Release Blitzand Giveaway: The Back Up Plan: Eden Finley

by Kimbytx - Thursday, November 07, 2024

THE BACKUP PLAN King Sports - Book One Eden Finley Release Date: November 7, 2024 GOODREADS LINK
Amazon Universal

Genre: M/M Baseball Romance Standalone
Tropes: Enemies to friends to lovers, close proximity, agent + player, secret situationship

Thad

Failing to make it in pro ball left me absolutely devastated. Baseball has been my life, my dream, but it’s time to move on.

Becoming a sports agent was always my back-up plan, and now that I’m interning at the biggest queer-focused firm in the country, I’m doing my best not to let my bitterness toward baseball affect my future.

That’s really difficult when I’m assigned to babysit Kelley Afton, hotshot rookie pitcher for Philly. He has everything I ever wanted, and he doesn’t even appreciate it. I didn’t become an agent so I could soothe the ego of diva athletes.

His constant need for validation from others frustrates me to no end, but that’s probably a good thing. Because if he didn’t have that, I’d find him irresistibly my type.

Attraction could lead to crossing lines which would put my position at King Sports in jeopardy, and I can’t have that.

I don’t have a backup for my backup plan.

Thad had big dreams and trained his whole life to be a professional baseball player just to come up short in the end. So now he’s following his backup plan which is being an intern for the King Sports agency. The problem is he is still having a little trouble dealing with his own bitterness and jealousy about the athletes who are making it. And he seems to be focusing that ire on Kelley Afton who is a star baseball player who Thad thinks does not appreciate his success and is ungrateful. The strategy that their boss comes up with to help Kelley unplug while criticized online for coming out, ends up in a forced proximity situation along with another intern Brady.

It’s a rocky start, but eventually, these two actually figure out what is driving each of them and they come to an understanding. Kelley actually has a lot of issues that trigger him and mess with his head and his ability to cope that Thad was not aware of. And Thad has his own issues. Kelley has everything that Thad ever wanted, but once they’re honest with each other about what’s really going on in their lives, they can least understand and enjoy being around each other.

Cabin shenanigans, a bit of pining, secret friends with benefits, inconvenient feelings, distance, and work issues make things messy. Thad still works with the sports management company and he’s only an intern. Kelley has to focus on baseball and image, and his own issues that are not just easily cured. But they both have opportunities to grow, change, and make each other feel safe. But It’s complicated for several reasons.

I really liked Kelley and Thad together and how they made each other feel seen, safe, and appreciated. I liked the little nods to some of the previous books. I am looking forward to more in this series and one couple for sure is just screaming for a book.

Eden Finley is an Amazon bestselling author who writes steamy contemporary romances that are full of snark and light-hearted fluff.

She doesn't take anything too seriously and lives to create an escape from real life for her readers. The ideas always begin with a wackadoodle premise, and she does her best to turn them into romances with heart.

With a short attention span that rivals her son's, she writes multiple different pairings: MM, MMF, and MF.

She's also an Australian girl and apologises for her Australianisms that sometimes don't make sense to anyone else.