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Ownage
Outfielder Tommy Knox is said to "own" pitcher Wayne Kerley because he always hits well when Wayne is on the mound. What the public doesn't know is that the two men have long been involved in a committed, loving relationship. They met and fell in love while playing in the minor leagues, but were called up to the majors and now play for opposing teams. Tommy and Wayne have managed to stay together through twelve closeted years. Being on different teams means they have to spend most of the baseball season apart. In the final year of his contract, Wayne considers retirement as his career begins to wind down. The thought of life without baseball seems nearly impossible, but he keeps his fears and dread to himself. Tommy still has two years left of his contract, and all the successes, defeats, and injuries that entails. Can the two reconcile their love of each other and the game?
75 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 15, 2016
14 people want to read
About the author
Dale Chase
64 books23 followersDale Chase has been writing gay male erotica for sixteen years with over 150 stories published in magazines and anthologies, including translation into Italian and German. Her second novel "TAKEDOWN: Taming John Wesley Hardin" will be published by Lethe Press in November 2013. Her first novel "WYATT: Doc Holliday"s Account of an Intimate Friendship" was published in 2012. Two e-collections followed in 2013: "Crack Shot: Western Erotica: and "A Private Business: Victorian Erotica," all from Bold Strokes Books. Dale's novellas "Lonely as God" and "The Man I Know" have recently been published by Wilde City Press. Dale continues to write old western erotica.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 15, 2016
I'm a sucker for a baseball themed romance! This blurb reminded me of one of my all-time favorites Out in the Field. It actually turned out to be quite different and entirely too short to give us any real meat and potatoes concerning this couple.
Wayne and Tommy are in a committed, long-term relationship and are deeply in love. They have to hide their relationship from EVERYONE, including the press, family and teammates. How they did that over the 12 year period is beyond me. But they did.
The book gives us a few flashbacks of how these boys meet and start a relationship but not enough to really know these boys. They have this terrible set-up where they go for months at a time without seeing each other since they play on different teams and are always traveling. And since they are hiding, there is no quick layovers in between games. I felt terrible for these two, who are obviously in love.
I loved Wayne and Tommy. They were sweet and absolutely smitten and while the sex was good, most of it is off-page so there so the steam is low. We did get one particularly passionate reunion scene which satisfied my shallow need for the down-and-dirty. The problem here is that this was just too short to put me into their shoes and feel their sadness, desperation and love. It ends in a HFN and desperately needed an epilogue.
For baseball fans who want something light to read in the tub or before bed, I can recommend this one, but for others not interested in baseball, I'd say skip it.
Some fabulous baseball books:
Out in the Field, Force Play, Reading the Signs, Love Comes Home and Caught Looking.
This review is also posted at Gay Book Reviews
Wayne and Tommy are in a committed, long-term relationship and are deeply in love. They have to hide their relationship from EVERYONE, including the press, family and teammates. How they did that over the 12 year period is beyond me. But they did.
The book gives us a few flashbacks of how these boys meet and start a relationship but not enough to really know these boys. They have this terrible set-up where they go for months at a time without seeing each other since they play on different teams and are always traveling. And since they are hiding, there is no quick layovers in between games. I felt terrible for these two, who are obviously in love.
I loved Wayne and Tommy. They were sweet and absolutely smitten and while the sex was good, most of it is off-page so there so the steam is low. We did get one particularly passionate reunion scene which satisfied my shallow need for the down-and-dirty. The problem here is that this was just too short to put me into their shoes and feel their sadness, desperation and love. It ends in a HFN and desperately needed an epilogue.
For baseball fans who want something light to read in the tub or before bed, I can recommend this one, but for others not interested in baseball, I'd say skip it.
Some fabulous baseball books:
Out in the Field, Force Play, Reading the Signs, Love Comes Home and Caught Looking.
This review is also posted at Gay Book Reviews
June 23, 2019
Home Run
Dale Chase got my attention with her wild west novellas which are explicit and fun and quite to the point. This one about two veteran baseball players pushes the envelope of reality, but when you get into Tommy and Wayne's lives and relationship it becomes apparent that this could have happened in the past--and might likely be happening now.
Loved every page and these two men are a terrific pair. Home run.
Dale Chase got my attention with her wild west novellas which are explicit and fun and quite to the point. This one about two veteran baseball players pushes the envelope of reality, but when you get into Tommy and Wayne's lives and relationship it becomes apparent that this could have happened in the past--and might likely be happening now.
