Synopsis
Adrianna Rossi is no stranger to the rigorous demands required of her body. Years of pain and determination make her one of the best. Olympic glory is the ultimate goal, and she’ll do anything to achieve it. Even if that means leaving home to attend World Cup Academy of Gymnastics, a training center that serves one purpose–producing champions.
Perfection, precision, and dedication are required of his athletes. When two time Olympian Konstantin Kournakova is persuaded into training the young hopeful, he immediately regrets it. She doesn’t come close to his high standards. As the relentless pursuit of her dream keeps her striving, a passion is ignited within him.
Kova’s power and domination, coupled with Adrianna’s fierce tenacity, reveal there is more for her body to learn. Every interaction can be misconstrued, but there’s no mistaking the darkening of his gaze, the lingering of his touch, or the illicit image of his bare skin pressed against hers. Integrity is on the line. One toe off the beam and their forbidden desires could ruin everything they’ve worked for, throwing it all off balance.
Where do you begin with a book that has been put into,A sports coming of age bracket, and you have no idea why, All across social media sites I have seen bloggers raving about this book, so I took the plunge and bought it, DAMN I REALLY WISH I HADN’T.
LET ME SAY NOW UPFRONT I HAVE NEVER SHIED AWAY FROM TABOO BOOKS, I TAKE EACH BOOK AND READ IT AT IT’S OWN MERIT, I ALSO HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH OLDER MAN/YOUNGER WOMAN BOOKS OR OLDER WOMAN/YOUNGER MAN. THIS BOOK FOR ME WAS NONE OF THESE.
First of all This 600 page book ends on a cliffhanger ( I HATE CLIFF HANGERS) lately more and more books are ending on cliff hangers just NO, Some of my favorite authors are also getting on the band wagon. I refuse to buy the book but as a blogger by the time I get round to reading it, the reviews are no good so I tend to wait, my money and time are better spent on other books that I can actually finish. I’m not saying I won’t read them but I will wait until they are all out. I have no problem with them been in a series, as they are usually individual stories attached to the same series. I just really hate it when a book abruptly ends and your sitting there thinking ‘WTF’. I want to know what happens but instead I have to wait until how ever long it is before the next one comes out. I usually forget and either have to re-read the first or don’t bother, or far worse still, I find out the first was not as good as I thought. Which then sours my reaction to the next. Getting back to this particular book. “Balance” is a story about Adrianna Rossi, a very innocent, very naive 15-year-old gymnast her one and only goal/dream is to compete at the upcoming Olympics. To make that dream a reality, with the help of her father she transfers to “World Cup Academy of Gymnastics” to train under a 32-year-old, two-time Olympic gold medalist, Konstantin Kournakova, otherwise known as Kova. I’d seen all the great reviews flying over my Facebook page and how fantastic it was, you have to get this book was the general census been shouted out A MUST READ, so I took the plunge and bought it. Let me get this out of the way. There is an age gap. Adrianna is 15 and Kova is 32 and they have sex. ( I have no idea what the age limits in other countries are but in the UK it is 16 and he would have been prosecuted.) I was extremely uncomfortable with that, regardless of anything else to do with the story, he had a position of a tutor and she technically was a child, and which ever way you cut it, that is an abuse of power, for me this book gives out a GROOMING ELEMENT to the book. At this stage I am starting to question if in fact I had the right book, because everyone and his mother has been shouting out how good this book is or how much they all want this KOVA !! NO JUST NO, he is a creep who used his position to take advantage of a young girl !!! GIRL NOT WOMAN ! Not only does this ‘Kova’ cheat on the girlfriend, he intents to marry, he actually tells this poor girl, that he’s heading home to have sex with his girlfriend right after they have sex. ‘WTF’ She is a kid, He often brings up his girlfriend and their sex life when speaking to her. So if any of that bothers you, my advice skip this book. I was not fine with the age gap simply because she was ‘15′ hardly the age of consent and true understanding, also cheating in a book is awful, I read to escape and yes I know life is not all unicorns and rainbows. but after reading so many others raving about this book I was not expecting this. I didn’t like it. I normally have no problem with older man younger woman stories but for me this wasn’t that, and as a victim of abuse I found it very distasteful. This was done in a way that actually made me feel unclean. It was real sleazy. On top of all that, I was not good with her first day of training it went something like this, (After her first day of training at her new gym, Adrianna couldn’t help but to notice that all though she was good fantastic in fact, she didn’t quite measure up to that of the other female gymnasts in her age bracket)something her new coach KOVA seems to take great delight tormenting her with, as evidenced by this distasteful way in which he commented.
“Had I evaluated you before you came, without a doubt, I would have turned you away from the elite program. But your father made a generous donation to have our café funded, which allows you to be here. So here you are.”
What an absolute shit head way to inspire confidence in a young girl, Yes I know it’s the OLYMPICS. But all the same !!!!!!!!!!
After reading all these rave reviews, I actually thought it was going to be a corker of a book, I should have waited for more honest reviews, because they are coming out now. I am not alone in thinking this is a ABUSE !! I will say without a shadow of a doubt that the supposed star of the book ‘KOVA’ is actually a user and an abuser. I had a major problem that I did not connect emotionally to any of the story except to shudder, there was more connection between Adrianna and Hayden, than with that horrid KOVA !! I’m not interested in seeing what happens next so I will not be picking up the next book once it is released I wish I would have known ahead of time that someone on the blogger circuit had put up a better review because I would have avoided it all together, abuser, cheating a total creep of a so called hero, I don’t think so. The only good part for me was I really liked the secondary character Hayden . I have read Taboo books and had no problem with them, but this nope nothing doing, not interested in finding out what happens Abuse is abuse however way you fancy it up, and for me this is it. However this is my opinion alone, Will it stop me from reading any more of this authors works hell no, I have favorite authors who have put out dire books but still with them, this is how I feel about this particular book.
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