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Pine Tar & Sweet Tea
After playing eleven years in the Minor Leagues, Coach Matt Hawley has returned to his tiny Alabama hometown to lead his old high school baseball team to their first state championship. At the other end of the state, René Días, who left the Major League after one season, is getting his team ready to defend their state title for the second straight year. One is in the closet. The other is between relationships. Neither has any intention of hooking up at the state tournament.
Then they see each other.
Pre-game lust turns into an intense one-night stand neither man can forget, and when their best friends embark on a romance, Matt and René are thrown together again. This time they decide it won't be for just a single night. But the fear of disappointing his minister father and shaming his family forces Matt to keep one foot in the closet, even as he and René find their lust is maybe something more. He's going to have to make a choice between between his family and his freedom.
Then they see each other.
Pre-game lust turns into an intense one-night stand neither man can forget, and when their best friends embark on a romance, Matt and René are thrown together again. This time they decide it won't be for just a single night. But the fear of disappointing his minister father and shaming his family forces Matt to keep one foot in the closet, even as he and René find their lust is maybe something more. He's going to have to make a choice between between his family and his freedom.
118 pages, ebook
First published October 9, 2012
About the author
Kerry Freeman
7 books4 followersBorn and raised in the Southern US, Kerry Freeman was the quintessential tomboy who'd rather play war with the neighborhood boys than get near a doll. She discovered a love of words early, reading everything in sight.
Kerry writes contemporary gay romance/Boys' Love novels, and her dream is to have her books translated for the Asian market. Many of her stories, including "One Last Road Trip" in the Rainbow Award-winning Playing Ball , are about baseball players. As Jamie in What We Deserve would say, you have to love the guys in those tight baseball pants.
Loves: Oxford Comma, baseball, reading non-fiction
Hates: Bananas, underwire bras, stories without a happy ending
Kerry lives in the Southern US with her husband and spoiled rotten furbabies.
Kerry writes contemporary gay romance/Boys' Love novels, and her dream is to have her books translated for the Asian market. Many of her stories, including "One Last Road Trip" in the Rainbow Award-winning Playing Ball , are about baseball players. As Jamie in What We Deserve would say, you have to love the guys in those tight baseball pants.
Loves: Oxford Comma, baseball, reading non-fiction
Hates: Bananas, underwire bras, stories without a happy ending
Kerry lives in the Southern US with her husband and spoiled rotten furbabies.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 23, 2012
Grade: B
Interesting. Intriguing, even. I think I need to read more from Ms. Freeman.
The set-up:
René is a former minor-leaguer now coaching a successful high school team. He’s discreetly out, but he’s not going back in for anyone.
Matt is also a player-turned-coach, but he’s a deeply closeted preacher’s kid shamed by a lifetime of pulpit-pounding sermons and dinner table lectures.
It’s Insta-Lust from the get-go when they meet at the state tournament…
…and they manage sneak in a mutually-fulfilling one-nighter after the championship game.
Did I say “fulfilling”? I meant SMO.KING.HOT.
But then their best friends start in with their own smooching and smexing, and Matt and René can’t resist falling deeper into something neither is prepared for.
The hits:
Did I mention the SMOKING HOT smexing? There’s more where that came from — along with a few swoon-worthy moments:
For a newbie author, Freeman gives us some really well-drawn main characters, and not just in the bedroom. Or bathroom (see intro quote above). Or locker room. René is brash but charmingly vulnerable, and Matt is just bursting to let his wild side out. Yes, I chose the word “bursting” on purpose. I’m easy that way.
The angstifying is nicely balanced by some spot-on dialogue and humor, especially from René’s best friend David:
…and while Matt’s preacher’s-kid family drama is a common m/m trope, it never felt forced or crossed the line into melodrama. Freeman gets extra at-bats for stuff like this:
And speaking of family drama — ooh boy, I was not expecting that twisty bit near the end.
The misses:
Like many novellas, the pacing is pretty rushed and we miss out on the relationship-building. We know what’s keeping them apart, but we never quite get into their heads enough to feel what’s drawing them together.
And that twisty bit near the end. I’m kinda still a bit conflicted on that. It worked great as a plot wrench, but something about it is still bugging me and I can’t figure out what or why. Authors, be very grateful I’m just a reviewer and not your editor, because sometimes I have no fucking idea what I’m talking about.
