Preview
  • Out in the Offense

  • Out in College, Book 3
  • By: Lane Hayes
  • Narrated by: Michael Dean
  • Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (145 ratings)

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Out in the Offense

By: Lane Hayes
Narrated by: Michael Dean
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Publisher's summary

Christian Rafferty is a talented quarterback with a big secret. He’s determined to make the most of his final season on the football field and, if possible, avoid any confrontations with his conservative parents about his future. It shouldn’t be difficult; he’s become adept at keeping his public and private lives separate. However, when a math class threatens to derail his plans to graduate on time, he realizes he may need outside help.

Rory Kirkland has a reputation for being a tough guy. He’s a former wrestler and recent college graduate who needs a real job. Until he finds one, tutoring is a decent temporary gig. Luckily, his brain is his biggest asset. Rory is a genius. He credits his sport for helping him deal with angst and rumors about his sexuality when he was younger, but he doesn’t care what others think anymore. He likes his new status as an out and proud bi man, and he recognizes something of himself in Christian.

But Rory didn’t count on falling for him. When an unlikely friendship collides with intense attraction, both men begin to realize that coming out on offense just might be the surest path to love.

©2019 Lane Hayes (P)2019 Lane Hayes
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What listeners say about Out in the Offense

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Recommended!

Another sweet, low angst story from one of my favorite writers. Out in the Offense is a coming out novel about a closeted quarterback and his sexy math tutor. Both characters were likable and Michael Pauley did a great job bringing them to life. I haven't read the other books in the Out in College Series but I had no trouble keeping up. Recommended!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Series Gets Better and Better

This series gets better and better with each book! Exquisitely narrated by one of my favorite narrators as well. Highly recommend!!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great story, excellent narration

Take one hot closeted college football quarterback, add one hot, out-and-proud tattooed former wrestler who’s also a crazy smart math whiz, toss in some solid secondary characters and the obligatory intolerant, controlling parent, and now you have Out in the Offense. Okay, there’s more to it than that…but that alone was plenty to pique my interest, particularly since it’s a Lane Hayes book and I’ve really enjoyed the other books of hers I’ve read previously. And while this is the third book in the series, you don’t have to read the others first before starting this one. It does feature characters from the other books, so it was nice to get a glimpse of them again here.

Christian is well-liked by pretty much everyone. He is a shining example of the classic college quarterback, though he does have that one secret—you know, the closet. And while I really liked his character, I adored Rory even more. Everything about him was irresistible to me since I’m a sapiophile who can appreciate a hot, tatted up former jock…I may be just a bit jealous that Christian got him.

The ease with which the two of them became friends and then more without things being rushed was definitely something I liked. The banter between them flowed easily, the chemistry was electric, and they felt comfortable as a couple even when things weren’t public. The story was relatively angst-free, just a tad showed up when the closet door started opening but things were handled well without a bunch of discord.

Out in the Offense fits perfectly in the series, and was a truly entertaining read. This one was a solid 4-star read for me, and one that I recommend to all M/M romance fans, particularly those who like the college setting as well as coming out stories. This book is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and sexual content.

The narration: Michael Pauley did Christian and Rory a solid with this one. I really liked the differentiation in character voices, not just for them but for all the supporting characters as well. He easily made the story come alive, and honestly of the audiobooks that I’ve listened to that he’s narrated, I think this is my favorite so far in terms of voice characterization. 5 stars for the narration!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Another entertaining story

Out in the Offence is the third book in the Out in College series and takes place some time after Books 1 and 2. Christian is Quarterback for the college football team and used to play with Evan before he graduated (Book 2) and Rory is Mitch's ex (and caused quite a stink when Evan and Mitch first met).

Christian is struggling with statistics class and needs to pass in order for him to continue to play ball. As his (arse) of a Father is on the University Administration Board, Christian wants a tutor not known by the college and so his coach suggests Rory. On their first meeting, Christian is struck with insta-lust and seems to have a tiny melt-down as his fears over his sexuality/his team/his conservative parents and his lack of interest in the career path his father is pushing him on all seems to come at him in doubts and fears - but overwhelmingly, he wants Rory!

This is all told from Christians POV and we only get snippets of Rory. He has already graduated and taking on couple of part time gigs until he finds what he wants to do - he's patience, deadpan humour and quietly intelligent with seemingly endless words of wisdom. After admitting the catastrophe of trying to make Mitch jealous with a girl, he has made the decision to be true to himself, regardless of how others react or see him.

The conversation between the MC's are often heartfelt, full of warmth, humour and support. Rory was there at every turn, waiting for Christian to be comfortable - apart from smexy times and Rory likes his dirty talk!

There is some drama around Christians' team mate and also his housemates ex (all very confusing) and then a huge hate crime which outs Christian (but was never solved or even talked about further - what??). Christian also pulls the big diva (as per previous books) and offers Rory's happiness to the alter of his suffering to free him....blah blah blah....

The narrator was again Michael Pauley. He was okay, maybe I was used to his narration now? His voice for Rory was warm and Zen like, which I liked. The narrator pulled out his "hard" intonations and SHOUTY. LOUD. AND. INTENSE again for the smexy times and he still had moments of oxygen quota vs finished sentence, but overall, it was an easy listen.

This was an easy low angst read and like the previous books in the series, focuses on student athletes under pressure to pursue the love of their game with the love of their lives and come to terms with their sexuality and being true to themselves.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I loved this one!

I reviewed Out in the Offense when it released as an ebook and I loved it; the audiobook book made me love it even more. Michael Pauley was the perfect voice actor for this series and his performance of Out in the Offense was sexy, hot and absolutely delicious!

