Out of Bounds

The Fallon Brothers #2

by Ellen Hartman

Former basketball star Wes Fallon owes his brother everything. So when Deacon asks him to track down some missing charitable donations, Wes is on it. For the first time, the accident that ended his career looks like a godsend...until Wes encounters Posy Jones.

Posy is unlike any woman he's ever met. She's beautiful, intelligent and can hold her own on the court. But she's clearly keeping something from him. As he digs deeper into the missing funds, his gut tells him what she's hiding is tied to it. Will he be forced to choose between the woman he's falling in love with and the brother he would risk anything for? Hopefully not...because his choice might surprise them all.

Genres: Romance, Sports

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Ellen wrote much of her first novel in the back of a preschool classroom while she was trying to ease her younger son's separation anxiety. She had agreed to stick around for a day, maybe two. Somehow—the exact chain of events is hazy—one day turned into a full year of scribbling in a notebook on the bench in the corner. Her son is now a completely independent middle school student (phew!), and that book became her first sale to Harlequin Books.

Ellen and her husband are both from Scranton, Pennsylvania. They met on a blind date on New Year's Eve in a mutual love-at-first-sight moment—which would make an awesome novel, if only her husband would agree to be "fictionalized." Find Ellen on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ellen-H...

Reviews

[Christa Schönmann Abbühl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it less than the first book, but still liked it.

I had problems with the character of Trish, the mother of the heroine. I felt that their relationship was not resolved in a satisfactory manner. I hated how she left her daughter to deal alone with the pile of rubbish she’d created. And I was uncomfortable when Posy had to be dishonest in her dealings with Wes. Also the romance was too quick for me: just a couple of days to fall for each other, have the big crisis, and head directly for the forever love? I like my romance slower paced.

But I loved the characters and the dogs. Posy was very relatable to me. Maybe because I also hated the small town I grew up in, and never fit in there. And Wes is such a lovable guy, I already knew that from the story about his brother and Julia. I could not have stopped reading before knowing that all would be well.

I also liked that there was no petty revenge against the blogging mom next door. She was not shown in a sympathetic way, but even though Wes disliked her for her actions, he was capable of seeing her point of view.

The narrator of the audiobook did a great job.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars! ~ Wes wasn't quite good enough to make it to the NBA, but after college ball he'd made the pro team in Madrid. Just as he's coming back from shoulder surgery he gets the word that the team is trading him to Serbia. Distracted by a street dog eyeing his sandwich, Wes cuts off his agent in mid argument over the trade, and tries to entice the dog to come to him. When the dog takes off across the street nearly getting hit, Wes gives chase, only Wes isn't as lucky as the dog. His shoulder declares beer trucks hurt. Deacon has always looked after Wes, and seeing him in the hospital it makes him wonder if maybe Wes stepped into the path of the truck on purpose. He knows what a pro career means, after all he'd been forced out of the NBA by injury not all that long ago. To give Wes a purpose he talks him into being his ambassador with a small town where he wants to set up an outreach program for kids. He needs someone with Wes' charm to convince the town's council to approve their applications. Not only that, there's a local woman who blogged about Deacon's foundation and raised $68,000 towards their cause, and he needs Wes to collect the funds because the lady hasn't been answering her phone.

When Posy's mom calls to say she needs to see her right away, she returns reluctantly to her home town. Mom, Trish, wants to sell up everything and move on to Ohio to be with a gentleman doctor she's been in touch with on the internet. Posy tells her she doesn't want to buy her house and store, and Trish owns up about the missing donations to Deacon's foundation. Seems Trish was conned into lending the money to a friend and the friend has now declared bankruptcy and disappeared. And as usual, Trish expects Posy to clean up the mess she's made. First step is to stall the foundation, while she raises the money. Posy's a tall woman, always so much taller than her peers. It's refreshing to look up to a man, especially one as magnetic as Wes. There's something about him that makes her want to let go and just be herself, something she's never been comfortable with in her home town where she's always been the burnt of the tall girl jokes. Wes is equally smitten with Posy, she's got sparkle and isn't intimated by his size but rather enjoys trying to put him in his place. When she gives Wes the check for every penny of the funds raised her hands are shaking. She hadn't expected to fall for him and covering for her mom means lying to Wes about the money.

