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Rhys Prince is on the up and up in Welsh rugby - and there's one man he most looks up to: Callum Anderson, King of the Scottish game.

Rugby forces them into rivalry in one minute, and into a fierce friendship the next. Rhys can't help but fall for the tall, rugged Scotsman as they spend more time together, with one big problem. Callum is straight, and married.

But there are hints that things are not all as they seem in Callum's world, and perhaps there's a chance that he might like Rhys too. If they're to ever act on a mutual attraction, they'll have to surmount the wall of secrets and deception that Callum has put up between himself and the world.

Pitch Prince is a sports romance with sweet and sexy moments and plenty of snark and heart. It stands as the first in the Rucking Rugby Men series but can be read standalone.

222 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2023

63 people are currently reading
239 people want to read

About the author

Matt Peters

10 books54 followers
Proud Welshman and M/M Romance Author Matt Peters lives in the South Wales valleys with his partner and two lovely dogs.

His stories feature rich characters in gorgeous settings, with steamy scenes and sticky sweet romance sandwiched together.

(Source: Amazon.com)

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5 stars
84 (30%)
4 stars
110 (39%)
3 stars
72 (25%)
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7 (2%)
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4 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
Profile Image for AngelFire.
765 reviews51 followers
December 7, 2023
Please ignore the cover with the absurdly young model who has a swimmer's physique. IMO, he has no business being on the cover of a sports romance that features rugby when both players are supposed to be professional rugby players. Let men with rugby physiques have the few covers that are meant for them.

Anyway. My verdict about this is: meh. This one had potential but the author decided to take the generic, well traveled route instead of trying for something more interesting, which means I was bored for most of it. Not to mention that I was constantly distracted by sloppy SPAG errors that should have been caught in editing.

I'm usually not a fan of age gap romances in sports but the match up worked for me in this case. Rhys is younger and openly gay but he also has a maturity and confidence that put him on an even playing field with Callum. The latter was older and much more experienced in the world of rugby but he's closeted and has spent the past decade focusing on his wife and kids and coming to terms with his sexuality. While Rhys looks to Callum to provide career advice about rugby, Callum looks to Rhys for advice on gay related stuff, which worked really well.

Unfortunately, both MCs end up being boring and the path to getting the MCs together was a lot easier than it should have been. They realize the other person has feelings for them at some point and then they fall into bed together . From there, they quickly have the relationship talk and boom - they're a couple. Since Callum when they get together and Rhys is at the top of the rugby game and already out, the only conflict between them comes from Rhys' teammate Finn who is struggling with .

Then in the last third, the author has the MCs .

Every plotline in the story that wasn't connected to Finn was boring and generic. I would actually be interested in reading Book 2, which focuses on Finn, if the author doesn't repeat what was my other main complaint:

I was irritated by the constant sloppy spelling and grammar mistakes that any competent editor (or word processing program grammar check) should have caught. There were missing words. There were extra words. But my favorite was the many, many times that correctly spelled but wrong words were used, which created some hilarity. I had to suffer through it so I'm sharing my favorites so you can share my misery.

I reached for my phone after I'd poured myself a strong coffee, any typed just two letters.

She was more amped up than the two of us and had downed two glasses or white wine in the twenty minutes since we had turned the news on.

There are endless examples of lines like the ones above.

My phone buzzed in my pocket just as Mu got up to get another glass.

I was so confused...who the hell is Mu?? I once had a co-worker named Muhammed who we all called Mu so I thought it was a random guy who had appeared in the scene. Then I realized the author meant to write Mum.

There was another funny one:

"I'm gay, that is not the problem hare."

It's Finn speaking and I totally thought he was calling Rhys hare, like that's a cute nickname the guy has for him. Then I realized what the author meant to write here.

The funniest but most annoying were the typos in the middle of sex scenes that made my brain screech to a halt because I couldn't figure out what the author meant. For example, do you know what the phrase 'I used slid one finger' is supposed to mean? Cause I still can't figure it out. And having the words 're-cum' show up out of the blue is bound to throw anybody out of the action. And do you know what kind of sentence really helps wrap up the end of a sex scene? It obviously needs to include the phrase 'his groans an octave higher than I was sued to' because thinking of lawsuits is absolutely the thing readers want to be thinking about at that point.

