Review: KD Casey’s UNWRITTEN RULES.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Q: What’s everyone heading into the weekend reading?

My angst-meter has been re-calibrated thanks to some recent fantasy reads & good thing because I think it helped my heart handle KD Casey’s Unwritten Rules a little easier 🤣.

This second chance sports romance interspersed with flashbacks is beautifully written, with heartbreak & desire, regret & connection captured on the page & a love story that shines.

Zach Glasser isn’t expecting his former secret lover Eugenio Morales, also a catcher in the Majors, to be at the All-Star Classic game. It’s been a few years since they were lovers, since Zach decided he wasn’t willing to give Eugenio what he wanted & needed & Eugenio walked away.

Zach is mired in regrets but still deeply distressed at the thought of coming out to anyone. But he wants Eugenio back.

Told in a structure somewhat similar to People We Meet on Vacation, Unwritten Rules amps up the angst-meter with extended flashbacks that reveal Zach & Eugenio meeting, practicing together, forming a friendship, eventually becoming lovers, separating, & now meeting again.

It’s painful seeing Zach struggle & both of them hurt, just as it’s such a freaking relief & a real source of happiness to see Zach, willing to work on himself & Eugenio, to open himself up to Zach again.

KD Casey writes this couple so thoughtfully: I feel like I could describe both MCs & their relationship so well & that’s because she gives such a good sense of who they are, the challenges they’ve already overcome—Zach is Jewish & has a hearing aid & Eugenio is Venezuelan American—& these things aren’t always appreciated by their fellow baseball players—& the things that draw them toward one another.

With Unwritten Rules KD Casey offers a stirring, resonant romance that I won’t soon forget…& also taught me some things about baseball 🤣.

4.5 ⭐️. Release date: 10/12.


CWs: Zach experiences real distress & anxiety at the thought of coming out & this might be painful for some readers.