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.

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.

3 people found this helpful

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!

2 people found this helpful

Great second story

I really enjoyed this story.....It is the second book in a series by a favorite author, the characters are only related to the Hockey story. I really felt for Nixon and loved the romance. The narration was great. I look forward to more in this series.

WOW!!! This is a mind blower.

To say I love this book just doesn't seem to be enough, but I Love Off Limits. Nix and Emily are perfect together. Life is not always simple and the lessons we learn along the way are what make the journey we take the most precious gift we are given from the moment of our first breath. This story is well told and the narrators chosen for this book are perfect. If you have read SB before you will more than likely love the way she handles this journey of a mentally and physically wounded veteran. This book is HOT and one of my favorites on audible and I plan to listen to it many more times. Grab yourself a copy and enjoy it whether you just read it or listen to it, I found it to be a real mind-blower.

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.

Another Great One!

I love all things Sawyer Bennett, but this one is by far, my top favorite.. I cried so many times listening to this because the author wrote it so vividly and these narrators are absolutely amazing!

Emotional roller coaster. Awesome<br />

this is one of the best books I've read in a long time. both of the characters were wonderful. The author brought out the long term effects of PTSD, and the scars that linger. I truly didn't want this book to end. Thanks MS. Bennett.

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.

The sexual tension is OFF the charts.

I read this years ago and enjoyed the delicious sexual tension it had. When I saw it on the Romance Package, I could not resist a “re-read” through my ears. Narrators Charlotte North and Matthew Holland were perfectly cast here.

This is the second novel in Sawyer Bennett’s OFF Series. And wow, this story goes OFF! I really enjoyed the chemistry of this couple. I don’t usually like an angry, dominating male but here, I found Nix’s commanding nature to be oh, so HOT! Emily is a cold secondary character in book 1, OFF SIDES, but by book 2 she is convincingly likeable. The first person narrative in dual POV is like being in the head of both Emily and Nix. Their romance is intense, and I felt their emotions take me on a rollercoaster ride. It was fabulous!

Emily is the younger sister of Ryan, hero of book 1, OFF SIDES. I would characterise that book as a sweet, whirlwind romance with lots of slow-burn build-up in a short span of time – a couple of weeks. This book 2 OFF LIMITS is not sweet; the sexual tension between Emily and Nix is electric, and the slow-burn here is compelling in a different way. They spend months skirting around each other, breaking barriers, getting to know one another, developing feelings and ignoring their chemistry. When the emotion is finally unleashed and sexy times start, they are HOT. It’s not all easy though, and they have heart-stopping challenges to overcome. Nix’s history makes him a wound-up-tight character (ready to spring – whew!), and Emily’s history makes her uncertain. I enjoyed reading about them learning to find peace within themselves and then finding happiness with each other. They both had a lot of growing to do. It was a joy to witness.

I feel Sawyer Bennett got the formula right here: the perfect blend of chemistry, sexual tension, sweet and bitter personalities, soft and hard people, raw emotion, give and take. The sexy times were sensual and connected to the emotion and therefore meaningful and beautiful.

So this (OFF LIMITS) and OFF SIDES remain my favourite books by this author. I recommend them as they stand the test of time in the “re-read” years later.

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.