I was lucky enough to read this story when it was in its infancy. Matt and René's story intrigued me from the beginning, and I sometimes forgot I was supposed to be reading for specifics.

Spoiler

My heart broke for Matt; his struggles, his fear of being outed to his father, and the terror at how his town would react. René had his own unique struggles, though he was much more comfortable in his skin than Matt.

The supporting characters were some of my favorites. I loved Matt's interaction with his nieces, and I absolutely fell for Emily. Pairing her up with David made me absolutely giddy. Jeanne was incredibly strong for a newly divorced single mom, but who wouldn't be in that situation? I even loved Rev. Hawley, because he was special in his own way. There were times when I absolutely despised him, and Kerry did a great job of conveying his emotions.

I look forward to more of Matt and René's story, should Kerry choose to write it. ;)

I thought this was a sweet story with overall minimal angst. I really liked the characters.

An enjoyable read for me, well written generally and fast flowing - I devoured in pretty much one sitting.
The baseball element is not front centre, serving as a vehicle to get Matt and Rene together. Its actually Matts coming out story and mostly I really enjoyed it - the ending was a bit funny but not too much to spoil the story. A good solid 3.5 for me and a reread.

A sweet story with a lot of angst about coming out to a devout christian family.

Not the best one I've read, but not bad.

Coach Eyefuck!! Another terrific read from Ms. Freeman. The title refers to the MCs, Matt and Rene, who meet as coaches of rival school baseball teams in Alabama. Matt,still closeted, is from a very small town, considered "dry" meaning you can't buy alcohol there. The residents are small minded, bigoted and homophobic. The biggest offender, sadly, is Matt's dad, Rev Hawley. Rene and Matt meet just as their respective teams are about to play a crucial game and their connection sparks and crackles off of the page! Dayuum! I felt it! The friends and family are nicely drawn and are 3 dimensional - particularly David, Rene's best friend. He observes Rene and Matt eyeing each other across the field, hence his comment about Matt - Coach Eyefuck. Ms. Freeman has a light and breezy but emotionally rich style that engages you immediately. And she knows her way around a sex scene - my Kindle is still smoking. Matt's predilection for marking Rene is hot,hot, hot. And this is a minor thing but I so appreciate it - Rene is from ColOmbia and it is spelled correctly in this book. I can't tell you how many authors mess that up and substitute a U and use this incorrect spelling "Columbia." The pacing of the romance is nice and the method the author uses to depict the passing of time is captured well. The difficulty Matt has with coming out in his environment is done well. And the ending - that twist just blew me away. A lovely HEA that was not at all sappy.