Scan barcode
A review by bookish_notes
Out of Frame by Megan Erickson
5.0
Out of Frame is a much lighter story. We're also no longer going cross-country in this book compared to the last two, as this story takes us out on a Caribbean cruise for spring break.
Jess is Colin's sister from the last book, Focus on Me, and both her and Quinn are on the cruise in their senior year of college. Quinn has grown up as an only child and a bit sheltered from the world by his parents. He's been protected and, because of his parents, frets about the little things and acts like a senior on a cruise ship rather than a college senior. He is basically very precious and must be protected at all costs. J.R. is a TV reality star created for the reality show, Trip League. As the show's season wraps up, J.R. and his cast mates are filming abroad the cruise ship with all the other spring breakers, but he's just done with the whole show. He needs the money for his family, but at the cost of hiding his sexuality.
Quinn is coming out of a bad relationship where his ex-boyfriend would never acknowledge him in public and that has really messed with his head. He doesn't want to be hidden away again, but J.R. won't make it easy if cameras are always in his face and the producers and his agent want him to pretend to be straight.
This was a fun book to read. It's a little more light-hearted, has some really sweet moments, and everyone isn't exactly how to expect them to be. I know it's probably for marketing reasons or something along those lines, but never in the cover (obviously) or the blurb does it mention that one of the book's main characters is black. So we have a POC for a main character and I would have loved to have seen that mentioned somewhere? But anyways...I love that J.R., or rather Jay to his family, wasn't made into a stereotype and that, off-camera at least, he just really wants to be out in the public eye as black and bisexual. But he's been shoved into a corner on the show as the angry, and straight, black man and it's eating away at him.
This book is told from alternating POVs, Quinn's and J.R.'s. I liked reading from both their perspectives. The story is fun and sexy. It takes some real logistics to get two people to hook up on a cruise ship and fall in love without any of the dozens of live feed cameras catching any of it.
I think I would have liked to see them go on land, or are there cruises that don't do this? I'm not sure. The secondary characters, from Jess to the other cast mates on Trip League, are all really awesome to read about and now I want all of them to have a story of their own. I know Levi's the next story, in Overexposed, but I wouldn't mind a story with Casey or Jess even if their stories would be a m/f novel instead of a m/m one.
There's small cameos that get worked in with characters from the previous two books. I just laugh every time a characters asks about Justin and Landry, because I just want to go back and re-read their story over and over again. Out of Frame was really enjoyable and I really loved reading Quinn and Jay's story. I feel like I would have loved to see the relationship grow with them on dry land, but maybe that's just me wanting more of Quinn and Jay. The relationship is really cute and Quinn and Jay have really sweet moments on the ship that will just make your heart melt.
Jess is Colin's sister from the last book, Focus on Me, and both her and Quinn are on the cruise in their senior year of college. Quinn has grown up as an only child and a bit sheltered from the world by his parents. He's been protected and, because of his parents, frets about the little things and acts like a senior on a cruise ship rather than a college senior. He is basically very precious and must be protected at all costs. J.R. is a TV reality star created for the reality show, Trip League. As the show's season wraps up, J.R. and his cast mates are filming abroad the cruise ship with all the other spring breakers, but he's just done with the whole show. He needs the money for his family, but at the cost of hiding his sexuality.
Quinn is coming out of a bad relationship where his ex-boyfriend would never acknowledge him in public and that has really messed with his head. He doesn't want to be hidden away again, but J.R. won't make it easy if cameras are always in his face and the producers and his agent want him to pretend to be straight.
"Just wait five minutes and leave."
Those six words brought back every single emotion I swore I'd left behind with Alexander. I was a dirty secret. That was all I was worth.
When would I ever be loved by someone who was proud of me?
This was a fun book to read. It's a little more light-hearted, has some really sweet moments, and everyone isn't exactly how to expect them to be. I know it's probably for marketing reasons or something along those lines, but never in the cover (obviously) or the blurb does it mention that one of the book's main characters is black. So we have a POC for a main character and I would have loved to have seen that mentioned somewhere? But anyways...I love that J.R., or rather Jay to his family, wasn't made into a stereotype and that, off-camera at least, he just really wants to be out in the public eye as black and bisexual. But he's been shoved into a corner on the show as the angry, and straight, black man and it's eating away at him.
This book is told from alternating POVs, Quinn's and J.R.'s. I liked reading from both their perspectives. The story is fun and sexy. It takes some real logistics to get two people to hook up on a cruise ship and fall in love without any of the dozens of live feed cameras catching any of it.
I think I would have liked to see them go on land, or are there cruises that don't do this? I'm not sure. The secondary characters, from Jess to the other cast mates on Trip League, are all really awesome to read about and now I want all of them to have a story of their own. I know Levi's the next story, in Overexposed, but I wouldn't mind a story with Casey or Jess even if their stories would be a m/f novel instead of a m/m one.
There's small cameos that get worked in with characters from the previous two books. I just laugh every time a characters asks about Justin and Landry, because I just want to go back and re-read their story over and over again. Out of Frame was really enjoyable and I really loved reading Quinn and Jay's story. I feel like I would have loved to see the relationship grow with them on dry land, but maybe that's just me wanting more of Quinn and Jay. The relationship is really cute and Quinn and Jay have really sweet moments on the ship that will just make your heart melt.