The Rainbow Clause

By: Beth Bolden

Narrated by: Wyatt Baker

Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Don't like the athletes. Don't sleep with the athletes. Don't fall for the athletes. It had never been particularly difficult to follow the rules, but Nick had a feeling he was about to be tested. 

Heisman winner. Member of the national championship team. NFL rookie of the year. Quarterback Colin O’Connor knows he’s become the ultimate romance novel cliché: all the success he’s ever dreamed of but nobody with whom to share it. Too bad it’s not as simple as asking out the next girl who intrigues him - because the next girl to intrigue him probably won’t be a girl at all. 

Unexpectedly, the solution comes in one neat package: Nick Wheeler, lead journalist for a leading sports and pop culture blog. Hired by Colin’s team, Nick comes to Miami to shine a spotlight on the NFL’s most private quarterback.

The heat in Miami rises when Nick discovers Colin is nothing like the hollow personality he pretends to be in interviews and he’s even hotter in person than on his Sports Illustrated cover. Nick knows this is the story of his career, and it also hits close to home. What he needs is to help Colin share his story while keeping their growing relationship from boiling over in the press, but what he wants is to tell the world.

Note: This book has been re-edited and rereleased on June 24, 2017. Content is the same, errors are fixed.

©2017 Beth Bolden (P)2018 Beth Bolden

Another Sweet Sports Romance

This is one sweet sports romance story. I had a few giggles and “awww” moments while listening. The pacing of the story is just enough. It is a story about a famous award-winning quarterback who decided he can’t live in the closet anymore and is coming out with his bi-sexuality. I like how being bi is represented well in this book. How it’s explained in simple terms but made it clear what being bisexual is like.

I adore Colin. His steadfast personality, his sharp intelligence and his relentless pursuit to go for what he wants, and on top of that, is a really great guy. Nick has his small issues, I wasn’t liking the whole fact of him going home & putting them through the ringer for no reason rather than his own fears holding him back. But that got resolved quick and thank goodness!

So.. this story is low on angst. It’s more relationship-focused plus the glaring scenario of PR machinations for athletes who just want to live their lives.

It’s ultimately sweet and feel good read.

Wyatt Baker has improved with his narration style. He still tends to sound flat sometimes, but now, he has added more to it. I’m hoping as I listen to more of his narration, it keeps getting better and better.

Kept zoning out

Had a hard time finishing this one, the writing is good but the story just felt kind of flat to me. I think if maybe the conflicts were a little more developed, it would have been better. They just happened and resolved so quickly.

Slowburn 🔥

This was such a delightful slowburn!

If you love slowburn romances with heart and heat, I definitely recommend this one.

The narration was pretty enjoyable and the overall story drew me in.

I love Beth's writing style.

Overall, I enjoyed listening to this one

Really loved the story hated the narrator

i love football so i like the story and i know Miami well so i really enjoyed and related to this story

3.79 > Lengthy, slow-burn. Well narrated.

POV ~> Third person
=== Book ===
I think when reading a 300+ page book, one does not realize how many times Ms. Bolden uses certain words, particularly “wryly”. But in the audio narration, it became increasingly obvious as the story went on.
Nick’s a reporter with hang-ups. Colin is an NFL player ready to come out as bisexual. Colin’s PR team hire Nick’s agency (Nick specifically) to follow Colin and write the story.
I liked Colin, but was annoyed at times with Nick’s perspective of things. They had good chemistry, although it was a slow burn to get to the relationship point. Dialogue is good, the interactions are enjoyable. The plot was a little lengthy and slow to get rolling, but it flowed at a decent pace. Conflicts were mostly internal and on Nick’s end, but eventually he pulls it together. Predictability is low. The conclusion is fairly satisfying with and implied HEA.
Overall, it’s a lengthy book with a good concept and decent execution. Was not a strong favorite, but it was not bad.
Story as written: 3.825
=== Narration ===
Speed of narration was smooth and easy to follow. The pronunciation tripped me up on occasion.
The “voice” of a character seemed to chance once in a while and some emotional inflections did not match the scene.
Story as narrated: 3.75
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Rating: [R] ~ Score: 3.79 ~ Stars: 4
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⭐ ⭐ **** Disclosure of Material: I received a copy of this book from the Author/Publisher with the hope that I would voluntarily leave unbiased and unsolicited feedback. I was not asked, encouraged, or required to leave a review - nor was I compensated in any way. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising". ***** ⭐ ⭐

It was ok

I liked it but I didn't love it like the other books I have listened to.

