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Olympic Passions #2
Tumbled
Novel (50,000 words)
Genres: Contemporary Gay Romance Sports
A chance at the Olympics has been everything Auden has always wanted, but now that it’s within his grasp, he finds himself slipping further away. Does he really want to be an Olympic gymnast when there’s so much more to life? To make things worse, he has both a major crush on his friends-with-benefits teammate, Trayce, and free-spirited musician named Shane. With Olympics trials looming on the horizon, Auden has to decide what he really wants and how much he’s willing to give up to get it. (M/M - See publisher's website for content labels.)
Genres: Contemporary Gay Romance Sports
A chance at the Olympics has been everything Auden has always wanted, but now that it’s within his grasp, he finds himself slipping further away. Does he really want to be an Olympic gymnast when there’s so much more to life? To make things worse, he has both a major crush on his friends-with-benefits teammate, Trayce, and free-spirited musician named Shane. With Olympics trials looming on the horizon, Auden has to decide what he really wants and how much he’s willing to give up to get it. (M/M - See publisher's website for content labels.)
- GenresM M Romance
166 pages, Paperback
Published May 10, 2016
278 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 8, 2016
2.5 Stars ~ Tumbled follows Auden, an Olympic hopeful, weeks before he’s about to go to trials. Through the story, we watch him question the goals he’s held for a lifetime, wondering whether those were the right things to work toward…asking himself if he’d been wasting all of his time pursuing one dream but at the cost of neglecting the rest of his life.
For the most part, I’d say this was a pretty good book. Once it got going, I was interesting to continue reading at the end of each chapter. The sex scenes were hot and the emotions were believable. In a sense, I feel like the romance was between Auden and gymnastics as opposed to either of the love interests in the story.
And this is where my problem came in. When reading a romance, I have to really want the main characters to get together. However, each of the love interests in this story were flawed. One intentionally so, but the other I’m not so sure. I found myself questioning why Auden would put himself through the things he did, and I continued to find myself questioning why he made the decisions at the end of the story as easily as he did. Both love interests in this story were somewhat mean and distant, and I never quite figured out why the author would choose to do this.
If, like I said, the real love interest was Auden’s sport, then the author did a magnificent job showing us the struggles and emotional turmoil of an Olympic hopeful. For this book, I have to give a mixed review. Tumbled kept me turning the pages to see how it would end, but I was let down by everyone except for the main character.
Reviewed by Taz for The Novel Approach Reviews
http://www.thenovelapproachreviews.co...
For the most part, I’d say this was a pretty good book. Once it got going, I was interesting to continue reading at the end of each chapter. The sex scenes were hot and the emotions were believable. In a sense, I feel like the romance was between Auden and gymnastics as opposed to either of the love interests in the story.
And this is where my problem came in. When reading a romance, I have to really want the main characters to get together. However, each of the love interests in this story were flawed. One intentionally so, but the other I’m not so sure. I found myself questioning why Auden would put himself through the things he did, and I continued to find myself questioning why he made the decisions at the end of the story as easily as he did. Both love interests in this story were somewhat mean and distant, and I never quite figured out why the author would choose to do this.
If, like I said, the real love interest was Auden’s sport, then the author did a magnificent job showing us the struggles and emotional turmoil of an Olympic hopeful. For this book, I have to give a mixed review. Tumbled kept me turning the pages to see how it would end, but I was let down by everyone except for the main character.
Reviewed by Taz for The Novel Approach Reviews
http://www.thenovelapproachreviews.co...
May 10, 2016
A Joyfully Jay review.
4 stars
This is the second story in the Olympic Passions series. Though the major players from the first book make appearances in this story as coaches, it can be read as a standalone.
This story begins in December 2023 as the Antwerp, Belgium World Gymnastics Championships have just completed. Auden and his teammate, Trayce, have each won a gold medal in individual performances. With the Olympic trials only six months away, the pressure is now on Auden to buckle down and prepare himself for the long practices and hard work. Despite this story being set in the future, this book is a contemporary story through and through.
Auden has spent his entire life devoted to becoming one of the best gymnasts in America and the world. The last three have been spent at the training under former Olympians, Dorian and Jude, who were featured in the first book of this series. As the Olympics near, Dorian (who is ever so focused and driven to make his athletes every bit as focused and driven as he is) sits Auden down and tells him he needs to buckle down. Unfortunately, for Auden being pushed harder, both by his coach and by his parents who continually remind him of the sacrifices they are making for him, has him rebelling even more when he just wants to be a normal young adult who goes out just to have fun and date.
