Off Limits

By: Sawyer Bennett

Narrated by: Charlotte North, Matthew Holland

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Two years ago, Emily Burnham had an epiphany about the shallowness of her life. And she made it her mission to become a different person...a better woman. Out from under the controlling thumb of her mother, Emily is tasting the real world for the first time. And she likes it.

Nixon Caldwell has served his time in the Marine Corps, surviving two brutal tours in Afghanistan. He is back home, surrounded by what he likes best...isolation. It's certainly the easiest way to avoid confrontation of the consuming guilt that is weighing him down. When an accident brings Emily and Nix together, he soon learns he is not the master of his own fate. Struggling with his own pain, Nix tries to guard himself against Emily's charms. He wants her in his bed, but he doesn't want her in his heart.

Having grabbed life by the horns, Emily wants it all. But is she willing to accept just the small part of himself that Nix is offering? Or can she reach the part of his soul that he has deemed to be off limits?

©2013 Sawyer Bennett (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

I have never written a review before

I am about halfway through Off Limits. I had to stop and collect myself. I don’t recall ever feeling so connected or moved by a character that I had to stop reading. As a Veteran (albeit female) I can feel where Nix is coming from. The anger, the isolation, the reluctance to seek help. I told my husband this character is speaking to me. I don’t remember the summary and if this aspect of the story was listed there. I can’t say if I whether I would have gotten the book if it was. I am glad that I did. I hope more Veterans pick up this little gem. Emily is great too, happy to see how her character has developed from the previous book. Not surprised to see her mother is still a female dog. I am sure there will be some resolution with that in the end but again I am halfway through. I just wanted to stop and say thank you for the realism in regards to his struggles as a Vet. Even down to the chosen profession you are “Spot On”. I can’t wait to get to the end... Cover me, I’m going in.

Watch Where You're Going!

What a great way to meet a guy -- just run him down!Another enticing love story by Sawyer Bennett, but then again how could you not love an author who is not afraid to say "The Human Centipede" was a horrible movie. That aside, it was fun getting to know Emily and Nix and how they found a way to overcome their personal demons and different backgrounds to forge a relationship.

The narrators were good and work well as a combination. Charlotte's male voice often times sounded too feminine but overall it worked. I would listen to other books narrated by them.

Definitely worth the credit. This is my second book in this series so now I'm off to listen to another. Expecting the good feelings to continue in this series.

I had to quit listening

She is just an idiot and I had to quit listening because it was insulting to my intelligence.

Emily and Nix

The second book in the series has quite a bit more angst and debth to it. Emily (Ryan's younger sister) finds herself in a jam when her college and life choices no longer align with that of her mother's. By an unfortunate event, she finds herself working for Nix, the broody brother to her own brother's teammate. Nix is a retired marine vet who finds he barely likes his own company, much less that of others. When the girl who backs into his bike can't pay for the damages, he finds himself offering her a job instead. This begins the tumultuous but progressive relationship between them. It's not a pretty ride, and their end is bound to be a spectacular event, unless they can find a way to get through their differences and the ghosts of the pasts that haught them both.
It was a really well-written story with a lot of angst and emotional ups and downs. Nix had a LOT of issues he had to work through and you could feel rather than just read about how it truly strained his relationships with everyone, especially Emily. Not withstanding, Emily had her faults too but a lot of that was manufactured by her upbringing. It was truly an interesting and enjoyable book experience.

Respect for our Military Men

This is a beautiful story of how people can change, and the circumstances that bring about that change. Nix, a wounded warrior, Emily, a spoiled rich girl, her parents, elitist snobs. They all come together to create a heart wrenching but heart warming story.

Book was good, male narrator not so much

This book was just good for me. There are other Sawyer Bennett books I like better.

The reason I rated it so low was the narration. Matthew Holland’s voice was not a good fit for Nix. I could not get past this for the whole book.

Strong woman and military vet with PTSD

If you’re new to audible books you are going to enjoy listening to Matthew Holland’s voice.
“Nix” is a veteran of the Afghan-middle east wars. He suffers from a brain injury as well as PTSD. He has been treated by a psychiatrist, past and present and has learned how to control sudden rages brought on by situations outside of his control. He also has a service dog that is attentive as any good service dog is.
Enter Emily Burnham, sister of Ryan from book 1, “Off Sides”. She runs over Nix’s custom built motorcycle, that he built himself. It is going to take lots of
$$$$$ to repair it. Money Emily finds out several days later she no longer has because her nasty mother won’t go along with Emily’s college major, journalism. Mother dearest wants daughter to major in medicine or law all for the sake of her husbands political campaign - they must have the perfect family per mother. She also demands Emily reunite with her old boyfriend although no one knows that the ex boyfriend was physically violent to Emily. Mother is a control freak at the very least.
Emily pushes back on mommy’s control and stands her ground. Losing her weekly money from her trust (she doesn’t gain control until she is 21), she tells Nix she will work off the debt - organizing his paperwork, filing forms, etc.
Her mother’s unsupportive parenting is just the opposite of Nix’s family. He has a very caring dad as well as his brother, who just so happens to play hockey with Emily’s brother.
There are lots of opposites in this story yet friendship forms which blooms into mutual attraction which opens up into a love Nix never thought he would have. He blows up, hurts Emily, emotionally when he catches her with something she found by accident and cuts her out of his life.
Off Limits deals with anger issues, living a life under someone’s control, taking control of your life, taking risk, the after effect of war, PTSD, and touches on the emotional and monetary cost to veterans of war.
This is the perfect rainy day romance story, able to be read in less than half a day.

Amazing!

WOW! What a wonderful novel by Sawyer Bennett! This story was amazing from beginning to end. She doesn't drag things out or incessantly repeat things. She just wrote a beautiful story about the the love of two people. And the narrators were dead on! Loved therm!

Off Limits

I again I had such expectations but it just fell flat for me.

Our hero with a tragic past something we see a lot of. Our spoiled rich girl who chooses not to be I’m not really that she chooses not to be I should say more like she gets kind of cut off realize that she doesn’t really need the money but she does kind of need the money. It’s just a back-and-forth very new adult which again is what the genre is so again go in with expectations.

I will say I like the conversation between the parents later on that she had and how they come to realize that appearance isn’t everything. I will say I’m a little bit over the sexual assault part of everything I feel like we already had that in book one we didn’t need it again in book 2.

Still really enjoying the narration.

Loved it!

I loved this book! A damaged man and a new and improved women meet and the chemistry was off the charts from the very first moment. I loved how they continued to learn more about themselves and each other all the way through the very end! Highly recommended and a great addition to the series!

Hooked from the first line

Oh my, Nix Caldwell, by the end of the book my heart broke for him. But, that said, at the beginning of the book Nix is cut off, nasty and to put it bluntly he's an A hole, plain and simple. Then we have the wonderful Emily Burnham (who, if you read book 1, Off Sides, you would know she has come a long way to earn that commendation). They meet when Emily knocks Nix off his motorcycle (I know not the best first impression), and even though Emily is a Burnham, and as such she's very wealthy, her trust fund is not yet in reach, as such she ends up working her debt off to Nix. A relationship ensues and Nix finally starts to let Emily into his life, but not completely, he still has so many demons caused by a head trauma in the Marine's and the fact that he's suffering from PTSD. Told in dual POV, the story is both sexy and heartbreaking. Add into the mix the adorable Hartley, a super cute four legged addition, and I was hooked from start to finish.

Enjoyable

Interesting , and not perfect, characters. Good story. A few steamy bits, but not too much. I’ll look for more by this author

Lovely story in a continuing series.

I loved Emily's dtory. Having opened her mind and heart to new ways of thinking, she has been able to live a new, more adventurous and interesting life. Her meeting with Nix is one of the best things to happen to both of them. Again Charlotte North and Matthew Holland are excellent. Their narration is both natural and expressive. Loved it! 💖 💖💖💖💖

Great story

Lovely story of love developing despite circumstances. He's a tortured soul and she's a strong young woman. Loved it

really enjoyed this story

liked both characters and the story, Nix sounded sexy and Emily was sweet and their development of their love was great

Good

I enjoyed this book really good story and likeable characters the narrators did a great job

Brilliant Story

I Loved Emily and Nix
Their story is an opposites attract romance.
Emily is Ryan from book ones sister.
She is being controlled by her mother and to escape she goes away to college were she can become her own person,and take the major she wants which is sports journalism.
Interviewing her first sportsman in the form of her brothers team mate Linc she didn't expect that when she leaves that interview she crashes literally into his brother Nix.
When I say crashing I mean Crashing she basically runs him over with her car.
Nix is a troubled soul an ex marine he has seen and done things that haunt him,especially the time when he got badly injured in Iraq.
He now leads a quite life building custom made motorcycles,being run down by Emily changes his life forever.
She cannot pay the damage she has caused to his motorcycle because she has been cut off by her parents and so works off her debt organising Nix and his piles of paperwork.
This is were love blossoms and their chemistry gets stronger every single time they see one another.
I really loved their story and how they changed eachother.
Nix has the biggest change he has to reconcile with his past and to ease his guilt from the past,opening up to Emily was emotional and his story is painful.
Emily also changes she was such a rich bitch in book 1 and I didnt like her,but she completely redeems herself as she changes her attitude and becomes more compassionate and understanding.
She also starts to appreciate what it is to work and earn her way in the world.
These two may be opposites but they work beautifully together as they push one anothers buttons in a positive way.
I am loving this series and I love Sawyer Bennett's writing and characters.
loved listening to it and Charlotte North and Matthew Holland are excellent narrators and make the story so easy to listen to.
Highly recommend it
5 Stars.

A long road for a basic storyline.

Not sure what happened from the first story to this second one because this one was tediously slow.

I actually kept listening convinced something interesting would happen....Spoiler Alert...it doesn't!!

Great story

Great story and performance by narrators - LOVE Matt Holland’s voice, can’t wait to read the next book

A good all rounder 👍

This was included on my membership, so decided to listen.
It was a nice story with good narration. The characters were slightly predictable of this genre, but still well done and I enjoyed listening to their tale. Nothing not to like.