Book 713: Force Play – Elle Brownlee

Still chasing the high from Two for Trust, I’ve kept an eye out for additional books by Elle Brownlee. Plus, who doesn’t love as MM sports romance?

This is the story of Hawk, a pro ball player who wakes up after a big bender and ending up in a gay bar with photos on all the media, and Caleb, a former pro ball player who has his own trauma, but does his best to be the support Hawk needs as he navigates living openly.

What I liked most about this book was that it happened AFTER Hawk “destroyed” his career. Sure, it began with the deciding episode, but it wasn’t an in-the-closet shame fest. It was an OMG wtf am I doing with my life/ how do I navigate this life I find myself in without family/ how do I accept myself when I’ve been hidden for so long book.

“One onerous day was all it took for him to be striped of that identity [baseball player, a star baseball player], no longer able to claim either of those. He was outed and tainted by the suspicion that his rookie year had been a fluke. His deepest weakness had been exposed. Every vestige of what he’d worked so long and hard to cultivate and protect at the expense of everything else was gone.” (3)

I adored Caleb as a character. He was written really well and his patience and comfort with Hawk was incredible because of his circumstances. I honestly thought the circumstances of Caleb’s not being a pro player were going to be because he was gay (i.e. there was a scandal but they were able to cover it up if he didn’t play), but it wasn’t and I hated myself for thinking that. He was injured in his first ever game by a former teammate of Hawk’s and was only ever able to play in the bullpen.

“A kiss in the warm sunshine with the ocean for a backdrop was always a good thing so far as Caleb was concerned. Harmon kissing him was the most amazing thing he could imagine.” (166)

Brownlee kept the crises in this story in the background for the most part. There were a few tense moments, but overall, they took a back seat to Hawk and Caleb’s relationship. Even the tensest moment when they reveal their greatest fears and anger to each other was a bit of a letdown. Not because it was poorly written, but because it was such a slow build for such a low-risk reveal to the other protagonist. (We the readers knew 99% of it so maybe that’s what it was?)

Recommendation: This was a solid read. I liked the protagonists and the premise of the story. Everything about the story really just simmered, I didn’t feel it ever boiled over into a love/sex fest or a crisis driven romance, but I enjoyed this one more than Staggered Cove Rescue, but nowhere near as much as Two for Trust.

Opening Line: “It was the mother of all hangovers.”

Closing Line: “Then Caleb’s wonderful hands were bruising his hips, angling and owning him, holding him exactly where he belonged.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)