I wanted to love this one, but there were a couple of scenes that did not work for me. They handled the disclosure of a sexual assault in a way that made no sense to me.

I finished this book a few days ago, but I wanted to wait to make sure I gave it an honest review - mostly due to staying up far too late (early?) to devour this book in a oner! It's been a while since I've done that, but once I started reading I just couldn't stop. I needed to know what was going to happen between Maya and Elena - as well as wanting to see more of Livvie!

I only know the basics for CP, but I think this book was written very well and dealt with this topic in such a way that those who don't know much, will be enlightened by the end of it. I feel it also broached topics like pronouns and lesbian relationships well, as they were explained to Livvie <3 One thing that was slightly annoying to me, were the slight repetitions in text but I am 100% sure that most readers won't read this whole book in only a few hours - so won't have this issue.

I do wish that they had had slightly more conversations, however having family who want to just get on with it and deal with their own issues, I know how hard those conversations can be - so I feel that this just added to the real, depth of what they were going through rather than detracting from the story. (I hope that makes sense).

I'd just like to finish by saying I wish I could slap the grin off Robert's face. I hope you do too when you read it ^_^

Elena has cerebral palsy, and runs her charity foundation with a bit of an iron fist. She’s accepted that she’d past the age to have a family, until Maya blows into her life. Maya has been working hard to get custody of her three year old daughter from Livvie’s grandfather, and she loves her job. She also can’t seem to fight the attraction to her boss.

More disability in all literature, please and thank you, but especially in queer literature. I loved the representation. I love it when a character isn’t 22 years old and perfect. Many of us live with both visible and invisible disability and/or chronic pain, and it’s refreshing to see that reflected in this book. Elena is a whole person and her disability doesn’t define her, but it is a giant part of who she is, and it affects her life, her view of herself, and her ability. I loved the way it was presented, because the reader learns just as much as Maya, and I love something that delves more deeply than just the surface.

I really enjoyed the characters, except maybe Kevin who was a bit shallow, but who cares about Kevin? No one. haha! The plot moved quickly, and it was the perfect choice after a terrible week. It’s out now, so if you’re looking to add some of that dreaded D word, diversity, to your reading, check it out.

Found this story, though it started well, to be 'off' and certainly 'over the top' in many instances throughout. There was also this feeling of the author doing 'too much' to amp up the characterization, to make things seem larger than life...but this deters from the actual read and the realness of the people involved. Just felt this one raised too many questions - especially regarding consent during sex - and this in turn led to a dubitable enjoyment of this story

3 stars for this book!

I read it in a read and totally fly by this book as some parts of it was predictable but hand in hand it was a great story. This is a LGBTQ’s romance book. Though some part of the books i hope there was more emotional issues to it rather than more romance.

Thank you for the lovely advance copy Netgallery !

Often an employee is in lust with their boss, but nothing ever comes of it. This is not what happens in this book. Maya is the employee who thinks this is the best job she has had. She thinks that until her co-workers begin to tell her horror stories. She realizes they are right when she has a horrendous run in with her boss, Elena. What she begins to find out is that Elena has cerebral palsy.
When Maya's daughter shows up unexpectedly in the office, Elena is enamored with her. This is the beginning of the relationship between Maya and Elena. It is a slow build to the explosive end.
Will they be able to repair things so the relationship can evolve?
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this book. It was a fun, fairly quick read. There was lesbian, non-binary, and cerebral palsy representation which I appreciated. However, the actual romance developed too fast, and the conflict hindered on miscommunication and withheld information. Also, I really didn’t like the abuse of power in their relationship. There was a lot of build up about whether our MC would get custody of her daughter back, and it is resolved in a paragraph.

And if one more person gets “off balance” I might scream.

This was amazing and intense. The character dynamics were wonderfully written with one character being a powerhouse boss with CP and another with strong traits but a troubled past.
Single mom Maya has insecurities as a person and a mother; while her boss Elena has cerebral palsy and doesn't take help from anyone. The two find their way to each other while dealing with their own struggles in life and in relationships.
The ups and downs of this book were what to except from lesbian romances but were still a great read. I would definitely recommend this to those who like classic lesbian romance.

Maya Scott goes to work at the Mars foundation where Elena Mars is the CEO. Maya has had a really rough time in her life and she is hoping this job turns around her luck. The main things she hopes to get out of this job is enough money to be able to gain custody of her young daughter. Elena Mars is an Ice Queen who just happens to have Cerebral Palsy. From an infant she was told she could do anything so she has become a high functioning adult.

