A Lucy Review : Nothing Ventured by Jay Northcote

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

When Aiden agrees to run the Mad Mucker—a twelve-mile muddy slog over an obstacle course—he’s expecting it to be a bit of a laugh. The training will be tough, but Aiden could use the motivation to regain some fitness.

Matt is the sexy cousin of one of Aiden’s coworkers and a last-minute addition to the team. When he agrees to train with Aiden, Aiden suddenly finds the prospect of regular workouts a lot more appealing.

Soon attraction flares, and they embark on an intense physical relationship. Matt doesn’t want to fall in love with a man, and Aiden doesn’t want to fall in love at all, but despite their insistence on no strings, they grow closer. As the day of the race approaches, time is running out for them to work out how they feel about each other.

This story is told from Aiden’s point of view and I have to say I liked him immensely. The whole “wow, it’s really been that long since I’ve been to the gym?” was all too familiar for me. It is only a night of tequila with coworkers, specifically Liz (who I also liked so much), that got him roped into do the Mad Mucker obstacle course. Since I also have completed something similar, I felt his pain as he tried to get out of it.

The team is comprised of coworkers of Aiden and Liz, in addition to Liz’s cousin, Matt. Matt is super fit, hot and as a personal trainer he knows what he’s doing. Since he’s so into running and fitness and Aiden is, well, not, Liz teams them up together for training purposes. Aiden is pretty laid back and lighthearted while Matt is much more serious and remote.

They start out being just training partners, moving on to friendly and then friends with benefits. String free, no hearts involved ever. Matt isn’t out to anyone (he’s bisexual) while Aiden is out (gay) but has no intention of commitment to anyone, let alone a relationship.

Both of these guys have baggage from their past but it seems to affect Matt’s life and actions the most. There were times, especially after they started sleeping together and FEELINGS were starting to happen, that I was so aggravated with Matt. As Aiden starts hiding his feelings – I mean, come on, Matt changes plans because he’s going on a date with a woman from work and then is “…formal and icily polite” when Aiden says he’s going to see Pete, another friends with benefits. “Aiden felt a flare of irritation. Did Matt honestly think he was such a sad case that he didn’t have anyone else to spend time with?” I was glad that Aiden has Pete, though. Even without the benefits, Pete is a friend and about the only one Aiden can talk to about Matt. Pete calls him out on it, too as Aiden denies what Matt means to him. “You falling for someone. Nobody’s immune.”

It is complicated and it gets awkward at times, with both men fighting their feelings. The struggles they were both going through were interesting, especially as past history was part of the problem. They had both been hurt and didn’t trust easily. It was so heartbreaking at times to see Aiden trying to make himself believe he was okay with casual with Matt, particularly since Matt just doesn’t want more than sex with a man.

I liked this very much and the whole Mad Mucker just added to the interest for me. It was somehow fitting that things come to a head at the race, since that’s what started it all. I would recommend this highly.

Cover art, a running man, in my mind was Aiden and fit the story very well.

Sales Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2Ye6AFm

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2LGRciK

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/NothingVentured

Book Details:

ebook, 142 pages
Published November 12th 2014
Original Title Nothing Ventured
ISBN 163216423X (ISBN13: 9781632164230)
Edition Language English
URL http://jaynorthcote.com/coming-soon/

Check Out the Review Tour for Nothing Ventured by Jay Northcote

Buy Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2Ye6AFm

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2LGRciK

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/NothingVentured

Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design

Blurb

Mud, sweat, and reluctant romance. Can Aiden and Matt sort out their feelings before race day?

Check out Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words review here. We highly recommend it.

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 has five books published by Dreamspinner Press, and also self-publishes under the imprint Jaybird Press. Many of his books are now available as audiobooks.

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Release Blitz for Nothing Ventured by Jay Northcote

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design

Blurb

Mud, sweat, and reluctant romance. Can Aiden and Matt sort out their feelings before race day?

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.

Website
Twitter
Facebook profile
Facebook author page
Facebook author group
Newsletter
Jay’s books

Hosted By Signal Boost Promotions

A Sammy Review: Nothing Ventured by Jay Northcote

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

There’s usually less mud in a rom com.

One night and too much tequila lands Aiden in a peculiar situation. He’s promised his best friend that he’ll run a twelve-mile long course, aptly named Mad Mucker.

But it’s not enough that he’s going to run it, but he also has to train. The course is strenuous, but then again, trudging through mud and ice water sounds like it’d be a bit rough going for anyone less than fit.

Aiden finds a bit of… extra inspiration in the form of his friend’s cousin, Matt. At first they clash, an awkward not-so-keen kind of personality mesh, but as they begin to train together and open up, they find they have more in common than either bargained for.

The real question is, though, how long can no strings attached exist without said strings? After all, this is a messy race.

Two people who had feelings for each other, but both fighting against them for different reasons.

This story had one of my favorite themes, and one that’s hard to find done right. One night stand/fuck buddies/no strings attached to more. And this, it was done right. There was no illusion to feelings at any point in the beginning of the relationship. It was a true emotional evolution for them, and for that I was super excited.

I also thought that the idea of the story was pretty fun and different. I have a friend who does a lot of physical training, and we’ve talked about him doing Tough Mudder, so I was familiar with this type of race and how intense it actually is. The cover, created by Anna Sikorska fits the story well, as much of Matt and Aiden’s time is spent training, particularly running, and the atmosphere of the cover fits the book.

Furthermore, it’s easy for books to fall into a repetitive rhythm of doing what’s already been done, but Nothing Ventured takes on a new idea, one that I’ve personally never read before in M/M books, so I appreciated that, and the training was an interesting gateway here into their relationship.

One particular aspect I enjoyed for the majority of the book was the subtle growth into something more for Matt and Aiden. Unfortunately, the end lost that when it rushed to make a resolution and suddenly everything was magically okay. It was a big change and I didn’t think it was given the attention it needed, and with it didn’t do the rest of the story justice.

I would certainly like to see more of them, as I still think they have a lot of room to grow as a couple. Overall, this was book was a quick, easy read that just could’ve done for a little more TLC.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press eBook All Romance (ARe) amazon Nothing Ventured