Reviewed by Danielle
TITLE: Out of Frame
SERIES: In Focus #3
AUTHOR: Megan Erickson
PUBLISHER: Intermix / Penguin Group
LENGTH: 202 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2016
BLURB:
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…
REVIEW:
I feel lucky I that I accidentally bumped into this series not so long ago. I had heard of it but obviously I just didn’t get around to reading it. After buying the first book I was hooked and immediately went on to book 2. I then joined the list of people anxiously waiting for book 3.
In this book we get again a completely different story than either book 1 or 2, when the scenery changes to a cruise ship with the celebrities of a popular tv show and two friends who saved up to join this final farewell to the series. Introducing Jess and Quinn as the two best friends and the crew of Trip League including the main character for this novel J.R (Jay) Butler.
What follows is a meeting of people and two souls matching, some annoyance, a little alcohol, a lot of fun, a few secrets and crackling chemistry. We read the story from both Quinn’s and Jay’s point of view and that is really nice. This way we get a glimpse of what both men are feeling and are struggling with.
The build up is pretty slow as there is the chemistry but also the obvious secrets (mentioned in the blurb) and that causes mixed feelings on situations and the hiding of feelings that are painfully simmering just below the surface.
For me the friendship between Jess and Quinn was one of the highlights in this story. Jess with her fierce protection of shy Quinn is wonderful. The love they feel for one another is obvious and very warming.
The connection between the cast members is nice and especially towards the end of the book, I really like how they come through when it concerns one of their own. What a wonderful thing to know that the 4th book will be Levi’s story (one of the cast members and the supportive guy who shared Jay his cabin ).
I personally love the writing style of Miss Erickson. It is always such an easy read with the pacing of the story and the connection with the characters making any book of hers a very enjoyable one.
I shouldn’t forget to mention J.R’s family who is supporting, loyal and the reason why J.R acts the way he does. Jay’s brother has a serious illness and needs expensive therapy so Jay feels like he needs to do anything possible to make sure the money is there to make that work. When Daryl opens Jay’s eyes, he finally allows himself to see what he can have.
The book finishes up with a wonderfully written ending and the epilogue is a lovely addition to the series readers. Mind you this book can definitely be read as a standalone as the epilogue will not make you miss anything of the story between Jay and Quinn, but for the followers of this series it feels like a warm bath.
RATING: 
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