The Last Day Of Summer

by J.F. Smith

Rett’s done some running away in his life, from family and from boyfriends, and he’s not above doing it again. His current boyfriend wants to take their relationship to the next level, which makes Rett hesitant and doubtful. Luckily, a job offer in a new town solves his problem for him, giving him the perfect excuse to run away yet again from the uncomfortable feeling of someone trying to get close to him, even if it means picking up after seven years of school and starting over.

Most guys would kill for his new job, and Rett’s certainly desperate for the paycheck. But the irony of the new position isn’t lost on him — he’s never cared a whole lot for sports, and even far less about the world of professional sports, which is right where he’s landed. Then he finds out he’s not the only one that’s new to pro sports, and he gets closer and closer to one of the players as they try to make sense of the whole crazy thing together. And things seem good!

But when his family, whom he had long since left behind, shows back up with a family crisis, his life starts to unwind and Rett allows everything around him to painfully self-destruct. It’s only then that he realizes he’s got to get back up, stand his ground, and teach himself the one thing he never truly learned growing up.

He’s got to stop running away and finally learn what it really means to be a man.

Genres: M M Romance, Sports, Romance, Contemporary, LGBT, M M Sports Romance, Baseball

495 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2013

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's official....I am an emotional wreck!
I've read all three novels by this writer, but not the short story.
It was only after reading about 50% through this novel that I realised we have a follow-on story from "Falling off the face of the Earth," and oh is this good.
I know absolutely nothing about Baseball apart from it seems similar to the game of Rounders here in the UK but I now want to know more.
This novel is exeptionally well written. The characters are well developed, the plot is highly emotional.
All three novels have explicitly verbose characters but Val is the first female character to be written with these traits. Hysterically funny.
Although these are stand alone novels, I would recommend reading "Falling Off the Face of The Earth" prior to this novel, you'll realise why one of the MCs is so special.
Erotically charged yet hardly any descriptive sex to speak of. If you like your M/M romances graphically pornographic this is not your sort of novel. If you prefer romance and love-making, this is it. If you liked Sean Kennedy's novel "Tigers and Devils" you'll love this.
I recently joined the M/M Romance Group here on GRs and recently readers have been asked to comment on what they did not enjoy about the novels in this genre. It would be impossible judging by the comments for any author to write the perfect novel. We are all different and have differing expectations. Personally this novel is one of the few that have come the closest to perfection (for me) in this genre.

[Elithanathile · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the EASIEST GAZILLION stars I could possibly give a book <33333!!!! Yet again, one of this author's books has become one of my ultimate favorites <33333333!!
Finished this wonderful delight in 2 days ... this book, a 500 page dream, felt like it was only 10 pages long!! I could have read on and on and on, I just didn't want this book to end <3333333!!!

***** I just have to add that I find it almost criminal how under acknowledged this author seems to be :-/!! Yes, he has a following and yes, those who've read his books ADORE them! BUT, I think too few people know about this phenomenal author and his books!! More people need to know! Everyone needs to know!! I'm pimping this author and his books to EVERYONE!! *****


More thoughts to come VERY soon!!

************************************

Favorite quote::
“Maybe,” suggested Cory softly, “you could point out that I was named Mobile’s most eligible bachelor.”
“Motherfucker!” shouted Rett. “I knew you were gonna bring that goddamn article up! I cannot wait until you’re yesterday’s news so I can have you all to myself again!”
Cory leaned his head back again and gave Rett a conciliatory kiss. He said, “I defy you to name one single day where I was anything other than ‘all yours,’ Rett.”

~ ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️!!



Another favorite quote::
“Rett looked up at Cory, who was smiling broadly at him. He scooched forward across Cory’s chest and they kissed. They kissed and Rett couldn’t help but think about Jimmy’s advice —love him and you’ll get one of the biggest hearts you’ll ever run across in return. Sometimes, like now, it felt like too much. Like he could never measure up to what Cory deserved, like he could never give back as much as Cory gave him. But he loved him with every ounce of his being, and hopefully that was enough. Hopefully the man that Rett was, what he had become, was enough to be worthy of him. If not, then he’d have to become even more for him. Anything, for him.
The kiss slowly trailed off until they were only looking at each other from a few inches apart, Cory’s eyes holding tight to Rett’s in the yellow streetlight. Rett reached up and stroked the side of Cory’s face slowly, silently thanking him and telling him with his own eyes that he’d do anything for him. Anything.
A contented, satisfied grin swept over Cory’s face while Rett watched him closely, both of them looking forward to as much time together as they could get in the off-season months. Cory brushed the side of Rett’s face delicately with his hand, sending a brief hint of glove leather to Rett’s nose. Cory’s eyes glinted in the faint light of the field. He grabbed the baseball in the dirt next to him and began to push himself up. “C’mon, chief, let’s toss the ball back and forth a few times.”
“Just you and me.”

~ WOW. WOW. WOW. ❤️😍❤️😍❤️😍❤️😍❤️!!

[Kaje Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rett is a young man who left home at 18, after a fight with his father over the fact that he is gay. He's managed, mainly via loans, to support himself through his education and become licensed as a physical therapist. Now he needs a job, but no one local is hiring. So when his current relationship falls apart, he's eager to avoid his old boyfriend and willing to look further afield for a position.

There is a mysterious job posting across the state, and when he is offered the job, Rett discovers he's being hired by a major league baseball team. Despite a dislike of sports, driven deep into his psyche by his father's harping on sports prowess as the sign of a "real man", Rett takes the job. As he gradually becomes comfortable with his new position and the guys on the team, he finds out he has more in common with rookie pitcher Cory than he realized. A pro ball-player can't be out-and-proud, but Cory is definitely gay, and eventually is willing to take the chance of revealing that to Rett. What began as hopeless attraction to the straight guy on Rett's part, becomes a chance at real love.

