It's Stealing Home Day! ⚾️ 🪐
seb and mia finally slide home <3
Hi friends,
I am SO excited that we’re here. Finally! The Avon books re-release of Stealing Home, the queer, second chance, black cat x golden retriever romance of my heart—filled with baseball, cooking, lots of space talk, and, of course, spice—is out in the world as of today. Perfect for baseball season AND Pride Month! Spotlighting the third Callahan brother! Featuring some of my favorite moments in the entire series! (I chat about it below, if you’re interested.)
Snag it now in ebook, audiobook, or gorgeous newly-designed paperback from your favorite retailer:
A can’t-miss BookTok favorite, reverse grumpy/sunshine forced-proximity college sports romance, third in the Beyond the Play series—with new exclusive content in this edition!
I should be focusing on my game—not on falling for my gorgeous, grumpy roommate…especially since she’s already left me once.
Sebastian
It’s my final season to prove myself before the MLB draft. The last thing I need is a distraction—and especially not one as tantalizing as Mia di Angelo.
She’s the drop-dead gorgeous astrophysicist-in-training who ditched me the moment I wanted to take us from casual to committed. Yeah. Ouch. But when she needs somewhere to stay for the summer… well, I offer her my place.
Being roommates shouldn’t be so hard. Not distracting at all. Not the least bit challenging…
Mia
I have two goals this summer: get into a study abroad program and get over golden baseball god Sebastian Miller-Callahan.
Doesn’t mean it’s easy to stop thinking about him, but he deserves better than a prickly, career-focused girl like me. Our futures can’t be more different. The last thing I need is to play roommates with the only man who can set my body ablaze.
And all the feelings I’ve tried to pretend I never had? They come rushing back far too strong for either of us to ignore.
Filled with swoons, spice, sports, and second chances, Stealing Home is a don’t-miss adult college sports romance.
Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Kobo, and Kindle Unlimited, or buy it in person from your favorite bookstore!
Amazon: https://bit.ly/4bTk4wP
Apple Books: https://bit.ly/45iywvT
Nook: https://bit.ly/45lX1s0
Kobo: https://bit.ly/4ckMlfG
Google Play: https://bit.ly/4bVVgEs
Audible: https://adbl.co/3VDVx9q [Narrated by: Tristan Wright & Kat Riley]
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4emPpcL
stealing home (still has my heart) 🏳️🌈
Stealing Home and Breakaway are standalones, and yet they are inextricably linked.
I remember conceiving of Mia’s character as a foil to Penny. Penny had red hair, so Mia would have black hair. Penny wasn’t scientifically minded, so Mia would be studying astrophysics. Penny would be quieter and need confidence, so Mia would be louder and surer of herself (in some ways, at least). And I loved the idea of them falling for brothers: a path to being family in a new way.
I also knew immediately that Mia would be bisexual. It came with her, so to speak, like her Italian American heritage and love of gold jewelry. I’m queer myself (hi hello hi), and I worked extra hard, over the course of writing Stealing Home, to do her character justice. She has a tougher exterior than Penny, for sure. She feels so realistic, given all of her defenses and insecurities and prickly bits; there are so many layers that Sebastian has to get past to make her soften. There’s realism in that, and I’m proud of her growth. I’m proud of the way she supports him in turn: they’re equals, and perfectly suited to each other.
It was so incredibly rewarding to write about Sebastian’s radical acceptance of the woman he loves—and one of the best things that has come out of Stealing Home is hearing from other queer people, especially bisexual women in straight-passing relationships, that Mia’s story resonated with them on a deep level. Sebastian loves Mia for so many reasons, none of which have to do specifically with her sexual orientation, but he’s as ready to defend that part of her as he is the rest of her. And that love is what makes him such a special flavor of protective, caretaking hero. I loved the scene where Sebastian stands up for her in front of her father and brother when I first wrote it, and I love it still.
Mia and Sebastian have similar issues with family; they worry that they’re out of place in theirs, never meant to be on the inside the way everyone else is. One of my favorite scenes in the entire Beyond the Play series is that last one before the epilogue in Stealing Home, when Sebastian cooks for everyone at the Callahan house and we see that Mia has been brought fully into the fold. By the end of the book, Richard and Sandra have gained three daughters—Bex, Penny, and Mia—and, of course, I can’t wait for Wicked Serve in August, when you’ll be able to see the journey to adding another Callahan son to the fold for their whirlwind of light, Izzy.
All this is to say, I’m glad I wrote this book. I’m grateful for every book I’ve written and published so far, but last April, it felt like a leap, and it still feels like a leap now. I’d love if you gave it a shot, if you haven’t experienced Mia and Seb’s story yet, or re-read it, if it’s one you picked up when it first released. It’s a true companion to Breakaway, given the PennyMiaSebastianCooper tangle of love and friendship… and given that it’s June, I’m thinking about what it would be like if they all went to a Pride event:
Mia: Reserved, but pleased, in no small part due to her rainbow-colored nails—matching Penny’s—and her sister’s surprise appearance. Penny likely convinced her to wear bi pride earrings. Also, there’s her shirt, which says something like… “The girlfriend in question…”
Sebastian: Very proud of his shirt, which says something along the lines of: “Yes, she’s my girlfriend. Yes, she’s still bisexual.” He wants to make out with Mia desperately, but is trying to be good and keep his hands to himself. (He’s going to fail the moment he can’t stand the sight of his girl in those black jean shorts without his hands in the back pockets.)
Penny: On a mission to find the perfect rainbow collar for Tangerine, of course, and excited to dance with Mia once they make their way to a bar. She managed to find a rainbow-colored dress in a vintage store and is well and truly obsessed with it, even if Cooper teases that it makes her look like sherbet.
Cooper: Thrilled to be there, thrilled to be supportive, and very excited for the moment he can steal Penny away from Mia on the dance floor. If there’s anything he loves more than seeing his brother happy and in love, it’s knowing that he has Penny in his life. Maybe he spontaneously gets another tattoo…
Cheers, everyone. Tell your local indies to stock Stealing Home, and if you see it in the wild, please tag me in any posts you make!
ALSO: If Instagram Lives are your thing, I’ll be hanging out with @readwithmeags on the Valentine PR account today at 1pm EST to chat all things Stealing Home/Beyond the Play! Feel free to come with questions :)
xoxo!