his grief comes in waves and tsunamis as the story progresses. His past relationship and lost love felt palpable and immediate. The way the story wove his loss and grief in and allowed him to process it as his relationship with Eddie progressed was also nuanced and caring in its exposition. There were moments I was brought to tears.

It was impossible to put this book down. I became so invested in Eddie's slump, in how he was going to find his way in this new city, with this new team, this new relationship, the new realizations of what he wanted from his life. And much the same with Mark, with seeing him slowly climb out of the depths of his grief and with the conviction that he would not compromise in the future as he had in the past.

The secondary characters are brilliant--three dimensional and interesting, vital and engaging in their own ways. Sebastian gave them personalities and struggles, lives and qualities that made them compelling even if their presence on the page is infrequent and brief. Found family is apparent and the circle around Eddie and Mark expands as this book progresses.

Baseball and life are woven through the story and the metaphor of baseball as life is carried through and felt so natural and thought provoking at the same time. Deftly written and emotionally satisfying.

The book intensely touches on the topics of homophobia and risk of outing in the late 1950s and early 60s. It captures a glimpse of this time when a shift is coming. It also touches on the racism and bigotry that existed at the time and that echo to this day.

The idea of Eddie being outed as a queer athlete and what that would mean is an undercurrent throughout the book. It is something that occupies Mark's concern even more than Eddie's, and it is something they return to multiple times in the book but I felt the topic was safe in Sebastian's hands--I still found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something untoward to happen, much as I did when I was reading WCBSG, but Sebastian has my trust and has earned it. The other shoe doesn't drop, the anxiety of my expectation was unfounded and I am deeply grateful for that, for the characters and for myself as a reader. Sebastian's care for us both is evident.

This book, like WCBSG, is an emotional, warm, comforting read. Even though I had read WCBSG and knew that I shouldn't expect to brace myself for something hurtful to happen to these characters, I still found myself almost holding my breath for something that never came (and I knew in my heart would never come, because I trust this author with said heart). I did finally let myself relax when I had 30 pages left in the book and appreciated once more that Sebastian wouldn't do that to the characters or the readers. What a satisfying feeling--the contentment of a beautiful story told gently and kindly and with such heart and love and empathetic kindness. I finished the book with a smile on my face and such an immense well of joy for Eddie and Mark and their HEA.

Highly recommended. Five stars. My favorite book of this year. Another splendid Cat Sebastian book. I would gladly read more in this universe.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. This is my personal opinion.

This book is truly excellent. I laughed, cried, felt nervous and elated. I am forever a Cat Sebastian fan, and have loved all of her work so far, but this book felt like something truly especially even among her excellent books. The writing is precise, the pace is smart, and the characters are full. The book is intimate and startling funny. I loved it.

What a flipping adorable, lovely book. The grumpy/sunshine vibes in this one are immaculate. Mark is grieving, Eddie is struggling with baseball and yet there’s this pull between them they can’t resist. Mark is like a cat and so standoffish and Eddie sees through it and loves him for it. I’m not a sporty girly and I was still very engaged with the story. A well-rounded, interesting cast of characters as well.

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

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for a copy of this ARC!

4.5 rounded down to 4

Let me start by saying this: I am probably not uniquely qualified to review this book, but I am 1) gay and 2) a baseball fan since the womb, which I think gives me a leg up on, say, someone who knows nothing about baseball and is also straight.

You Should Be So Lucky feels a little like a love letter to baseball. It feels like watching the A League of Their Own series (and the movie, but in a different way). It's so familiar while telling a fairly unique story - to me, at least. I'll add here that I probably would not have reached for this if it was written by anyone other than Cat Sebastian; I trust Cat with my queer reader life.

The story follows Eddie O'Leary, barely out of a stellar rookie year and now sucking the life out of an already dead team, and Mark Bailey, who really no longer has a life, as far as he's concerned. I won't go into too much detail into their love story, because frankly that was less interesting to me and there are so many other excellent reviews that sing their praises. For me, this is about people falling in love, whether it be for the first time or in a new way, with baseball.

There's a passage later in the book where Mark remembers a conversation he had about a novel where baseball is a metaphor for life and how he complained about it. His partner responds "that nobody has ever written about baseball without it being a metaphor of some kind or another." Everything clicks for Mark in that moment, in that passage, a secret, much needed batting practice, and to me? That's the romance in this book. Mark, falling in love with someone but understanding the love that baseball inspires in others, even a little bit himself; Eddie, falling back in love with baseball after it let him down and makes him feel othered; George Allen, loving something so much he doesn't want to let it go, even as he gets older. Tony Ardolino and Sam Price, fighting for the sport they love to accept others.

And I think Cat Sebastian gets that - there is clearly so much accurate detail in the novel that can only be described as a labor of love. Mentions of the Philadelphia A's, prior to the KC A's, and the quirks of the Polo Grounds really got me good. Like I said, I trust her with my life. She hasn't let me down yet.

If you love baseball as much as I do, see the love story in the long suffering bad seasons and the elation of a playoff run, I think you'd enjoy this book. I know I did.

(Did I take .5 off for erasing the Mets? The world may never know.)

Extremely tender, incredibly romantic. Mark and Eddie have stolen my heart, and frankly they can keep it, right in the little gold box next to that key, knife and pencil.

Who would've thought a story surrounding a baseball player, his team and a journalist could leave a reader so besotted? All the characters, main and supporting, were absolutely lovely. Hats off to Cat Sebastian for writing the perfect historical queer romance. The time and dedication put into the history and statistics of baseball was evident. One thing this novel is proof of: baseball really can be a metaphor for anything in life.

