Nicki Bennett

One of my reads pre-Goodreads which I never registered my rating and comment about, until today.

The entry from that time in my personal database says: "Giselle Ellis' story shines like a diamond in this anthology."

It's been a decade since I read her first and only story, Take my Picture, in this anthology. Then I bought the individual release, which I read and reread a few times. It stood the test of time, remaining intact among my absolute favorites.

Individual ratings

Sight Unseen by Shay Kincaid - 1 star

Take My Picture by Giselle Ellis - 5 stars

Start From the Beginning by Chrissy Munder -2 stars

Evan's Heaven by Nicki Bennett - 2.5 stars… (más)

This one's told from one person's perspective, and it works well even when (for me) Jonah did an improbable thing. That could've been done more realistically. The friendships feel solid and are sometimes funny, and the romance was given enough time to build - something I see a lot of writers rush.

The details given as Jonah goes about his job are great, laid in matter-of-fact, and in fact a significant part of the romance plot. Well done!

A solid four out of five stars, recommended.… (más)

Out of Bounds is the story of Liam Gruene, who starts an LGBTQ event business with his best friend, Kate Weaver. The other MC is Erik Jansen, a financial advisor who has recently moved to Houston. The story is told in third person from both Liam and Erik’s pov.



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.
… (más)