Audiobook Review: Mud and Lace by Jay Northcote, Performed by Hamish Long

04 March of 2020 by ButtonsMom2003

Story: 5

Performance: 5

5.0Overall score

My favorite one of the series.

Mud and Lace By Jay Northcote, Performed by Hamish Long

Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM

Released: Audio December 20, 2019; ebook April 24, 2019

Publisher: Jaybird Press

Series: Rainbow Place, Book 4

Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @Black Jazz Design

Synopsis

When Wicksy falls for drag queen Charlie, they discover that both sexuality and gender can be fluid.

Simon Wicks—Wicksy to his rugby teammates—has only ever been interested in women. But when he sets eyes on Lady Gogo, a drag queen who performs at Rainbow Place, he can’t stop thinking about her. He knows there’s a guy behind the fishnets and make-up, but he’s ready to explore his fantasies, and Lady Gogo is game for making them come true.

Charlie adores performing in drag. It allows him to indulge in his love of cross-dressing while earning some extra cash. Fooling around with a mostly straight guy in secret seems like a fun diversion, and gives him the chance to explore his feminine side. He feels safe wearing the mask of his confident alter ego, because the real Charlie is hidden from view.

When Wicksy sees more of the guy behind the make-up and glitter, his attraction to Charlie persists, and he realises he’s bisexual. In turn, Charlie begins to understand and accept his gender fluidity. As their mutual journey of self-discovery brings them closer, the secrecy becomes increasingly hard to deal with. If they’re going to have a future together, they both need to find the courage to show people who they really are.

Although this book is part of a linked series, it can be read and enjoyed as a standalone.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

My favorite one of the series.

I loved Mud and Lace as an ebook and I loved it even more as an audiobook. I can’t say enough good things about Hamish Long’s performance of this entire series, but I especially loved this one. His voice for Charlie fit the character perfectly. I know Jay Northcote has another book in this series coming soon and I sure hope that Hamish Long is the one to bring it to audio.

NOTE: As of March 4, 2020, this book is in KU and you can add the audiobook for only $1.99 – a super bargain!

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Below is my original review when I read the book last year:

Mud & Lace is part of the Rainbow Place series but reads just fine as a standalone story. Characters from other books in the series appear but you won’t feel lost if you haven’t read them. While I have very much enjoyed all of the books in this series, Mud & Lace is my favorite.

I haven’t read too many stories with gender fluid characters and I really enjoyed this one. In Mud & Lace both Charlie and Wicksy (Simon) discover things about themselves that they didn’t know or acknowledge until they became involved with each other.

Charlie loves performing in drag as Lady Gogo and Simon loves watching her. As their sexual relationship turns into something more Simon must make some decisions and admit how he really feels. He finally realizes that while he was first attracted to Charlie’s Lady Gogo persona, he’s also attracted to Charlie no matter how he’s dressed.

I really felt for both of these characters. It was hard to read how hurt Charlie was when Simon denied their relationship to his friends. At the same time Jay Nortcote’s fantastic writing of this story also had me sympathizing with Simon. He was so confused about his feelings for Charlie and it took him a while to admit to himself how he felt.

I don’t know if there are more stories planned for this series or not but I hope there are because Rainbow Place is a very special place to visit and I wouldn’t mind spending more time there.

Story: ♥♥♥♥♥

Narration: ♥♥♥♥♥

O Factor: Spicy

Rainbow Place Series

♥ Amazon US ♥ Amazon CA ♥ Amazon UK ♥

About Author

Jay Northcote

Jay lives just outside Bristol in the West of England. He comes from a family of writers, but always used to believe that the gene for fiction writing had passed him by. He spent years only ever writing emails, articles, or website content.

One day, Jay decided to try and write a short story—just to see if he could—and found it rather addictive. He hasn’t stopped writing since.

Jay writes contemporary romance about men who fall in love with other men. He self-publishes under the imprint Jaybird Press. Many of his books are now available as audiobooks.

Author Links