Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

“I’m pretty fucking tempted to take you over my knee!” Nostrils flaring, chest heaving, Nico jutted out his chin. “I dare you.”

Famous last words

Keira Andrews has that special something that can make me read something completely out of my comfort zone. This one has lots I was excited about, but I generally avoid sports romance. But come on, how was I supposed to resist a book with a young, closeted hotheaded rookie and the veteran player newly traded to his team who said rookie had a massive crush on as a teenager? With spanking and a mild D/s dynamic in bed? I simply could not.

Nico is under a lot of pressure, from himself, his family, the team and the fans. He makes himself sick with nerves before every game, he struggles with internalized homophobia, has repeatedly tried to sleep with women in order to ‘be normal’ (his words), and had never planned on touching a man. Then in walks Jake, and their chemistry on and off the diamond is just too much for them to resist. They just made so much sense together.

This could have easily been horribly angsty, but it ended up being okay. That doesn’t mean it was angst free, but I thought the themes were handled well. Nico talking with his father made me cry a lot. A lot.

I would’ve liked an epilogue set a tad further into the future, but overall it was good.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Baseball players
Veteran/rookie
Teenage crush
Mild D/s dynamic
Closeted MCs
Size difference
Age gap
First times
‘good boy’
Restraints/rope play

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Mention of the death of a parent (past, cancer)
Internalized homophobia (MC)
Vomiting on purpose before games
Homophobic slur
Spanking (discipline)
Homophobic family members
Impact play
Face-fucking
Mentions of past racism/xenophobia
Restraints/rope play
Career-ending injury (older MC)
Hospitalization and surgery
One-time use of ‘slut’ during sex
Alcohol consumption (casual drinking)

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: The first chapter starts with Nico right after a hookup with a woman. There are no details, and the woman is nice. It’s there to show Nico’s relationship/struggle with his own sexuality. After the MCs meet again, they briefly spot each other while Nico is out to dinner with a woman. They just say hi to each other, no details about what happens with her. Neither of them see anyone else after being together the first time. Jake’s previous FWB is still a friend, so when Nico overhears them talking on video chat, there’s a situation with jealousy, but they talk it out. Jake was previously in love with his best friend and ended up driving him away. There is no current romantic feelings between them.
Breakup: No
POV: 3rd person, dual
Genre: Contemporary sports romance
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Strict roles
Main characters’ age: 22 and 34
Series: Standalone
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Pages: 240
Happy ending: Yes


He’d waited so long to say it out loud that Nico was suddenly struck by a soul-shaking tremor of fear, panic rising that if he didn’t get all the words out now, they’d somehow be swallowed too deep to ever surface. “I’m queer.” Nodding, Jake murmured, “That’s it, baby.” Tears burned Nico’s eyes. “I’m gay. I want cock. Always have. Always will.”

Marco’s forehead creased. “Fitz? What’s he got to do with it?” The other shoe apparently dropped, and his eyes widened. “Wait, Fitz is gay too? Holy shit, is everyone gay? How big is that closet?”

“That’s human nature, right? We don’t want something, but tell us we can’t have it—whoa, that changes everything. Whether we’re five or fifty.”



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