Out of Frame by Megan Erickson

Title: Out of Frame (In Focus #3)

Author: Megan Erickson

Publisher: InterMix

Release Date: March 15, 2016

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

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.

If you know me, then you probably know of my love for Megan Erickson and her books. Every single one I’ve read, I’ve absolutely loved. Every time I hear about a new book from this author, my excitement levels sky-rocket. And as excited as I was about Out of Frame, I loved it even more.

Quinn has always been shy and has never been one to take chances, preferring to stay in the shadow of his best friend. That’s until they set sail on a spring break cruise featuring the members of the reality TV show Trip League. Even though he would never admit it to his best friend, Quinn is fascinated by J.R. Butler, one of the cast members. And now is his chance to find out more about him. Too bad for him, J.R. is straight. Or so everyone thinks. J.R. didn’t think it was a big deal when he signed the contract that said he had to play straight. But now he’s tired of hiding half of himself. And when Quinn catches his eye on board the ship, J.R. can’t help but want to explore the side of his sexuality he’s been hiding. With Quinn, J.R. wants see where things could go. But being with Quinn would mean risking his career, and that’s assuming Quinn is willing to stand in the spotlight for the first time in his life.  

I have yet to meet a Megan Erickson book that I haven’t loved, and her In Focus series is one of my absolute favourites. I have loved every single one I’ve read and I start flailing excitedly every time I am able to get my hands on a new one. I just can’t help myself. I mean, Trust the Focus and Focus On Me were some of my favourite books of 2015 and already Out of Frame is close to the top of my list of favourite books I’ve read this year (so far). There’s just something about those Megan Erickson romances. They get me every single time. And it was no different with Out of Frame. Even though it didn’t quite pack the emotional punch as the first two books in this series (at least for me), I still got completely caught up in this story. I would sneak in a few pages on my phone, every time I had a chance while at the same time never wanting this story to end. I wanted to keep reading about Quinn and J.R. and see what kind of trouble they were going to get up to next on the cruise ship. Despite everything that was happening around them, they were just fun to read about. And I loved seeing their relationship develop. It took them both by surprise, but it was sweet and heartwarming and just made me so freaking happy to read about. And like is often the case with Megan Erickson’s books, what made me absolutely love Out of Frame was J.R. and Quinn.

It really should go without saying that I loved J.R. and Quinn. You can’t really love this story without loving them. Quinn was just trying to be comfortable with himself and stop hiding all the time. But at the same time he was struggling with actually doing what he wanted as opposed to what was expected of him or what he thought other people thought he should do. There were so many times while I was reading that I wanted to tell him to just go for it and stop overthinking everything, but at the same time I totally understood where he was coming from because I can be the exact same way. But when he started going for it? I was all in favour of that, especially when it involved going for it with J.R. And I felt for J.R. So much. He just wanted to be himself but he fully believed he couldn’t because of the contract he was under. Seeing the pain this caused him hurt me, too. I was more than happy to see him decide to say screw it and spend time with Quinn. These two boys just needed each other, whether they realized it or not. And seeing them together just made me so freaking happy. And as always, I was more than happy to be getting glimpses of the boys from the other books. I will never tire of reading about this group of guys.

I wasn’t surprised at all when I found myself loving Megan Erickson’s Out of Frame. How could I not? One of my favourite authors writing a book in one of my favourite series. It’s a no brainer, really. If you love romance, in particular m/m romance, and haven’t read any of the books in the In Focus series, you are seriously missing out.