Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | All Romance
Length: Short Story


It is the 1960s, and now that Eddie Baronski and his three best friends have graduated and started working, they spend their free time at Lambeau Field watching the Green Bay Packers practice.  The four guys are huge fans but can’t afford regular tickets, so watching practice is one of their favorite past times.  Eddie is especially fond of watching player Johnny Grant, and he can admit to himself that it is for more than Johnny’s skills on the field.  A chance encounter with Johnny leads to the two of them becoming friends, and ultimately to Johnny’s first sexual experiences.  Eddie thinks he is in love with the gorgeous football player, but they may not be quite on the same page. And sometimes love ends up coming from unexpected places.

This was a really sweet short story that so wonderfully evoked the time period.  I have never been to Green Bay but I could really picture the town, the stadium, the shops, and all the other details Grey so beautifully describes.  And I could feel Eddie’s sense of restlessness as he settles into a job he knows he will never like, wondering if there is more out there for him.  Grey gives us a great feel for Eddie’s wonder as he has his first romantic and sexual experiences, as well as an incredibly sweet and lovely ending that just warmed my heart.

A lot is packed into this short story and it felt very rich even with its short length.  We get a great sense for Eddie, his family, and his friends, especially his best friend Jack.  It has a really nice coming of age feel as Eddie take his first steps in adulthood and, along with it, finds real love.  My only issue is that the story divides essentially into two parts and I feel that while things are very well developed in the first half, I wished for more detail in the second.  I don’t want to spoil too much about what happens so I am not delving too deep here, but I really wanted to see more development between the characters and the relationships in the second half.  But overall I thought this was a lovely story with a great historical feel and a really sweet and heartwarming ending.  Definitely worth picking up.

Cover Review: Oh, this is just gorgeous!  I love the color and the artwork, and the scene depicted is straight out of the book. Just perfect.