Change Up

by Van Cole

Will McVitch is one of the star players on his baseball team – but he’d never consider himself a celebrity. He’s just an athlete. Why people are even interested in his personal life, he has never really understood – so when it turns out that a new member of the team, Canadian import Gabriel Marten, has a crush on him already, he can barely comprehend that Gabe even knows who he is.

The fact that he’s straight and Gabe is gay barely occurs to him, at least for a little while.

As for Gabe’s part, he’s frustrated that this is even an issue. When he got the offer to play for this team, he was thrilled to be getting a spot on a professional US team. His career means the world to him. It was just the cherry on the cake that he’d be playing alongside long-time crush Will – and in the warm California sun to boot. But as it turns out, Will is even more appealing in person, whether he’s straight or not.

Tensions in the team are running high, and media interest is spiralling. But most important of all is how Will and Gabe feel in themselves. If they can’t work that out, then everything else crumbles – and they’re out at the first base, never mind the last.

This Romance Short Story Was Formerly Titled Boys In The Field

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

2879 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Boys in the Field by Van Cole. It is a short baseball story about Gabe and Will. The book was well written and it has been edited. I loved the chemistry between Gabe and Will and that they both went after what they wanted and didn't let reporters or homophobic teammates get in their way. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.

[wayward · Rating 1 out of 5]

OMG, this is like a collection of the authors notes. Or the rambling story of a 4 year old. This "book" is a collection of 20 or 30 stories. They may have been written over many years as the writing style and quality changes. I think one or two stories were good, but after anquishing my way through so many, I cant tell you which. So just avoid the entire anthology, the total is not worth your time or effort to make a cohesive story on your own. I finally just stopped about at about 94%.

[Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will is attracted to Gabe, but there's one problem - Will is straight, or at least he has been until he met Gabe. Boys in the Field is such a sweet, fun story. It's a fast read, easily finished in about an hour and this pair is so good together. There's a small bit of angst and drama that is quickly overcome, but all in all, it's a good read. I've read a few books by this author and this pair is my favorite so far.

[Coral Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

MM. Gabriel is joining a baseball team in the US from Canada and faces problems from his teammates. The media are like hounds hot on a trail about Gabriel's sexuality. Will feels protective of Gabriel, among other feelings he cannot readily identify. A quick sports romance. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.

[Ken Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Large collection of short stories and novellas

The stories had interesting mileau and some variation in characters. A number really require serious editing, as global replacements of character names didn't match the gender of his/her, etc and at least once, "he" had a clitoris.

[Ann Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Nice story. Lots of bonus books most of which I enjoyed. A few had typos which were vaguely annoying.

[Denise GremoryKohta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this one flowed well and I enjoyed the characters. Actually, I think Oliver was the most interesting. I would have liked more on him. Maria could have been a bit more vocal as well.

[Nefol_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insta-love, but at least it was well edited.

[Az · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty boring and décousu

[inaword · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a word: Read the thing. This is an uncomplicated little story that’s good for a quick read. If I have one major complaint about it it’s that it feels a bit incomplete. There could be so much more story; but it’s fine enough as it is. Gabe is a Canadian pro-baseball player who has just been transferred to an unspecified American team. A member on that team is Will, a fairly well-known ball player who Gabe has had a bit of a crush on since college. The whole story is basically about the two of them realizing that they have real feelings for each other and then getting together. There’s a hint of drama raised about homophobia in professional sport and how Will doesn’t think he’d be able to deal with the kind of pressure an out gay athlete (like Gabe) would face on the regular. Of course that ends up falling a bit flat and not mattering much by the end, making this story mostly a fluff piece. Like, there’s still some homophobic nonsense happening with some reporters and one of Will and Gabe’s teammates in particular, but it definitely doesn’t go as far as it could have. The story ends almost right after a press conference where Will goes public with he and Gabe’s relationship; so it is technically a happy ending but we never do find out what happened with the reporters after all that. All in all, it’s a good story but there could’ve been a lot more done with it.

[read the full post at In A Word]