OOYL Book Club: June Selection

'The Prospects' by KT Hoffman

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The June selection for the Out of Your League Book Club is a little different for us—it’s our first fiction selection!

I have been enjoying our book club so much, and I appreciate everyone who is showing up and being so engaged with the discussion and the content. Thank you so much for helping build the OOYL community into something thriving and lovely. I couldn't do any of this without you all being here with me. The link to register for this event is at the bottom of this newsletter.

I’m thrilled to announce our June selection: The Prospects by KT Hoffman.

KT Hoffman

has written the sports romance I never knew I needed—a love story between two baseball teammates, one of whom is transmasc. I mean, how can you not be romantic about baseball, right? And baseball, of course, is SO GAY. And I love a transmasc baseball player, because obviously girls have historically been left out of the sport and for them to play at a high level has been very rare and nearly impossible and I love that there is a player who was an incredible pre-transition player and has post-transition success, too.

Anyway, that’s besides the point because this is a ROMANCE. A friends to enemies to lovers romance. A romance between middle infielders who have to be able to find a way to work together and build chemistry to turn double plays etc. etc.

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From the book summary:

Hope is familiar territory for Gene Ionescu. He has always loved baseball, a sport made for underdogs and optimists like him. He also loves his team, the minor league Beaverton Beavers, and, for the most part, he loves the career he’s built. As the first openly trans player in professional baseball, Gene has nearly everything he’s ever let himself dream of—that is, until Luis Estrada, Gene’s former teammate and current rival, gets traded to the Beavers, destroying the careful equilibrium of Gene’s life.

Gene and Luis can’t manage a civil conversation off the field or a competent play on it, but in the close confines of dugout benches and roadie buses, they begrudgingly rediscover a comfortable rhythm. As the two grow closer, the tension between them turns electric, and their chemistry spills past the confines of the stadium. For every tight double play they execute, there’s also a glance at summer-tan shoulders or a secret shared, each one a breathless moment of possibility that ignites in Gene the visceral, terrifying kind of desire he’s never allowed himself. Soon, Gene has to reconcile the quiet, minor-league-sized life he used to find fulfilling with the major-league dreams Luis inspires.

This triumphant debut romance reveals what’s possible when we allow ourselves to want something enough to swing for the fences.

Our Zoom event will be on Sunday, June 29th at 2 PM ET/11 AM PT. KT will be joining us for that conversation, which is only open to paid subscribers. The conversation will be recorded and sent out to everyone who registered for the event, so you can watch it even if you can’t join us live.

A few days before our Zoom meeting, I’ll send out another email with the link to the event, along with a companion syllabus of bonus material related to the book and its characters.

Access to the Zoom event requires registration. You can register for ‘THE PROSPECTS’ BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION at the link below: