Out in the Field

3.75

Hmmm ... I liked this. I did. Mostly because it turned out to be something completely different from what I thought it would be. In a good way.

Firsts off if you're looking for a down & dirty sex and later hearts & flowers & unicorns this is not that book. If you are NOT into baseball step away from this book. If you want a quick thank you ma'am? Not this book.

The first half of this book is very much a work place romance, it just so happens that the work place is a baseball team. I'm no expert but I felt like the author got a pretty accurate picture of the locker room dynamics and the whole pre game rituals & superstitions of the players. Iggy & Matt meet at pivotal moments in their careers: Iggy is entering his first year in the majors and Matt is on his last legs. Literally. There's an immediate attraction. At first Iggy is star struck and Matt is lust struck.
I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying that Matt gets traded and the guys realize that the “just sex relationship” which seemed convenient for two closeted players on the same team has changed and they forge ahead trying to work on a real relationship given the limitations that they have.

The book spans four years in the life of Iggy & Matt and that allows for a realism in the development not only of Iggy & Matt's relationship but in how they deal with being gay men in the world of professional sports and trying for honesty on and off the field. Perhaps the book would've benefited from some editing to make the story shorter, tighter. There could have been more narrative tension, more showing and less telling. I know some will quibble with so much baseball but it's a baseball book!

Being a New Yorker I feel that the author got the City right, at least geographically, but I highly doubt Iggy would be riding the train from Brooklyn to the East Side, more like a car service ... I'll let that slide because I did once have Keith Hernandez stand in front of me on the 5 train. He was headed to Yankee Stadium and I was on my way home so he had to switch to the 4 sigh. It was nice while it lasted but he was recognized. However being Dominican or of Dominican descent I have to take a stand on Iggy's mom making tamales! Unless the lady in question was Mexican or Central American and I missed that part? Tamales? NO. Just no.

Overall I enjoyed this book. Though the sexy times come on early and are indeed hot and though the MCs are pretty clear on their true feelings not long after, this book is still a slow burn because the story is not about them falling in lust and then love as is the usual story but rather what are you willing to sacrifice when your dreams change and how to balance life, love and career when it so happens you're a gay man in professional sports. There's angst but I'd say it is warranted. There are many good friends and family that surround them but we also get the ugly which keeps the story grounded and realistic.

Once again if you are not a baseball fan skip this because a good amount of the book if about the game.

This isn't much of a romance. I didn't feel much of a connection between the main characters other than the insta-lust and both having to deal with being a closeted athlete in the MLB. They're either having sex or agonizing about hiding their “relationship”. I have no idea what kept Iggy so attached to Matt, especially when the sex was taken out of the equation. Still, it was a quick and easy read and I was reasonably entertained.