New Release Review: Out of Frame (In Focus #3)
by Megan Erickson
Today is the release day for Out of Frame the third book from her In Focus series! I am a rabid fan of Megan Erickson’s and she writes the hell out of contemporary romance. Because of her I have found a crazy addiction to M/M romance – I just can’t get enough! These books can all be read as standalones, but I honestly think you should read them all! Check out my reviews for Trust the Focus (book 1) and Focus on Me (book 2) and be sure to add Overexposed (book 4) to your TBR!
Out of Frame by Megan Erickson
Series: In Focus #3
Category: New Adult, Contemporary Romance
Publication: March 15th, 2016; Intermix
Purchase: Amazon
Romance trades the open road for the high seas in the latest from the author of Focus on Me and Trust the Focus…
Perpetually shy, Quinn Mathers is content to remain in the shadow of his brash best friend Jess Hartman. But before their college graduation, he and Jess have planned one last hurrah: a spring break Caribbean cruise.
And it won’t be just any cruise. On board are members of the reality show Trip League, which follows young twenty-somethings on adventures around the world. Since the show’s beginning, Quinn has been fascinated by J. R. Butler, with his amazing body, warm eyes, and killer grin. Unfortunately, he’s straight—or so the world thinks.
At nineteen, J. R. signed a contract to play straight for the show, and there’s no way to get out of it now. Yet with each passing day, Quinn and J. R. find it harder to keep their hands off each other and to keep out of the camera’s frame. But when the lens finally focuses on them, J. R. must decide if he’s willing to risk his career by admitting his bisexuality, and Quinn must determine if he’s bold enough to stand in the spotlight with the man of his dreams…
Spoiler-Free Review:
[book rating=5/5]“Maybe because I was so focused on him, that my analytical mind
was too overrun with attraction to deal with worries.”
Megan Erickson has done it again; Out of Frame is a brilliantly funny book that whisked me away to spring break all over again! I felt, I swooned, I laughed and I loved it so much! This book has an extra level of hilarity as the overarching theme is spring break on a cruise with 24-7 live feed cameras, tv crew and a reality show cast, mixed with alcohol, games and the general college population, just fosters the fun times! The entire In Focus series has been amazing, one book after another! Each book can be read as a standalone, however there are little tidbits and character relations that arch from one book to the next, but nothing you wouldn’t understand if you read them out of order. However, I highly recommend reading them all! One thing that has changed with this installment is that we get a dual POV and I had no idea I was missing it in the other 2 books, because now that I have it…I am so thrilled to hear both sides of this story!
I loved the characters, the witty banter, the hot sexy scenes, the silly shenanigans…it was all so perfect. I am not sure how many ways I can tell you that this book was amazing, but this book was amazing. Lets talk characters, Quinn is a shy, adorable redhead who has been living his life constantly worrying about the consequences of his actions. He never steps out of line and he lives up to his parents’ very intense expectations. He is about to graduate college and for spring break he decides to take a cruise with his best friend, Jess. Jess is a free spirit and she is a perfect foil for Quinn. She is outgoing, daring and ready to live it up on this cruise that happens to have a reality star she’s been crushing on and she is determined to get noticed by him. Quinn has also been crushing on one of the stars from the show too, but he has kept his crush to himself, so when he spots J.R. for the first time on the cruise, it definitely doesn’t go as planned…and not for J.R. either.
J.R. has been trying to stay away from any sexual temptations while on TV. He is bisexual, but signed a contract to be the ‘straight’ black guy on the show. So he has keep this secret from all his co-stars, even the gay one, to keep him from violating that contract and in hopes to propel his acting career. His family, however, know his secret, and they want him to be himself. YAY for good family values! J.R.’s onscreen persona versus his off-screen life are very much at odds with each other, and he hopes that the role he is playing on Trip League is just that and helps gain him some much needed auditions as the show is about to wrap. Plans are definitely ruined when he has an immediate attraction to Quinn that only grows stronger the more time they spend together. Quinn thinks J.R. is straight, so he can’t even deal with the butterflies in his stomach when he is near J.R. Their chemistry explodes and leads to a few days of avoiding cameras and trying to create some lasting memories together.
These two characters really grow by leaps and bounds right on the pages with each others help and love. My only problem with this book was that it was too short! I was reading then boom the damn book was over! I wanted to cry as I needed more…more J.R. and Quinn and just MORE! I did love the little bit of future time we got with all the boys, Justin & Landry, Riley & Colin with Quinn and Jay joining the group. I am so excited for the next book in the series, Overexposed, which releases in September of 2016, and I don’t know if I can wait that long for more classic Megan Erickson banter.
I highly recommend this story as it was fun, sexy, and full of romance. It also didn’t make me into a crazy ball of emotions (like Trust the Focus or Focus on Me) but it definitely has very poignant aspects of family, friendship, and acceptance. 5 stars for portraying the best Bi and bi-racial couple I have ever read!
