I watched baseball live for the first time in seats that were right behind home plate. I schlepped out to the Stadium on public transportation, carrying Snapples and a turkey sandwich in my bag because I had no idea what the kosher food situation would be. I also had no idea what the rules of the game were or how much those seats cost. They were a gift from someone who loved me and that was all I needed to know.

I think the important parts came across.

It is obvious that KD Casey is well versed in all things baseball. In the opening pages of Unwritten Rules she managed to teach me all about pitch framing, spring training, All-Star games and minor leagues without making it obvious that this was what she was doing. Because as the main character would tell you, framing matters almost as much as the pitch. And in this case the framing was love.

Love of sport. Love of family. Love of an old flame. I could understand all those things, therefore I could understand baseball and this book. The protagonist, Zach Glasser, is a catcher and major league baseball player who also happens to be gay, closeted and in love with his former teammate. When the two reunite at an All-Star game I expected my heart to ache for Zach’s failed relationship. It did. However, I was not prepared for Zach’s disappointment in the much anticipated All-Star game and his career in general to hit me quite as hard. The poignancy of those scenes, the emotional devastation of an athlete contemplating the price they have paid to play a sport that does not always love them back, struck very close to the bone.

Watching Zach and Eugenio first fall in love through a series of flashbacks makes it easy to see how much the machine that churns out major league baseball players mimics real life relationship politics. From the one night stands invited out to spring training and never picked up to the struggle of wondering how much to reveal about ones personal life to a new teammate, the parallels were undeniable.

I harbor no false conviction that this ease of metaphor came about because I am a baseball savant discovering my latent gifts late in life. I still can’t tell a strike from a foul. A fastball from a curveball. Or even what the difference between the infield and the outfield is. No, the secret lies in the author, who clearly knows a thing or two about both love and baseball. And my life was enriched because she decided to put both those things down on the page together.

For the romance fans among us, yes the book bangs. For the Jews among us, yes there is babka. For the baseball fans among us, yes you will be shocked at how hot baseball terminology can be in the right hands.

I have returned to baseball stadiums many times. I’ve sat in the front row, the nosebleeds and everywhere in between. I can tell you exactly where to find the kosher food so you don’t have to sneak in turkey sandwiches. But I never before understood the love of the game in quite the same way I do now. I look forward to returning again, when it is safe to do so, with my new perspective.

*KD Casey has written guest posts for BookishlyJewish and kindly gave me an arc, no strings attached, when I asked for one.

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E Broderick is a writer and speculative fiction enthusiast. When not writing she enjoys epic games of trivial pursuit and baking. She currently lives in the U.S. but is eagerly awaiting the day a sentient spaceship offers to take her traveling around the galaxy.