Title: Execution
Series: Off Balance #2
Author: Lucia Franco
Genre: Forbidden Romance Over 18 years
Publication Date: April 23, 2018
The move to World Cup Academy of Gymnastics is the greatest challenge Adrianna has encountered. Punished for Coach Kova's overwhelming desires, she's reeling with resentment while she sits out the first meet of the season. As Adrianna fights to regain her focus, he pushes her body to the extreme, leaving her mentally and physically exhausted.
Kova underestimates Adrianna's endurance, and gravitates more toward her, despite his internal battle raging within to stay away. They try to disentangle themselves, but the tension between coach and gymnast mounts, engulfing them both in a forbidden world of deception and passion.
The one place where they should never feel alive, is where they find complete absolution. But one slip, one wrong landing, a missed grip, and everything they built can come tumbling down, damaging both their professional and personal lives.
"Tighten up, Adrianna. Squeeze your thighs and butt. Everything needs to be firm so you do not sway. The tighter you hold yourself, the less you fall. You cannot loosen for one second. I do not want to see anything jiggle on you. Keep your focus." He paused. "By the way, your mother gave me a ring yesterday. Such a lovely woman she is. So caring of her daughter."
I stopped and looked down at him, letting out a gush of air I hadn't realized I was holding.
"Uh huh. Start over."
I ignored him. I couldn't believe Mom called him. "What did she say?"
"Start over."
"What did she say, Kova?" I pushed, snapping at him. I probably looked like a psycho to him, but he held firm and wouldn't speak until I started up again. I huffed under my breath and jumped. Typical Kova. He always had to get his way. My coach was an exasperating man.
"Just that she wanted to know how her precious daughter was doing. I told her you were getting there but still had a long way to go."
I lowered my eyelids. "Of course you did. What else?"
"She said she was concerned about your diet and wanted to make sure you were eating nutritious meals. She mentioned when you went home for the holidays you let go and ate everything in sight. She wanted to make sure you are not still on that same path. Something about you had to buy new clothes because your old ones did not fit."
My heartbeat sped up, and my lips parted. The animosity in her words rang like a siren in my head of things she'd said to me that I did wrong in her eyes. Moisture beaded above my top lip. I gripped the jump rope handles tighter, my skin burning against the plastic. I jumped faster and harder.
Kova was still speaking but I only caught the tail end of a few words. I wasn't processing any of it; all I could focus on was the fact that my mom had called him and fabricated lies and he listened like a good little sheep. She took vindictive to a whole new level and I had to wonder why she was trying in vain to sabotage my gymnastics career. She wanted to ruin me for the sake of ruining me. It was the only plausible reason I could come up with and a side of her I hadn't yet seen. I was her daughter, she was my mother. I didn't understand her attitude toward me.
A prickling sting deflated my chest and my breathing grew strenuous. I slowed down until I stopped completely. My arms dropped to my sides, and I stood with one foot positioned slightly in front of the other, staring in a blank trance at nothing but feeling everything.
A muffled cry burst from my lips and I threw the rope to the floor. Kova jerked back. Tears filled my eyes and my heart ached, not because I was sad, I was, but more so because I was so irate and filled with resentment that my own mother would purposely set out to hurt me. I hopped down, formed a fist, and dropped it down on the balance beam as hard as I could. I shoved at the side of it trying to push it over, shoving my weight against it, which could never happen. It was too heavy, but it felt good fighting against something.
"God! I hate her! Hate her with a passion!"
"Hey," Kova said softly, coming up behind me, but I couldn't stop.
"I can't stand her! No matter what I do, it's never enough. I never over ate anything, and I bought new clothes because I lost weight. Because we had stupid parties she forced me to attend. She is such a liar." I kept my back to Kova so he wouldn't see the tears in my eyes. "And you played right into it, making me sound like I'm hopeless, like an amateur who still needs years of work, and even that might not be enough. You gave her exactly what she wanted and she fed off that, I know she did. She has it out for me, always has, always will. Nothing I do will be right for her."
A fat tear slipped from the corner of my eye, and I walked away. I didn't take more than a few steps when Kova clutched my arm in his hand.
