Jo - •.★Reading Is My Bliss★.•'s Reviews > Balance

I have very mixed feelings about this story. I knew what the gist of the plot was and that something was going to happen that might make me feel a bit uncomfortable. To be honest at times I had to stop and say WTF?! However, I had no idea that I would be robbed of an entire 24 hours because I could not look away! Once I started reading this I had to finish it.

That is a big part of the reason why I gave this story 3 stars. And the other is because this author had the balls to take a risk writing such a controversial story with quite sensitive subject matter that had me cringing in one instance and then desperate to know more in the next.

This is a story set in the competitive world of gymnastics. Adrianna has recently moved away from her family to be an elite gymnast, her ultimate goal is to be an Olympic competitor. I was quite blown away by her maturity and commitment to her sport but I was quite shocked at how easily her parents just left her to pretty much fend for herself. She quickly learns that she is now training with some pretty talented team mates and she will have to work hard to get to their level.

The person who will help get her there is her coach Konstantin Kournakova (Kova). He has been a competitor for his home country Russia at the Olympic Games and had incredible success. He’s the best person to develop Adrianna and help her achieve her dream to be an elite gymnast.

Kova and Adrianna have a bit of a fiery student/coach relationship. He is very critical and does not offer up praise very often. The days are longer and tougher than she ever imagined, she is constantly challenged and she leaves the training facility exhausted each night. She is very determined to prove that she belongs there and that she deserves her place in this academy.

It is not lost on Adrianna how gorgeous her coach is and the more time they spend together, the more she finds herself day dreaming about him – a lot of those are completely inappropriate. She may be imagining it but she is beginning to sense that he is giving her more than the usual attention he gives his students.

And then a line is crossed.

I’m not going to go into any detail about this as it will spoil the story for others but at the end of this book I did not like Kova. There were moments I was on the fence about him but for now he is on my shit list. He may redeem himself in the next book but for now he is a douche.

So in summary, this was a very different sort of forbidden relationship. Nothing like I have read before. Lucia Franco put great detail about the terms and techniques used in gymnastics and I really learned a lot about the huge commitment these athletes make to be the best. I will definitely be reading the next book as I am really intrigued about where she will take this next.

* There are some very sensitive topics /events covered in this book so if you are someone who needs to know about the content of a book due to triggers then please message the author or someone who has read this book BEFORE you decide to read this ☺