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Sto caricando le informazioni... Out of Bounds (Out and About #1)di Nicki Bennett
Nessuno Sto caricando le informazioni...
 Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro.  Penumbra1 | Oct 11, 2022 |  nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Out and About: No commitments, just fun. Liam Gruene and his best friend, Kate Weaver, start Out and About to give LGBTQ singles fun, safe, stress-free events where they can meet other LGBTQ singles. Liam hopes-but doesn't really expect-to meet someone for himself in the process. Erik Jansen moved to Houston a few months ago after a bad breakup. Since his move, he's thrown himself into work at the expense of a social life. When Liam withdraws funds managed by Erik's firm to finance his new venture, it brings Out and About to his attention and he thinks what the hell. It can't be any worse than trying to meet someone at any of the gay clubs and bars around the city. Erik and Liam hit it off right away, but Erik can't forget that Liam is a client and Out and About is Liam's job. Erik has an ironclad rule against mixing business and pleasure, and that puts Liam firmly out of bounds. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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 Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni...GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyVotoMedia: (2)
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1
When I read the blurb for this book and saw the cover, I definitely wanted to read it. I dove right in and was…disappointed. There are always books where other readers love a story and I’m on the opposite side. This was one of those times. Why was I disappointed? Let me count the ways. First, something I liked about this book was the cover. It’s different from the usual two men silhouetted against the background of a city or some other landscape. I liked the cover for its uniqueness.
Now on to why this story didn’t work for me. The main issue was how the plot played out. If a person has read enough books, you’ll notice that plots have patterns, ups and downs like roller coasters. Some are huge rollercoasters if it’s an action/spy/murder or something similar. If it’s a fluffy story, the critical points usually aren’t as high or the dips as lows, but that’s not always the case. This book had no high are low points significant enough to pull any emotion from me or to increase tension. It was like a flat-line on a heart monitor. Numerous times, I put down the book because I was bored and had to push myself to pick it back up and read. Honestly, if I hadn’t agreed to review this, it would have been a DNF for me. Which leads me to the next issue.
This story was a prime example of too much exposition. The first chapters were almost all about Liam and Kate talking about setting up ‘Out and About’, their new business. I felt like I was in the middle of a boring business meeting. The rest of the book was predictable. People would meet for one of ‘Out and About’s’ events, then next chapter or scene, Liam or mostly Erik, would go out to dinner/lunch. They would then talk about the food, description of food, friends would urge Erik to give Liam a chance, Erik would waffle on how he couldn’t, then repeat in the next chapters. There were changes of scenery, changes of food and people, but it was always the same. Lots of description and some talking with nothing exciting that happened.
There were a couple, what I call writing quirks, I noticed and which probably won’t bother other readers, but they did me. The first one was, many chapters started with one or more of the characters walking into their apartment or home and ‘toeing off their shoes’. It happened numerous times. It’s the repetitive way of how 'toeing off shoes' was described, that I noticed. I don’t remember any other written variation on the action mentioned. The next writing quirk was the winking. So many characters winked at each other. What was with all the winking? Even though I’m around numerous people every day, I’ve never noticed people winking at others or me as much as they did in this book. Judicious use of actions works better than applying the same action too often.
As to the characters, the authors did a good job of making each character distinctive and keeping them consistent throughout the book. I especially liked Eamon, who was a professor. He was fun every time he appeared on page. On the other hand, I couldn’t figure out why Liam liked Erik. Erik didn’t have much of a personality and I didn’t feel the connection between them. It seemed like Liam was falling for some fantasy he made up in his head. Readers are just told that Liam liked certain traits about Erik, but I didn’t really see much of an emotional interaction happen between them. Instead, it was about where they went, what the two men did, which doesn’t convey attachment or developing feelings. Also this story takes place over approximately two years, and the chapters are usually centered around the monthly gathering of Out and About. Liam and Erik don't get a good chance to speak to each other since Liam is busy with the attendees. They never become friends until a couple months before the end of the book.
The culmination of the so called 'relationship' is where I had another issue. Liam and Erik don’t get together until ten pages before the story ends. Erik suddenly decides something along the lines of “How could I ever have let him (meaning Liam) slip through my fingers?” Next thing you know, they have sex and are expressing their love for each other. The ending didn’t work for me because there was never enough of an emotional buildup indicated throughout the story that convinced me these two men were meant for each other. The ending seemed like a rush job.
The writing was smooth and the authors did a good job of transitioning from scene to scene and from character to character. I didn’t have a problem figuring out who was speaking or what was happening throughout the book.
I dislike writing these kind of reviews, but at the same time I don’t feel it’s fair to write a glowing review for a story that doesn’t work for me because of the flaws I found in it. I’m sure there are other readers who won’t be bothered in the least by the issues that bothered me. In the end, the things I liked about Out of Bounds were the distinctive characters, except for Erik, and the nice cover. Other than that, I can’t honestly recommend this book to anyone. I give this book 2 Stars.
I was kindly given a copy of this book for an honest and unbiased review.