This story has a good contrast between the main characters, with near-perfect Cory, whom I loved for his sweetness and heart, and Rett, who turned avoidance into an art form, but had hidden strength. There is a sweetly-developing love story as these two turn to each other in secret, making time to be together and sometimes being driven apart by the demands of Cory's position. There were some nice moments of humor, and a few painful realizations.

I enjoyed quite a few of the secondary characters, including snarky and slightly selfish BFF Val, and the various teammates and family, (although Cory's dad was a bit much on one occasion). There were a couple of plot twists I definitely didn't see coming, and in this case, with the focus on the slow relationship development, kudos to the author for not writing the obvious, but implausible, would-need-another-whole-book-to-deal-with-it pro-player comes out ending.

I had a problem with Jimmy and the interactions which drove the climax of the plot. Jimmy's action bothered me a lot. Cory's parents liked Rett, and there had been nothing I could see that would set Jimmy off, no huge flaw that should push him into giving Rett a "test" like that. It was a horrible thing to do to a young relationship that was just developing, in a difficult situation, with undercurrents he as yet knew nothing about. Even if Rett had answered the other way, it could surely have soured the relationship between Cory's old friend and new lover for a long time. And why did no one ever call Jimmy on it afterward? There could have been other more-believable ways to drive a similar climax, given all the real pressures against this relationship. And then the various resolutions of all that emotional pain were rather fast and smooth. But I did really feel Cory's hurt and loved his responses.

The baseball in this seemed quite authentic. The fade-to-black sex felt appropriate to the tone of the story, and didn't detract from the romance. It was a good, absorbing read with only a few stylistic rough edges, and moved faster than the length suggested. And it has a satisfying happy ending.

[Dia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books was full of action. And when I say full, I mean it's crazy full of baseball. I knew next to nothing about baseball so I was glad one of the main characters was as clueless as I was.
Cory, well he was a sweet character. He was a professional baseball player, he was hot and extremely nice.
I was glad I meet Val. She was super funny. And also tough.
This book felt light. I've read it pretty fast since I kept turning the pages. We get many sweet moments, but don't expect hot scenes here. Overall it worked for me, but I just expected a little more.

[Arthur · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

Rett (Everett)'s father had treated him like shit since he was little, wanting him 'to be a man'. But, Rett didn't have any interest in things associated with 'being a man', like sports, car, etc. Instead he liked talking about boy's band with his female friends. So, after graduated from high school he ran away from home and never had any contact with his family. It became his modus operandi ever since: each time he had trouble, he ran away. In college, he went to became a physical therapist and had a close friend, Val.

Unexpectedly, he was hired by Alabama's professional baseball team, Alabama Joe's. The fact that Rett didn't know anything about baseball (or any sports) worked for his favor: the team wanted him to be a physical therapist, not unofficial strategist or someone who spent time thinking about the team but not his job (the previous one was fired over this problem). There, he met Cory, a rockie player. Things developed from friendship, then became more.

After a series of bad events, Rett made a shocking decision that made everything fell apart. Did he have what it takes to make things better again? Or he just ran away like usual?

This book is a sequel to Falling off the face of the earth. It had been 10 years since events in that book. Still, we meet many characters from that book, notably Cory. He was the 14-yr old boy whom James (here, he was called Jimmy) helped.

I really liked the Falling Off and the author's other book, Latakia. There are similarities among three of them, which I like:
- the MCs are thrown to a new group of people (landscape crew, Navy Seals, baseball players).
- At the beginning of the book, the main characters are either in the relationship or just end.
- An over-the-top character (Jerry, Pete, and here, Val)
- good supporting characters
- good message

Unlike Falling Off or Latakia, though, I am not that impressed with this book. There are parts which are nice, but others are quite melodramatic.

- The writing is a bit choppy. Too many telling, even for things that are happening in the story!
- The insertion of the message (to be a 'man') is a bit too forced, crudely hammered throughout the story, not smooth
- Uneven pace. The build-up to the conflict is a bit too long, but suddenly it explodes very fast over a series of trivial miscommunication or over-sensitive feelings. And then, in a week, everything goes well with nothing happened except Rett realizing how he has fucked up.
- WTF plot, unnecessary angst: Out of blue, Jimmy (yes, formerly known as James in the other book) offers to pay Rett $100 thousand if he leaves Cory alone, and Rett accepts the offer so he and Cory broke up. Just like that. I think there's other way to create conflict.
- Unbelievable situation, such as a pro baseball player talking over cell-phone during the game. And that's not just one time.
- Unlike with Petey, Val's exaggerated banters are not working for me. It's too much and does not serve a purpose like Petey. As if the author considered an outrageously crude character a must in order to make a good story.
- The family situation just work out itself
- Cory became the most famous rockie, so the stake is higher for their secret. Yet, this issue goes nowhere.
- Cory is just too perfect.

I felt sympathetic for James, Brock, Matt and Mope. Here, a bit for Cory because I felt I already knew him for long. But not much for Rett. He's a bit too whinny for my taste.



I have a feeling that the author tried too hard to recreate his successes that he went with two unfortunate routes:
- formulaic aspects (new environment, Jerry/Pete/Val character, and so on)
- shocking element simply to make it different from other stories

As a result this is an okay book, with some good elements, but nowhere close to his two other books. It doesn't matter, though. I'm still looking forward to other book(s) from this author.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a sequel (spin-off) for Falling Off the Face of the Earth and features Cory, who was kind of like a surrogate son to Jimmy and Brick. Cory is all grown-up now. He's playing major league baseball for the Mobile Joe's as a pitcher. But it's really Rett's story that is at the forefront here. Rett, in a moment of desperation to run away from the boyfriend that's pressuring him to move in, applies for a job as a physical therapist in Mobile. He has no idea that he's just accepted a position to work for the major league baseball team until it's a done deal, but he finds that he likes it a lot more than he ever thought. His dislike of all things sports stems in large part from his experience with his dad as a child. Newton, Rett's dad, was afraid that Rett wasn't going to be the "man" that he wanted him to be (he suspected he was gay), and verbally assaulted him through all of his growing up years. When Rett turned 18, he left home and didn't look back.

