Out in the End Zone

Out in College, Book 2

De: Lane Hayes

Narrado por: Michael Dean

Evan di Angelo is an upbeat, good-natured goofball who loves his friends and family…and football. A traumatic accident may have ended his hopes of playing professionally, but he’s made the most of his four years on the field at a small Southern California college. He’s learned the hard way to embrace change, take chances and try things outside of his comfort zone…like agreeing to play fake boyfriends for someone else’s senior project.

Mitch Peterson knows that being his authentic self is the path to true happiness. He’s grown from a shy, quiet kid from a broken home to an out-and-proud budding internet sensation bound for grad school. An awesome senior project is the key. It’s unlikely anyone will believe the hunky, straight athlete is Mitch’s new lover, but it’s worth a shot. However, as their tentative friendship blossoms into unexpected attraction, the lines between reality and fiction blur for both men. Evan is forced to face old demons and decide if he has the courage to take the next step and come out in the end zone.

©2018 Lane Hayes (P)2019 Lane Hayes

Easy low angst sweet read

Out in the End Zone is the second book in the Out in College series and runs parallel to the timeline in Book 1 - although you could read this as a standalone.

Evan shares a house with Derek (from book 1) and is a football player at a local college. Evan is sweet, loyal and easy going with a good sense of humour but due to a catastrophic event during high school, puts an end to professional football and he now tends to stick to the straight and narrow. However, he has started "crushing" on Mitch, fun, flirty, member of Derek's college cheer team and vlogger with a large following. Mitch is also in his final year and pitches his senior project to Evan who surprises him when he agrees to help the "faux or not" relationship on social media - a little fake boyfriend trope.

Again this is not dual POV and is told by Evan. I missed hearing from Mitch - he was the richer character and I needed his input at certain times. Evan falls heavy for Mitch and the senior project videos suddenly become too real, but Evan drags his coming out and this is made even harder when he becomes the focus of the faux videos going viral. Evan then only seems to be able to respond to Mitch when Mitch takes a leaf out of Derek's book and does the "I love you, but I will be a martyr to our relationship and break up with you so I can be happy"again it was *meh*

Another eyeroll for the female character - still trying to understand the "Nicole" role. However, I loved Mitch's Grandma, she was just fun and Evan's parents seemed warm and supportive.

The narrator was again Michael Pauley. He sounded a little more laid back with Evan, giving him an easy going voice and I enjoyed his "Mitch" - warm and vulnerable . The narrator pulled out his "hard" intonations and SHOUTY. LOUD. AND. INTENSE for the smexy time. Here, the ear-bashing, fast, bruising and frenzied couplings matched the scenes so well - even the breathlessness of the narrator against the microphone (however unintentional) made me flustered - in a good way!! There were still the odd occasion where he raced with oxygen vs finished sentence, but by then it was the closing scenes and I could overlook it.

Overall, this was an easy low angst read and Evan's coming out was epic, who could not swoon at that? It ends with an epilogue after graduation (although I would've liked to know what happened with Mitch's senior project) and leaves me with a contented sigh.

Lovely twist on the fake boyfriend trope

We first met Evan, Mitch, and many of the characters in this story in book 1 (Out in the Deep), so although it’s not entirely necessary to have read/listened to that first, I think it’s a good idea to get some background on these characters and the timeline as the two stories run concurrently.

I like how Lane Hayes creates her various series with a group of characters and in each subsequent story we find out more about one or two of them. In this series, one or both of the main characters are bisexual and are seniors (aged 23) at college. Here it is Evan who explores his previously suppressed bisexuality as he falls for Mitch.

Out in the End Zone is a twist on the fake boyfriends trope. Evan agrees to take part in Mitch’s YouTube/social media project where viewers have to decide whether or not they are in a real relationship. They pretend to be boyfriends for the camera, but behind the scenes they actually fall for each other. As with Derek and Gabe in book 1, Evan struggles with accepting his sexuality and wants to remain in the closet at first. Of course, Lane never makes it easy for the poor guys. Evan has to deal with a female admirer and a friend who is trying to push them together, which in turn threatens to come between Evan and Mitch. Evan also has to build up the courage to come out to his teammates and also his housemate, Derek.

This is an enjoyable, well-written story with some lovely steamy moments. The inevitable ‘break-up’ scene felt a little contrived and I didn’t fully understand Mitch’s thinking here. Other than that, the main characters are well portrayed and very likeable.

Michael Pauley’s narration is good. He created distinct voices to match the characters’ personalities. It was clear who was speaking throughout. The emotions and passion were expressed well and made the steamy scenes even hotter. The pacing and narrative style made for easy and enjoyable listening. I like that the same narrator is used throughout a series to maintain continuity of character voices.

Awesome

This story is so romantic and well written couldn't stop had to keep on listening 4 gours straight

This series keeps getting better!

Love this wonderful series of slightly shorter but brimming with sweetness and heart romances. Evan and Mitch, soooo adorable together - and love that their story ran at the same time as Derek and Gabe from book one. Wonderful narration! Can’t wait to keep going through these lovely stories!!!

Wonderful!!

Loved this book, it's better than the first. Very interesting plot and eloquently narrated. Highly recommend!