The Summer Games: Out of Bounds

Summer Games Series, Book 2

By: R.S. Grey

Narrated by: Noelle Bridges, Ryan Turner

I despise Erik Winter. He's arrogant and cruel - a man I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy - and by some twisted turn of fate, he's my new Olympic gymnastics coach.

I've had to contend with gruff coaches in the past, but Erik is far worse. His stern demeanor complements a body built for intimidation, and his reprimands come from a mouth so cunning, I know it could strip me of my defenses - if I let it.

Though each of us would love to be rid of the other forever, we are bound to each other by need and necessity. I'm his rising star, his best shot at proving himself to his critics. And without a coach, I have zero chance of winning gold in Rio.

The easiest way forward would be to wave a white flag and make peace with the man I'll be sharing close quarters with for the foreseeable future, but he is intent on war.

©2016 R. S. Grey (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Out of Bounds was seriously intense... HOT, HOT, HOT!... What an incredibly enjoyable read. Right in time for the Summer Olympic games." (AC Book Blog)

More inappropriate than expected...

I want to start by saying i enjoyed the book. Its written well, narrated well, gives you a good picture with a lot of details about the places theyre at... however, this was more explicit than expected. The first book in the series was much "calmer". There is one scene in particular that is very inappropriate for their characters and to be honest kind of pushes the boundary of clear consent. I really appreciate when these books outline healthy relationships. While the characters are meant to be back and forth, I just didnt appreciate that scene. Because of that i took away a star for the story.

Just ok.

I didn't hate it, but overall I was underwhelmed. Mostly I just found it to be pretty unbelievable. The characters went from hating each other to love with very little relationship development. There was a lot of game playing and lusty teasing but then all of a sudden they were in love? I just didn't buy it. And there were a few cringeworthy moments that definitely didn't make me think love it was more like she was way more invested and he was just using her a lot of the times. I did think the narration was good however and I was able to listen all the way through even though I found myself considering stopping a few times.

Great potential but not for me

3.5
This book had great potential, but I felt it was very drawn out. Each action seemed to have a lot of adverbs, and though I like description, knowing exact turns and movements is a little overkill for me and I felt like I was losing the story.
Also, the cat and mouse game between Erik and Bree was interesting but I felt that too was drawn out. It felt like they were losing maturity every time they changed their minds. And yes I am taking into consideration that Bree is only 20, while Erik is 28/29.
One character was really built up and barely used, I thought they would end up being part of the drama, but they weren’t.
The narrators didn’t do it for me. Bree’s reader was over enthusiastic, while sounding very young and not having a lot of range making the side characters sound all the same. Erik’s reader didn’t have a lot of passion and sounded a bit like he was trying to be William Shatner. Just above monotone for me.
I loved the idea of this book, and it truly had great potential and I hate that I can’t rate this HEA higher but in the end it just wasn’t for me. There wasn’t a ton of romance and the characters just didn’t click.

Forbidden love, gymnastics, Olympics, sports, Coach/Student, age gap.

Hilarious!

I really liked this story. It's a great plot. It's so funny & sexy. Narration was great. I actually liked this book better than book 1. Technically, I stopped listening to book 1, but I'm going to give it another try. Book 1 was rated higher than Book 2 for some reason.

Push & Pull

I loved the push and pull between Erik and Brie. Tension and anticipation were high throughout the book. Gymnastics is my favorite sport, so I inhaled this story. It actually reminded me a lot of another series, but the characters were far more likable. Erik’s bad attitude and Brie’s immaturity only made their characters more realistic and fun to read. Wish I could find more books like this one.