So many heavy topics were explored and handled with care, making this much more than a queer sports romance. The struggles with identity, security, loss and grief—just to name a few—made the characters easy to connect with, and impossible not to root for.

I absolutely adored everything about this book and I have the dried, happy tears to prove it.

This was a very well-written book and Cat Sebastian is a talented author, but I wasn't in love with this book. I can't exactly place what about the book I didn't connect with. It might have been that it's historical fiction (I'm learning that it might not be my preferred genre), that I couldn't connect with the baseball aspect, or that it felt like it was longer or slower than it needed to be.

There are definitely people who will be obsessed with this book, I'm just not one of those people.

I loved Eddie as a MC; he is someone who loves with his whole heart, chest exposed. Sebastian writes beautifully to convey grief and longing all in the same page.

You Should Be So Lucky has me absolutely besotted and in love and so freaking delighted and content. It just made me really, truly happy.

"I don’t think I could have a single feeling about you that’s wasted.”

You Should Be So Lucky is set in the same world as We Could Be So Good, a couple of years later in 1960. It's a slowburn between baseball player Eddie who unexpectedly gets traded to the New York Robins and reporter Mark (who we met in WCBSG) who finds himself on his paper's sports beat, having to do a series on Eddie.

It's very much opposites attract, Mark's a bit of a prickly semi-feral cat and Eddie's more of golden retriever cinnamon roll. They're both sort of assholes though, and they're also both terribly lonely and dealing with grief in different ways but their jagged edges fit together.

They can't seem to stay away from each other, and it's obvious how fond they become of each other really fast. Mark especially isn't great at opening up but Eddie sees him like no one ever has before, he's way more perceptive than most people give him credit for, and Mark does the same for Eddie. It's the horrifying ordeal of being known and being accepted and loved for everything you are.

"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."

There's such fantastic character development alongside the exquiste relationship build. Their entire relationship is so sweet, and playful, and soft, and they have fantastic banter that made me laugh out loud several times.

Like with WCBSG, the time period makes being queer incredibly difficult, and being out a non-starter as it's illegal. Both Mark and Eddie struggle with issues relating to this and what it means for them in terms of identity, safety, and happiness, and Cat Sebastian does a great job of portraying this.

"It’s not just the burden of continually lying, it’s keeping your existence a secret. 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."

You Should Be So Lucky is such a gorgeous book, it makes me giddy just to think Mark and Eddie, and it was an absolutely fantastic read. I can't recommend it enough.

Thanks to Avon and Netgalley for the ARC. You Should Be So Lucky is out May 7

I absolutely love queer romances, but I’m very particular when it comes to historical romances. For me, Cat Sebastian is the pinnacle of queer historical romance novels. I love how this book is set in the 1960s, it makes it stand out in the sea of regency romances. Mark and Eddie are both fully formed characters who have excellent chemistry with one another. Mark writes for the newspaper, but he’s definitely not a sportswriter. When his boss tells him to start covering Eddie, a professional baseball player who’s in a bit of a slump, the two strike up a friendship that slowly morphs into a clandestine romance.

Cat Sebastian’s writing is so strong, everything about the story came to life. The locations, time period, and characters were all gorgeously described. The story, and the characters, acknowledge the hardships they face being queer in 1960. But we also get to see the ways they have community and support.

I loved seeing the small ways that Mark and Eddie started getting closer to one another. Like discussing books or having Eddie walk Mark’s dog. Another thing that stood out to me about the book was the way that Mark’s late partner William was handled. I’ve been annoyed in other romances where a character’s partner has died and that first romance was diminished like “oh I guess I never really loved them since now I know what love is like with you.” Or the new partner being jealous or weird about it. Thankfully none of that happened here. Mark never dismissed what he felt for William and Eddie was supportive of however Mark felt or needed to grieve. It just felt very healthy and refreshing.

Overall I just had a blast reading this book, I absolutely flew through it. I really hope that Cat Sebastian continues writing these mid-1900s queer romances. They’re just so fascinating.

4.5 stars

Another great book from Cat Sebastian set in the same “world” as We Could Be So Good.

Mark is a writer whose partner died of a heart attack over a year ago at a young age. Being that it’s 1960, their relationship was hidden so he has been grieving very privately.

Eddie is a young (22) baseball player recently traded to the newest expansion team in NYC.

Mark meets Eddie when his boss asks him to write Eddie’s weekly “diary” entry for the newspaper so the City can get to know the newest star player.

Other reviewers have noted the book is long and a bit slow in places. I don’t disagree; however, I realized that this book needed time for the story to unfold. It shows how risky their relationship was at that time.

Highly recommend for fans of this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I adored this book. Mark and Eddie's slow burn romance is one of the best I've read. I love their dynamic and their jobs. As someone who has done sports reporting for baseball, I wished I could have a fun romance like this which made me dive into the book without wanting it to end. The pacing was great and it kept me entertained throughout the whole book. This book single handily took me out of my reading slump and I want to read even more about Mark and Eddie

Eddie O'Leary is a closeted baseball player in the 1960s and has just been traded to New York City. When he arrives, he starts to experience a slump at the plate that all players hope they can avoid. In the midst of his adjustment to a new team, he is asked to be the subject of a weekly diary column writing by Mark Bailey, a newspaper writer who catches his eye immediately.

What follows their introduction and partnership is a mix of happiness and tragedy There is so much love and sadness woven throughout this novel - baseball, relationships, fear of being oneself - that this sports novel on the surface is more a story of overcoming grief and embracing the ability to live openly and honestly.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.