Read Wendy’s review in its entirety here.
4 stars
This is the second story in the Olympic Passions series. Though the major players from the first book make appearances in this story as coaches, it can be read as a standalone.
This story begins in December 2023 as the Antwerp, Belgium World Gymnastics Championships have just completed. Auden and his teammate, Trayce, have each won a gold medal in individual performances. With the Olympic trials only six months away, the pressure is now on Auden to buckle down and prepare himself for the long practices and hard work. Despite this story being set in the future, this book is a contemporary story through and through.
Auden has spent his entire life devoted to becoming one of the best gymnasts in America and the world. The last three have been spent at the training under former Olympians, Dorian and Jude, who were featured in the first book of this series. As the Olympics near, Dorian (who is ever so focused and driven to make his athletes every bit as focused and driven as he is) sits Auden down and tells him he needs to buckle down. Unfortunately, for Auden being pushed harder, both by his coach and by his parents who continually remind him of the sacrifices they are making for him, has him rebelling even more when he just wants to be a normal young adult who goes out just to have fun and date.
Read Wendy’s review in its entirety here.
May 8, 2016
***This Book Tumbled Me***
Story Page: http://forbiddenfiction.com/story/eeg...
Contains disturbing content. Check ForbiddenFiction story page (given above) for content labels. This is not our sale page but a page that gives readers with the direct link (given above) to the story page so that they may also have access to the labels and other information about the book
Auden is near the penultimate goal of any professional athlete - the Olympic games. Recently crowned the world champion, he’s feeling the pressure more than ever, but he doesn’t really have anyone to share it with, other than fellow athlete and occasional lover, Trayce. So when Shane picks him up one night and then slots himself into Auden’s life, he thinks he’s found nirvana. But Shane isn’t all he appears to be, and Auden needs to make a decision before it’s made for him.
I went back and forth with this book. I can absolutely see Auden’s dilemma and his struggles. He’s isolated from most of the world, his father has a one-track mind and stresses Auden out, and the boy he’s totally gone for thinks committed relationships are ridiculous and unrealistic. Auden was just ripe for the picking by the first boy to really pay attention to *him*. However, his connections to both Shane and Trayce felt almost stiff rather than an organic coming together with either one, which threw off the chemistry, as well.
The plot is great, no question on that point! I enjoyed the way the author took me through the trials and tribulations of career amateur athletes (professionals aren’t allowed to compete in national or world championships or the Olympics).
Unfortunately, the pacing was also off in that it bounced around from day to week to month without much consistency in the beginning, and I found myself having difficulty tracking the timeline, even with the month listed at the beginning of the chapters. This was helped somewhat by the “plucky best friend” as she named herself, Auden’s bestie Anya, whom I adored. She was sweet, spicy, and always honest, and if I read M/F or F/F, I’d like to see a book on her, but alas, I don’t. Plucky best friend it is!
There was surprisingly little character development over most of the book, then *boom* - tons of it at the end. This also somewhat hindered my ability to connect to Auden and Trayce. In the end, I decided it was “okay” and hereby give it three stars. Will I give this author another try? Sure! This is my first exposure, and I may very well like something else better.
Review Copy of Tumbled provided by the Author, E.E. Grey for an honest Review.
Reviewed by Cat from Alpha Book Club
Story Page: http://forbiddenfiction.com/story/eeg...
Contains disturbing content. Check ForbiddenFiction story page (given above) for content labels. This is not our sale page but a page that gives readers with the direct link (given above) to the story page so that they may also have access to the labels and other information about the book
Auden is near the penultimate goal of any professional athlete - the Olympic games. Recently crowned the world champion, he’s feeling the pressure more than ever, but he doesn’t really have anyone to share it with, other than fellow athlete and occasional lover, Trayce. So when Shane picks him up one night and then slots himself into Auden’s life, he thinks he’s found nirvana. But Shane isn’t all he appears to be, and Auden needs to make a decision before it’s made for him.
I went back and forth with this book. I can absolutely see Auden’s dilemma and his struggles. He’s isolated from most of the world, his father has a one-track mind and stresses Auden out, and the boy he’s totally gone for thinks committed relationships are ridiculous and unrealistic. Auden was just ripe for the picking by the first boy to really pay attention to *him*. However, his connections to both Shane and Trayce felt almost stiff rather than an organic coming together with either one, which threw off the chemistry, as well.
The plot is great, no question on that point! I enjoyed the way the author took me through the trials and tribulations of career amateur athletes (professionals aren’t allowed to compete in national or world championships or the Olympics).