Random yet obligatory post-game pop-culture reference:
From Pine Tar & Sweet Tea, Chapter One:
And from Bull Durham , somewhere in the first third of the movie:
Random post-game interview question:
The cover: Mantitty or moobs? I’m leaning toward moobs, because they’re distracting me from the beefier delts and pecs in the background.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
NOTE: This review was Game 1 of a "gay coaches" doubleheader in my World Series of Romance. Game 2 - with a similar premise, but very different vibe - was Caught Running by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban.
Interesting. Intriguing, even. I think I need to read more from Ms. Freeman.
It was hard to tell who started the kiss, but Matt was the one who deepened it. He thrust his tongue inside René’s mouth and tasted the last bit of sweetness from the tea. René grabbed Matt’s ass and began encouraging a slow, steady grind. Soon, René shoved his hand down the back of Matt’s jeans, his calloused fingers digging into Matt’s flesh.
René pulled Matt back by his hair. “And here I thought you were mad at me.”
“I thought I was too,” Matt whispered.
“Doesn’t matter now. Just kiss me.”
The set-up:
René is a former minor-leaguer now coaching a successful high school team. He’s discreetly out, but he’s not going back in for anyone.
Matt is also a player-turned-coach, but he’s a deeply closeted preacher’s kid shamed by a lifetime of pulpit-pounding sermons and dinner table lectures.
It’s Insta-Lust from the get-go when they meet at the state tournament…
A few of the parents thought the coach was glaring at him, but René knew a fuck-me-now look when he saw one.
…and they manage sneak in a mutually-fulfilling one-nighter after the championship game.
Did I say “fulfilling”? I meant SMO.KING.HOT.
But then their best friends start in with their own smooching and smexing, and Matt and René can’t resist falling deeper into something neither is prepared for.
The hits:
Did I mention the SMOKING HOT smexing? There’s more where that came from — along with a few swoon-worthy moments:
Matt raised an eyebrow. “Well, you do speak Spanish in bed.”
Now Rene blushed. “Sorry.”
“No no no. I loved it. Meant you’d let go. What was it you said?”
“Te deseo. Te necesito. Dentro de ti es el cielo,” Rene whispered. He clasped Matt’s hands in his. “I want you. Need you. It’s heaven inside you.”
The room shrank around them, and Matt could barely breathe. “How do you say, ‘Take me back to bed’?”
For a newbie author, Freeman gives us some really well-drawn main characters, and not just in the bedroom. Or bathroom (see intro quote above). Or locker room. René is brash but charmingly vulnerable, and Matt is just bursting to let his wild side out. Yes, I chose the word “bursting” on purpose. I’m easy that way.
The angstifying is nicely balanced by some spot-on dialogue and humor, especially from René’s best friend David:
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered as he stomped off. “Biggest game of the year, and NOW he decides to take the dick out of storage.”
…and while Matt’s preacher’s-kid family drama is a common m/m trope, it never felt forced or crossed the line into melodrama. Freeman gets extra at-bats for stuff like this:
“My grandmother was devout. Rosary, hair covering, the whole thing. When I told her I was gay, she sat me down and told me to remember one thing: God is love. He wants me to love and be loved in return. She didn’t believe that he would put me on earth only able to feel true love for a man if he didn’t mean for me to love that way.”
And speaking of family drama — ooh boy, I was not expecting that twisty bit near the end.
The misses:
Like many novellas, the pacing is pretty rushed and we miss out on the relationship-building. We know what’s keeping them apart, but we never quite get into their heads enough to feel what’s drawing them together.
And that twisty bit near the end. I’m kinda still a bit conflicted on that. It worked great as a plot wrench, but something about it is still bugging me and I can’t figure out what or why. Authors, be very grateful I’m just a reviewer and not your editor, because sometimes I have no fucking idea what I’m talking about.
Random yet obligatory post-game pop-culture reference:
From Pine Tar & Sweet Tea, Chapter One:
And from Bull Durham , somewhere in the first third of the movie:
Random post-game interview question:
The cover: Mantitty or moobs? I’m leaning toward moobs, because they’re distracting me from the beefier delts and pecs in the background.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
NOTE: This review was Game 1 of a "gay coaches" doubleheader in my World Series of Romance. Game 2 - with a similar premise, but very different vibe - was Caught Running by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban.
October 17, 2012
I love sports stories, this is a good one even though the sports aspect is more peripheral to the main storyline which is one of coming out.
I really enjoyed these characters. Matt and René are both high school baseball coaches and their teams meet for the state championship. Matt is recently home from years as a minor ball player. He came back to support his family after the death of his mother and while he was never out playing ball he was more free to be himself on the road. All this ends being around his very conservative and homophobic pastor father.
While it's never been easy for him, René is out and proud and has a strong family support network.
Their relationship starts out with a pretty explosive one night stand. There is a lot of chemistry at work here and these two men are incredibly hot together.
Emily and David are the respective best friends who also meet during the championship and begin a relationship. It's their relationship that eventually draws Matt and René back together and they begin seeing each other and their one night stand becomes something more.
I really, really enjoyed these guys and how they tried to make things work out. There is a lot of family angst here on Matt's part as he tries desperately to please everyone. That unfortunately never works and leads up to main issue here of whether he should stay in the closet and conform to family pressures or come out and grab his happiness with René.
This is a short story and there are often jumps of time here but I never felt cheated. I got a real feel for the characters and their motivations and the story is a sweet one. Recommended.
I really enjoyed these characters. Matt and René are both high school baseball coaches and their teams meet for the state championship. Matt is recently home from years as a minor ball player. He came back to support his family after the death of his mother and while he was never out playing ball he was more free to be himself on the road. All this ends being around his very conservative and homophobic pastor father.
While it's never been easy for him, René is out and proud and has a strong family support network.
Their relationship starts out with a pretty explosive one night stand. There is a lot of chemistry at work here and these two men are incredibly hot together.
Emily and David are the respective best friends who also meet during the championship and begin a relationship. It's their relationship that eventually draws Matt and René back together and they begin seeing each other and their one night stand becomes something more.
I really, really enjoyed these guys and how they tried to make things work out. There is a lot of family angst here on Matt's part as he tries desperately to please everyone. That unfortunately never works and leads up to main issue here of whether he should stay in the closet and conform to family pressures or come out and grab his happiness with René.
This is a short story and there are often jumps of time here but I never felt cheated. I got a real feel for the characters and their motivations and the story is a sweet one. Recommended.
August 11, 2013
After playing in the Minor Leagues for eleven years, Matt Hawley returns to his small Alabama hometown to coach the local high school baseball team. Rene Dias left the Major Leagues after one season and moved back to his hometown of Mobile, Alabama to coach high school baseball at one of the local high schools. Matt is deeply in the closet. Rene is very open about his sexuality. Each team makes it to the state championship series and they meet as opposing coaches. There is instant and intense attraction. They both know that the weekend will not end without them ending up in bed together. After the tournament is over and the last pitch has been thrown, they have a one-night-stand. Matt has no intention of coming out of the closet for anyone so it is understood that it will be one night only and that they will go their separate ways afterward. Of course, it doesn't happen that way as they cannot stop thinking about each other and they are forced together over time because of mutual friends.
This is a very nice story about one man overcoming a homophobic upbringing and small town stereotypes who finally allows himself to be open about who he is and the man he loves. There is a long road to get there but he does, finally, get there. A very enjoyable read and a very nice love story. Also, this is set partially in my town so that was a major plus for me... and no southern speak which made it even better. :)
Full review can be found at On Top Down Under Book Reviews.
This is a very nice story about one man overcoming a homophobic upbringing and small town stereotypes who finally allows himself to be open about who he is and the man he loves. There is a long road to get there but he does, finally, get there. A very enjoyable read and a very nice love story. Also, this is set partially in my town so that was a major plus for me... and no southern speak which made it even better. :)
Full review can be found at On Top Down Under Book Reviews.
October 12, 2012
Three quarters into this story I was ready to give it 4 STARS but the last quarter seemed like somebody else took over the writing.
Yes for those of us who read a MM romance at least once a day this is not a new story. One guy out and proud and one very deep in the closet with a preacher for a father. But the writing was great, the characters were interesting and entertaining.
Then just when things go to hell in a hand basket, and the closet case shouts out he's 'GAY', after the breakup everything just get assumed and summed up. It seemed like who ever did the editing chopped the last quarter of this book to pieces.
This is my first time reading this author, so I look forward to trying again.
