You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

In the post pandemic era (or maybe I should modify that to between pandemics, as bird flu seems to be heating up and getting ready to cause catastrophe), I have dipped my toe ever so slightly into the world of romance novels, and this author has been a repeat customer for me. I missed this book when it came out, but when it appeared on the NYT 100 Notable Books in 2024, I read it. This is a very quiet story, about a gay journalist who is grieving the sudden death of his boyfriend--who left him far too young, but also left him rich--and a rising baseball star. It is set in the early 1960's so they need to be discreet, but both of them are comfortable with their sexual orientation, and their love story unfolds in a mixture of both physical and emotional attraction, tempered with the historically accurate portrayal of their need to keep their their relationship a secret. The author does dialogue well and she is adept at building friendship before anything develops--she allows her characters to be friends before anything else, and even though you know where this is heading from the very beginning, she makes the journey enjoyable and this one does not disappoint.