While working for the Joes, Rett starts a friendship with Cory, who is also alone in a new town. His friendship with Cory teaches Rett what it means to actually be a "man" and it's a much different definition than he was led to believe, due to his father's constant taunting. All these years later, Rett has to decide if he's willing to get beyond those years and become the man that he was always meant to be.

First and foremost, this book is ridiculously funny. The wicked, a little bit inappropriate but gut-wrenchingly hilarious dialogue is the hands-down star of this novel. Rett and Cory have an undeniable chemistry and their interaction is spot-on perfect, but my favorite character in this book, and definitely at the top of my favorite characters of all time, is Rett's best friend Val. Val is all Rett has had for family for seven years, and the bond that they have is strong. They have an enviable "we can read each other's minds and say whatever we want and the other person understands because we've been together for so long and understand each other so well and love each other so much that we can get away with it" type of relationship. I love them together and loved Val even more when she becomes the impetus to cause a huge change in Rett's life.

I love this book. LOVE it. Like buy it a ring and ask it to marry me type of love and, if that doesn't work, tie it down and bring in the preacher against it's will kind of love. Even if this book was just funny and nothing else, I would've loved it. But it was so much than that. Rett spends the entire book struggling against this ideal of manhood that was drilled into his head from an early age and that he despised because he was told he was an utter failure. It's this confusion that his led him to run from anything good in his life, and it takes hitting rock bottom to understand that being a man is much different than he thought. My favorite scene (and there are many) is when Rett comes to this realization after a dramatic, over-the-top but so damn romantic display:

"Everything Rett had learned about being a man was so wrong. So completely wrong. Sometimes, being a man was surrendering everything to another, giving them absolute power over you, putting your fate entirely in their hands. And then accepting whatever decision came of it. The coward, the boy, would shy from that and run away from it. The boy would be selfish and want to always make the decision, to control it, to be in the lead. Rett now saw himself doing that at every critical point in his life. He could play back every time he had done that in the past, but now he could see it through different eyes, and it was shameful to him.

The man knew when to surrender, to yield."

Read this book. If only to read the argument about who gives the shittiest blowjob, because it had me laughing until I cried. It's funny and romantic and touching and long and cheap (only $2.99!), so. . .you know, what's stopping you?!?

[Xing · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you haven't already read J.F. Smith's Falling Off the Face of the Earth, I recommend you strongly do. The Last Day Of Summer (TLDOS) takes place in the future, featuring characters from its predecessor, including new characters as well. While it is NOT required to have read Falling Off the Face of the Earth, it would greatly enhance your reading experience. Plus, it's a great book so you should give it a shot anyways. :)

The posted blurb does a good enough job explaining the premise of this novel, so repeating it seems unnecessary. What this book is ultimately about is second chances. The chance to forgive. The chance to make mistakes. The chance to realize it's okay to make mistakes, but it's what we do right after that matters most. And my favorite: the chance to give others a second chance as well.

The book is also about family and friends. The rich cast of characters, both old and new, bring a certain life and charm to this book. Val, who is Rett's best friend, definitely wins category for "Best BF of 2013." Then there's Cory, the love interest, who will make your heart clench, your eyes water, and slap the silliest smile on your face. There's Cory's family (who I will not list in case you haven't read FOTFOTE). Also, you can't forget some of the baseball players like JJ, Josh and Gunner. Or the general manager, George and the secretary from hell: Rosemary. Gosh, the list goes on and each of these characters are such a treat to read!

But oddly enough (or maybe not so), my least favorite character was Rett! He plays the denial AND blame game. He makes stupid choices because his head is shoved so far up his ass and is too busy throwing a pity party for himself when the BIG shit hits the fan. And he stays like this for around 70% of the book. My only salvation from him was whenever he's interacting with the other, more likeable/interesting, characters. Good thing he does eventually change - it made the reading experience so much better!

So what can you expect when reading TLDOS? A book about what it means to truly be a "man." About the significance of second chances for oneself and to others. Of the love we all take for granted among our friends and families. This is the type of book that makes you want to remind your best friend about how important he or she is to you. Or call your family (whether that includes a mother, father, siblings, or people who don't fit in any singular category) and just hear their voices on the other end of the line.

What this book isn't about is the whole "gay athlete coming out of the closet" followed by the media frenzy that follows. While the issue of coming out for gay athletes is addressed, this isn't where the plot is driven.

My only real complaint was that the story felt like it dragged a bit in the last 15% of the novel and the occasional proofreading mistakes. But you know what? For a book that is about 150,000 words long and priced at $2.99, I'm not complaining too loudly. I've also learned a good amount of information about baseball after reading this, LOL.

JF Smith is one of those authors that makes me need to buy more Kleenexes at the store, because my box almost ran out with this book!

Edit: forgot to include this bit, but there is no explicit sexing going on here! It's all off the page. Sorry ladys and gents, but I loved it nonetheless.

[Trisha Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love JF Smith and his books are a classic example of why I read m/m. He can take a character and when I would normally hate them his writing makes me love that character. What more can I say about that? Not much, it was amazing to have the chance to read a book where I could see a character grow and become a better person in the end. So much of this book had me laughing or saying, aw.

Rett was the main focus of this story. I know most people would have had issues with him. Personally, my heart broke for him. He was a man that had a lot taken from him and had not been shown much affection in his childhood. His struggles were his own fault, but I could see why and even understand why he was the way he was. It was beautiful to see his relationship with Corey develop and grown into something healing and truthful.

