Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Pushing the Limits
SERIES: Secrets Kept, Book 2
AUTHOR: Riley Hart
NARRATOR: Tim Paige
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 6 hours and 51 minutes
RELEASE DATE: April 29, 2022
BLURB:
I was 14 when my dad married Lane’s mom and our families became one, when my favorite moments were those spent staying up all night, talking, or watching Lane create art.
There aren’t many things more inconvenient than loving your stepbrother. I know the limits, and that’s pushing them too far.
Over the years, I’ve pulled away from him. It was easier when he left for New York, but now he’s back, not only in Atlanta, but in my home, trying to get back what we lost.
How can I tell my own stepbrother that I want him in my bed? That I want to call him mine?
One kiss changes everything.
Our tight-knit family won’t understand. Our friends won’t either. But no matter how much I don’t want to disappoint them, now that we’re where we belong, I won’t walk away. Even if I have to lose everything to keep him.
Pushing the Limits is a stepbrother romance with a cocky main character who shows his vulnerability through the one man he’s not supposed to want, sexy painting, and a love that defies the odds.
REVIEW:
Pushing the Limits continues Riley Hart’s Secrets Kept series featuring taboo (or taboo-adjacent) romances. This book and book one, Off Limits, share the common theme of forbidden romance kept secret. However, what’s different about Hart’s treatment of that trope is that the challenges faced are squarely placed in the crosshairs of societal judgment, as they should be. After all, isn’t societal judgment generally the origin of denoting a relationship forbidden or “taboo” in the first place?
Hart, as usual, keeps it real. In Pushing the Limits, she tackles romantic love between stepbrothers and how that authentically plays out within a family dynamic. She provides a twist in that the family at issue is a healthy, loving family unit that is generally open-minded and accepting. Hart leans hard into the “taboo” nature of the relationship to depict the irony of the situation – ostensibly, there’s nothing wrong with Isaac and Lane being together in a non-platonic relationship because they aren’t related by blood. Sure, they grew up together in the same household, but we’ve seen in plenty of other romances, and in real life, scenarios where best friends live together, with one being taken in by the other’s family when their own shuns, neglects or abuses them. If they fell in love in those circumstances, would it be forbidden?
What’s different with stepbrothers is labels. Isaac and Lane were called brothers, treated as brothers, even thought of each other as brothers. If they lived in different households, there’d likely be no objection to their relationship. If they got together before their parents did, similarly likely no “taboo” issue. So why should they suffer under an arbitrarily imposed societal viewpoint?
Hart probes the destructiveness of “labels” and pokes at society’s external judgment. She often tackles these issues, quite successfully, and she consistently keeps it real-world grounded and authentic. As I said, she keeps it real.
Subtext and thematic messaging aside, Pushing the Limits is a sexy, often low-key heartbreaking, yet ultimately reassuring story with two main characters in Isaac and Lane that she develops with depth in detail. Their chemistry is evident, and their scenes together display palpable emotional connection. We also get appearances from Hutch and Ryder from Off-Limits, and I have to call out Hart’s clever, deft mirroring of scenes between the two books.
Isaac is Hutch’s best friend, and we saw him in Off-Limits struggling under the weight of something serious, prompting a very out-of-character escape through an evening of drunkenness. In Pushing the Limits, those scenes play out in context from Isaac’s point of view. Hart relays the dialogue verbatim, with additional content to fill out Isaac’s experience. I found it to be such an incredible sort-of easter egg that displays Hart’s thoughtful plotting and holistic character development spanning books in the series.
As usual, Tim Paige captures Hart’s theme and tone through his engaging vocal performance on the audiobook. He gives Isaac and Lane distinct voices and consistently delivers them even though they aren’t markedly different in pitch. Paige’s inflection work is on point, and he gets the energy of these characters, conveying it through the pacing and weight of his delivery. His female voices feel a bit strained and masculine to me, but not in a distracting way. He makes it work, and of greater importance, he captures the emotion of the female side characters and uses intonation and inflection to act out their parts.
Pushing the Limits provides an absorbing love story and an immersive auditory experience. I always enjoy Hart/Paige collaborations, and this audiobook is yet another successful example. I recommend Pushing the Limits, especially when listened to after Off Limits, although it’s not strictly necessary that you do so.
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