"Stop," he said gently. "Ria, I told her you still had a way to go because the truth is I am not ready to let you go yet."
I didn't know how to respond to that.
"Just give me a few minutes, Kova." I yanked my arm away and pushed at his chest. "I'll be right back."
Kova grabbed my wrist. "Stop. Listen to me."
I shook my head. "Please, just let me be for a sec and I'll be fine."
"Adrianna."
"Kova! Just leave me alone!" I screamed.
But he didn’t. Kova pulled me to his chest and I immediately fought against him.
"Get it out," he said. I shoved at him and cried harder, giving him everything I could. I hated that he was doing this to me and appreciated it at the same time. "Fight harder, hit me if you have to, just get it out." I struggled between crying and shoving, but Kova didn’t let go, and something in me cracked.
My efforts slowed, and I covered my face and let the tears flow. I poured everything out against his chest. Everything I held in over the past year. From my mom and her backhanded compliments, to the rigorous training I demanded of my body, to the illicit affair I had with my coach. I cried over everything, and he let me.
"Shhh… just let it out," Kova said, rubbing soothing circles on my back. "It is okay."
When my cries and hiccups subsided, I sniffled and expelled a huge breath. I felt like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders and I could breathe again.
Stepping back, Kova tried to lift my chin, but I kept my gaze cemented to the floor. I was too embarrassed. I didn't like crying to begin with, and I sure as shit didn't want to show him my tears. Tears showed weakness, and I wasn't weak.
He tried to lift my chin again, and when I didn’t budge, he sighed and got down on one knee so he was eye level with me.
"Jerk." A sad chuckle escaped my lips. "You always find a way to get what you want."
I stopped and looked down at him, letting out a gush of air I hadn't realized I was holding.
"Uh huh. Start over."
I ignored him. I couldn't believe Mom called him. "What did she say?"
"Start over."
"What did she say, Kova?" I pushed, snapping at him. I probably looked like a psycho to him, but he held firm and wouldn't speak until I started up again. I huffed under my breath and jumped. Typical Kova. He always had to get his way. My coach was an exasperating man.
"Just that she wanted to know how her precious daughter was doing. I told her you were getting there but still had a long way to go."
I lowered my eyelids. "Of course you did. What else?"
"She said she was concerned about your diet and wanted to make sure you were eating nutritious meals. She mentioned when you went home for the holidays you let go and ate everything in sight. She wanted to make sure you are not still on that same path. Something about you had to buy new clothes because your old ones did not fit."
My heartbeat sped up, and my lips parted. The animosity in her words rang like a siren in my head of things she'd said to me that I did wrong in her eyes. Moisture beaded above my top lip. I gripped the jump rope handles tighter, my skin burning against the plastic. I jumped faster and harder.
Kova was still speaking but I only caught the tail end of a few words. I wasn't processing any of it; all I could focus on was the fact that my mom had called him and fabricated lies and he listened like a good little sheep. She took vindictive to a whole new level and I had to wonder why she was trying in vain to sabotage my gymnastics career. She wanted to ruin me for the sake of ruining me. It was the only plausible reason I could come up with and a side of her I hadn't yet seen. I was her daughter, she was my mother. I didn't understand her attitude toward me.
A prickling sting deflated my chest and my breathing grew strenuous. I slowed down until I stopped completely. My arms dropped to my sides, and I stood with one foot positioned slightly in front of the other, staring in a blank trance at nothing but feeling everything.
A muffled cry burst from my lips and I threw the rope to the floor. Kova jerked back. Tears filled my eyes and my heart ached, not because I was sad, I was, but more so because I was so irate and filled with resentment that my own mother would purposely set out to hurt me. I hopped down, formed a fist, and dropped it down on the balance beam as hard as I could. I shoved at the side of it trying to push it over, shoving my weight against it, which could never happen. It was too heavy, but it felt good fighting against something.
"God! I hate her! Hate her with a passion!"
"Hey," Kova said softly, coming up behind me, but I couldn't stop.