Loved every page and these two men are a terrific pair. Home run.
November 27, 2016
A ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Review. This review can also be found here.
Wayne Kerley and Tommy Knox have been together for twelve years but nobody knows it. As players on opposite baseball teams not only do they have to keep their relationship on the down low but they also stay apart for much of the season.
As Wayne faces the end of his contract and starts thinking of retiring, things start to slump for Tommy out on the field forcing them to talk about the one thing they have avoided talking about for most of their relationship –the future.
I loved this story, it is more novella than novel but as they say good things come in small packages.
I love established couple romances and this book epitomizes everything I love about that particular trope that is about seeing couples face their life together with their love a quiet awareness that smoulders all around.
Wayne is a pitcher nearing the end of his contract and we see him trying to ignore the elephant in the room while still powering-through on the field. This story is told from Wayne’s perspective and I will agree that the fact that we spend so much time with Wayne means that I can’t describe Tommy as well, but it didn’t matter because Wayne and Tommy were an amazing couple.
When I first came across this book I was sceptic about their relationship seeing as their relationship is something that can be classified as a long distance relationship and romance (at least romantic books) generally don’t look kindly on long distance relationships, they are always the ones fraught with problems. But what made this book so splendid was the fact that while reading this book that scepticism didn’t enter my mind. Much of this book speaks about Tommy and Wayne and how they keep in touch without it ever feeling like that is what they are doing. They communicate on the same level as people who have been together for years (as they have) do, they have their own routines and couple-y things that make them comfortable and so in-sync with each other.
Also what I liked was that Wayne acknowledges all the aspect of their relationships good or bad. The fact that they stay apart much of the time and it is very easy to be shut out of the other person’s life, the lack of mutual friends and how time together is always bittersweet with the tinge of the looming parting and also the fact that coming back to each other is the best feeling ever, like coming home after a long day.
The ending of this story is something that can come as a bit of a surprise, like a ‘that’s it!’ when you come across the “THE END” but somehow for me I liked even that and I am a big one for endings. I loathe bad endings, like the good ones and I love the bittersweet ones and somehow I felt that this ending was perfect for this book. In a way I felt that the book ended at the right time because it was going to be like an end of an era for Tommy and Wayne, something new was headed their way, new challenges and maybe even unexplored territory as they live together, and this story contained as it was in a different part of their lives couldn’t possibly have done justice to this new period in their life, having said that I would definitely welcome more on these two.
For as short as this book was it really captured by imagination as even though I have talked so much about the story, I have somehow managed to avoid talking about the baseball in this book. I have a rudimentary knowledge of baseball like just the basics and I may be missing a few of those too. So I can say confidently that not knowing baseball that well didn’t affect my enjoyment of this book but I can equally not say if as a baseball fan I might have liked this more (because I would have probably understood more of the nuances of this book) or less (because I would have been more critical of said nuances).
Having said it all, I would like to say for me this book kind of added up, with all the nooks and crannies I didn’t understand to the love story I did, to be an amazing read.
Cover Art by Written Ink Designs. I liked the cover what with the packed stadium and the bright sun and the pitcher getting ready to pitch the ball.
Wayne Kerley and Tommy Knox have been together for twelve years but nobody knows it. As players on opposite baseball teams not only do they have to keep their relationship on the down low but they also stay apart for much of the season.
As Wayne faces the end of his contract and starts thinking of retiring, things start to slump for Tommy out on the field forcing them to talk about the one thing they have avoided talking about for most of their relationship –the future.
I loved this story, it is more novella than novel but as they say good things come in small packages.
I love established couple romances and this book epitomizes everything I love about that particular trope that is about seeing couples face their life together with their love a quiet awareness that smoulders all around.
Wayne is a pitcher nearing the end of his contract and we see him trying to ignore the elephant in the room while still powering-through on the field. This story is told from Wayne’s perspective and I will agree that the fact that we spend so much time with Wayne means that I can’t describe Tommy as well, but it didn’t matter because Wayne and Tommy were an amazing couple.
When I first came across this book I was sceptic about their relationship seeing as their relationship is something that can be classified as a long distance relationship and romance (at least romantic books) generally don’t look kindly on long distance relationships, they are always the ones fraught with problems. But what made this book so splendid was the fact that while reading this book that scepticism didn’t enter my mind. Much of this book speaks about Tommy and Wayne and how they keep in touch without it ever feeling like that is what they are doing. They communicate on the same level as people who have been together for years (as they have) do, they have their own routines and couple-y things that make them comfortable and so in-sync with each other.
