The Rainbow Clause
Beth Bolden
M/M Romance
Audio Release: 09.07.18
Narrator: Wyatt Baker
Listening Length: 7 hours and 45 minutes
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2z1zPRd
Audible: https://adbl.co/2Rd2N87
BLURB
Don't like the athletes. Don't sleep with the athletes. Don't fall for the athletes. It had never been particularly difficult to follow the rules, but Nick had a feeling he was about to be tested.
Heisman winner. Member of the national championship team. NFL rookie of the year. Quarterback Colin O'Connor knows he's become the ultimate romance novel cliché: all the success he's ever dreamed of but nobody with whom to share it. Too bad it's not as simple as asking out the next girl who intrigues him - because the next girl to intrigue him probably won't be a girl at all.
Unexpectedly, the solution comes in one neat package: Nick Wheeler, lead journalist for a leading sports and pop culture blog. Hired by Colin's team, Nick comes to Miami to shine a spotlight on the NFL's most private quarterback.
The heat in Miami rises when Nick discovers Colin is nothing like the hollow personality he pretends to be in interviews and he's even hotter in person than on his Sports Illustrated cover. Nick knows this is the story of his career, and it also hits close to home. What he needs is to help Colin share his story while keeping their growing relationship from boiling over in the press, but what he wants is to tell the world.
EXCERPT
“Wow,” Colin breathed out, the sheet shifting down his torso as he propped himself up with an elbow. “What a view.”
Even though the ocean and sky and sand were hazy with the golden light of the rising sun, Nick still had trouble taking his eyes off the man next to him.
“Yeah,” Nick said, still staring at Colin. “Fucking fabulous view.”
Colin glanced over and flushed. He rolled over and slid out of bed, bare feet padding on the tile floor as he headed towards the bathroom. “When you look at me that way,” he said, his voice carrying back into the bedroom, “it’s easy to believe I really look as good as you say.”
“You should believe it,” Nick said as Colin returned to bed. Nick knew he needed to use the bathroom, too, at least to brush away his surely horrible morning breath so he could kiss this beautiful man next to him.
Just one problem. Nick glanced at the tile floor with dismay. “Is that as cold as it looks?”
Colin shot him a playful smile and gave him a little shove to the edge of the bed. “Your turn to find out,” he said, and Nick gave a half-hearted smile, expecting to freeze his balls off as he tiptoed to the bathroom. Instead, he found the floor to be shockingly warm against his bare feet.
“Teddy, that rich bastard,” Nick exclaimed as he walked to the bathroom. “Heated floors.”
Nick brushed his teeth and took a piss, returning to bed with warm feet and cold hands, which he proceeded to place right on Colin’s ribcage. But Colin didn’t flinch, only tugged Nick closer, until their limbs were tangled together. Nick shifted up a fraction and hesitated, their eyes locked together and their lips only an inch apart.
“You keep talking about me,” Colin murmured dreamily, his hand smoothing down a wayward tuft of Nick’s hair. “But you’re gorgeous. I stare at you all the damn time.”
It was hard not to notice and impossible not to feel smug that Colin O’Connor spent at least half his waking hours staring at his ass.
A large hand slid around his hip and cupped that ass – but not with the sort of tacky possession that sometimes gave Nick a bad taste in his mouth, but with reverence and a playful affection that made his heart ache.
“I know you notice,” Colin continued, the edge of his lips quirking into a smile. “You’re too nice to call me out on it.”
“What, and make you stop?” Nick asked.
Overall 4 Stars
The Rainbow Clause is Beth Bolden's MM debut book and while it wasn't perfect, it was still a pretty good, enjoyable audiobook that I have no trouble recommending.
Colin is a bisexual football player, ready to come out of the closet and Nick is the journalist who will write a spotlight on Colin. Nick moves into Colin's house in Miami and they hit it off and start a secret relationship, but even if Colin is ready to be out, Nick doesn't seem as ready to show the world they're together.
I loved Colin, he was such a fantastic character! I loved his determination and his personality. I wasn't as sure about Nick, but he won me over... eventually. Frankly, I was frustrated with Nick, I know the book needed some angst to move things along, but really, there were times in which I just wanted to shake some sense into Nick. Nick and Colin were such a great match, though, with amazing chemistry and I loved the progression of their relationship.
The narration fell a bit flat for me, while Wyatt Baker's voice is very pleasant, I would've liked that the different characters had more distinctive tones so they would've been more easily recognizable. As it was, I sometimes felt like my Kindle's text-to-speech feature had morphed from female to male, with better pronunciation and more emotion to it. Anyway, that doesn't mean it was bad, because it wasn't, it's just that I would've liked Jemma, for example, to actually sound like a woman and not having to wonder who was talking without it being pointed out to me.
Cassandra's Review
3.5 stars
I was excited to finally get my hands on The Rainbow Clause, but I’m sad to say that it fell a little bit short for me. I liked Colin and Nick but I didn't feel a connection to them, so the story ended up feeling a bit flat for me. I saw some inconsistencies with the characters which were a little difficult for me to overlook. The story itself felt drawn out and I think there were several parts that just didn’t need to be there. If these would have been eliminated, it would have helped the pace of the book.
There were some wonderful things in The Rainbow Clause, though. One aspect I did really like about this book was the way it handled Colin’s bisexuality. I feel this is something that tends to be under-represented and even when it is, it's more a blanket term thrown over a character that still acts more gay than bi. Beth Bolden didn’t do that. In fact, she did a great job of representing bisexuality in Colin’s character. We really get to see the struggle of what he faces with that and his attraction to both sexes. I also liked how once Colin decided it was time to come out, he held to that steadfast and seemingly fearlessly and that Nick was right there eager to help him represent the community.
Overall I enjoyed the book, it just left me wanting more to help me connect with the story and its characters. It was low angst, which I actually enjoyed because it allowed me to relax and enjoy the story without the stress of what's next.
The narration was really well done. Wyatt has a voice that fit the story really well and I found him easy and enjoyable to listen to, he added a lot of life and personality to the book.
Beth Bolden lives in Portland, Oregon with her supportive husband. She wholly believes in Keeping Portland Weird, but wishes she didn’t have to make the yearly pilgrimage up to Seattle to watch her Boston Red Sox play baseball. She’s a fan of fandoms, and spends too much of her free time on tumblr.
Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She’s published eight novels and two novellas, with Catch Me, the next novel in the Kitchen Gods series, releasing in May 2018.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/beth_bolden
Website: www.bethbolden.com
No comments:
Post a Comment