"I can't stand her! No matter what I do, it's never enough. I never over ate anything, and I bought new clothes because I lost weight. Because we had stupid parties she forced me to attend. She is such a liar." I kept my back to Kova so he wouldn't see the tears in my eyes. "And you played right into it, making me sound like I'm hopeless, like an amateur who still needs years of work, and even that might not be enough. You gave her exactly what she wanted and she fed off that, I know she did. She has it out for me, always has, always will. Nothing I do will be right for her."
A fat tear slipped from the corner of my eye, and I walked away. I didn't take more than a few steps when Kova clutched my arm in his hand.
"Stop," he said gently. "Ria, I told her you still had a way to go because the truth is I am not ready to let you go yet."
I didn't know how to respond to that.
"Just give me a few minutes, Kova." I yanked my arm away and pushed at his chest. "I'll be right back."
Kova grabbed my wrist. "Stop. Listen to me."
I shook my head. "Please, just let me be for a sec and I'll be fine."
"Adrianna."
"Kova! Just leave me alone!" I screamed.
But he didn’t. Kova pulled me to his chest and I immediately fought against him.
"Get it out," he said. I shoved at him and cried harder, giving him everything I could. I hated that he was doing this to me and appreciated it at the same time. "Fight harder, hit me if you have to, just get it out." I struggled between crying and shoving, but Kova didn’t let go, and something in me cracked.
My efforts slowed, and I covered my face and let the tears flow. I poured everything out against his chest. Everything I held in over the past year. From my mom and her backhanded compliments, to the rigorous training I demanded of my body, to the illicit affair I had with my coach. I cried over everything, and he let me.
"Shhh… just let it out," Kova said, rubbing soothing circles on my back. "It is okay."
When my cries and hiccups subsided, I sniffled and expelled a huge breath. I felt like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders and I could breathe again.
Stepping back, Kova tried to lift my chin, but I kept my gaze cemented to the floor. I was too embarrassed. I didn't like crying to begin with, and I sure as shit didn't want to show him my tears. Tears showed weakness, and I wasn't weak.
He tried to lift my chin again, and when I didn’t budge, he sighed and got down on one knee so he was eye level with me.
"Jerk." A sad chuckle escaped my lips. "You always find a way to get what you want."
A competitive athlete for over ten years, Lucia Franco currently resides in sunny South Florida with her husband and two boys. Paranormal romance was her first love, but she has a soft spot in her heart for small-town and reunion romance stories.
When Lucia is not hard at work on her next novel, you can find her relaxing with her toes in the sand at a nearby beach.
Find out more about Lucia at authorluciafranco.com. Make sure to join her newsletter to receive exclusive updates and more!
When I closed my kindle on Balance many years ago 😉 I couldn’t stop thinking of Kova and Adrianne. When Execution landed on my kindle, I dropped everything to dive back into this story.
Would Kova have a change of heart and let Adrianne compete? The competition that she’d been training so hard for. Or would Kova be the coach that we’ve all gotten to know as the one who will do anything.
The push and pull between these two is stronger than ever. Becoming more and more intense. Could it be that they do truly love each other?
Secrets are revealed in this book that makes the puzzle even more hard to put together. It’s not a simple puzzle of a coach/athlete anymore. There are so many pieces that are waiting to be fit into place.
But the one consistent part of this series, Kova and Adrianne fit together perfectly. They get each other, they complement each other…
But will this be what finally destroys them?
I devoured this book…couldn’t stop reading it. This story is one incident after another pitting these two against each other. I have always been #TeamKova but after his latest move, I’m wondering how can it be possible for these two to survive!!!
PSA📣: Tissues, wine, and a solid wall to chuck your kindle to being mandatory accompaniments while reading!
Firstly, the writing is good and her buildup of angst and gutwrenches is spot on.
******************Spoiler-ish review*********************
"Любовь не то, что вы можете понять, это то, что вы чувствуете в своем сердце. Нет слов, это просто так.
"Lyubov' ne to, chto vy mozhete ponyat..."
"Love is not what you can understand, it's what you feel in your heart."