But here's my favorite line because I still can't figure out what it means:

He collapsed on his back on thieved beside me and grinned.

Please let me know if you can figure out what the author was trying to say.

There's no excuse for this sloppiness. If you can't catch dozens and dozens of these errors during your own read-through then you need to find other ways of polishing your work.

Lastly, it's a small point but it annoyed me. This book takes place mostly in Wales and Scotland and a bit in New Zealand. This was my main attraction to the story because I love the accents in all of those countries and I was looking forward to dialogue that would reflect native speakers from those areas. Unfortunately, there was very, very little about any of the characters' dialogue that identified them as Scottish or Welsh, which was a letdown.
Profile Image for Bekka.
1,278 reviews165 followers
March 3, 2023
3.75
I enjoyed this book. It found me right when I was in the mood for these tropes and settings!

Meet Callum and Rhys, two rugby players, a veteran and a relative newbie.
The former is married with two children, the latter looked up at a poster of the former hanging on the walls of his teenage bedroom and has always a had a spot of hero worship.

The two men come closer over the course of months via texts and training camp and although both are pretty much instantaneously attracted to each other they hold back on their attraction.
The typical angst of being out in the sports world is tangible but we have one MC who is happily out and has been so for years to counterbalance the internalised fear of being gay and being out as a public sportsman of the other MC.

Apparently the rugby is to be read with rose-tinted glasses and an awareness that sport in any kind of depiction be it a book or a film is nearly always glorified, and over the top. I enjoyed it :D

My personal biggest dislikes were:
- the children do not get enough page time considering thinking, talking, etc. about them does take up a lot of time and I always find it hard to imagine the MCs navigating a relationship in the future if I've not seen all character constellations interact with each other.
- the epilogue was used to tie things up rather than being an epi after log word.
- One could say there wasn't enough grovelling?

Positive:
- the ex-wife is not a terrible person
- the ex-wife's mother was used intelligently without being too big of a presence and luckily she too was counterbalanced with the loveliness of the other MC's mother
- the setting-up/hinting at future pairings was done succinctly rather than excessively

Quotes
"I stopped as I took in all of Callum Anderson, stood in a hoodie and jeans and holding a bouquet of daffodils. His face was crumpled into a sad frown and his sad green eyes looked big enough to drown in." (p. 56)

"Rugby had left him with bruises and I made sure to kiss each one in turn as I worked my way down his body..." (p. 143)

"He wants...no, he deserves to be with someone who can be open about how much they love him. He deserves everything. I can't for a second give him everything he deserves, but I'm willing to try." (p. 182)


NSFW infos:
- One 6ft blond out and proud rugby player (25)
- One 6ft5 red-head, bulky rugby player who (33)
- vers, not strict top/bottom

Nickname:
Baby (once)
Profile Image for SJ.
2,020 reviews32 followers
March 18, 2023
The forward to the book was interesting as the author specifically mentioned pages to skip, if needed, as a CW. I have not seen that before. This is a new to me author and maybe it was the male point of view, but I found the scenes of the rugby matches to be interesting and well written. The plotline of the attraction the two MCs were feeling was woven through these scenes.
I enjoyed this book and its honesty about the fear of coming out in the rough and tough world of rugby and to family.
The wife was sympathetically written, the mother in law was hissable, the kids were nice. I liked the character of the friend, Finn, and his storyline was as interesting as the main one. The setup for a book with him was done unobtrusively.
Rhys and Callum were attractive and athletic and had good chemistry. I would have liked more emotional scenes between them and some hotter passion. I was looking for scorching and got medium heat, but it was okay as this was a gentle story with a newbie MC.
Oh, the editing errors are many! So many typos and pronoun mistakes. Author, message me. I’ll do it gratis for the fun of reading a manuscript from the writer.
This Lewis who is proud of their Welsh heritage says, “Dere ymlaen, Cymru!”
Profile Image for Crisana.
1,003 reviews46 followers
March 20, 2023
This was pretty good. A nice, low angst sports book featuring some scenes in one of my fav cities - Edinburgh. I loved Rhys more than Callum. However, I am aware that Callum's family circumstances didn't really help him, I guess. Will now read the other books from this author whilst waiting for the second book in this series. Finn has got me quite intrigued.
Profile Image for Rae Simmons.
Author 15 books57 followers
March 24, 2023
Do I understand rugby? Not in the slightest. Did that stop me from devouring this book from beginning to end? Absolutely not. Rhys and Callum had my heart from the very first page and I needed to keep reading to know if they got their HEA. I can't wait for the rest of the series!
Profile Image for Becky.
924 reviews
March 4, 2023
Sweet

