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Another entertaining story

Revisado: 02-14-19

Out in the Offence is the third book in the Out in College series and takes place some time after Books 1 and 2. Christian is Quarterback for the college football team and used to play with Evan before he graduated (Book 2) and Rory is Mitch's ex (and caused quite a stink when Evan and Mitch first met).

Christian is struggling with statistics class and needs to pass in order for him to continue to play ball. As his (arse) of a Father is on the University Administration Board, Christian wants a tutor not known by the college and so his coach suggests Rory. On their first meeting, Christian is struck with insta-lust and seems to have a tiny melt-down as his fears over his sexuality/his team/his conservative parents and his lack of interest in the career path his father is pushing him on all seems to come at him in doubts and fears - but overwhelmingly, he wants Rory!

This is all told from Christians POV and we only get snippets of Rory. He has already graduated and taking on couple of part time gigs until he finds what he wants to do - he's patience, deadpan humour and quietly intelligent with seemingly endless words of wisdom. After admitting the catastrophe of trying to make Mitch jealous with a girl, he has made the decision to be true to himself, regardless of how others react or see him.

The conversation between the MC's are often heartfelt, full of warmth, humour and support. Rory was there at every turn, waiting for Christian to be comfortable - apart from smexy times and Rory likes his dirty talk!

There is some drama around Christians' team mate and also his housemates ex (all very confusing) and then a huge hate crime which outs Christian (but was never solved or even talked about further - what??). Christian also pulls the big diva (as per previous books) and offers Rory's happiness to the alter of his suffering to free him....blah blah blah....

The narrator was again Michael Pauley. He was okay, maybe I was used to his narration now? His voice for Rory was warm and Zen like, which I liked. The narrator pulled out his "hard" intonations and SHOUTY. LOUD. AND. INTENSE again for the smexy times and he still had moments of oxygen quota vs finished sentence, but overall, it was an easy listen.

This was an easy low angst read and like the previous books in the series, focuses on student athletes under pressure to pursue the love of their game with the love of their lives and come to terms with their sexuality and being true to themselves.

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Easy low angst sweet read

Revisado: 01-25-19

Out in the End Zone is the second book in the Out in College series and runs parallel to the timeline in Book 1 - although you could read this as a standalone.

Evan shares a house with Derek (from book 1) and is a football player at a local college. Evan is sweet, loyal and easy going with a good sense of humour but due to a catastrophic event during high school, puts an end to professional football and he now tends to stick to the straight and narrow. However, he has started "crushing" on Mitch, fun, flirty, member of Derek's college cheer team and vlogger with a large following. Mitch is also in his final year and pitches his senior project to Evan who surprises him when he agrees to help the "faux or not" relationship on social media - a little fake boyfriend trope.

Again this is not dual POV and is told by Evan. I missed hearing from Mitch - he was the richer character and I needed his input at certain times. Evan falls heavy for Mitch and the senior project videos suddenly become too real, but Evan drags his coming out and this is made even harder when he becomes the focus of the faux videos going viral. Evan then only seems to be able to respond to Mitch when Mitch takes a leaf out of Derek's book and does the "I love you, but I will be a martyr to our relationship and break up with you so I can be happy"again it was *meh*

Another eyeroll for the female character - still trying to understand the "Nicole" role. However, I loved Mitch's Grandma, she was just fun and Evan's parents seemed warm and supportive.

The narrator was again Michael Pauley. He sounded a little more laid back with Evan, giving him an easy going voice and I enjoyed his "Mitch" - warm and vulnerable . The narrator pulled out his "hard" intonations and SHOUTY. LOUD. AND. INTENSE for the smexy time. Here, the ear-bashing, fast, bruising and frenzied couplings matched the scenes so well - even the breathlessness of the narrator against the microphone (however unintentional) made me flustered - in a good way!! There were still the odd occasion where he raced with oxygen vs finished sentence, but by then it was the closing scenes and I could overlook it.

Overall, this was an easy low angst read and Evan's coming out was epic, who could not swoon at that? It ends with an epilogue after graduation (although I would've liked to know what happened with Mitch's senior project) and leaves me with a contented sigh.

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College rivals make happy

Revisado: 01-25-19

Derek is on the college water polo team and in his last year at college. He likes order, cleanliness and comes over as a tad too serious. Gabe used to play for a rival team and they fostered a hate/hate relationship in the pool. Things all change when Gabe transfers college to assit with his Olympic goal, putting them on the same team and after one drunken moment of madness, their relationship takes on a whole new direction....

The book is told from Derek's POV - I found it difficult to connect with him (not sure if that was due to the narrator) but he seemed to be overly privileged, a tad whiny and very intense. I wished Gabe had been given some narrative - he seemed to be the easier character, falling hard for Derek with seemingly less baggage. I had a number of frustrations that included the characters coming across "younger" than their 23 years - the drama was a little eye rolling with the female characters. And even though it was low in angst - the "I love you, but I will be a martyr to our relationship and break up with you so you can be happy" was just *meh*

The narrator Michael Pauley was FOCUSED, maybe a little "hard" in his intonations. DEREK. WAS. SHOUTY. LOUD. AND. INTENSE. It made the smexy time like an ear-bashing, fast, bruising and seemingly without emotion. On a few occasions, he read like he only had seconds before his oxygen ran out and needed to get the sentence finished - it came across as a garbled mess.