The Last Day Of Summer followed Rett and we got into his relationships. New and old ones. Good and bad ones and it was that, the relationships he had that made me fall in love with this book. Val, his best friend and only real friend was an interesting character. I'm not really sure I liked her. It will always be a maybe for me on whether I did or not. I could understand her frustration though, just not everything she said or did.

Cory, I loved Corey in Falling Off the Face of the Earth and I loved him even more in this one. The way he was as a character was just wonderful and I thought he and Rett were perfect together. Even though there was a glitch, I had high hopes for these two. They suited each other so well and it was lovely to watch them grow and learn how to be with each other.

They did exactly what summer nights were meant for, and it came to both of them naturally.

Rett's father... I have to say that man, no matter what happens with a sequel or not, I will never, ever like him. Some may not hate him, others may. But, I am one that could never get past one thing in particular. To me, it was worse than if he had physically attacked Rett. That is just my opinion though. I have little left to say about that man.

Overall, I would say this book was amazing. JF is already a go-to author for me and I am super excited to read more of his future books. It would be incredible to see Cory and Rett sometime. I loved the pair and I could say that the ending satisfied me, but I still want more of them.

Highly, highly recommend this book!

[haletostilinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ended up adoring this one!

I wasn't sure how I would like this one, seeing as how this was my first J.F. Smith read, but I loved this!

There was no explicit sex in this, but I went into reading this knowing that - and I'm telling you guys just so you know going into this - so I was prepared. But it ended up not really mattering that much to me because what we did get between Rett and Cory was charged with sexual tension, and their kisses were woo boy they were something. Especially their first kiss, damn!

So the sex they have is talked about and fade to black, but what we DO get before that is very good ;) Kinda like if we were watching it on a TV channel, with the hotness leading up to the fade-to-black sex scene.

Anyway, it's a little bit of a bummer there's not explicit sex, but what we DO get is quite something, so that made me happy ;)

Plus, this was more of a character piece first and foremost, I felt, than a romance. Not that the romance isn't a big thing, it is, just that it felt like Rett's story more than Rett-and-Cory's story, and the romance was secondary. We only get it from Rett's POV, and it was all about Rett getting to a good place, with Cory for the most part being in a good place.

The only thing with Cory is that he has to be in the closet because of baseball, which is hard, but he does it because yeah, it is going to be super hard to deal with if he ever does - Cory is out to his family and a few others in this, but he still hasn't come out to the world by the end of this. Which is understandable because as big as he gets in the baseball world, it's still his rookie season. He needs time to get to a place to be ready to be out in the baseball world.

I don't think there is even any out baseball, basketball, football player actively playing in real life rn too. There was that one guy in american football but i heard he didn't get far, or isn't playing anymore? Anyway, I digress.

This was an engaging, character driven romance story that really took its time to flesh out all the major characters. Another baseball player on the team, JJ, became Rett's close friend, and then Cory's as well, and he was the only one on the team who knew about them, but he was amazing. I loved JJ, he was so kind and sweet and fun, and the best friend to Rett.

Then you had Val, Rett's BFF, and she was an interesting character. She goes too far sometimes, but what she says to Rett to get his head out of his ass is so true I was like "yesss, go offff on this guy!" when she was yelling at Rett. He needed it to see what he was doing wrong.

And Rett...oh Rett....for about 70% of this book, you just want to hit him over the head and yell at him "WTF are you doing???" Not that there isn't anything to like about him in that time. He just does a LOT of running and avoiding and not wanting to face ANYTHING difficult. And I mean anything. Any time a conversation got even remotely uncomfortable or hard to deal with, Rett would bail - or try to bail.

And then what he does at 66%!!! I WAS LIKE WTF??? ARE YOU DOING??? I swear I wanted to reach into the book and smack that boy.

His behavior is inexcusable. But! BUT. Rett really starts to redeem himself once he gets his head out of his ass.

And Cory! Damn, this man was amazing! And at times, yeah, I felt he was too good for Rett - but then once Rett DID start making amends then yeah, I was like "you're worthy of him" but YEAH. Cory is...such a sweet guy. And like Jimmy says to Rett - "Once Cory loves you, he gives you his heart and it is one of the biggest hearts there is" something along those lines. AND IT IS.

Like this boy! When Rett screws up at that 66% mark, once they see each other again...Cory doesn't even blame Rett! Like how good of a person is this? I know i'm not that good, because I would have been pissed at Rett and chewed him out if if I did love him lol.

But Cory is just so...selfless, so understanding, so kind. Yeah, Cory isn't perfect - he has his moments of panic when people do, or might, find out he's gay, and he uses the "f" word pretty easily - and yeah I know he's gay and he can use that word, but it still is an uncomfortable word to use even if the person using it is gay. But anyway, Cory isn't perfect, but he's a wonderful, kind person.

And his parents! Oh man I loved Jerry, his dad. He was funny and hilarious but also kind. Cory's mother too. But Jerry is like the polar opposite of Rett's father.

And speaking of Rett's father! UGH! He is a HORRIBLE human being. But yeah, even he gets shown his complexities as a human being. I still think he'll never deserve Rett's forgiveness, but he at least owned up to his past behavior as was willing to try and fix it. Did that make me like him and forgive him as a reader? Fuck no. But it did make me see him as a human character, not just a villain rolling his mustache.

But, it made me happy that Rett hadn't forgiven his father by the end. Rett was the bigger person (he even thinks that he has to be the bigger person) in letting his father even try to be better, but I guess when it is your family, you have a little more room to start to forgive. But Rett is still weary and still being cautious, which I loved. I would have hated it if Rett had easily forgiven his father..

Rett's journey in this book was amazing. From how scared he was of confrontations in the beginning to how strong he was, and how almost...easy it became for him to stand up for himself was wonderful. Not all of it became easy, but he stood his ground at the end, even when he wanted to run away. And he became so much more settled and happy.

The love he had for Cory was adorable - and the way Rett would think he didn't deserve Cory but that "he loved him with all his heart" just *happy sigh*

This exchange between Rett and Jimmy is one I particularly loved:

“I want Cory back. I want Cory, damn it!” Rett shouted, “Cory’s the best thing that ever happened to me and I want you to stop fucking pushing me away from him!”

“Why, Rett? Why should you have Cory?” demanded Jimmy.

Rett ran his hands through his hair furiously, “Because a week ago I finally realized what he was to me! I have a baseball sitting on my counter at home. It’s the one that Cory and I tossed around together the first time I ever did that with anybody and actually enjoyed it! He smells like the soap from the clubhouse shower, but his left hand smells like the leather of his glove. Because I secretly love how he makes me sing along with him to Blondie songs! He calls me ‘chief!’ He’s every god damn thing to me! He’s every god damn atom in the universe to me!” Rett was practically screaming by the time he finished.

Even if the romance wasn't quite front and center in this book, it was still a very big thing in this book, and these like the above passage made my heart melt.

We get to see how much Rett and Cory love each other, even if they stumbled along the way to getting to a good, solid place.

This was an excellent book, and I loved it. Solid, very good writing, with complex, real characters and a wonderfully written romantic relationship. Three things that I LOVE when reading a book - especially a romance book ;)

So yeah, I'd expect to be first and foremost a character exploration - a very good one at that - but with a wonderful romance woven throughout, with solid secondary characters that have their own complexities and their own mini-journeys along Rett's.

A DEFINITE yes for me, and for sure one you guys need to read, if you haven't already. LOVED this. 5 very solid stars <3 Thank you so much for the recommendation, *~*~*Kael*~*~* :D

[wesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew Cory would be a person larger than life while reading Falling Off the Face of the Earth, but I get to see it in action in The Last Day of Summer. This book is all about second chances. Life doesn't give you a manual to know what is right from wrong. God, that's so boring. So you get to make mistakes every now and then. Sometimes, they're so small that they can be fixed easily, other times they can be gigantic and the aftermath is not easily repairable. But the fact that you get a shot at correcting mistakes is a miracle in itself, such that life's not so much of a stuck-up bitch after all. Mistakes can leave you blindsided at times. Man, you wouldn't know what hit you. But what you do after that is your choice. Swallowing your pride is never easy. Letting go of the grudge can be a tough hurdle to get past to. But it has got to be worth it, right? The way JF Smith writes Rett and Cory's love story has left me with crazy butterflies all over my stomach. At times while reading, I feel like my heart's going to burst from all the emotions I'm experiencing. The way words are used to lay down the story-line is just astounding, and don't even get me started with the character building. I just adore their chemistry and their good banter. The feels is strong in this one.

Earning that second chance is indeed a miracle in itself. But having to do everything not to let that chance go to waste, now that is pure hard work.

[Dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Well-written humourous m/m romance centred around baseball, erotica occurs off scene in this one. Rett Dougherty suffered from an abusive childhood at the hands of his homophobic father Newton from whom he ran away aged 18. Seven years later, Rett is hired as a physical therapist by the Mobile Joes baseball team. He is attracted to rookie pitcher Cory Pritchart (Bigfoot).

"You're so worried about what someone might do to you, you never think about what you're doing to them," said Val. "Summer's over, Rett, and you're not a child anymore! Be a man, for once! Finally! Be a man and stand up for yourself and face people. Be one for yourself!"

[Ulysses Dietz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most important line in this book is in the very first part - in the prologue. Rett Dougherty, as a child, says to himself after another crushing emotional defeat at the hands of his parents: "But all he learned was that arguing was stupid. Getting people to see your point of view didn't work."

Thing is, we don't know how important that line is until the end.

What ultimately fascinated and surprised me about J. F. Smith's latest book, "Last Day of Summer," was what it didn't do. Although every thread of the plot seemed to be aiming at the public coming out of a Major League Baseball player, that never happens. Indeed, that event is taken off the table with a discreet series of discussions in the course of the story. While the whole "who will be the first major star US athlete to come out publicly" notion is very much in the news these days (at least in the national circles of gay men who think about these things) - Smith interestingly decides to go somewhere else than the obvious direction. And I must say, I admire him for it.

Rett Dougherty is a 25-year-old physical therapist who hates sports and was run out of his home at 18 by homophobic parents. Somehow he lands himself the job as physical therapist to a big league baseball expansion league based in Mobile, Alabama - the Mobile Joes. And then he falls in love with the team's closeted new rookie player, Cory Pritchartt. Uh-oh.

But, for all the expected, gently and discreetly handled romantic arc of this couple's romance (there is no real sex described in this book, unusual and possibly welcome for the genre), it is, ultimately, not really about Cory and Rett as a couple struggling against the world's prejudice. The story, surprisingly to me at least, is about Rett's own struggle to understand and face up to the demons that have not only damaged his life, but have hurt others along the way, and threaten to take away everything he loves. His parents may be the tools that started the damage, but his own responsibility is, in the end, the crucial key.

While I was not and am not completely comfortable with the inevitability of sports stars remaining closeted - because the damage that causes is hard to calculate - I suspended my own discomfort in this case to try to embrace the characters Smith has lovingly set out before it.

[GymGuy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book! I read this one and Latakia back to back. I think I'm glad I did, because it gave me some perspective as this formulaic writing style. This formula seems to include a "Mars" environment laced with a heavy dose of "Venus". The two main characters include the big, quiet type who falls in love with the "Everyman." There are plenty of quirky characters, some sympathetic, some not. Lots of touchy-feely dialog, and a good dose of tear-jerking scenes.

First off, I want to say that I generally don't discuss thematic material in this MM genre, mainly because there few books that have enough thematic material worthy of much discussion. This book was different.

I saw this story as better than Latakia. I felt that the themes were better developed and the plot line was much more (but not completely) believable. This story revolves around the themes of what "manhood" really is, second chances and facing one's own "demons."