Sweet age gap, closeted/out of the closet sports romance. Quick, easy read although heed the content warnings at the start of the book.
Dual POV (not always alternating), medium heat.
229 reviews
March 4, 2023
I enjoyed this less than the previous series but still enjoyed seeing the idea of rugby as the setting for an mm romance. I liked the Rhys character not so much the older closeted player and his "journey".
4 reviews
June 12, 2023
Two men. One pitch

The story starts with the focus on Rhys, a prodigy rugby player for Wales who happens to be gay and Callum, the "Gentleman of Rugby," who is struggling with his terms about his sexuality. Each chapter goes back and forth between the two men about matches, after hours behavior in public, and finding out how well they fit together.

The relationship of Rhys and Callum progress from secret longing to a nice and slow burning exploration of each other's bodies and hearts.
I recommend this book for people who are looking for a nice m/m sports romance.
Profile Image for Julie Roberts.
219 reviews
September 4, 2023
Matt Peters is a new to me author. I very much enjoyed this MM sports romance about 2 professional rugby players. Although I’m not a fan of rugby myself, I found the rugby scenes to be engaging without being intimidating. The characters were likeable and there was a good amount of tension to keep the story interesting, some enjoyable spicy scenes and a sweet romantic ending. My only real complaint is that this book needed better proofreading. I can’t wait to read more from this author. 4.5 stars.
Profile Image for Rays.
161 reviews
June 21, 2023
SHUT UPPPPPP AND STOP EVERYONE!

I LOVE THIS... its been forever.. im searching for MM romance story.. here we are...

I am in love w the characters... Rhys & Callum.. oh my love.. there might be some scene that I would love to have more details yknow... i want to know what happened within those 3 weeks and everything but everything was good. I love my babiessss... Olive & Logan.. oh sweetie childddddd

Urgh everything about this book is perfect.. excited for Finn!!
Profile Image for KJ Pointer.
Author 1 book8 followers
January 16, 2024
This is my first rugby romance and it did not disappoint. I’m fully in my mm romance era and I loved Rhys and Callum’s story. Rhys is a 25yr old openly gay rugby player and Callum is 33, married with 2 kids. But what the world doesn’t know is that he’s actually gay and came out to his wife. This book was emotional and spicy and was really easy reading. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
131 reviews2 followers
March 30, 2024
Wasn’t familiar with this author but figured I’d give the rugby world a try. Great trilogy all around, nice switch up from the more plentiful hockey, (American) football, and baseball worlds of romance. Worth the read.
Profile Image for Bianca M.
918 reviews10 followers
May 15, 2023
Angsty

This book was more angsty that I expected it to be. It’s the right amount of will-he or won’t-he that worked really well. I really enjoyed this story.
6 reviews
February 22, 2024
So cute

As a gay ex-rugby player this felt like my story not at the same scale obviously but to have had this when I was younger would have been a dream
38 reviews
August 9, 2024
Predictable but comforting. Loved the setting and the descriptions of the game. As others have said, it could have done with better proofreading but it wasn’t so bad that it bothered me
Profile Image for Emily.
325 reviews
Read
November 6, 2024
Best book i read this year. i will look up more Matt Peters books.
231 reviews4 followers
September 13, 2024
Not quite pitch perfect, but getting there

So this is light stuff. It’s not breaking any new ground on the MM romance front. It’s telling the same sport star coming out story we have read a million times and the characters are as vanilla as any Starbucks cupcake. But what it does have is this inexplicable ability to make you keep turning the pages and keep reading. Now I don’t know whether that’s because this traditional story has something slightly different about it. After all it’s about rugby, and not American football or hockey… thank goodness, and it’s set in Wales rather than Texas or Canada. Also the characters aren’t all Adonises with that perfect Hollywood smile. No. I think it maybe because it’s written by a gay man, with a passion for rugby, with a little personal experience thrown in. It feels different to those other sport romance books which are predominantly written by women and for women. Some of those are good, Heated Rivalry for one, but quite a lot use sport as a back drop for the romance. But not so much here.

