Cat Sebastian has always reigned supreme when it comes to historical queer romance and YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY is lucky (see what I did there) to be added to the list. Handling queerness in a time like the 1950-1960s where you could be blacklisted from your career if outed seems to be my recent hyperfixation, so I was eating this up. As also Cat Sebastian handles her characters with care and compassion and also doesn't have erroneous homophobia that makes me sick to my stomach which cannot be said for all historical queer novels. With all tof that said, I ate it up and you will too.

This was one of the most expansive romance novels I've ever read. I wanted to live in this book. It felt luxurious. Every page, every sentence, every plot point was so loved.

This is my second book by Cat and it lives up to the hype I had in my head. I loved We Could Be So Good by her last year, and I loved this one just as much. You Should Be So Lucky is set in the same world, mid-century NYC, when queer love was mostly hidden away. But this was so much more than a queer romance. It was a book of grief, longing (for love and for living authentically), and second chances. It is heartbreaking and real how her characters navigate being queer in 1960.

Eddie and Mark are both complex and relatable. Cat breathes life into her characters. You see their strength and their flaws and root for them anyway. I love how we to get to experience growth with both characters. I especially enjoyed how their initial connection beyond a working relationship was through sharing books.

Cat puts a great deal of research into her writing. I will certainly be working through her backlog and look forward to reading more.

I'm rounding up from 4.5. This is a lovely story of grief, struggle, perseverance and love. I don't typically pick up historical romance reads, although calling 1960 historical is a bit depressing(😆). The story follows Eddie, a 22 year old queer baseball player traded to an expansion team in NYC. He's blindsided by the trade news and his temper got the best of him causing him to insult his new team and teammates leading to an awful start in NY. Mark is a writer at the Chronicle, a NY paper. Well, technically Mark quit over a year ago, but he keeps showing up. Mark is grieving the death of his lover, William. Mark is tasked with writing about Eddie to help bring attention to the new team and maybe figure Eddie and his struggles out. Eddie is struggling in the new environment, his teammates aren't speaking to him, no one knows that he's gay and he has no friends close by. Mark takes the assignment and gets to know Eddie. They slowly realize that the other one is queer and that they can talk and lean on each other. It's a slow burn, but worth watching it unfold. It was great to see Mark trust Eddie's feelings and decisions and work through his grief. It was also great to see Eddie learn to embrace his new team and persevere through his struggles on the field. Eddie's confidence in their relationship was inspiring considering the consequences in the 1960 climate. The supporting cast of characters are fantastic and help move the story along. Great read.

Mein Leseerlebnis

In der ruhig erzählten m/m Baseball romance lernen sich zwei Männer über den Verlauf einer Baseball-Saison kennen und verlieben sich dabei ineinander.

Das Leben der beiden Helden wird von der Autorin mit viel Gefühl erzählt und als Leserin hatte ich kein Problem damit, mir die beiden Helden als echte Personen vorzustellen. Auch konnte ich mich gedanklich gut ins Jahr 1960 transportieren. Dadurch waren die Einschränkungen in der Selbstentfaltung der beiden Helden für mich greifbar und haben mich emotional tief berührt.

Auch wenn der Alltag der beiden Helden durch Einschränkungen in Bezug auf ihre Liebe geprägt ist, so wirkte der Liebesroman auf mich doch hoffnungsvoll und nicht deprimierend.

So schnell werde ich die beiden Helden und ihre schöne Liebesgeschichte nicht vergessen.

🖤🖤🖤🖤 1/2

Für wen?

Wer ruhig erzählte und zugleich intensive, historische Liebesgeschichten mag, die im Jahr 1960 spielen, dem kann ich die vorliegende m/m romance ans Herz legen. Und die Liebesromane der Autorin ganz generell.

Another utterly perfect romance from Cat Sebastian. You Should Be So Lucky deals with grief, family, and loneliness in such compassionate, gentle ways. The love story at its heart is so true, so generous, and so open-hearted, and I cannot recommend it enough.

This one took me through all of the emotions. I laughed, I teared up, I squealed like a school girl. Cat takes such care with the way she presents difficult topics. Mark was so special to watch transform from a grieving writer to a man in love. I loved how heavy this was on the baseball love/representation as I have been getting more and more into sports romances recently!

I will post a review on my instagram on release day. @thatbookishteach

I have yet to find a Cat Sebastian book that has failed to make me laugh, cry, and leave the story with a long list of new characters I will hold forever in my heart. You Should Be So Lucky continues the tradition.

We follow a journalist struggling with grief and heartbreak, and a baseball player struggling with anxiety, anger, and a batting slump the should-be rookie of the year should NOT be having. Mark and Eddie are meant to work together to create a weekly column that gives Eddie and his team some good press during his abismal performance, but something more precious than great pr blooms.

There were so many topics covered in this book such as grief, social anxiety, and fear of failure - all done with such care and nuance. This also takes place in the 1960s so we dive into what it meant not only to be a gay man in that time, but also a gay man in the public eye and I loved the honesty of that conversation.

I left the book wanting so much more of every single character and will be recommending it highly!

You Should Be So Lucky is a queer historical baseball romance about a young star shortstop in a batting slump and the grieving reporter assigned to write about him.

When I heard there was a book with all my interests in one niche subgenre, I knew I had to read it. And I’m glad I did! YSBSL is a slow and gentle delight that still deals with heavy topics like life after a loss you can’t properly acknowledge and living an authentic life when your identity is criminalized.

The (at first) reluctant writer and pathetic subject angle worked well for me. I loved Eddie’s faith in the relationship and his determination to win Mark over. And Mark slowly working through his grief and (crankily) falling in love. I was glad to see this was actually a baseball book, with both main characters (and most of the side characters) involved in the game in interesting ways that all showed major love for the sport.

My main/only issue was the lack of a significant plot. It felt like it dragged somewhat without high stakes or conflict going on. But I can see this as a plus for anyone who wants a softer read.

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

Cat Sebastian has quickly become an autobuy author for me with this follow up to “We Could Be So Good”. A beautiful exploration of grief, love, and living as queer individuals in the 1960s. I love the setting, both time period and in the world of journalism/baseball. The reflection on baseball as a sport and a culture made me appreciate how lucky I was to be raised as a fan and to witness games and sports history. I left thoroughly immersed in the life of a struggling player who is also just a human who is learning how to live. I also don’t think I’ve ever read a better storyline/description of a dog than I experienced with Lula. This was just so so perfect and I can’t wait to buy a physical copy and reread both books in like two months 😂

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC!

Cat Sebastian historical romance + baseball + grumpy journalist + down on his luck ball player? Sign me UP.

I was dying with questions about Mark Bailey after WCBSG. A journalist that reviews queer books in the 50’s and seems to have some secrets of his own piqued my interest. And baseball is one of the few loves of my life so I was all in for this book.

And I loved it. Obviously. It’s much softer in tone than WCBSG (which was delightfully angsty) but dealt with sadder material. But it never feels *sad*. It’s hopeful. It’s about being down on your luck and trying to get back to who you used to be before the Big Shift happened (Mark after his partner passed and Eddie after his career spiraled after being traded). And it’s two pretty unlikely lovers finding each other and working to be together despite the obstacles of y’know being queer in a time period where it’s illegal.

There’s a lot of grief work happening here. And I LOVED that Cat talks about how you can grieve things that aren’t people. Like your home. Who you used to be. The people that are still alive, but far away. And Mark and Eddie do it together. The relationship is cozy in the way all CS book couples are cozy. But they’re not without trials. Mark is afraid to dive in head first with Eddie due to almost a decade of hiding who he was and who he loved, to the point of finding out about his partner’s funeral services from the obituary section. But Eddie is so…optimistic in a way Mark needs. And Mark is level headed in a way Eddie needs. They’re so perfect for each other and it’s a slow burn fall before they get on the same page. But it’s perfect for them and their story.

Plus there’s a snooty dog that stole the page everytime she appeared. Go Lula, girl.

Thank you to Avon and Cat Sebastian for an ARC copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I rarely give five-star ratings, and now I think I've done three in a row. What's up with that? Never fear, the streak won't last—which is a fitting way to start a review of a baseball romance.

Cat Sebastian is so good at writing quiet stories, and this, I think, is my favorite of hers in a while. Even so, it's strange for a story about a professional baseball player to be as peaceful as this one is, and especially given the historical setting, I kept waiting for a horrible shoe to drop. <spoiler>It doesn't. Or... not <i>that</i> shoe, anyhow.</spoiler>

Despite that constant underlying tension (which is right there on the page, pretty much from the start)—and the many threads of grief and loss that run through the whole book—the men themselves are stalwart, and their love grows steadily and faithfully. I suspect I'll enjoy this story even more the second time through.

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

We are all lucky to be living in a world where Cat Sebastian is writing romance. This book is 2% plot, 98% character exploration and development. It takes a master of the craft to make a book like this work, to make it compelling and magnetic.