Yes for those of us who read a MM romance at least once a day this is not a new story. One guy out and proud and one very deep in the closet with a preacher for a father. But the writing was great, the characters were interesting and entertaining.
Then just when things go to hell in a hand basket, and the closet case shouts out he's 'GAY', after the breakup everything just get assumed and summed up. It seemed like who ever did the editing chopped the last quarter of this book to pieces.
This is my first time reading this author, so I look forward to trying again.
Shelved as 'dnf'
October 26, 2012Another one for that shelf- what a pity. It started out pretty well, but around 35% I guess, when the MCs met for the second time, for me it got rather harebrained. On the one hand Matt was absolutely determined to hide everything gay from his father, on the other hand he followed René into the bathroom and then the whole scene suddenly ended? Without Minister father even appear? Or did I miss that? I read on til 40%, the next scene after the bathroom is at Matt's home - no father in sight. Well, this whole story set-up with closeted, living-in-fear-of-dad twenty/thirty something? It's getting old, unless done in a very compelling way. Sorry to say, for this reader at least, here this wasn't the case.
October 28, 2012
This was a sweet read, liked the characters but the angst level and some of the events in the end of the story made it a little over the top for me. But, liked it. Definitely an author I'd pick up again. 3.5 stars.
October 3, 2015
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.
September 27, 2012
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.
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. ;)
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. ;)
September 27, 2012
I was one lucky beta for Pine Tar & Sweet Tea. Such a beautiful, poignant story wrapped in southern charm, sports and laughter. I was raised in a baseball loving family by a dad who was super religious so I felt very connected with Matt right away. His emotional turmoil and personal plight spoke to me and even though there were a few moments where I wanted to kick him in his tushie, I also really wanted to hug him. Rene, as well as his family were perfection. I could hear the din and crazy while reading about his beautiful, loud family. Rene was a quiet force to be reckoned with and I really loved what he gave to the story. The steam factor was right up there with a hot shower on a hot southern night. It was a great romance and a great erotica all rolled into one story.
No spoilers ;)
I would recommend this story for sports lovers, as well as anyone who just wants a really well paced, well written love story.
No spoilers ;)
I would recommend this story for sports lovers, as well as anyone who just wants a really well paced, well written love story.
November 17, 2012
I think it would have been helpful if there was some kind of transition in this story like separating by chapters for instance. One moment we're following a conversation where Matt is at his sister's house waiting for his dad to show up and in the next paragraph we're at Matt's house and it's switched to Rene's viewpoint. These abrupt shifts happen throughout the story and it was enough to really grate.
The story was fine but not terribly original and the main characters & their relationship needed to be fleshed out more. it's not a total washout but needed something extra to make this a better read.
The story was fine but not terribly original and the main characters & their relationship needed to be fleshed out more. it's not a total washout but needed something extra to make this a better read.
April 10, 2014
A quick, easy read that made me feel for the characters and had a nice balance of sweetnes and angst.
Matt's father, who's a preacher that doesn't accept homosexuality was a great character. He wasn't a black and white villain, but a man with prejudice, while still loving his family.
I would love to read about Robby some more. He had a very small part but as a character he was an intriguing mix of bravery and fear. It'd be interesting to know where life will lead him.
Matt's father, who's a preacher that doesn't accept homosexuality was a great character. He wasn't a black and white villain, but a man with prejudice, while still loving his family.
I would love to read about Robby some more. He had a very small part but as a character he was an intriguing mix of bravery and fear. It'd be interesting to know where life will lead him.
March 19, 2015
Matt and René meet at a sports event (they are both coaches) and are very attracted to each other. René is out and proud but Matt isn't. After a one night stands turns in to more Matt has to figure out what's more important the love and approval of his father and the people in his hometown or the love thats starting to build between him and René.
Nice short story. I enjoyed reading this coming out story of Matt. There is a little angst but not much.
Nice short story. I enjoyed reading this coming out story of Matt. There is a little angst but not much.
February 18, 2015
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.
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.
November 12, 2012
Good book...great MC's. It was a fun, easy read.
September 15, 2013
4 stars
December 16, 2012
Pretty hot, a wonderful read, lots of love and understanding. Men written like men, I think, which is always a good sign. Recommended.
December 11, 2013
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.
April 24, 2013
I thought this was a sweet story with overall minimal angst. I really liked the characters.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews