Description

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.

About the Author

Cat Sebastian writes queer historical romances. Cat’s books include We Could Be So Good and the Turner series, and have received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist. Before writing, Cat was a lawyer and a teacher and did a variety of other jobs she liked much less than she enjoys writing happy endings for queer people. She was born in New Jersey and lived in New York and Arizona before settling down in a swampy part of the South. When she isn’t writing, she’s probably reading, having one-sided conversations with her dog, or doing the crossword puzzle.

Praise For…

"Cat Sebastian writes about love in all its forms with the care, warmth and effortless mastery of someone putting a homecooked meal in front of you. I don't know how she keeps getting better, or how she managed to make me care so much about a sport I know literally nothing about, but this one is--again!--the best yet. A truly wonderful and heart-healing romance about community, grief, perseverance, New York bakeries--and baseball." — Freya Marske, bestselling author of A Marvellous Light

"It's impossible not to be romantic about baseball in YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY. It's a book about second chances, the inevitability of failure, and the everyday miracle of finding--and deserving--love. As with all Cat Sebastian books, this one changed me irreversibly. For everyone who's ever had to come back from the worst thing they've ever imagined; for everyone who longs for life to be surprising and wonderful again. I never wanted to put this book down--I laughed, I sighed, I cried, and I know I will return to it many, many times." — Olivia Blake, NYT bestselling author of the Atlas series

"Another wonderful read from Cat Sebastian. This book was like a big warm hug, with wonderful characters you can't help but root for. Mark and Eddie stole my heart within the first few pages, and their story of love and growth, especially in the face of grief, will be a sure hit with readers." — Emma Denny

"Sebastian’s latest is full of grumpy/sunshine goodness, with an absolutely delicious slow-burn romance." — Library Journal (starred review)

“It’s not about the events [of the plot], it’s about the going through [them]. And the going through is wonderful: At one point a character makes some soup, and then later a different character makes more soup, and here I am weeping and prostrate because the reader knows what that soup means. … Queer oppression, the civil rights movement, white supremacy—these are tangible contexts in this novel, but they are not the subject. The subject: joy as praxis, love as liberation. You can’t do the big rebellions if you can’t start with the small ones.” — New York Times Book Review on We Could Be So Good

“Irresistible…. There’s plenty of conflict to keep the pages flying, but it’s the scenes of Nick and Andy’s cozy domesticity that truly shine. This wonderful period romance will leave readers just as giddy as its leads.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on We Could Be So Good

"[A] sublimely romantic love story." — Booklist (starred review) on We Could Be So Good

"This sweetly angsty novel...will appeal to anyone who enjoys reading opposites-attract romances with found family subplots.” — Library Journal (starred review) on We Could Be So Good

“The writing is stellar, the characters are divine, and the setting is wonderful. [We Could Be So Good] is an incredible book, and I can’t recommend it enough.” — Romance Reviews Today