ARC Review: Out of Bounds by A.R. Barley

“OUT OF BOUNDS was very simplistic.”
~ Under the Covers

Oh where do I start!  I picked this up because it sounded like Amy Jo Cousins OFF CAMPUS, and I am always intrigued in this setup.  This was also my first time trying this author so I like to try things out and see if I can find a new favorite author to follow.  Sadly, this didn’t hit the mark for me.

This is a college-aged new adult m/m story that focuses on roommates becoming more.  I thought I would like this because there is one main character who has just gone through the trauma of being beaten by his ex roommate and his first crush.  He lands being roommates with Nick now, a guy who seems straight and is much bigger than him.  Which should all scare and intimidate him.  This usually works for me!

However, OUT OF BOUNDS was very simplistic.  The dialogue, the cookie cutter attempt at chemistry that felt a bit forced, the characters, the way the author handles Jesse getting over the trauma of what actually happened to him and opening up to Nick…  Just all felt a bit immature, slapped together and never delved deeper into what could’ve been between them.

Both Jesse and Nick also got on my nerves for different reasons and I often found myself hoping for different outcomes but sadly never got there.  It never made me care too much one way or another about either of these characters.  And from what I glimpsed of the side characters, I’m not pulled to continue the series.

[about-author author=”A.R. Barley”]

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