Matt Peters has set his first book in this series during key points in the rugby season. He takes us deep into training sessions, six nation matches and victory celebrations. And amongst all of that he adds the breakdown of a marriage and the gay awakening of a seasoned player. But there is something about Rhys and Callum’s story that makes you want to read on, even though you know where it’s heading. And despite the huge amount of very annoying typos, I kept reading to the end as I quite enjoyed spending time in this world.

Independent publishing has its drawbacks. Often new authors can’t afford to have their books professionally edited or proof read. Covers can often create the wrong impression and put off new readers (I am talking about you Eden Winters, and your often overlooked masterpiece “Diversion”… when will you change that awful cover). But it does offer the opportunity for new writers to get their works read. And if you can look past the editing or typo issues, you will often find a diamond in the rough. And that’s what we have here. I’m already reading the second book in this series and I can see massive improvements in Matt Peters’ writing. And I really want to see more gay male British authors writing in this genre, and feel he has a talent that is worth following. So despite me giving this book a lower rating, I do think it is worth reading, as Matt Peters is an author worth keeping your eye on. And I know one thing for sure, I will definitely be keeping my eye on what he does next.

3.5 Stars
Profile Image for Anna.
91 reviews9 followers
March 2, 2025
I loved this and am delighted to find a new author (I’m off to download everything else I can find by him). This was a huge comfort read for this Wales rugby fan during a far from stellar period of my team’s history: we are currently bottom of the table in the Six Nations, so I thoroughly enjoyed this fictional version where Wales won nearly every match! Rhys was a sweetheart and I was glad that Callum finally got his act together.
Profile Image for Reagan James.
115 reviews8 followers
May 7, 2023
This was a really fun book I had a great time reading it. I does need some edits and there are so errors but even with those I enjoyed this book very much. It was very sweet and not too heavy an enjoyable ride.
12 reviews
January 18, 2024
An okay read

The story is very sparse and there is only limited character development. It doesn’t help that there are quite a few typos in the text. The spicy scenes are pretty basic. I was engaged enough to make it to the end. Overall it was okay.
Profile Image for Elle.
324 reviews1 follower
February 11, 2024
There aren't many rugby and there aren't many UK mm books so I really liked that this was a bit different and more familiar. Story and MC were good and not much angst but could have done with more slow burn or deeper story. Enjoyable read
272 reviews
November 20, 2024
I really liked this one. It felt real and less like a romance novel fantasy land than many other sports romances - likely because the author actually seems to know rugby and because the author is man.

I will take points off for a fair amount of typos that took me out of the story.
2,859 reviews12 followers
March 24, 2025
liked it

I liked this book. 3 star for rating, 2.5 for spice. I wanted to shout for happiness that Sarah finally saw how her mother was acting with Callum and the kids, and how supportive she wants to be for her son and Callum.
Profile Image for Cheezie.
339 reviews1 follower
October 22, 2023
Nice story, great characters and thrilling rugby action but plagued with typos!!
Profile Image for Diamond Henituse.
224 reviews
July 6, 2023

hey i love them the sacrifices Callum has made for her kids show what a good father he is and Sarah i love this woman the way she thinks about her ex-husband what she said to her mother proves how good a mom and friend she is. The problem was Rysh, at the beginning everything was fine, but towards the end I couldn't feel him, it was like he was the second character. and I'm very curious about Finn's story he is my favorite.
6 reviews
April 19, 2023
A good, gentle read with little angst. Sets up other characters nicely for follow-on/spin off. Fairly single threaded with little back story to either character.

Lastly, there were quite a few errors that should have been picked up in the editorial process, that made it a bit more jarring a read. Fortunately, these can be quickly sorted and updated on Kindle.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews

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