Rating: 4 stars out of 5
In the continuation of the Housemates series, Jay Northcote introduces Shawn, an apparently straight guy—as evidenced by his girlfriend—and sometimes smartass—as evidenced by his comments on his roommates’ snogging sessions in the lounge.
Those roomies are Jez and Mac and Ewan and Dev from previous stories, all of whom I enjoyed seeing again. Not long after Shawn breaks up with his girlfriend, he accidentally walks in on Jude as Jude is wanking off in front of his laptop in his own room. Just before he awkwardly gets back out the door, he sees the name of the site Jude has up on the screen, and against his better judgment, signs onto the site on his own laptop. Shocked to see that Jude is live on the site, wanking off in front of the masses, Shawn nevertheless stays around not only long enough to watch Jude get off, but to get himself off as well.
Doubts and questions abound as he starts to realize that watching that show and appreciating the sexiness of the men around him is not as strange as he thought it would be. When he takes up Jude’s offer to sit in on a session with him, Jude is shocked and pleased, but it’s what happens to Shawn that makes the big difference.
This is the start of a friends-with-benefits relationship that later evolves into real caring between the men, and the author made sure we had a good, basic story before launching into feelings territory. By the time the men were ready to move forward, I was engaged by both characters, rooting for them to make their way out of the rut they fell into, and hoping Shawn would be brave enough to move forward with Jude and come out of his straight-boy persona.
The story is an all-around “feel good” tale with an OFY theme—one of my favorites. Set in the world of the other housemates, this book can certainly be read as a standalone, though it would be a shame to miss out on enjoying the others. This series has become one of my favorites, and I’m looking forward to story of Ben, the quiet new roommate. Please, Jay, give us Ben’s story. He seems like a sweetheart, and I definitely want to see him find his forever love.
The cover is a simple black-and-white photo of a bare-chested man, similar to others in the series, and just right for this story.
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Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 129 pages
Published January 20th 2017 by Jaybird Press
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesHousemates #4 settingPlymouth, England (United Kingdom)
England (United Kingdom)
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 