Both MCs have their own individual "demons." Cory's is that he is not willing to risk coming out for fear of reprisals within the MLB community. I was reading this at the same time that Jason Collins came out. I felt that made this story a little bit more poignant. Rett's demon is dealing with his verbally abusive father. While I felt his character was as little over-the-top and a bit high-maintenance, he did, in the end come to terms with his family issues. One weakness in the book was the final conversation with his father: I just felt it was a little (if way) too simplistically handled. However the issues of hurting others by simply running away from problems is deeply explored as well as the lingering damage.

Smith uses the little poem "Itsy bitsy spider" to launch his second chance theme, that often we get a "do-over" in life and then develops a story about the courage it often takes to take advantage of that second chance.

These themes are developed through a really sweet love story. There are plenty of sexual references, however there is far more love-making than sex...my kind of story.

Good read. Probably worth a re-read at some point.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. I'm going to sort of include Latakiaand The Last Day Of Summer in this review. I am a huge fan of book covers with a sexy naked male or two. They are up front about what you can expect from the story. They are hot, they make you want them and by association, the book. JF Smith doesn't put sexy, scantilly clad men on his covers. You can look at one of his books and not know what you're getting. Some people might even call his covers boring. I will admit to having Latakia on my Kindle for a long time before I read it. The cover just didn't grab my attention. It's pretty, but not HOT! Never has the old adage "Don't judge a book by it's cover" been more appropriate.
I don't know much about baseball. I do know that I am a huge fan of JF Smith's work. Everything I have read by him (ok, I've read all his books) has been absolutely fantastic. Great characters, realistic emotions. I fell in love with Rett and Cory and most of the team. There was one character who inspired such anger in me I wanted to crawl into my Kindle and slap him. I am sure that was Smith's intention. The story that JJ told about why he was so tolerant and calm when faced with racial slurs was beautiful and I ugly cried while reading it. This particular book had an extensive cast of supporting characters, some of whom were featured in an earlier work, Falling Off the Face of the Earth. I had to immediately read that one, too.
The most valuable lesson I learned while reading this book was to never start a JF Smith book any time other than early on a Saturday morning so I would be able to finish it before bed time. I spent several nights reading both of these books into the wee hours of the morning!

[Anke · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Up til about 65% this was a 5 star read for me, but then the author wrote a development into the story, that brought me totally out of my reading flow and for me was not consistent with Rett's character during the story. It took quite some time for me to get back into the story; it happened gradually, the ending was nice enough, but overall the spell was broken.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characters in this book shone and really made me laugh, smile and cry a bit. The reason I gave it a 3 is because it could have been excellent if the author had used the services of a good editor, or even a mediocre editor. I didn't love it, but I could've, and that's a shame.

[Hemmel M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story but two things made me dislike the book. The utterly unrealistic behavior of both Val and Jimmy.
And why do al those men cry when sad?

[ReadingAgent · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - 2.75 OK, this was a toughie to rate. I had high expectations of this book because I love the author's writing style and her previous books. And I did enjoy the first half of the book. But I had two major issues with the book that effectively colored my perception of the entire story.

My first major issue is with Jimmy, who seemed wholly unlike himself based on his behavior in his book, Falling Off the Face of the Earth. I just cannot understand why Jimmy took it upon himself to interfere in Cory and Rett's relationship. Sure Jimmy and Cory are close and have a special relationship, but:

1. Cory's an adult now and can make his own decisions
2. Cory's parents are fine with Rett, so why does Jimmy have to butt in?
3. Even if Jimmy did have serious concerns about Rett, why not get to know him better or even talk to Cory first before trying to "bribe" Rett? I get that the "bribe" was just a test, but I think Jimmy really overstepped his bounds and caused problems where otherwise there would have been none.

My second issue is with Val who was way too judgmental for a best friend. Yes, Rett has a tendency to run away and hide from his problems. As Rett's best friend, Val should encourage, nudge, and even nag him to do the right thing. But Val's words and actions were downright belittling and manipulative.

The real kicker was when Val "broke up" with Rett. She tells Rett:

"Maybe you deserve a taste of your own medicine."
"Goodbye Rett. I don't think we're really friends anymore."

First of all why is she so riled up and "in pain"? Rett messed up his relationship with Cory. He didn't do anything to Val. Where is her "pain" and self-righteous anger coming from? And dumping Rett and then ignoring his calls and messages is really hypocritical from someone accusing another of running away and not sticking around to fight for a relationship or fix a problem. Really Val? What's that saying about people in glass houses not throwing stones? And then when Rett apologizes to Val... Ugh!!

A few minor things:
1. Why did Cory not get mad at Jimmy for his interference? I'd be pissed if someone--even my closest, dearest friend--mucked about in my life.
2. When talking to JJ and Josh on the bus about having gay fans, Cory says: "I'd give an ugly girl an autograph, why not a gay guy?" What?! That is so offensive on so many levels, I can't even begin to count.

[Romance · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have come to truly love this author. At first, I saw 477 pages and read the reviews which both made me reluctant to start this book. I am so glad that I did and will end up rereading it many times.

I usually need a bit of "steam" in my romance novels. For me, physical intimacy helps to create or deepen a bond between characters. With JF Smith's characters and writing style I just don't need it. The writing builds such a strong relationship that I don't miss it.

Rhett is such a real character. He is funny, witty, damaged, and brave enough to try again - in life, love, family, and friendships. My heart strings kept getting pulled with his definition of being a man. I have read hundreds of gay novels and no other character exposed me to a gay man's struggle. So many seem to be uber male military types or twinks. I loved tackling the stereotypes of a man having to be good at sports, love cars, and show no emotions. God, Cory was such a great antithesis to this. He was a professional athlete who wore his heart on his sleeve. Cory teaches Rett that a man is a good person who makes mistakes, apologizes for them, and then tries to make amends for them. He felt the most real to me in his reconciling scene with Rett. I am brought to tears just thinking about.

