The Windup by Kate McMurray

WindUp[The]LGTitle: The Windup
Series: The Rainbow League, #1
Author: Kate McMurray
Genre: Contemporary/Sports
Length: Novel (214 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (24 April 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts

Blurb: Ian ran screaming from New York City upon graduating from high school. A job offer too good to turn down has brought him back, but he plans to leave as soon as the job is up. In the meantime he lets an old friend talk him into joining the Rainbow League, New York’s LGBT amateur baseball league. Baseball turns out to be a great outlet for his anxiety, and not only because sexy teammate Ty has caught his eye.

Ty is like a duck on a pond—calm and laid-back on the surface, a churning mess underneath. In Ian, he’s found someone with whom he feels comfortable enough to share some of what’s going on beneath the surface. The only catch is that Ian is dead set on leaving the city as soon as he can. Ty works up a plan to convince Ian that New York is, in fact, the greatest city in the world. But when Ian receives an offer for a job overseas, Ty needs a new plan: convince Ian that home is where Ty is.

ISBN: 978-1-63216-968-6

Product Link: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6307

Reviewer: Prime

Review: This is the first Kate McMurray book that I’ve read and I have to say, this is an author that I will happily go back to in the future, especially for the continuing books in this series. The Windup is the first book in the Rainbow League series and I look forward to more stories.

Hot guys playing sports – make that ordinary, everyday, hot gay guys playing in New York’s all-gay baseball league. There’s competitiveness, bitchiness, more testosterone than you could imagine and a whole heap of drama.

Our introduction to this world is through Ian. He had grown up in Brooklyn, escaped for some years and has returned “home” to a very different city. The neighbourhood where he grew up is less gangs and more family orientated. Ian had used his job to move around for some years and fully intends to continue his lifestyle – settling down to help refurbish one hotel before picking up his life and moving on to the next hotel. However, upon his return, Ian’s high school friend convinces Ian to join his baseball team, in the hopes to get Ian out and meeting some new guys.

Then, at baseball, we meet Ty. He likes to call himself the team slut, but he has a lot more depth than that. There is an instant attraction between Ty and Ian that is palpable and had me immediately and emotionally invested in these guys getting together and actually staying together.

There is plenty of sexual tension going on between these two. These guys are great together but I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Ty and his Texan drawl.

In fact, all the characters have a great sense of depth to them. There also happens to be more than enough sexual tension involved with many of the minor characters too, adding a splash of colour and life to the world. I can already see the threads of future stories in a number of the minor characters, as well as being given a rather teasing introduction to what is going to be the second book.

I would assume that another couple (not literally) of characters are also going to be the basis of perhaps the third book because we got a teasing glimpse at the story that is going on there.

This is a busy book, there is a lot going on other than the Hipsters playing baseball. However, the most of the loose ends of story involving Ian and Ty are all tied together is a pretty little bow by the end of the book. The only threads of storyline left hanging are the stories that have been set up for future books.

Can’t wait for the next installment!

* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *