Audio Review: Second Chance by Jay Northcote, Performed by Hamish Long

17 May of 2020 by ButtonsMom2003

Story: 5

Performance: 5

5.0Overall score

I loved this so much!

Second Chance By Jay Northcote, Narrated by Hamish Long

Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM, Transgender

Released: May 8, 2020

Publisher: Jaybird Press

Length: 6 hrs, 50 mins

Synopsis

Everyone deserves a second chance.

Nate and his teenage daughter need a fresh start, so they move back to the village where he grew up. Nate’s transgender and not used to disclosing his history, so it’s hard living where people knew him before.

When Nate reconnects with Jack – his best friend from school and unrequited crush – his feelings return as strong as ever.

Jack’s returned home to get his life in order after an addiction to alcohol caused him to lose everything: his job, his driver’s licence, and nearly his life.

He’s living with his parents, which is less than ideal, but rekindling his friendship with Nate – or Nat as Jack once knew him – is an unexpected benefit of being back home. Jack is amazed by Nate’s transformation, and can’t deny his attraction. Trying for more than friendship might ruin what they already have, but the chemistry between them is undeniable.

Doubting his feelings are reciprocated, Nate fears he’s risking heartbreak. Jack’s reluctance to tell his parents about their relationship only reinforces Nate’s misgivings. With both their hearts on the line and their happiness at stake, Jack needs to make things right, and Nate has to be prepared to give him a second chance.

This story is a stand-alone and has a satisfying, happy ending.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

I loved this so much!

I really enjoyed reading Second Chance two years ago and gave it 4-stars. As often happens for me, if the narrator is good, experiencing the book a second time as an audio will raise my rating and that’s exactly what happened with Second Chance.

Hamish Long has performed several audiobooks for Jay Northcote over the last 6 months or so and I’ve listened to all of them. I really love his voice; it’s soothing and the different characters voices he does really bring Jay’s books to life. He has quickly become one of my favorite British audiobook performers.

Below is a copy of my original review from when I read Second Chance back in May 2018.

Educational and romantic – great story.

This is the first book I’ve read with a female-to-male (FTM) transgender character. Anyone who follows Jay Northcote knows that he is transgender. While I understand this story isn’t autobiographical, I have to think that some of the more descriptive prose must come from first-hand knowledge; it just feels really authentic.

Putting aside the fact that this is a story about a transgender character, it’s simply a great second chance story. While the two lead characters weren’t really romantically involved when they were younger, they were best friends and Nate, before his transition, had a crush on Jack that Jack never knew about.

In addition to being a great story that uses one of my favorite romance tropes, I also found the details about being a transgender man very informative and educational. There are a lot of things that I just never gave a lot of thought to and I’m glad that Jay didn’t skimp on the details.

I also learn a lot of British terms by reading books from Jay Northcote; I enjoy that they aren’t set in the U.S. and that my vocabulary is always enriched reading his stories.