"No words, it's just that"
A painful story of hurtful love where the young innocent girl falls for a damaging man again and again and all he can say is
"Pozhalyusta prosti, menya,"
Please forgive me, I'm sorry
While the sentiment is beautiful, the story is infuriatingly frustrating. it's pitiful to see a young life being destroyed by debilitating & forbidden love. I had a strong urge to somehow pierce the Love Bubble Adrianna was trapped in, but she wasn't listening to her well wishers and her Executioner himself, there's a fat chance she'd listen to a reader😏
I am not a Kova fan so let the brickbats from #KovaLovers begin !
Having said that,he suits the story perfectly because he's a quintessential asshole alpha who hides behind professional facade yet messes up with naive Adrianna's heart, every chance he gets. The young girl is an aspiring Olympic Gymnast. Her body takes battering of the worst kind when training and her heart suffers innumerable blows in this book.
Kova doesn't help the matter , in fact one of the blows, or should I say the hardest blow, was delivered by him.
His job was to catch me if I fell. Not sweep the rug out from under my feet and watch me hit the ground.
but guess what? he's still mishandling her and throwing off her Balance with his Bipolar moods
Book 1 had me fuming at Adrianna's Naivétè & stupidity and Kova's insensitivity.
Glad to know nothing has changed in book 2! They're still wearing those crowns firmly.
It's a song I've hear before
" I can't stand you"
"I'm enamoured by you"
"I hate you"
"I love you"
On. Repeat !
Here's the thing, I actually felt sorry for Adrianna, cause she's just an impressionable 18 year old, all starry eyed at her handsome as devil coach, who's the essential role model for her. They speak the same language, they understand gymnastics, they're both driven by ambition and they understand dedication and discipline required to get into Olympics better than regular folks, so it's like finding your soulmate, only he's forbidden !!
This is why we clicked so well. He more than anyone understood my drive and determination . The need to succeed in the sport , not just because I wanted to be on top, but because I hungered for it, craved it.
The girl doesn't know any better and the man is driven by lust, at least that's what came across!
Kova was my strength, but I was his weakness.
A weakness he worked on to improve and make resilient.
A strength that I drew from.
They're comrade-in-arms on opposite sides of the field !
Ahhh, I wanted to strangle Kova for destroying the poor girl, before she even started in life.
The secondary characters are simply awesome !!
I was loving Hayden and Avery so much. They're the soundest pair of besties anybody could have or should have in their lives and they CONSTANTLY had Ria's back, gave her advice, hell warned her all the time, but I guess Aid's brain was in a lusty haze emitted by Kova...tsk...tsk!
"What is wrong with you? It's like you have Lucifer on both of your shoulders cheering you on. The louder he gets, the dumber you get."
"Ria, it doesn't just happen." She scolded me as if I were a small child. "We've gone over this, you can't just fall onto a dick."
Or Hayden
"Are you fucking kidding me?"!!
"Damn straight you weren't thinking."!!
"Un-fucking-real."!!
"I'm going to fucking kill him,"
"Do not have sex with him again. Please,"
After Keira from thoughtless series, Adrianna is the next heroine who's really stubbornly frustrating for me. She's just so in love , she starts to blame HERSELF for his Faults!!!
Un-fucking-believable!!
I was disgusting. I was literally the reason why he acted the way he did.
I really pitied her at this point, a girl who lost everything, how is she still standing !
So in conclusion, I may have not liked Kova much, I urge you all to go read this book, it's eagerly awaited sequel to Balance, its a dream for Kova Lovers or #TeamKova .
Two scenes had me like WTF !
The scene in his office and the ice therapy scene after her rigorous training. *SSMH*
I need to mention something, with this being a hefty book, the story didn't progress much from Balance, they're still stuck in a quagmire of indecision and Lustful desperation. Except for bombshells that destroy Aidrianna in the last 20%, the initial 80% is a detailed account of Gymnastics and meets. Maybe it's a deliberate attempt to heighten the angst and showcase the hopeless love, if it was; it worked.
The angst factor of the story is a gauge breaker. infinite heart breaks and tears saturate the plot. A perfect read for people who love slow burns.
I'll wait to read Release because I really wanna know what the doctors' prognosis is, cause the end kinda left me hanging !!!
4 Hangry stars
No comments:
Post a Comment