Unfortunately, the pacing was also off in that it bounced around from day to week to month without much consistency in the beginning, and I found myself having difficulty tracking the timeline, even with the month listed at the beginning of the chapters. This was helped somewhat by the “plucky best friend” as she named herself, Auden’s bestie Anya, whom I adored. She was sweet, spicy, and always honest, and if I read M/F or F/F, I’d like to see a book on her, but alas, I don’t. Plucky best friend it is!
There was surprisingly little character development over most of the book, then *boom* - tons of it at the end. This also somewhat hindered my ability to connect to Auden and Trayce. In the end, I decided it was “okay” and hereby give it three stars. Will I give this author another try? Sure! This is my first exposure, and I may very well like something else better.
Review Copy of Tumbled provided by the Author, E.E. Grey for an honest Review.
Reviewed by Cat from Alpha Book Club
October 3, 2016
2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Tumbled by E.E. Grey
1) I thoroughly enjoyed Tumbled and the book held my attention from start to finish. Audens character development and dilemma throughout the book felt real and I was very happy with the resolution. A very well written and researched read.
2) I'm not into sports romances or open-ended romances. This one ticked off both boxes, plus added a love triangle that gives us a lot to work with but not much to show in the end. Despite that, however, this is a well crafted story with realistic characters, even though the setting is supposed to be the near-future but reads like contemporary. This is about youths trying to find their place in the world, and how to fit their personal and professional lives together. Wanting to be free from expectations and demands is a struggle every young person can identify with and relate to. But wishing to excel at what you're great at and to follow your dreams is also a struggle, just different kind. I liked this story but wasn't wow'd by it.
3) There's little time wasted. The story is short and sweet and the plot develops at a good clip without sacrificing the good, meaty parts of a story. And speaking of which, this story *feels* like a story. One of the criteria I use is "if sex were removed, would there still be a plot?" The answer is a most astounding yes, and the plot itself is excellent. I have to applaud the author for the good use of pace, the right use of tension, and even though we expect the protagonist to win at the end, it's still very satisfying to read. Not a lot of cruft or excess. There isn't much to the external setting, but venue development when required is very good. The gym itself, the bar and the surrounding areas are scaffolded enough to let a reader imagine what they see, but specific enough to allow for some unique flavor. The little details are what help. These also don't take away from the focus of the story, which are the characters more than the setting. The characters feel different from one another. It doesn't feel like voices are "shared" between them as in some stories. Everyone is unique and this author has a knack for bringing characters to life. Each one had their own hopes, dreams, fears, and mannerisms and felt very real and human, most of all. Clear, concise, enjoyable. Easy to read. Straightforward. Enough to sate the reader's need to consume without robbing the reader of the ability to imagine for themselves. Excellent. Strong Recommendation for Consideration. This is the first time in reading the slush for the awards that I have been so enthusiastic about a story. I believe this is one of the best I've read so far and am glad I was able to judge this gem. Thank you!
1) I thoroughly enjoyed Tumbled and the book held my attention from start to finish. Audens character development and dilemma throughout the book felt real and I was very happy with the resolution. A very well written and researched read.
2) I'm not into sports romances or open-ended romances. This one ticked off both boxes, plus added a love triangle that gives us a lot to work with but not much to show in the end. Despite that, however, this is a well crafted story with realistic characters, even though the setting is supposed to be the near-future but reads like contemporary. This is about youths trying to find their place in the world, and how to fit their personal and professional lives together. Wanting to be free from expectations and demands is a struggle every young person can identify with and relate to. But wishing to excel at what you're great at and to follow your dreams is also a struggle, just different kind. I liked this story but wasn't wow'd by it.
3) There's little time wasted. The story is short and sweet and the plot develops at a good clip without sacrificing the good, meaty parts of a story. And speaking of which, this story *feels* like a story. One of the criteria I use is "if sex were removed, would there still be a plot?" The answer is a most astounding yes, and the plot itself is excellent. I have to applaud the author for the good use of pace, the right use of tension, and even though we expect the protagonist to win at the end, it's still very satisfying to read. Not a lot of cruft or excess. There isn't much to the external setting, but venue development when required is very good. The gym itself, the bar and the surrounding areas are scaffolded enough to let a reader imagine what they see, but specific enough to allow for some unique flavor. The little details are what help. These also don't take away from the focus of the story, which are the characters more than the setting. The characters feel different from one another. It doesn't feel like voices are "shared" between them as in some stories. Everyone is unique and this author has a knack for bringing characters to life. Each one had their own hopes, dreams, fears, and mannerisms and felt very real and human, most of all. Clear, concise, enjoyable. Easy to read. Straightforward. Enough to sate the reader's need to consume without robbing the reader of the ability to imagine for themselves. Excellent. Strong Recommendation for Consideration. This is the first time in reading the slush for the awards that I have been so enthusiastic about a story. I believe this is one of the best I've read so far and am glad I was able to judge this gem. Thank you!