So I have been reading some very interesting romances that has had a ton of diversity. That for sure was one of the highlights of this romance. Overall, I thought this romance was good but I did have a few issues. I liked both mains even when Elena was being a B. I thought she was for sure a strong character and behaved the way she did because of her disability. Maya was a likeable main and she was a bit more mature for her age because of her experiences. Overall even though there is an age gap, I thought they matched up fairly good. One of my issues was the angst in this romance. I totally did not understand it and I read it a few times to see if it made any sense for me. It did not. I was utterly confused as to what was going on. I also felt like the booked moved too fast. The connection between the two mains felt forced. I still think they made a good couple, it would have been nice to see a better connection between the mains.

So I thought this read was good enough. Nothing extra special besides the diversity in the characters. 3.25 stars.

This arc was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

3.5 Stars for this story of Maya Scott. Maya is trying to regain custody of her three year old daughter, Livvie. Robert Holt, Livvie’s grandfather on her father’s side, won custody when Livvie was arrested and served 6 mo. for drug possession, which appears she had been set up. Maya is excited to start a new job as a project coordinator at The Mars Fund, a charitable organization that raises funds from corporate and individuals for various projects. She is apprehensive to meet her boss, CEO Elena Mars. Elena Mars, with a reputation of being a demanding ice queen boss and as Maya learns later also has Cerebral Palsy (CP). The ice queen melts when she meets Maya’s daughter, Livvie. She entertains Livvie, when she is dropped off by her grandfather earlier than Maya expected for a weekend visit. For me, Elena and Livvie’s special bond is one of my favorite parts of the book.

It was interesting to have a main character with a disability such as CP. In Elena’s case her symptoms are not as debilitating as many with CP although at times it can be severe. She has tremors and sometimes slurred speech. Such that she is often mistaken to be drunk. I liked how the author showed Elena’s struggles controlling (or inability to control) her CP in everyday and work situations.

The romance itself was good. Although there was an age gap of fourteen years, I felt the biggest gap to overcome for the pair was social and financial rather than age. There were elements dom/sub relationship which normally I’m OK with but in this case, I tended to skim over these parts. I don’t know why but it may have been my mood at the time or the way it was written. <shrug>. Your mileage may differ.

In general, I liked this story and the main characters. I liked the diversity. For example, Elena is a Latina and Maya’s best friend is non-binary. Its rare to have a main character with any disability. I myself am mobility disabled but it’s nothing compared to someone with CP goes through every day.

Off Balance features diverse, strong and very likeable characters. It features an age gap which actually works well as the characters balance each other out , has a fair bit of romance angst and a really original plot that makes it a very nice read.

I am always happy when a writer does their best for diverse characters. In this case, Elena. Elena is a Latinx woman who also happens to be disabled. Even tho she is rich has a trust fund and runs a charity foundation. He deals daily with judgement from strangers and her parents towards her disability.

Maya needs a job urgently to be able to keep seeing her daughter, Livvie. Maya had lots of knock backs in life and is doing her best to be a good mom.

This is an age gap romance with at first face looks unbalanced but the more you get to know the characters, they fit and balance each other out.

Definitely a favourite book. It doesn't lack romance angst either.

3.25 Stars. I liked this read but I wasn’t wowed by it. There were a few things I felt that really worked well and a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. I heard that this was originally a SwanQueen fanfic, and I can see that a little bit. There was an ice queen character which is always one of my favorites, so there were definitely things I enjoyed here I just wish that everything had come together for me. I guess I can say close but no cigar.

This was an age-gap -I believe about 14 years- office romance. I’m not the biggest office romance fan, I feel like I have read a ton of them so I’m a little picky, but when they are done right -Lee Winter for example- they can be excellent. I really liked how this book started off. You have an ex-con trying to get her life together and the hot power femme ice queen that also has cerebral palsy. I don’t know much about CP so I can’t speak to how authentic this character was, but I appreciate it in this book since I almost never see characters with CP.

The book was off to a really good start and I liked that Royal was slowly building the connection between the characters. It worked and they ended up having good physical chemistry. One issue for me is that Royal fast-forwarded some chunks of time to show that the characters where connecting for a longer period. I get why Royal did this, but missing some of these early interactions I feel like I did not experience the emotional chemistry between them as much. This wasn’t a huge issue for me, but I do prefer the emotional chemistry to be as high or close to the sexual chemistry.

Where things got a little bumpy for me were certain character interactions. After second guessing myself I think I need to put a spoiler tag on this just encase. SPOILER Starts Here-[The main character named Maya has had a tough life and she briefly explained how she was raped five years previous. Only a few minutes after this convo, Maya and Elena are in bathroom and Elena has Maya pushed up against the bathroom door with her hands down her pants. It just felt like super off timing. Someone just tells you they were assaulted and you’re going after them in the bathroom? It wasn’t nonconsensual but it just seemed icky. And later in the book Maya is sexually assaulted and right after she tells Elena what happened, again Elena is ready with the rough and dominating sex. (SPOILER Ends Here)] Maybe I’m being too sensitive, but both scenes rubbed me the wrong way and dropped my rating down by at least a half of star.

Due to what I mentioned in the spoiler, I’m not sure what I think of the sex scenes. Sometime they seemed pretty great and hot, other times I felt a little uncomfortable. There is a D/S relationship which included one scene of spanking. I really wished there was more communication about them having this kind of relationship near the beginning, but they sort of just fell into instead. In the end there were some good steamy scenes, but also some that I didn’t care for.

As you can see there was a bunch of ups and downs for me. This was close, I was almost at a 3.75 or 4 stars, but there were too many things that bothered me. I think some ice queen and age gap fans might really like this, and I think there will be some people with some issues like me. So in the end I can’t really recommend this one, but I would not say stay away either. I do think some people will enjoy this more than I did.

This is how you properly turn a fanfiction story into a novel, and a good novel at that! I loved this book, I loved the characters, I loved how CP issues were written. I heartily recommend this book!

I’m still struggling a little with how I feel about this book, even though I’ve sat on it for a while.

Firstly, it’s not quite a four star book - more of 3.75, so I’m rounding up. There are some parts of this book I really enjoyed and others that left me with a bit of a sour taste. I like a workplace romance, and an age-gap romance and I didn't mind the power dynamic as such - I was uncomfortable with some of the conversations - however I can imagine someone saying these things - so they aren't necessarily unrealistic.

I only know the basics of CP, so in order to review the work fairly I did a bit of reading. The depiction seems in line with the type of CP discussed in the book so whilst I’m not really qualified to discuss it in much more depth, I am disabled and relatively high functioning, so am comfortable talking about the feelings Elena displays, which to be fair, are mostly pretty much exactly how I’ve felt at times. Elena’s stubbornness and desire to ‘go it alone’ read very true, as does the impact of having a loving relationship on those feelings.

I loved the interactions with Maya’s daughter - Livvie - and Elena - in fact they were probably my favourite part of the book. I also really enjoyed the non-binary representation of Maya’s best friend, the use of pronouns and the discussion of introducing this to Livvie.

This is definitely worth a read - it just comes with a beware it isn't a particularly light book.

L. E. Royal is a must-read author for us. Well-realised characters, rocking chemistry, convincing relationships -- her books have it all.



Maya Scott is the newest employee with the Mars Fund. At twenty-two, Maya hasn't had an easy life. And there is one person, Robert Holt, determined to kick her down and keep her there. Holt also happens to be the grandfather of Maya's three year old daughter, Livvie. In a dick move, Holt managed to wrangle Liv's custody from the scared and confused teenager that Maya was when Liv was born. Ever since then, Maya is struggling to prove herself stable and capable and get her daughter back. 



Maya has an unfortunate and embarrassing first encounter with her boss, Elena Mars. Elena suffers from cerebral palsy but doesn't let that slow her down in any way. She is driven and tough, and works herself and her team hard. 



Liv proves to be an unexpected bridge between Maya and Elena and neither the fourteen years between them nor the vast gap between their financial statuses matters.



Maya and Elena are brilliantly written. Individually, they have all the complexes and complexities that make then entirely real and together their relationship has depths and dimensions that makes it just simply awesome.



Elena's difficulties and struggles are inescapable, incomparable and cannot be overstated. But Maya's difficulties and struggles, though of a different kind, are also as real and as valid. The beautiful part is how each one is there for the other in the way they are needed. How they both make an effort to learn about the place the other is in and what they can do to support -- Maya reading about cerebral palsy and Elena reading about toddler development goals are the obvious examples.



