Into The Night Book Reviews: ARC Tour: Off Chance by Sawyer Bennett

Welcome to our stop on the tour for Off Chance by Sawyer Bennett.

Off Chance is her latest New Adult Contemporary novel and book five in the 'Off' Series and with that cover, how can you possibly resist grabbing yourself a copy?

Title: Off Chance

Author: Sawyer Bennett

Expected release: October 21, 2013

Genre: Contemporary

Age Group: New Adult

Tour organized by: AToMR Tours

He is seeking absolution.

Flynn Caldwell has a hero complex and it’s one of the reasons he joined the New York City Fire Department. He has spent his entire professional career trying to atone for that one person he failed to save. Because, if he can do that, then perhaps he can be worthy of love again.

She is seeking escape.

Rowan Page’s life is nothing short of a disaster. Always immersed in trouble, she has only herself to depend on. She’s determined to pull herself out of this mess and make something of her life, despite the hard years she has lived on the streets of New York.

Together, they have the chance to become complete.

Flynn and Rowan’s worlds exist miles apart, but when a chance meeting brings them together, neither of them can deny the instant pull that connects them to each other. What starts as a tiny spark eventually flares into a fire so hot, it refuses to be extinguished.

Both are willing to jump feet first into the flames to see where it takes them, despite the risk of being burned.

Facts about Off Chance

Most importantly, this was supposed to be the last book in the Off Series but I’ve had such an outpouring of requests to keep writing… I’m happy to report that this is NOT the last book. There will be others, but after I get a few other projects complete!

Not to give away a spoiler, but there is a huge scene in the book involving Emily and Nix from Off Limits and it’s based almost exactly off a very important moment in my personal life.

Fire fighters are hot! It’s a fact!

There is a really cute, fuzzy and rambunctious dog in this book named, Capone! He’s based off of my own puppy goodness… my Bernese Mountain Dog, Atticus.

I sobbed like a baby when I finished writing the prologue. Warning: It might make you cry, too.

You will get really good updates in this book on all of the past Off characters… Ryan, Danny, Emily, Nix, Linc, Ever, Renner and Cillian!

After silently watching for a few minutes, I ask, “Okay, here’s a question for you... what’s that yellow line on the field?”

Fil doesn’t answer me so I poke her in the ribs. “Teach me, Yoda.”

She looks at me with frustration and then looks back at the TV. “That splits the field in half.”

“Liar,” I hear from the doorway and I turn to see Flynn there with a plate of pie in his hand.

Fil turns around and looks guilty for just a second, then her face splits into a grin. “Busted.”

“Wait... that line doesn’t split the field in half?” I ask, because that made damn good sense to me.

Chuckling, Flynn walks in and comes over to the couch. “Scoot down,” he says.

I try to move to the left, but Fil is ignoring me in favor of the football game. I jab her in the ribs again, she moves over a quarter of an inch, and I move along with her. It gives enough room for Flynn to jam his body in between the end of the couch and me, and the heat of his leg against mine sends my pulse dancing.

He takes the last bite of pie and sets the plate down on the coffee table. After he swallows, he says, “Okay... the yellow line represents the first down marker. You do understand the concept of downs, right?”

“Sort of,” I tell him. “Not really. And what’s the blue line?”

“That’s the line of scrimmage,” Flynn says and, before he can explain further, Fil lets out a curse. “I can’t believe he got sacked. The offensive line sucks.”

“What’s a sack?” I ask.

Flynn chuckles. “Slow down there, Speedy. One question at a time.”

He takes my hand and turns it palm up. “Here’s the easiest way to understand it. See these two lines running parallel on your palm?”

I glance down and his fingertip traces two of my lifelines, which do indeed run exactly parallel across my hand. The feel of his skin against mine causes me to shiver slightly and I’m mesmerized by the movement.

“Yeah,” I say and it feels like it comes out in a croak.

“So, this line right here is the line of scrimmage. It’s where the offensive line starts and the quarterback will be roughly in the middle of the line.” Flynn traces the line of scrimmage on my palm and then taps the area where the quarterback would stand.

“And this here,” he says, as he runs his finger across the other line. “This is the first down line. This is the distance, which is ten yards, that the offensive line has to get the ball to be able to advance further. They have four tries to get there... and those are called downs.”

I want to know more, not because I give a shit about football but because I want Flynn to keep holding my hand and tracking patterns on my skin. Which is decidedly not within the purview of a regular friendship.

“And a sack?” I remind him.

He pushes his index finger into my palm and holds it there. “When the quarterback starts the play at the line of scrimmage, he will most times step backward to get some distance from the defensive players that are coming toward him. If at any time they get him behind this line,” and here he pauses to drag his finger across my palm, “that is called a sack. Understand?”

“Yes,” I say but really, no. I don’t remember a damn thing he just told me and could care less. I am, though, trying to think of other questions to ask so he can teach me more palm football.

Having read other books in the 'Off' Series by Sawyer Bennett I was very much looking forward to finding out more about Flynn Caldwell in Off Chance. Bennett has created some fabulous characters in this series and Flynn was no exception.

The prologue of Off Chance is intense and it sets the context for the Flynn's character perfectly. A New York City Fireman, hot, built and with a hero complex - Flynn is really every woman's dream. He is driven to fix or save anyone who needs it in response to what he considers a failure to save his first love.

Flynn recues Rowan Page from a burning house, surrounded with some rather suspicious circumstances. He finds himself drawn to helping her - potentially yet another 'broken' woman for him to 'fix' - only what he discovers is a strength of character and a firey personality that really show that Rowan is not so broken after all.

Flynn was perfect and the approach he took to befriending Rowan used a balance of wit, flirty banter and honesty that allowed Rowan to slowly develop a level of trust in someone that she never had before. Rowan, having left her family behind five years earlier, doesn't trust anyone, and with that comes a lack of willingness to take risks and share herself. She has the added challenge of a drug dealing ex trying to find her. Fortunately for Rowan she also has the complete loyalty of a Bernese Mountain dog named Capone, who is probably the one and only creature that Rowan has been able to give her heart to.

The two find themselves thrust into circumstances that aren't what you would describe as normal and a friendship slowly blossoms. The question they find themselves asking is could there be more? I'll confess I expected more from the drug dealing ex angle, although I wasn't disappointed with how that contributed to the over all story line.

I loved that we got to reconnect with characters from other books in the 'Off' series and see how things had further developed for them. Off Chance was a relatively quick read and I was completely engaged, keeping my fingers crossed for a particular outcome. The story is told from both Rowan and Flynn's point of views - which I love. There are some steamy scenes but I think I loved the flirty banter between Flynn and Rowan the most.

Bennett has a wonderful writing style. It is engaging and she manages to build the tension between the characters in an incredibly realistic way. If you haven't read any of books in this series you really are missing out - I think once you’ve read one, you’ll be going back for more - and you won’t be disappointed. And the good news is that while Off Chance was touted as the last in the series, Bennett has suggested we may still get some more from these characters!!

4 out of 5 stars

Each book in the Off Series can be read as a standalone.

USA Today Best-Selling author, Sawyer Bennett, is a snarky southern woman and reformed trial lawyer who decided to finally start putting on paper all of the stories that were floating in her head. She is married to a mobster (well, a market researcher) and they have two big, furry dogs who hog the bed. Sawyer would like to report she doesn't have many weaknesses but can be bribed with a nominal amount of milk chocolate.