Overall, great book and so worth the time. You'd be a fool to pass up this book for $2.99! I'd pay at least ten times that.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite M M Romance authors because he puts his full concentration on the story. If you're a reader that is into this genre only to read hot man on man smexing, then these are not the books for you. If, however, you enjoy being swept up in a story that has thoroughly fleshed out characters, emotional journeys and fantastic relationships, then I recommend all of JF Smith's work!

I loved reading Corey's story, especially from the perspective of his complicated partner with a past, Rett. As a supporting character in Falling Off the Face of the Earth, readers first met Corey and saw what a great kid he was. Now an adult, Corey is a dreamy grown-up version of himself. It was so wonderful to have an update on his whole hometown family, and to have an all-new story to fall in love with. Such a good read!

[Arch Bala · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!!! I think if you read this first before Falling Off The Face Of The Earth – some people may be wondering what’s the dealio with Jimmy. I actually read this first not knowing that Jimmy has got a book of his own so I immediately downloaded said book and totally understood why he’s THAT protective of Cory. I loved the realistic scenario between Rett and Cory – with regards to being in the closet to protect his career. Just delightful! Full review to follow!

[Nichole (DirrtyH) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ultimately, I really enjoyed this book. It was an adorably sweet love story, wrapped up in a bigger story that was all about Rett's growth. He had a great character arc and I loved that. I found the writing somewhat clumsy at first, but it smoothed out pretty quickly and any flaws disappeared behind the great dialogue and fantastic secondary characters.

The fact that this was a story set in the world of Major League Baseball was a double edged sword for me because on the one hand, I love baseball and so reading anything that includes baseball is a major plus. On the other hand, I love baseball and thus am extremely picky and unforgiving of any possible mistakes when it comes to the portrayal of the game.

This book actually portrayed it pretty well. Waaay better than the last baseball book I read, where everyone was raving about how obvious it was that the author was a true fan and I was scratching my head trying to figure out how the visiting team got a walk off win. It was not flawless, though, which confused me. The author got so many things spot on, I don't understand how he/she missed the fact that the first two foul balls are strikes. There were a few other issues but I attribute those to artistic license because they all seemed to be fairly intrinsic to the plot. (Except, there's no "inactive roster"! You're either on the team or you're not. If you're on the 40 man roster but not the 25, then you're in the minor leagues playing so you can hone your skills and get up to the majors. Players with potential don't just sit around in the dugout/bullpen doing nothing.)

Okay, so I got that off my chest. But overall this was a great book. Rett could be very frustrating and he does something about 3/4 through the book that will have some of you metaphorically throwing your e-reader at the wall. But I was able to give the story some leeway here and roll with it because I kind of understand what it's like to get really insecure and suddenly decide you're better off just completely ruining everything and being self-destructive. I don't know where that urge comes from but I've been there.

Great story! Recommended.

[Relly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best

5 🌟💫

Re read

Still one of my favourites.
I love Rett and Cory. I love the way they bounce off each other and the humour that is thrown around.
We first met Cory in Falling off the face of the earth, and it’s great to see he is still the same sweet person, being drafted in the Majors doesn’t change him.
I like Rett, I find him really quick with the humour and love his interactions with others. I also enjoyed watching him and his family work to try and repair the damage, it was good to see work actually being done, there was no easy fixes.
I do dislike the part with Jimmy. I understand why it happened and can even understand how it happened, but it still kills me and isn’t my favourite part.
I enjoyed the secondary characters and the fact that they all had their own personalities that we got to know in the friendships Rett made along the way as he learned who he was.
Reading this one is like returning to old friends and I can’t wait to do it again and again

[Jilrene · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I really, really enjoyed this book. Cory and Rett are so real. I didn’t want to put my Kindle down, but I had to go to work. I was hooked before I even realized it. The story is told so well. We only get to know Rett up close and personal through the 3rd person POV. That was ok, though, because everyone else’s actions are clearly described. I loved the way so many of the characters had flaws. No one was perfect. Except maybe Rosemary. just kidding Seriously though, Rosemary is one tough cookie. Anyway, this story actually only take place over 5 months. It is really long, and there were a few times I got a little anxious at how the story would end. It was perfect, by the way. There’s no contrived angst, no wild plot holes, just a journey to happiness for two cool guys.

I took away points for a real humdinger of a baseball error at about the midpoint. It was just so bad I was thrown out of the story and could not let it go.

[Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to start...I am always pushing for people to read this author...always! He is fantastic at building storylines and MC's are always someone I feel like I either know or want to know...He keeps you truly invested in his work to the point you don't put the book down till you finish...I have loved every single work and this book is no different. It is a fantastic story that is definitely worth a read. All my friends on here...GET THIS BOOK....I will not give anything away because I hate ruining books and movies for people, but I promise it is worth your time. It will be going into my favorites list and I WILL be rereading this work of art.

[The Bursting Bookshelf of a Wallflower · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Day Of Summer was a lovely, slow developing romance between two great main characters. I enjoyed the pace of the book, the many details and background information given and the ups and downs the boys had to go through. I also liked the baseball setting, even if I have no connection to this sports at all! J. F. Smith is a great writer, he manages it to suck the reader in, to make him feel everything the main charcters are feeling. I will definitively look out for other books by this amating writer!

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book--- grabbed me, had me ROFL, made me love the MC's, then let Rhett screw up again, trounced on my heart, whipped him back to sense, gave him a spine, righted wrongs and I am now a happy emotional mess. Wow, I love Mr. smith's story telling ability. This has almost everything I would want in a contemporary romance.
I assume a sequel is not in the offing, but boy would I pay beau coup bucks to have one.

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-read 2018

What can I say? JF smith has become on of my favorite authors.

[Dumbledore11214 · Rating 5 out of 5]

REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED AT REVIEWS BY JESSEWAVE, I PURCHASED THE BOOK ON MY OWN THOUGH.