We absolutely love the part where Maya tells Elena that she doesn't entirely understand Elena's condition, but wants to and asks her to talk to her. In the flow of the story, this was incredibly beautiful. In fact, all the ways that Maya shows her love for Elena is heart-squeezingly gorgeous. The less obvious part of loving is that Elena let's Maya love her like the way she does. Uncontrollable physical difficulties have a huge mental and emotional toll. The defensiveness and need-to-prove one's self-sufficiency can be insurmountable hurdles. It requires Maya kind of expansive and unwavering love to overcome this hurdle. And it requires a leap of faith from Elena to allow it. We also loved the parts where Maya and Elena have disagreements and fights that play out in line the complexes they have as individuals. That is very insightful writing.



Liv and Maya's non-binary best friend and their girlfriend are delightful supporting characters. 



This one is definitely romantic erotica -- lots of fabulous sexy times driven by feelings and the relationship between the leading ladies. 



Royal gives us a book that has all the feels, amazing chemistry, multi-dimensional characters, hot sex, an adorable child and, Maya.



This book is most recommended.

I reviewed a copy of this book to review from Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.
This book is a sweet contemporary romance which is well written and had a good pace to it. The writing is clear and crisp without unnecessary content.
I really liked how the author made her MC's disabled and a single mother which added more depth and inclusivity to your romance novel. It allowed exploration into other issues and readers should take note of the content warnings.
At times, it felt as though the author was skipping the scene setting and world building to move ahead to the next scene centred in the couple. I think it needed more padding of background to give the book a more engaging and realistic feel.
On the whole, a great book with a sweet romance and interesting cast of characters.

I loved the book, the age gap romance, the power play (which in my opinion was never about anything other than attraction and love), the relationship with Elena and Livvie. I loved it all. Every new relationship is going to have communication and trust issues because no one wants to be the first to put themselves out there and be vulnerable. The interactions and dialogue were real, the misunderstandings were believable, and it all amounted to a great read. Kudos.

Off Balance war der erste lesbische Liebesroman, den ich je gelesen habe. Und es hat mir richtig gut gefallen!
Der größte Pluspunkt war definitiv Livvie, Mayas kleine Tochter. Sie ist so unglaublich knuffig und man würde sie echt gern mal knuddeln.
Gut gefallen hat mir auch, wie sich die Beziehung zwischen Maya und Elena entwickelt. Die beiden gehen verständnisvoll miteinander um und sind sich sehr bewusst darüber, dass zwischen ihnen einige Ungleichgewichte bestehen: Elena ist rund 15 Jahre älter und finanziell deutlich besser gestellt als Maya, diese ist im Gegensatz zu Elena nicht behindert.
Sie gehen offen mit diesen Unterschieden um und führen regelmäßig eingehende Gespräche darüber.
Wenn ihr mehr Diversität in euer Bücherregal bringen wollt und das mit einem wirklich guten Buch, kann ich euch Off Balance nur empfehlen!

Wow. I'm struggling to find the right words to describe how this made me feel.
I enjoyed every page of this story. My main thought while reading the first few chapters was that Maya and Elena were moving a little too fast for my taste, but in the grand scheme, it makes more sense this way. Okay, Elena doesn't get to show off her ice queen side until later, but it works perfectly. This isn't a slow-burn but a story about their struggles, as a young mother without custody, and as a powerful CEO with cerebral palsy. I did think the time skips were obvious, maybe a little confusing, but it was necessary to fast forward to establish their relationship for the sake of the plot. It would have been nice if the overall story was longer, thus allotting more time for the build-up, but that's me wanting more time with the characters.
I can't say I know much about what it means to have CP. My opinion is that Elena's condition was demonstrated clearly and respectfully, and it certainly wasn't incorporated just for the sake of representation. Even to the ignorant reader like me, it was easy to understand Elena's insecurities, even before the extent of her symptoms are described. Still, Elena's sense of authority is so formidable that I felt guilty any time I started to sympathize with her.
When it comes to conflict, I'm used to lowering my expectations just a little. It doesn't matter how intelligent the characters are, I usually come away feeling that their communication skills were lacking, and that I could do better to resolve the tension were I in their shoes. This was not the case here. The communication was balanced perfectly, no party withholding their feelings at the crucial moment. Sometimes it was messy and repetitive, and a reader might wonder how many times one needs to say "I love you," but this was exactly the way I like it. Their conversations seemed reflective of real life, because we aren't all perceptive enough that the important things only need to be said once. The flawless and yet flawed communication between Maya and Elena resonated with me. I haven't cried for fictional characters in a while, and I'm not embarrassed to say that I did for these two.
Lest I write an uncomfortable, essay-long review: unquestionable five stars. Six if possible.