May 11, 2016
REVIEWED FOR PRISM BOOK ALLIANCE
3.5 Stars
I haven’t read the first book in this series yet but Tumbled works fine as a standalone.
I have mulled over this review for a few days and I still feel unsure as to how I feel about it.
For the last fifteen years of his life Auden has dedicated all his time and energy to gymnastics. He is now a resident of an institution that is dedicated to ensuring he becomes the best he can be. After taking Gold at the world championships all his efforts for the next 6 months are going towards making the Olympics Team. Every training session, and there are many, are aimed to towards those trials and the coveted five places.
The problem is Auden has lost his fire and begins to question whether this is the life he wants. He has a secret relationship with Trayce his training buddy but Trayce is only interested in getting off whereas Auden craves a relationship. He wants it to mean more than it does and he finds himself frustrated.
Sneaking out to watch a band has him meeting Shane who is a bit of a free spirit. They spend some time together at the expense of Auden’s training which sees Auden in trouble with his coach and his technical skills slipping drastically.
The problem I have is that although I enjoyed the story I really didn’t like the characters. There was a sort of love triangle where Auden seemed to whine, Shane wanted to do his own thing and Trayce didn’t seem to care about anyone. Shane’s declaration of love came out of nowhere and felt completely unrealistic but at least by that point Auden had realised what a douche he was. Trayce redeemed himself slightly towards the end and it finished with a tentative HFN. I hope the author gives us a bit of closure on the two of them in the next book.
3.5 Stars
I haven’t read the first book in this series yet but Tumbled works fine as a standalone.
I have mulled over this review for a few days and I still feel unsure as to how I feel about it.
For the last fifteen years of his life Auden has dedicated all his time and energy to gymnastics. He is now a resident of an institution that is dedicated to ensuring he becomes the best he can be. After taking Gold at the world championships all his efforts for the next 6 months are going towards making the Olympics Team. Every training session, and there are many, are aimed to towards those trials and the coveted five places.
The problem is Auden has lost his fire and begins to question whether this is the life he wants. He has a secret relationship with Trayce his training buddy but Trayce is only interested in getting off whereas Auden craves a relationship. He wants it to mean more than it does and he finds himself frustrated.
Sneaking out to watch a band has him meeting Shane who is a bit of a free spirit. They spend some time together at the expense of Auden’s training which sees Auden in trouble with his coach and his technical skills slipping drastically.
The problem I have is that although I enjoyed the story I really didn’t like the characters. There was a sort of love triangle where Auden seemed to whine, Shane wanted to do his own thing and Trayce didn’t seem to care about anyone. Shane’s declaration of love came out of nowhere and felt completely unrealistic but at least by that point Auden had realised what a douche he was. Trayce redeemed himself slightly towards the end and it finished with a tentative HFN. I hope the author gives us a bit of closure on the two of them in the next book.
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August 20, 2016In Queue
Tumbled Story Page via Forbidden-Fiction
*ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review. Reviewed by Jaime from Alpha Book Club
and Gay Book Reviews
Tumbled Story Page via Forbidden-Fiction
*ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review. Reviewed by Jaime from Alpha Book Club
and Gay Book Reviews
September 16, 2016
3.5 stars. I'm not into sports romances or open-ended romances. This one ticked off both boxes, plus added a love triangle that gives us a lot to work with but not much to show in the end. Only one main character has any depth, and none of the three are likable. One is an indecisive doormat, the other a waffling sex-only type, and the third is a user.
Despite that, however, this is a well crafted story with realistic characters. This is about youths trying to find their place in the world, and how to fit their personal and professional lives together. Wanting to be free from expectations and demands is a struggle every young person can identify with and relate to. But wishing to excel at what you're great at and to follow your dreams is also a struggle, just different kind.
This was an okay story but I wasn't wow'd by it in any way.
Despite that, however, this is a well crafted story with realistic characters. This is about youths trying to find their place in the world, and how to fit their personal and professional lives together. Wanting to be free from expectations and demands is a struggle every young person can identify with and relate to. But wishing to excel at what you're great at and to follow your dreams is also a struggle, just different kind.
This was an okay story but I wasn't wow'd by it in any way.
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