Striking Range: an MM romance

by Hunter Bailey

Sky and Evie have been best friends for a decade; they know more about each other than they probably should. Evie is vibrant and energetic. Sky is a devoted friend, and maybe a bit full of himself, but you certainly didn’t hear that from Evie.

But after Sky’s 22nd birthday party, when things begin to change, the two men realize there is a lot more to a person than what they let you perceive. Each keeps one thing close to their heart, unwilling to reveal their shame completely.

How do they handle not knowing each other fully? What happens when friendship shifts into interest, lust, and deceit?

Can either of them truly survive stepping into striking range?

Genres: M M Romance

422 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2026

Reviews

[Sarah]

So, this is the story of Sky and Evie who have been best friends for 10 years. Evie is straight and always been with girls. Sky is gay but no one knows, and also a virgin. Evie does have lustful thoughts sometimes about Sky but he always push them away, esepecially because of his asshole homophobic father. Sky is a virgin because he never found someone to his standards. Until things start to get physical between Sky and Evie.

I saw this book on my kindle home, and I was craving best friends to lovers story since it is my favorite tope. So, I went in blind since it only had 1 review. If I waited few hours before starting it, I would have investigated more cus I was then told by a friend here, thank you so much @patrícia🩷, that there is an MM FB group where you can ask questions/spoilers. Alas, next time😕

This was an okay book. I didn’t love it but I also didn’t hate it. There are things I liked and things I didn’t.

I didn’t like:
‼️‼️might contain some spoilers‼️‼️
- The fact that Evie slept around a lot while Sky is still a virgin in all ways possible.
- The OP drama and on page scenes:
After Evie and Sky share 2 very passionate make out sessions (14%), Evie is at the bar with a girl named Ashley and she is rubbing him down there, and kissing him and he is kissing her back, tongue and all, while staring at Sky. Then angry Sky dances with guy named Jacob in an intimate way, which makes Evie angry (28%). Although this bothered me cus they already kissed, I kinda moved on because it was 2-sided jealousy. so I let it slide.
- At 34%, Evie and Sky exchange BJs and handjobs.
- At 45%, after Evie tells Sky there is nothing between them, Evie goes on a date with Ashley to the bar where Sky works, and Evie is dancing intimately with Ashley and making out with her. Then, same night, Evie has the audacity to crash into Sky’s apartment and says he misses him and wants him while reeking of sex, cus yes he fucked Ashley before heading straight to Sky afterwards. Again, I let this slide although I got super angry and wanted to slap the shit out of Evie🤬
- At 48%, Evie is describing how hot Ashley is in red lingerie spread out on his bed, but he is limp. We are told that he was drunk the last time they had sex and was thinking of Sky. But then we have on page descriptive scene of him kissing her, licking every inch of her body and going down at her, how he is giving her oral, devouring her and fingering her, how she is moaning🤢 But he is still not hard, so they have a talk. So, why was including this detailed MF scene necessary? I mean we are told he could not get hard at all, so what was the point of the icky description? This scene exactly soured my mood a lot and made me kinda step back from being connected to the story. I could kinda forgive the OP drama before that cus I wanted to understand Evie’s fear, but that detailed MF scene could literally been removed and the plot would not be affected at all😏
- 50%, Sky goes on a date with Jacob, which gets interrupted.
After this, no more OP drama. But for me, when OP drama drags almost 50% of the book, my mind kinda disconnect from the couple.

Things I liked:
- Evie calling Sky "puppy" and "pup". I don't know why but I liked that.
- Their friend group.
- Sky's parents and how understanding they are.
- How protective and possessive they are of each other.
- Sky's strong personality cus boy, don't you dare fuck with him.
- The no-condom talk. I think this is one of the best "going raw" conversation I have read and in that moment, I had a huge respect for Evie. Sky was insisting and sure that it's okay to go without a condom, but Evie kept repeating over and over for Sky to take a moment and really think about the decision. So, yes, this really earned some points in my book.
- The spice between Sky and Evie is hot.
- The way Jacob confronted Sky, and although he was kinda mean and harsh to Sky, but Sky deserves that.
- The asshole father getting clocked.

So, yeah overall, this book was alright. It had stuff that I loved, stuff that I liked, stuff that I didn't like, and stuff that absolutely hated. But in the end, I did believe that Sky and Evie love each other.

[Rachael Hamilton]

Sat down the second I heard Hunter Bailey had a new book. I’ve been obsessed with everything she writes. I was intrigued to see she’d be doing her first sports romance.

Best friends with all the tension that you know is going to be intense once they finally give in.

The yearning starts fast. The sweetest best friends, but the chemistry between them is everything. Just over here giggling and kicking my feet.

It's so obvious how gone they are for each other. Skylar is vicious, bold, strong to everyone else. Then with Evie, he’s the sweetest soft puppy.

Everett's home life broke my heart. I just wanted him to be free to be himself. And Skylar's past shook me. I did not see that coming, but I could tell there was much more going on beneath the surface. The plot here twist caught me completely off guard.

Although this is a sports romance, the sports portrayal is very minimal which is fine by me! Another wonderful read from Hunter Bailey!

[blurry]

i unfortunately am a sucker for cliche romance books so instead of dnf'ing i just kept reading it. but somehow the book got better in the second half. i love complex characters i love when they learn from their mistakes and try to do better for themselves and also for their loved ones. i loved how everett was so fucking obsessed w his best friend even tho he knew he wasnt allowed to want him in that way. it was drilled into him from day one to always listen and obey. he did. until it was costing him the love of his life. i loved his praise kink god damn it like i want a man just like him tmi but like oh my god!!! the way he loves to please and calls skylar puppy when hes the one that acts like a puppy. now skylar on the other hand...he is just as obsessed. he couldnt get enough of everett's attention and his love and attraction for him. he wanted more. he wanted to take and take forever. he loved everett to the point where he was even thinking about going to prison just to protect Evie. and he was addicted to praise they were meant for each other. thats why as the story progressed i couldnt drop the book😭everett always compared him to a vicious little snake and i loved that so fucking much. its like he knew what he was getting into and he ached to see skylar's new sides. he wanted to get bitten by him. their sex scenes were unfortunately one of the best ive read. like i could feel their love and their lust. they were so beautiful and im so happy they chose to fight for their relationship. im giving 3 stars cause i think the book shouldve been longer. i also think skylar shouldve fucked jacob at least once. i thought it was unfair that he wanted to explore his sexuality so badly he wanted to touch and be touched. he wanted to experience this new side of him but everett was always there to make sure he did everything ONLY with him lol. he was so selfish. i didnt like that one MF scene but it was maybe necessary to show us that everett couldnt get hard anymore cause he was finally admitting to himself that he was in love w a man. sobbed while doing it. but before all this.. he also fucked her and went back to skylar's house to say he missed him?? that was fucked up lmao.

[readwithcharlotteb]

definitely Recommend

This book completely pulled me in! The characters had so much chemistry, and I loved watching their relationship develop. The pacing kept me turning the pages, with plenty of tension, emotion, and moments that genuinely surprised me. An addictive indie read that deserves way more attention. Definitely one to add to your TBR!