Reviewed by Ro

TITLE: Batting Style

SERIES: Franklin U 2

AUTHOR: Louisa Masters

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 296 pages

RELEASE DATE:   June 21, 2024

BLURB:

Blaise
There are a few things I know for sure: I’m gay, I want to do costume design for film and television, and a supportive family is what other people have. Oh… and fate’s not my biggest fan. That’s fine, though—who needs fate? I’ve got friends I love, a welcoming community, and a plan. Graduate college? Check. Build up my portfolio? Whenever I can. Impress industry pros? Done. Save the money for my dream internship? Working on it. All I’ve gotta do is stick with the plan, and that internship is mine next year.
And then Jordan Marks walks into my life, and my plan turns into a loose guideline. Suddenly I’m learning about baseball and giving away shifts at work so I can watch him play. My goals are the same, but maybe there’s room in them for the world’s sweetest athlete.

Jordan
I’m pretty sure the gods of baseball don’t care if I wear a suit on game day, but Franklin U and Coach do, so when mine rips, replacing it is an urgent mission. That’s how I meet Blaise Warner and my “I guess I could be bi” musings become full-blown “I wanna learn to handle a bat” demands. Blaise is smart, talented, and has goals… and he’s more than happy to teach me a new batting style.
But as we go from casual to more, the things I never mentioned—like my dads’ connections in the entertainment industry—become heavy secrets. Plus, while our friends know we’re dating, nobody else does. That’s not fair to Blaise, but do I really want to be the latest queer college ball player?
I don’t get a chance to figure it all out before things fall apart, and now we both have to decide what our real priorities are.

REVIEW:

This is the third entry into the Franklin U 2 series and this one is Blaise, a college graduate focused on costume design in the movies, and Jordan, a sophomore at Franklin U on the baseball team.  We got to see Jordan in the previous book with Harrison and Benny, where Jordan was helping out Harrison and questioning his place on the Kinsey scale.

The school requires athletes to wear suits to the game and after. Jordan, who honestly made me laugh about it, has had the same suit since he was in high school, finally rips his suit and needs a fix, fast. When he calls his Uncle Luke (Luke and Grant are his adopted dads), Luke is dumbfounded to realize Jordan is wearing that same suit and instructs him to go get a new one. And new shirts. And new shoes. I loved Luke and Grant.

“Faced with unanswerable questions, I do what any self-respecting nineteen-year-old does: I call my dads.

            Uncle Luke – my adoptive dad – picks up on the first ring. “Are you in jail or on fire?”

Jordan comes across at times as silly, such as when he is completely confused about where to get a suit, but mainly it’s just not something he’s done and it’s never been important to him. But he gets it after Luke explains what to do. And that’s how Jordan meets Blaise. Blaise is working retail while he saves up to do an internship at Joy, Inc, which is unfortunately unpaid.

This is a personal quirk but it so annoys me when characters hook up at work, in a place where they can get fired. This is what Blaise and Jordan do: hook up at Blaise’s work when the store is open and the doors are not locked. Blaise is so focused on his future, and that seems out of character. “The store is open, someone could come in at any time, and I didn’t even close the curtain to the cubicle. I definitely can’t afford to lose this job.” That aside, I liked how Jordan, who had previously only been with women, didn’t freak out about being attracted to a man. Given that having two dads as parents makes things less stressful, knowing he wouldn’t be kicked out, but still.  What is a problem, however, is that two of his teammates snuck out after curfew, got wasted, and got caught. One, Hannaway, got caught having sex with an underage girl, so the media focus is on the team hard. There are strict warnings from the coach and admin: Do not bring more negative attention to the team.

Jordan figures out, with some help from his sister, that he is either bisexual or pansexual. Again, he’s good being who he is, but he worries about bringing any attention to the team and knows the media circus that will surround him and Blaise if he goes public. So they keep it down low, initially not even telling friends. I had to laugh when he told Luke, “Oh, and I worked out that I’m either bi or pan…..Gotta go, Uncle Luke. Talk later.” And hangs up!

Blaise has the most amazing group of friends who are supportive and funny. Butch, who’s family thinks if she would stop being an artist, she would no longer be a lesbian, made me smile. Calla is awesome, and it turns out she is also Jordan’s friend.

As Blaise “tutors” Jordan on man-on-man sex, they also start to share time together, watching movies, going to dinner, and hanging out.  They also know a universal truth: …fried potato makes everything better.” You got that right.

It’s funny, but neither of them realizes they are actually in a relationship until Jordan’s sister and her boyfriend bonk him on the head to see what is happening, and then he shares that idea with Blaise, who also realizes. “I  am not okay with being in a secret relationship…not now that I know about it, anyway.” Both of them had that giant AHA moment when it was explained to them. So oblivious.  So they compromise and decide they will let their friends and Jordan’s coach know but still keep it under wraps from the public. Especially since Hannaway was charged with underage sex, and the focus is on the team. I loved that Coach, even though it would pain him to have more attention because of this, encourages Jordan to do what is right for him. The scene where Jordan tells his teammates is hysterical. “Wait, wait, hold up.” Laringo’s frowning. “Why Ryan and Gosling and not Chris Helmsworth?” “Is that really what we’re focusing on here…really?”

There are hurdles they have to jump and some unexpected news comes in that makes things difficult. But these two are good for each other and I liked seeing how they each grow and develop, individually and together.

RATING:

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