Balance

Adrianna Rossi has built her whole life around one goal: a spot on the Olympic gymnastics team. Chasing it means leaving home for the World Cup Academy of Gymnastics, a training center that exists to turn talented kids into champions or send them home.

Her new coach is Konstantin Kournakova, a two-time Olympian who takes her on against his own judgment. He doubts she has what it takes. Months of training close the distance between them, and the attraction that follows puts both of their careers at risk. A coach is not supposed to want his athlete, and getting caught could end her shot at the Olympics before it starts.

Balance is the first book in Franco's Off Balance series. It follows the same two leads and the same secret across the books after it, and it is meant to be read in order. It is a contemporary romance with explicit content, built around a hidden relationship rather than a fast courtship.

Competition pressure and the discipline the sport demands get as much attention as the romance does. Alongside it runs the two leads' shrinking ability to keep their distance from each other. The pull between them builds slowly rather than starting at full heat.