Wonderful twist for a romance

Romance story at it’s best!!! The Rainbow Clause by Beth Bolden is a sports romance with a twist, a bi-sexual athlete that comes out to the public and in doing so falls in love with the journalist writing the article that will tell the world of his sexual preference.

Colin had it all, the heisman quarterback, the winning team, the fame and all the women he wanted. Yet Colin felt lost and unsure of himself. A virgin, only fell in love once before with his best friend Gemma who put him in the friend only box, he finally meets someone worthy of his affection, Nick! With Nick being the person assigned to write the story of the year, Nicks coming out, he is resistant in returning the attention and to go over thin line between work and pleasure.

I enjoyed the story very much of Colin, his story is endearing and full of inner struggles as well as those that society and social media put on him. In the end, love conquers all and you cannot help but cheer!!

The narration of this story was extremely well done and Wyatt Baker really brought the characters to life. I would definitely listen to that voice again!!!

Ok story

I was excited to finally get my hands on The Rainbow Clause, but I’m sad to say that it fell a little bit short for me. I liked Colin and Nick but I didn't feel a connection to them, so the story ended up feeling a bit flat for me. I saw some inconsistencies with the characters which were a little difficult for me to overlook. The story itself felt drawn out and I think there were several parts that just didn’t need to be there. If these would have been eliminated, it would have helped the pace of the book.

There were some wonderful things in The Rainbow Clause, though. One aspect I did really like about this book was the way it handled Colin’s bisexuality. I feel this is something that tends to be under-represented and even when it is, it's more a blanket term thrown over a character that still acts more gay than bi. Beth Bolden didn’t do that. In fact, she did a great job of representing bisexuality in Colin’s character. We really get to see the struggle of what he faces with that and his attraction to both sexes. I also liked how once Colin decided it was time to come out, he held to that steadfast and seemingly fearlessly and that Nick was right there eager to help him represent the community.

Overall I enjoyed the book, it just left me wanting more to help me connect with the story and its characters. It was low angst, which I actually enjoyed because it allowed me to relax and enjoy the story without the stress of what's next.

The narration was really well done. Wyatt has a voice that fit the story really well and I found him easy and enjoyable to listen to, he added a lot of life and personality to the book.

Flat Story

The relationship between the two main characters really fell flat. Even with the sexy scenes it didn't really seem to work. Also the narrator needed to read this so much better. His voice lacked inflection and was low and too nasal. He also didn't differentiate between any of the characters.

great!

I love sports romance and this was brilliant! Colin and Nick were wonderful together and I liked it that they had to work hard for their relationship. It felt very realistic. And the narrator was fantastic!

mixed bag not up to usual Beth Bolden standards

Firstly the narration is fine a little flat at times which makes sex scenes quite unsexy but easy enough to listen to overall.
My main disappointment was the story which is just not up to the usual standards of this author. I realise that this is an earlier story than the other mm romances of Beth Boldens i have read, plus despite this being listed as a standalone all the main characters are from her earlier 5 points series (which I have not read) and it really shows. While the story makes sense and I don't think you absolutely need to have read the 5 points series, however without the context, the constant references to Rio and the characters of Jemma and Gabe are really irritating. in fact this book would have been greatly improved with 100% less Jemma. With the tie-in it probably makes sense she is so constantly referenced and appears so frequently, but as a stand alone story she becomes the annoying clichéd bossy and nosy friend whose calls in real life you would start avoiding. Overall be aware there is a whole background which gets constantly referred to and consider a later story instead.