
Genre: Romance
Published: Independently published by the author, July 2023
My Rating: 4.5/5 stars
“It’s so much easier to communicate insecurities when you don’t need to communicate them at all. Isn’t that all we ever want? To be seen and heard? Validated, even when we’re not able to ask for it.”
I might be the worst person to ask for recommendations for romance novels. Yet here I am, reviewing one anyway. In my mission to compile the ultimate recommendations-guide to disability-fiction I’ve had to venture outside my comfort zone when it comes to genre’s, yet pure-romance and/or smut remain my final frontier. Power to you if you love this, but it usually makes me cringe to the point of physically pulling muscles…
That being said; there’s an exception to every rule, and this might just be the one. Dear reader, Out on a Limb was a romance novel that I actually enjoyed…
The premise is simple, and filled with so many tropes I’d usually detest. After a passionate one-night-stand, our protagonists Win finds herself accidentally pregnant by a tall and handsome man she only once at a Halloween party. This situation forces the two back together, and things evolve from there.
I won’t lie to you: the first few chapters were difficult to get through for a fervent romance-hater like myself. I hated the insta-lust, the cocky-jock-vibes that Bo gave off, the petite-shy-but-body-confident-vibes of Win, the overtly cringy banter between the two, and above all the he’s-a-giant-and-I’m-a-petite-princess-stick that went on all through the sex-scenes. The cringe-meter was almost full to capacity.
Then the book takes a turn that made me fall in love with it. After their reunion over the pregnancy-news, and their shared decision to walk this path together, their relationship blossoms into something far more mature, vulnerable and heartfelt. They take things slow, almost platonic at first, convincing me along the way that their love was in fact growing into more than just lust-at-first-sight. As they open up to each other, we see the hurt and insecurities behind their initial cocky façade. This is where the disability-representation begins to truly shine too. Bo and Win initially hooked up after a shared “pirate-joke”, as both of them have limb-differences: Win is born with an underdeveloped hand, and Bo lost his leg to cancer years earlier. Through their relationship with each other, they learn to love and trust both each other ánd their bodies again, without ever falling into that trope of “being healed” by the other. I especially loved the parts where Bo opens up about his experiences with losing his leg to cancer (I don’t think I need to explain why that one hits me particularly hard). The rawness of the subject matter, combined with the adorable, cozy and soft romance made for the perfect match.
There’s a lot more that I could mention, but it all boils down to a beautiful, mature and realistic relationship (call me old-fashioned, but apparently that’s my kink…), featuring wonderful disability-rep.
Has this book made me into a romance-girly? Absolutely not! Did it subvert my expectations, and will I recommend it wholeheartedly, if only based on its disability-rep alone? Absolutely!
You can find this book here on Goodreads.
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