Pretty in Pink By Jay Northcote, Performed by Hamish Long
Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM
Tropes: Bisexual awakening, gay first times, sexual exploration, out for you.
Released: Audio August 12, 2020; e-book February 21, 2018
Publisher: Jaybird Press
Series: Housemates, Book 6
Length: Audio 5 hrs, 44 mins; e-book 221 pages
Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @Black Jazz Design
Ryan isn’t looking for a relationship with a guy–and Johnny isn’t looking for a relationship at all.
Ryan’s always been attracted to tall, leggy blondes–normally of the female variety. When Johnny catches his eye at a party, Ryan’s interest is piqued even though he’s never been with a guy before. The attraction is mutual, and the amazing night that follows opens Ryan’s eyes to his bisexuality.
Experience has taught Johnny that love hurts. Staying single is safer, and there’s no need for complicated relationships when hooking up is easy. When he moves in next door to Ryan, they’re both interested in picking up where they left off, and it seems like an ideal arrangement: convenient, mutually satisfying, and with no strings attached.
Despite their best intentions to keep things casual, they develop an emotional connection alongside the physical one. Both begin to want more from the relationship but are afraid to admit it. If they’re going to work things out, they need to start being honest–first with themselves, and then with each other.
Although this book is part of the Housemates series, it has new main characters, a satisfying happy ending, and can be read as a standalone.
Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003
Loved it before, love it even more now.
It’s been over two years since I first read Pretty in Pink. It was actually among the first 5 books I ever read by Jay Northcote. I loved it then and the fantastic audio performance by Hamish Long made it even better for me. He has become one of my favorite narrators, due mostly to the fantastic job he’s done on several books by Jay Northcote.
Other than my comments above about the audiobook, I don’t think there is much more that I can say that I didn’t put in my original review of the e-book from February 2018 (see below).
I’ve read a few other books by Jay Northcote and enjoyed them all but this is the first one I’ve read in the Housemates series. Pretty in Pink can totally be read as a standalone but now I really want to go back and read the rest of this series.
When Ryan first catches sight of Johnny at a party he thinks he’s a woman. Although Ryan has only ever dated women something about Johnny keeps his attention and he can’t resist approaching him.
After Ryan and Johnny hookup Ryan has to admit, if only to himself, that he’s sexually attracted to men and woman; but he has a bit of a difficult time dealing with coming out.
Neither Ryan or Johnny is looking for a relationship so they agree to be friends-with-benefits. The problem is that they don’t communicate with each other and neither realizes that their feelings towards each other have changed.
One part of this story twisted me up a bit. I understand why it was necessary but it was still a bit difficult to read. Nevertheless, my enjoyment of the story wasn’t diminished at all. A couple of times I just wanted to shout at these two and say TALK to each other!
All-in-all the story engaged my emotions and totally held my interest throughout; a sure sign for me that the book is a hit. Another great thing is the epilogue. I absolutely love epilogues and thoroughly enjoyed the one for Pretty in Pink. I look forward to reading more books in this series.
Story: ♥♥♥♥♥
Narration: ♥♥♥♥♥
O Factor: Scorcher
Available to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.
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.
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A review copy of this audiobook was provided by the author.
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Audiobook Review: Where Love Grows by Jay Northcote, Performed by Hamish Long
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