4.5 stars rounded to 5

I have waited for the next novel from this writer ever since I read (and reread and reviewed) Latakia. I am always delighted to find a self published book that I would enjoy and this author has consistently produced work that I have enjoyed very much so far. I have actually reviewed all his previous works here, but this story is kind of a sequel to Falling Off the Face of the Earth, so I suppose it counts as series . Cory from that story is not a teenager anymore, he is a young man and a talented baseball player who made it to a fictitious team in the Major Leagues .

Just so you know, I know very little about baseball and understand even less of it . I am in a very similar situation as Everett (Rett) who is the narrator in this book when he hands a job as a physical therapist with the same team where Cory is starting with.

As the blurb tells you this is a journey of self discovery and growing up for Rett as much as it is about his romance with Cory. I would say that Rett grows and changes more than Cory does, but Cory was also a wonderful character who in my opinion also had t0 learn a few things, like what are the most important things for him in life. I think it is truly amazing how this author manages to write such down to earth love stories and it does not matter how unusual (or glamorous) the setting is. Every time Rett and Cory were together on page, even when they were just hitting the ball (or throwing ball, or is it the same thing?), I wanted to sigh happily.

Those readers who have read Falling Off the Face of the Earth would be quite pleased to meet not just Cory, but also see some other characters from that book make small appearances. I have to admit though, I thought one of the plot turns involving one those characters was unnecessary and weird. I thought that the same thing could have happened to Cory and Rett because of their insecurities rather than adding the artificial "icing on the cake". But I was not too annoyed because it was clear that the conflict happened because of who these guys were and that annoying plot turn to me was just unnecessary little extra.

All of you baseball lovers may ask me if there is actual baseball in this book? Considering the fact that the story is first and foremost a story of the building relationship and story of growing up for Rett, I would say that there was plenty of baseball at least as a very well detailed setting, if nothing more. Opinions may differ on that of course.

I thought the author cleverly avoided an information dump about baseball by having Cory and some other players explain the very basics to Rett first, however when he shows a couple of practices and a game or two, my eyes began to glaze over a little bit. Again, please note that it is hard for me to determine whether enough of sport was shown for someone who loves it. I can tell you that it was much more than in some other books that claimed to be sport romances, but this is not the treatise on baseball. The author brings up a lot of different baseball related information which I have no idea whether it was correct or not, but he managed to get me interested at least in some of it.

Now there is a of course a fantasy element in the story of an ordinary guy falling in love with a young star of the MLB. I liked how the writer tried to ground it in as much reality as he possibly could. We already met Cory in the previous book as a very likeable but ordinary teenager who was going through a rough time, but also had a lot of support from his friends and family. Cory just did not feel as a "celebrity" to me and when he makes an ultimate romantic declaration I completely bought it (of course love is more important than being a celebrity baseball talent )

And if you think that this is one of those stories of the player coming out to the world, think again

[Sunne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, review to follow. Now I have to make lunch for my family who waited paitently until I finished the book!!! The awesome book!!! I want back...I want back in the book...omg, I think I reread Falling of the Face of the Earth immediately after lunch...*sigh*

Dear Mr. Smith, thank you so much for a book that is not flashy, not overly sexed up, not even overly fairy tale but wonderful, awesome, heartbreaking, even realistic and ...did I mention awesome?

Soooo - I'm back, I had made lunch and I now try to put in words what I think about his book.

It's.....insert speechless moment here....special. It starts normal but very quick slides into the funniest trash talking I've ever read. Rett lives with his best friend Val - a very resolut woman. Those two together are better than many comedy shows.

Rett becomes a physical therapist for a baseball team. He knows probably as much as me about baseball (German here - no clue) but it didn't matter even when the book lost me on the details of a game...I still got the emotional effect. He is a quick at repartee guy, gives as good as he gets and becomes friends with most of the players soon enough.

And he gets to know Cory (who is a character from the above mentioned Falling of the Face of the Earth) - now a new Major league player.

How they become friends and then lovers is written utterly charming, funny, believeable. I loved how they talked with each other, like...who was giving the worst blow job. But don't forget that Cory is still a closeted sportler.

But it's not only a lovestory. Rett has to work through his own hang ups, his father had tried to make him a man for 18 years without any regards for his nature. So - there comes the moment Rett fucks up, does what he thinks he deserves and others want from him. It is devastating and I cried ...duh...which means I couldn't put it down last night until I got over the hard part.
Yes, they come together again and it was so great!!

What actually made me love the book even more, was the fact that J.F. Smith didn't create a "coming out" story. At the end Cory is still a closeted sport star and Rett will still have to cope with that. But their love is so unique and shiny and storng, I feel good about it.

And btw. Anything...you promised. OMG - this is adorable!!! Just saying Mr. Smith. I want a Cory for myself (oh, wait...I have an adorable hubby...but I still want a Cory).

I need to say something else. Rett goes through a development where he realizes that he himself is resonsible how his problems turned out. Mainly it's his moment of awareness that he has to face things instead to run away. His final message is that it is okay to fail if you stand up and try again. That's all nice and true...but I think he had put too much blame and responsibiltiy on himself for some of the hard moments in his life. What his father had said to him was reason enough to leave and now to feel responsible for the fact that at 18 he hadn't thought after that what his leaving would do to his brother (who hadn't been harrased by their father)...I want to cut Rett some slack here.

Don't expect much visible sex in the book, they are very erotic and/or hililarious funny moments but we don't see much.....and it really isn't necessary.

This is the third good book I've read from this author - who hopefully will write more. I personally think it is his best book so far and because I have given the other ones already 5 stars I would love to give this one even more...Alas...goodreads doesn't allow more than 5 stars.

This is so far my personal favorite for 2013.
Do I need to say "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"....go buy it, really, don't wait. It's even laughable cheap.