You Should Be So Lucky
Ratings8
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings8
Average rating3.9
An emotional, slow-burn, grumpy/sunshine, queer mid-century romance for fans of Evvie Drake Starts Over, about grief and found family, between the new star shortstop stuck in a batting slump and the reporter assigned to (reluctantly) cover his first season—set in the same universe as We Could Be So Good.
The 1960 baseball season is shaping up to be the worst year of Eddie O’Leary’s life. He can’t manage to hit the ball, his new teammates hate him, he’s living out of a suitcase, and he’s homesick. When the team’s owner orders him to give a bunch of interviews to some snobby reporter, he’s ready to call it quits. He can barely manage to behave himself for the length of a game, let alone an entire season. But he’s already on thin ice, so he has no choice but to agree.
Mark Bailey is not a sports reporter. He writes for the arts page, and these days he’s barely even managing to do that much. He’s had a rough year and just wants to be left alone in his too-empty apartment, mourning a partner he’d never been able to be public about. The last thing he needs is to spend a season writing about New York’s obnoxious new shortstop in a stunt to get the struggling newspaper more readers.
Isolated together within the crush of an anonymous city, these two lonely souls orbit each other as they slowly give in to the inevitable gravity of their attraction. But Mark has vowed that he’ll never be someone’s secret ever again, and Eddie can’t be out as a professional athlete. It’s just them against the world, and they’ll both have to decide if that’s enough.
Reviews with the most likes.
This is a disgustingly sweet story of a man who wants to be free to love and be loved, and when he gets it, is equal parts appalled and pleased. Mostly apalled.
Mark spends half the book annoyed to be falling in love, and the other half annoyed that Eddie loves him back, in precisely the way he's always wanted. It's too funny.
Friendship with kissing. Mhmm. Right.
💀'maneuvered into exclusivity' is objectively funny because you can't be unless you want to be. So Mark's not fooling anyone.
From 'You're better off avoiding me so people don't suspect you' to 'Eddie, I will go literally anywhere you go.' A love story.
"I’m telling you, Eddie, when you look at me, it’s obvious."
Awwwww. I love this for Mark because much as he loved William, he clearly hated being hidden and having to be careful all the time, and with Eddie, that's not even a possibility because he's so obvious 😂
“‘I don’t talk to him about baseball,’” Ardolino says, obviously imitating Eddie.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. I want this man to have a smidgen of self preservation.
There’s a harrowing moment at the end of the meal when Eddie looks like he’s about to cover Mark’s portion of the bill.... 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂It's too funny that Mark lives in constant terror of Eddie showing how into him he is in public.
“Sometimes when Andy’s late, I convince myself that somebody realized about us and decided to take it out on him.”-Nick(being categorically unhelpful)
Okay, so. Recalibrating. Nick's not the guy you go to for a pep talk.
“What if there are rumors—like, outside baseball? Public knowledge. In the newspaper. Do we have a plan?”
“I will chloroform you and take you someplace safe,”
AWWWWWW.
Also, an overarching sadness that permeates through this entire book.
'Secrecy is part of being queer, something he’s known for as long as he’s known that word.'
Which, I mean, is sort of what this whole book is. Which most historical queer romances are. There's never a broad HEA, just maybe an 'As Happy as Feasible, Considering...'
Bittersweet.
Featured Series
1 primary bookMidcentury NYC is a 1-book series first released in 2024 with contributions by Cat Sebastian.