The following is my review from when the ebook was first published:

I've really been enjoying the Out in College series by Lane Hayes. Out in the Offense is the third book in the series but each one does stand alone very well. You will see characters from the previous books but they don't play a significant role in Out in the Offense.

Christian is the quarterback of his college football team and he's deep in the closet. While his football skills are outstanding, he's not so hot at math. At risk of losing his place on the team if he doesn't pass statistics, his coach hires him a tutor. Enter Rory, an out and proud former college wrestler and math genius.

From the minute they meet, Christian can't seem to stop his far from platonic feelings for Rory and it is soon apparent that Rory is feeling the same way. Rory is understanding of Christian's desire to stay in the closet – he didn't come out until after he graduated – but he also knows that it's causing a lot of stress for him to keep hiding his true self.

The chemistry between Christian and Rory was off the charts hot! I felt for Christian – his parents were conservative religious people and he knew that they wouldn't accept the fact that he is gay. He's also afraid of how his teammates would handle it. As quarterback and team captain he has a strong leadership role and he's afraid his coming out might ruin that.

I really love a good epilogue and very much enjoyed the one for Out in the Offense. This is a story that really touched my emotions. I don't know if there will be more books in this series or not but I sure hope so.

I almost forgot to say how much I like Rory's cat's name. 😊 (It's Buttons.)

A free copy of this audiobook was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very Enjoyable!!

Hot, romantic tale of awaking passion between unlikely characters. Michael Dean led me to this series, since almost ANYTHING he does requires my attention, but Lane Hayes's series is wonderfully romantic & playfully erotic! They make a delicious team.

On to book #4!😜

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

LIked it better as an audio

I just reviewed the actual book last week, so I'm going to sum it up and discuss why I liked the audiobook.

Christian Rafferty is a college football player in need of a tutor for statistics. His coach recommends Rory, a math whiz and recent college grad who fills his time doing odd tutoring and personal training. Rory is an out and proud bisexual after his closeted status lost him the love of a good man. e gets a vibe off Christian that he's not too shy to pursue. Christian won't resist Rory--that former wrestler is too sexy--but he's not sure if he should come out. His teammate Evan did the season before, and Christian's conservative parents weren't best pleased.

Michael Pauley does the audio and he really made me feel like I was in the mix. Whoo boys! His gritty voice really suited both Rory and Christian's masculine characters. I was not disappointed with all the yummy sexytimes in stereo. The audiobook runs about 5.5 hours, and I felt the pacing was spot on, with great accent in all the right places. Hearing Christian's uncertainty and frustration with his meddling father was just as easy as hearing his vulnerability meeting and falling for Rory.

Rory felt a little flat in the book, but he really came to life in the audio, which I liked. He seems like a better guy than the impression we had in the previous story. He's grown up and found himself, and that was fun to experience.If you like audiobooks, I'd recommend any of the ones in this series. They aren't too long, and they have some great characters finding sexy lovers to satisfy them.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Roar! for Rory!

4.5*

This is my favourite story in Lane’s latest series featuring college sportsmen, which also deals with coming out to teammates and family. I thought the chemistry between the two main characters this time around was hot and there were lots of lovely ‘feels’.

If you’ve followed the previous two stories, you will already be familiar with Christian and Rory as they featured before, albeit rather briefly. Rory came across as negative before, but in this story he shines. He’s such a great guy. He’s patient, caring, smart, and smoking hot. And Michael Pauley’s voice made him even hotter! Roar! No wonder Christian fell for him. He’s bi and out of the closet and the sexiest tutor ever. His sense of humour and their banter had me smiling.

I loved how Rory and Christian fall for each other and how the story builds to Christian gaining the courage to come out to his sports friends and family. There’s some conflict along the way that comes via Christian’s ex-boyfriend’s new beau and also Christian’s overbearing father. I’m glad there were no ‘interfering’ female characters this time around. The inevitable ‘break-up’ scene near the end was moving and the public coming out was uplifting. I’d love to read a story set in the future to see how their relationship has developed over the subsequent years!

Although the story could be read as a standalone, I suggest reading/listening to the other two first to gain an insight into the characters and the general background to this series.

Michael Pauley certainly brought the characters to life, matching the various voices to personalities, and making it easy to determine who was speaking. Spot-on pacing and some lovely emotional moments. I love his growly voice and the enthusiasm he puts into his narrative work.

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Listener received this title free

Absolutely Brilliant!!😍

I adored Christian and Rory's story.


I didn't think I would love Rory as a character, but there us so much more to his personality then is portrayed in the previous books.


I loved how their relationship evolved and the chemistry between them was intense and palpable from the very start.

The narrator performed an enthusiastic Audio delivery and narration.

I actually enjoyed this one so much better in audio

Definitely recommend 🙃

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved It!!

Honestly, this series gets better and better with each book. I loved Christian and Rory’s story, and being able to listen to it come to life was fantastic! I love sports romances and when one of the characters is still closeted, it’s a must read for me. I loved the character development of both Christian and Rory and the emotional investment I felt in their happiness. Rory was so patient with Christian and it gave me all the feels when he gave Christian the space he needed. Their story was sweet, sexy and so hot! This whole series has been amazing, and I’ve loved each set of characters as much as the first! If you've read Out in the End Zone with Mitch and Evan, you may remember Rory, so it was nice to see him come back around for a bit of character redemption. Christian and Rory's HEA was so perfect for them, I loved it. As always with this narrator, the narration was so great it really brought their story to life for me!

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