Sebastian deploys 3rd person present to great effect, showing us the evolution of Mark and Eddie’s thoughts about themselves and about each other. She has a knack for describing a feeling that is at once so specific and also so easily generalizable. With economical prose, she builds layers of understanding that seem to coalesce suddenly, conveying so much meaning in a single word or phrase or glance or touch that it takes your breath away.

Empathy is a through line in these books- Mark and Eddie are so careful with each other and what they are going through, individually and together. Sebastian never judges her characters for their insecurities or their choices, an especially fine needle to thread in this book when it would have been so easy to allow the reader to make comparisons between Mark’s former lover and Eddie. But Sebastian isn’t interested in anything that unfair or clean cut. Grief and opening himself up to love again show Mark different facets of himself without taking away from what came before. For Eddie, leaving home and facing adversity reveal new depths within himself too. And baseball is a lovely metaphor here- as with Eddie grappling his way to a new swing, each man learns how to construct the life they want with conscious choice and intention , no longer able to rely on instinct because they know what it feels like to lose something integral. Rarely does a book actually bring me to tears, but the precious, hard won emotional connections in this one did.

How to possibly enumerate the ways this book is amazing? Mark and Eddie connect through late night phone calls discussing books of varying quality with latent or overt gay undertones. Eddie has a praise kink (of course he does he’s such a good boy) and Mark likes anything as long as Eddie is intensely into it. Each side character is fleshed out- Eddie’s mom and coach and teammate, Mark’s aging colleague— none of them are tokens. Even Lula the dog has a fully realized personality! It’s a marvel. You know that feeling when you read a good romance and the sweetness and joy and love just bubble up inside of you even once the book is over? I’m going to ride that feeling for a while.

So achingly sweet and heartfelt that I’d inexplicably find myself in tears during moments that were decidedly Not Sad. And then, of course, there were the actual tear-jerker moments. I can’t get over how much the exploration of grief, perseverance, and piecing yourself back together affected me. This concept doesn’t only apply to Mark, but Eddie, as well, and even Eddie’s team. How do you keep going when you’ve suddenly lost parts of yourself so integral to who you are? Or, when it seems like no matter how hard you try, you just keep striking out? (literally)

Books on grief are almost always guaranteed to hit me hard, but there’s an added layer here that makes it even more affecting. Mark is grieving his partner of several years, William, and their relationship was kept secret to protect William’s career. To know how deeply you have to love someone to conceal such a huge part of yourself and know that you would’ve done even worse just to have a second longer with them. To not know if they ever would’ve given everything else up to be honest about their relationship with you. To even live in a world that forces both of you to make these awful sacrifices. As if it’s not already utterly devastating to mourn someone so important to you, to have to do it all alone because nobody even knew about your relationship just leaves me at a loss for words. This doesn’t shy away from the weird ways grief can manifest itself and Eddie is SO understanding and lovely about it that it made my heart hurt. Mark deserves nothing less.

So basically…there were a lot of tears. Yet through it all, it still felt like a warm hug. There’s just something about how queer people and queer love are portrayed with so much care and compassion, especially considering the time period. And it’s not a Cat Sebastian book if I don’t abuse the highlighter. Why is she so good with words!! The power that the word “ours” alone can hold. The fact that such a simple concept can be so profound.

It’s impossible not to see how masterfully Sebastian writes romance. With electric tension and beautiful, organic development between captivating characters that blossoms into the sweetest, loveliest, most domestic relationship, it’s an absolute pleasure to read.

Oh and how can I forget to mention the way they bond over books, specifically queer books!! The importance of queer literature and representation Got Me in We Could Be So Good too, but here it’s even more salient to Mark and Eddie’s relationship. They frequently bond over books, and I’ve never been so jealous of anything in my life.

Huge thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having thoroughly enjoyed “We Could Be So Good,” I was delighted to receive an ARC copy of “You Should Be So Lucky” from NetGalley.
After finishing the book this morning, I find myself still processing its impact. It left me with a mix of emotions—happiness, hopefulness, and a touch of sadness as I don’t know what to do next. I’m not ready to leave these boys behind!. This book is only my second read of Cat Sebastian's writing, and there's something undeniably romantic yet grounded in reality about her style. Each sentence feels purposeful, and says so much. I would not advise skimming anything - you’ll miss so much depth!

Moving on to the story itself, I found both Mark and Eddy to be such loveable characters, though it's nearly impossible not to adore Eddy. His love and yearning for his mother and the simple joy of meaningful conversation resonated.. Set against the backdrop of 1960s NYC just a little after “We Could Be So Good,” the narrative delves into themes of grief, secrecy, and the complexities of love during that time period. The baseball element, while present, doesn't overwhelm the plot— especially for readers like myself who have read many(many!) baseball-themed MM romances.

Comparing it to its predecessor, I think I found “You Should Be So Lucky” even more endearing, primarily due to Eddy's character, though Andy from the previous book still holds a special place. I'm hopeful we get to see more of Mark & Eddy in the future (Please Cat?!)
“You Should Be So Lucky” is a beautifully crafted story with swoon-worthy dialogue, a hint of spice, and a celebration of love. It earns its place as my second 5-star read of the year.

This book is unrelentingly romantic. Sweetness and light - and angst and heartbreak and grief and homesickness and strength and fear - and found family and acceptance and love.

I confess I read this, went back to read “We Could Be So Good” and then read this a second time.

I love that this is set in 1960s NYC, the view of this time in particular is interesting, just after the second Red Scare and just before Hippies, free love, and the Vietnam War. There’s an active gay subculture - especially in NYC - but at the same time secrecy is extremely important. Each of the characters in Cat Sebastian’s books deal with this struggle a different way and bring different baggage along with them.

The contrasts between Mark Bailey, book and art critic, inheritor of money and servant to Lula the dog (who is also heartbroken and grieving), and Eddie O’Leary, midwestern shortstop (that’s a baseball field position) whose life is upended when he’s sent to New York - and finds out, live on television. Eddie’s loneliness in his new situation reflects Mark’s, and it’s something they recognize in each other. Eddie is not used to hiding himself away, though, and like a stray cat he keeps approaching Mark until they’re thoroughly entangled in each other - to the delight of everyone else involved, including Lula.

Sebastian is a prolific writer - you know what you’re getting when you pick up her books - and this one is delightfully one of the best. This can be read as a stand-alone - side characters in this were the featured couple in “We Could Be So Good.”

How is it possible for a book to be so low-angst and yet make me cry at least 10 times?? I loved this so much - I read it in 1 sitting and then started it over again. I think it's one of her best ones yet and that's saying a lot if you've read any of her other books!

This book follows Mark, a reporter (ex-reporter?) a year and a half into grieving the loss of his partner, and Eddie, a professional baseball player who is in hot water after a not-so-great public reaction to a trade. If you've read other Cat Sebastian books, you know low angst is kind of her specialty (and why I will read every book she ever releases the moment of their release). This one is no different! The thing about Cat Sebastian is that she doesn't need to stress me out with the plot when she can emotionally wreck me with her character's own emotional turmoil. Mark's grief was so real and complicated and anytime it came up I was immediately a puddle on the ground.

If you enjoy any of Cat's other books, especially We Could Be So Good, or the Cabot series, you will probably love this. I was so, so excited to receive an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Thank you Cat Sebastian for writing this romantic heartfelt story ( and thank you to NetGalley an Avon for providing me with an ARC) . It is the story of Mark, a feature write that has been assigned to ghostwrite a weekly diary for a baseball player (Eddie). Mark is traveling through his grief over having lost his partner of seven years to a heart attack. Eddie is new to the team (an expansion team with a terrible record). Before joining the team, he bad mouths it to the press, so none of his new teammates will talk to him. Eddie is a bit of a golden retriever and Mark is a cynic. But oh how they complete each other Cat Sebastian has crafted these characters in to such complex and real men. At one point Mark talks about a book that uses baseball as a metaphor, and Cat is clearly doing that. A metaphor for moving forward, having hope, allowing yourself to love completely. This was such a lovely book. It is set in 1960 and certainly acknowledges the horrors that require folks to remain closeted. Which makes the journey to love so brave. I just loved these men. I recommend it completely.

Many thanks to Net Galley for the advance reading copy of this eBook. This review may contain spoilers.

I’d recommend this book to people looking for a M/M historical romance that deals with topics of grief, visibility/erasure, and found family. For people interested in the love scenes, this book is definitely open door, but not very explicit. I think the strongest element of the book is the dedication the author had to crafting a believable, but optimistic, historical romance in the context of queer men in sports and journalism in the late 50s/early 60s. The weakest is the prose, which I’m assuming will probably be a lot more tightened in the final book. Overall, I think some line-by-line editing is what would benefit this book most. I wouldn’t mind reading more from the author, at some point.

Grammar and spelling were fine—consistent, and overall unnoticeable—while syntax and word choice were clear and straightforward. There’s a noticeable repetitiveness of names within sentences (I.E., “Eddie’d like to know how divorced from reality this lady has to be to think that Eddie can’t talk to reporters”) and occasional awkward phrasing (I.E., “Luis yells at me in Spanish if I even look at the paper”). I think revisions paring down on repetition would polish the book off quite a bit. Otherwise, phrasing was very linear and easy to understand. Dialogue struck me as a little unnatural at times, particularly when the book is trying to be funny, but it’s solid enough and I imagine will be tightened up some more in the months before publishing.

The narrative is put together well enough, though it feels a bit less focused towards the end. The overarching structure, with dual point of view split between Mark and Eddie, each section being dictated by month and season, works well to show the passage of time without sacrificing pacing. Depth of perspective occasionally felt a little off: most of the time, it’s very anchored to the point of view character for that chapter, but a few times, it unmoored a little and had me double-checking whose chapter it was. I would have liked the secondary plots, like Mark’s article, George’s health, whatever was going on between Tony and Constance, etcetera to get a little more screen time. I think that would have also helped to fill out the passage of time without making things feel too rushed or too slow, especially towards the end of the book.

I appreciate that the author didn’t boil the characters down to individual tropes without depth. While this book is marketed as grumpy/sunshine, and it meets the qualifications, the characters extend beyond those labels, too. This book deals with an issue I have with a lot of grumpy/sunshine dynamics head-on: often the “sunshine” characters are infantilized by authors, other characters, and readers, without any acknowledgment of the fact. While this book definitely does show people infantilizing Eddie, there’s also a clear awareness in the narrative that he’s a grown man being infantilized. While it’s not directly called that, this is one major conflict at play in his relationship with Mark; Mark has trouble allowing Eddie the dignity of risk regarding his sexuality, and this is something that gets addressed and resolved. Especially considering Eddie seems to be coded as neurodivergent, I appreciate the effort made to avoid infantilizing him within the overarching narrative.

I think the author did a decent job at actually establishing dynamics that feel like found family here; so often that label falls flat, but there’s depth to those dynamics here. I think this is an extension of the fact that the extended cast are treated as characters with their own interior worlds and lives off-screen, which is something I wish more romance books had. I will say that I wish the rest of the baseball team beyond Eddie, Ardolino, and Price had a bit more screentime and development. I also wish there were more development put into Mark and George’s dynamic—the skeleton of it is there, and it’s solid, but some more scenes of the two of them before the heart attack could strengthen the impact. As a disabled person, George Allen’s character arc around losing ability really resonated with me; I would have liked to see more of George in the story.

I noticed several times throughout the ARC that the author only seems to specify a character’s race and ethnicity when they’re nonwhite. I understand lots of authors do this, but only acknowledging the identities of marginalized people and not that of cishet white people contributes to the misconception that privileged identities are the “default” and are to be assumed if not specified otherwise, so it’s worth pointing out, in my opinion. There is also a bit of implicitly ableist language utilized in a way that feels neither intentional or purposeful which I think could stand to be adjusted. The use of “slow” as a pejorative (as in “slow in the head”, a popular euphemism for the R slur) and negative use of the term “handicap” (which is not inherently bad when used to refer to evening the playing field for disabled people, but when used negatively to refer to detriments, it can do harm), are two instances that stuck out to me in particular.

I appreciate that, while the book is ultimately optimistic, it also doesn’t pretend that things were—or are—easy. I get why a lot of queer romance novels don’t focus on that aspect, and pure escapism has its place in art too, but sometimes, it’s just nice to feel seen in the more difficult moments. Along those lines, I often find that romances treat closeted characters (and by extension closeted readers) in a way that comes across as demeaning, judgmental, and cruel. This book, thankfully, approaches the closet with compassion and nuance, discussing the difficulties of being closeted and dating a closeted person without playing into harmful ideas about closeted people owing it to people to come out. There’s also a lot of empathy towards people experiencing addiction in this book, which was very refreshing to see.

I was a huge fan of We Could Be So Good and was very eager to read You Should Be So Lucky. Mark is grieving and Eddie is homesick. Both are uniquely lonely in a big, busy city and in ways most people wouldn't probably understand. Their friendship and relationship develop in such a lovely way. They learn more about each other and understand each other better and it's beautiful.

I loved this book! I absolutely devoured it, staying up later than normal, unable to put the book down! I felt for Mark and Eddie and the unique struggles they faced. Watching the ways they overcame it together and separately was delightful. There were moments when my heart ached and moments when I couldn't stop smiling. It was a joy to read! I love a good baseball book and this did not disappoint in that regard! As Eddie (and Mark) settled in with the team, it was easy for the reader to do so as well.

The themes of loss, grief, and loneliness were handled so carefully and done so without making it a sad book. It was happy and about two people finding each other when they really needed to. It's easy to feel the emotions these characters are feeling.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for this ARC!