Overall, the story was an easy read and the sweet epilogue helped to close the story to a satisfactory ending. Evan (Derek's housemate) is the next book.

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Entertaining read, enjoyable narrative

Revisado: 05-03-18

This is book 4 of the series and having not read the previous books, did struggle a little with tid-bits of information given at the start of the story as Josh and Finn had already met a year earlier, but a relationship it did not make and so their next meeting caused a little stir when Finn appears with a woman wearing an enormous engagement ring!

The narrator, Nick J Russo, is a favorite and I have listened to him narrate many books - but I did struggle a little with his "Irish" accent for Finn, it sounded more suited to the West-Country (and I'm talking Somerset, UK here) than the Emerald Isle! It did not conjure up visions of rolling green vistas with a Guinness and a leprechaun at my knee - more golden sunsets with a pint of crisp tart cider and chewing on a sheaf of corn.....but I digress....After a while, I had to let it go and just "listen" to the story - overall, it was an entertaining narrative.

After meeting Finn (again), Josh then seems to "bump" into him or becomes more aware of how Finn has close connections with Josh via friends. Apart from his resolve to not get involved with Finn again and his friends telling him to avoid Finn with a 10ft barge pole, it was inevitable that they were going to get together - if not for any other reason than Josh was told "not to"....yeah, who listens to common sense (and I'm sure Finn being extremely easy on the eye was also a contributing factor) ?? Ever the optimist, always looking on the brighter side of life, Josh quickly grew attached to Finn, wishing for a future with him and always trying to see good in Finn's sometimes dubious actions - Scarlet, being one of them.

As this is told from Josh's POV, you don't get to hear too much from Finn or his backstory. There are glimpses of Finn's insecurity and baggage from his past, especially around his family back home in Ireland, when he finally opens up to Josh. However, Finn still found it easier to "walk away" then to deal with his feelings - it was an arse move! I'm not sure I was overly happy with the "Scarlet" storyline, especially around her request, but was content that Josh dealt with it and supported Finn through the decision once the dust settled.

Overall, this was an enjoyable second chance story about putting your trust in someone, being honest with yourself and wrapping it up in your forever - the epilogue was sweet and fluffy and left me with a *contented* sigh. Alls good.

ARC received from author via Indigo Marketing And Design in exchange for an honest review.

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Perfect read on holibobs

Revisado: 07-12-17

I first read this book on my kindle and was excited to listen to it on audio - I'm starting to be a big fan of audio books as I seem to be on the move a lot more now and I can still take my library with me!

Friends to lovers story, an easy uncomplicated story with no angst (hoorah!) and enough heat to rival the Spanish sunshine!!

Adam - recently dumped by his arse of an ex (Drew) takes his BFF Finn as his replacement to a Spanish resort for some sea, sand and sangria (I may be lying about the sangria....). They start to see/notice non-friendly thing about each other and when they find themselves in a threesome, it's definitely the start of them being "more" than friends. There was a little dallying around "what will happen to our friendship" but thankfully, this did not slide into the miscommunication pit of despair.

I was quickly invested in Adam and Finn, both very likable characters and obviously well suited for each other! Unfortunately, Drew-the-cheater-arsehat made a few unwanted appearances but Niall, Ash and the boys added the banter and made me grin on more than one occasion!

I have couple of teeny weenie niggles - even though Adam and Finn have been friends for many years and the foundation for their relationship was already established, I felt that Adam jumped a little too quickly into Finn's arms. For the end of a 5-year relationship, there was really only one night of tears given over his break-up with Drew and especially as Adam was the injured party, it just felt a tad too fast....

And the narrator.....I like the fact that Jay's books are based in Good Ol' Blighty and in turn has narrators with fairly neutral English accents, but I struggled with this one. Mr Steadman often sounded like he was reading the shipping forecast with every sentence ending in a question....adding at times, a slight aussie twang to the narrative.....it slowly drove me bonkers....

Overall, the story ends on a strong HFN and left me with the serious warm and fuzzies. But sadly for me, I don't feel that the audio did the story justice.

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Sweet engaging seasonal tale

Revisado: 10-19-15

Any additional comments?

I love Jay's books and have read most of them, but this is the first one I have heard on audio.

This is a sweet engaging friends to lovers tale. Ryan and Sam are student housemates who plan to spend a few days with friends in a cottage in rural Wales, but get snowed in before their friends can arrive! Stuck over Christmas Day, they make friends with Mari after rescuing her cat. Their attraction to each other ends in kisses and questions and thankfully ends in fireworks on New Years Eve - in a good way!!

The narrator, Matthew Lloyd, was English and his tone was charming. But, I did have a couple of niggles: I didn't like how he portrayed Ryan, he sounded simpleminded, which he plainly wasn't!! I also felt his Welsh accent needed some work, it sounded like he threw in a little Irish and Scottish lilt too, making it a rounded Celtic twang!

Overall, it was an enjoyable story, warm and fluffy and ideal for a cwtch up on the sofa.

I was gifted a copy of this book by the author for an honest review.

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