Out of Bounds by Julia Connors

“I’m a type-A planner. Arriving at my best friend’s wedding newly single—not planned. Off-the-charts chemistry with her much younger brother—also unplanned. Agreeing to be his roommate for a few weeks—wait, was there a plan?”

This blurb immediately caught my attention because best friend’s brother is one of my favorite tropes. The roommate aspect added even more appeal for me and I was not disappointed.

Sierra and Beau are both at a resort for her best friend, and his sister, Jackson’s wedding. Their gazes connect across the room when Sierra first arrives and she has no idea that the hot guy is her best friend’s younger brother. They haven’t seen each other in years, but Beau knows exactly who Sierra is because he had an enormous crush on her growing up. He is intrigued that she seems attracted to him and plans to have some fun with this new development.

Sierra and Beau separately approach Jackson about staying in her Park City condo that is currently not in use. She agrees to Beau’s request first and then tells Sierra that it won’t be a big deal for them both to stay there because it has two bedrooms. They run into each other later in the bar and engage in some heavy flirting. Jackson shows up causing Sierra to realize who Beau is and that he will be her new roommate.

Sierra has always been a planner. She has a good job in the marketing department of the US National Ski Team and plans to focus on her career after a setback in her personal life. Beau is a professional snowboarder training for the X Games and only in town for a few weeks. He has a playboy reputation and a contentious relationship with his sister, but there is much more to Beau than Sierra knows. They bond over shared interests and an adorable foster puppy named Winston. They discover that they genuinely like each other and fall into an easy friendship, but there is also an undercurrent of attraction. 

This is a slow burn that completely makes sense. Sierra and Beau feel that it would be wrong to act on the intense chemistry between them because the arrangement is temporary and Sierra is a relationship kind of girl. Eventually they act on their feelings and the deeper connection is immediately evident, but time is running out before Beau has to leave. They both have things in their pasts that make them doubt themselves and each other, so they go their separate ways when the time comes.

The conflict in this story happens after Beau leaves Park City and I was a little mad about how it plays out, but I understood it. There is very little angst until the end and I think they needed a true test of their feelings in order to commit to moving forward with a relationship. I liked how Beau and Sierra worked together to turn a short-term fling into a true partnership. These characters felt authentic and I believed their HEA. Beau is definitely Book Boyfriend Material and Sierra is someone I would be friends with. I also appreciated that this book resolved some of the negative dynamics with Beau’s family. There was character growth on several levels with the main and side characters. 

This is my favorite book in the Frozen Hearts series.