In Ms. Hartman's "The Long Shot" we met 18 year-old Wes, who had just been suspended from college. Deacon had stepped up to help his brother once again, and all that Deacon has done from him has made him eager to help Deacon in return. And now, ten years later, he doesn't stop once to think about what he wants for himself, until Posy shows him that it's okay to draw a line when it comes to your own happiness, even if it is with family. Posy has always been the big girl pushed to fit in by her mom but never ever fitting in. She could never live up to her mother's skewed view of her. There's some great comic relief with Trish's demon dog, Angel, who Wes is certain is the Madrid street dog's double. I really enjoyed Wes and Posy's journey to a HEA. They make a great couple. It was wonderful to met up with Deacon and Julia again too, and I hope we'll have more stories in the future with more from the Fallons.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sequel to 'The Long Shot', also a basketball themed romance. Only wish there had been more basketball in both books!

[Nancy Luebke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. Although it is not for the under 18 readers, due to sexual content. I got this from a lending library, and I'm voluntarily choosing to review this. This had a bit of action in it, a lot caused by a dog, looking for a chance to run. There were both laughs and tears from this story being about how responsible we are for family. Lots to think about.

[Tressa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Out of Bounds and that it wasn’t a perfectly happy story. I liked how Posey and Wes liked each other and how their relationship developed. I liked that both knew that the town wasn’t for them.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Wes Fallon, the younger brother of Deacon (The Long Shot) is all grown up now. His basketball career has come to an end because of a shoulder injury and he is at loose ends. Because Deacon rescued him from foster care as soon as Deacon was old enough, Wes has always felt an obligation to help Deacon if ever he asked. Wes is being sent to Kirkland for two reasons: first, to help pave the way for a new Fallon Center in town, and second, to track down the money from a fundraiser that a local woman ran to raise money for the program. Wes doesn't really fell qualified, but he can't say no, so off he goes. When he arrives, the woman is out of town, but her daughter is there and says she'll be able to get the check to him. Wes gets the feeling that there is something going on, but he's really interested in Posy, so he lets it go. The more time he spends with her, the more he likes her. She also has made him think about what he wants to do now that he's done with basketball. He has never thought that far ahead. When he found out what Posy's mom had done, and how Posy had covered it up until she could get the replacement money he was furious. Her actions pushed all his buttons - his feelings about his family and how this could impact them, his feelings of inadequacy about the job he had to do, and the way he was feeling about Posy. He had started to care and now his anger had chased her away. So many people had left his life that she was just one more. I didn't like the way that he was so blind with his anger that he didn't think about the effects on Posy until Deacon and Julia asked. Even then he was still so angry that he didn't even want to see her. Posy had left Kirkland as soon as she was able to. She is a tall, athletic woman who had never felt like she fit in anywhere in her hometown. Her mother was always trying to turn her into a girly girl and constantly had little negative digs at her. This did a number on Posy's self esteem, but she still loved her mom. Her mom was a ditz who was constantly getting into messes that Posy then ended up cleaning up. This fundraiser was the latest and worst. Not only did mom lose the money, she then went into hiding leaving Posy holding the bag. Posy was able to get the money and pay the foundation, but she didn't think about the effects of the original loss of the money just that everything would be fine if they had the funds. She had fallen for Wes and was devastated by his attitude toward her when she finally told him what had happened. She didn't just take his anger laying down, she did tell Wes a few things about himself that eventually made him think about his future. I liked the way that when they finally made up they still took things slowly. The conclusion was good. I liked that Posy's mom still had to pay for what she did.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was just okay - I almost put it down about half way through, but decided to finish it because I usually like Ellen Hartmans stories - I should have used that time to reread one of her earlier stories.

[Harlequin Books]

Category: Heart & Home