Also what I liked was that Wayne acknowledges all the aspect of their relationships good or bad. The fact that they stay apart much of the time and it is very easy to be shut out of the other person’s life, the lack of mutual friends and how time together is always bittersweet with the tinge of the looming parting and also the fact that coming back to each other is the best feeling ever, like coming home after a long day.
The ending of this story is something that can come as a bit of a surprise, like a ‘that’s it!’ when you come across the “THE END” but somehow for me I liked even that and I am a big one for endings. I loathe bad endings, like the good ones and I love the bittersweet ones and somehow I felt that this ending was perfect for this book. In a way I felt that the book ended at the right time because it was going to be like an end of an era for Tommy and Wayne, something new was headed their way, new challenges and maybe even unexplored territory as they live together, and this story contained as it was in a different part of their lives couldn’t possibly have done justice to this new period in their life, having said that I would definitely welcome more on these two.
For as short as this book was it really captured by imagination as even though I have talked so much about the story, I have somehow managed to avoid talking about the baseball in this book. I have a rudimentary knowledge of baseball like just the basics and I may be missing a few of those too. So I can say confidently that not knowing baseball that well didn’t affect my enjoyment of this book but I can equally not say if as a baseball fan I might have liked this more (because I would have probably understood more of the nuances of this book) or less (because I would have been more critical of said nuances).
Having said it all, I would like to say for me this book kind of added up, with all the nooks and crannies I didn’t understand to the love story I did, to be an amazing read.
Cover Art by Written Ink Designs. I liked the cover what with the packed stadium and the bright sun and the pitcher getting ready to pitch the ball.
January 3, 2022
Excellent writing of their relationship. The ending is memorable and very touching.
June 27, 2017
I REEAAAAAAAALLLY liked this book. I LOVED the whole "ownage" thing-but I felt we saw too little of it. Because, Wayne spent YEARS being owned by Tommy.....off page. Pre-book. We don't get to see but one game of it before, for reasons, Tommy hits a slump. There was a lack of ownage. Now, I LOVED seeing their relationship, I love that they were long-distance and yet faithful. I love how they delt with that. But I hated seeing the lack of ownage. They were both kind of fighting two different battles throughout the book-Tommy in a slump, for reasons I'm still unsure since he was hyped to be fantastic and amazing, and Wayne knowing his baseball days are numbered.
The relationship is adorable. They text all the time, spend time together when they can (which is rare)....and then there are the moments when Wayne will pitch Tommy the ball in a way Tommy can hit it because he's low key supporting his man. Them together, their relationship, was NOT a problem.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS AHEAD SPOILERS AHEAD Then, in the end, Wayne comes clean with the secret that he's retiring, but both boys finally admit to each other they have a future and agree to live in Montana together (a compromise)-full time when Tommy is done in 2 years)-and suddenly Tommy can play again. It's like subconsciously the uncertainty with the love of his life was killing his game all season, but cement plans for a future and BAM, he's back. But I'm still unsure if that was the slump, or if it was just timing. So that plus a LACK of ownage "except in the bedroom" (as rare as that happened) was kind of disappointing.
The relationship is adorable. They text all the time, spend time together when they can (which is rare)....and then there are the moments when Wayne will pitch Tommy the ball in a way Tommy can hit it because he's low key supporting his man. Them together, their relationship, was NOT a problem.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS AHEAD SPOILERS AHEAD Then, in the end, Wayne comes clean with the secret that he's retiring, but both boys finally admit to each other they have a future and agree to live in Montana together (a compromise)-full time when Tommy is done in 2 years)-and suddenly Tommy can play again. It's like subconsciously the uncertainty with the love of his life was killing his game all season, but cement plans for a future and BAM, he's back. But I'm still unsure if that was the slump, or if it was just timing. So that plus a LACK of ownage "except in the bedroom" (as rare as that happened) was kind of disappointing.
October 16, 2016
Bats, baseball players: what's not to love?
Action packed: this was nonetheless a quick read. Erotica involving two male baseball players: and, yes, the characters are likeable. I only wish the story was longer, and riddled with more angst.
Action packed: this was nonetheless a quick read. Erotica involving two male baseball players: and, yes, the characters are likeable. I only wish the story was longer, and riddled with more angst.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews