Bethany reviews ‘Touch & Go’ by Brigham Vaughn. Published by Two Peninsulas Press on September 27th, 2019, 476 pgs.
Why I read this book: I read the first two in this series and I needed to see if Micah could redeem himself. Plus I am a huge fan of this author. So win win for me.
Check out my review for book one here: Bully & Exit
Micah Warner has spent his whole life dreaming of pitching in the big leagues. There are no gay players in pro ball though, so signing with a minor-league team near Chicago means any involvement with men must be casual and discreet.
Justin Lamb is a bisexual physical therapist and a romantic at heart. He loves his job with the Cougars, but 140 games a year and traveling with the team puts a strain on his long-term relationships.
Micah offers Justin a no-strings-attached way to blow off some steam, and Justin reluctantly agrees. It doesn’t take long before they’re both in over their heads.
When Micah suffers a catastrophic shoulder injury, their careers and relationship hang in the balance. Both will have to choose: baseball or love?
Ok so I read book one ‘Bully & Exit’ in this series a while back and fell in love with the MCs. I initially read it because one of the MC, Caleb, is a Theatre major and for a brief time I too was a Theatre major. But here is the thing with the first book, not only did I fall in love with Nathan and Caleb, I fell in like with secondary characters. Brent and Lowell, who got their own book, Push & Pull, were awesome secondary characters who I couldn’t wait to read about. But as it is with most books, there are characters that you kinda want to throat punch. Micah was that character for me in books 1 & 2.
I don’t know what its like to be an athlete and gay, living in the closet for fear that if he came out it would be the end of his career. So I can’t understand the fear of someone else doing or saying something that would make people question my sexuality. This was Micah’s fear, but I just couldn’t comprehend some of the harsh and truly awful things he said to people he was with. I really thought I hated him.
But then Brigham went and changed my mind. She brought him to life for me, she made me feel his pain, DEMANDED I understood his fear. God Micah broke me in this book.
Then there is Justin, this adorable bisexual physical therapist for the Cougars, the minor league baseball team Micah plays for. Yall can see where this is going right? Oh man I love Justin, he is the calm to Micah’s storm, the ying to his yang. They just don’t realize that when they start out, what was suppose to be a mutual, casual fling. But you know what they say about best laid plans and all. Feelings start to become involved and Justin knows that sooner or later Micah is going to break his heart without even meaning to. Because for Micah the Cougars are just a stepping stone to the big leagues.
Till the game Micah loves leads to a career ending injury. An injury that proves to everyone even wild horses can’t keep Justin away from Micah.
This is when things get really tough, Micah now has to come to terms that he might never get to play again, and the possibility of being out of the closet. Can he give up what he has loved all his life, and be happy? Is he willing to keep hiding his sexuality? And Justin? Is he willing to walk away from love, a love that isn’t baseball?
I am the first to admit there were times in this book, I needed to put it down, walk away to regroup. Moments when I wanted to smack Micah upside the head, moments when my heart started to shatter. But here is the thing about that, Brigham Vaughn knows how to piece it back together. She heals you while she heals Micah and Justin. These two characters changed me, made me see sometimes fear has a way bring out the worst in people. That fear can be crippling, and you never know what someone is going through. She also showed me bravery. Micah truly becomes someone I would want my kids to look up to. He shows Justin he is going to make them his top priority. And I melted a bit.
I didn’t think it would be possible to love Micah as much as I do, but that just goes to show you how brilliant an author Brigham Vaugh is. She turns the unliked into loved, the broken into healed, the scared into fearless, when you finally find the one person you are willing to give up everything you thought was your dream. Because sometimes dreams change for the better.
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Brigham Vaughn has always been a voracious reader with her own stories to tell. After many years of abandoned plots, something finally clicked. Now she’s eating, sleeping, and breathing writing and is excited to have finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up. In the little time that isn’t spent writing or reading, she loves cooking, yoga, photography, and remodeling her ninety-year-old home. Brigham lives in Michigan with her four cats and an amazing husband who has always been her biggest champion.
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