Helping Hand

Housemates, Book 1

By: Jay Northcote

Narrated by: Mark Steadman

Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Jez Fielding and James MacKenzie - Big Mac to his mates - are in their second year at uni. After partying too hard last year, they make a pact to rein themselves in. While their housemates are out drinking every weekend, Jez and Mac stay in to save cash and focus on their studies.

When Jez suggests watching some porn together, he isn't expecting Mac to agree to it. One thing leads to another, and soon their arrangement becomes hands-on rather than hands-off. But falling for your straight friend can only end badly...unless there's a chance he might feel the same.

©2015 Jay Northcote (P)2016 Jaybird Press

Short, sexy as hell and fun!

Any additional comments?

One of the things I love most about this story is how neither Jez or Mac think of themselves as anything other than straight, but when their friendship gets more physical and their emotions get more involved as they grow closer, being together is not an obstacle, it's just right for them.

I had so much fun reading this story, and am so happy I enjoyed the audio just as much.

While Mark Steadman does have a couple of minor issues with pauses and his inflection, overall his narration was good and lent an even more sexy tone to the story (which was a huge bonus!). I liked his style and his accent was easy to follow for this non-Brit.

Short, sexy as all hell, and a fun listen I can totally recommend!

Adorable !

Very cute short story! It has the perfect amount of everything. I really wish it was longer 😢😢on to the next one 👍

Good book

It wasn't too long ago so it was able to keep my attention. Some hot scenes....

I love this series and this is one of my favorites

I enjoy a friends to lovers romance, and Jay Northcote always writes great characters and friendships. Jez and Mac are ont of my favorite couples in the Housemates series. They are funny, their relationship starts on a whim and is full of sexy, steamy moments. Yet, they also struggle to figure out the new status, their feelings and how they define themselves. They remain a favorite couple of mine in the next books of the series, there is just something so lovely about them.
The narration was good, I liked the accents and how the narrator delivered each voice uniquely.

Really Good!!

Helping Hand by Jay Northcote is a very page turning read. A Captivating story with lots of twists.


Highly Recommend it to all readers.

Pleasant surprise. Quite enjoyable tale

I was immediately and pleasantly surprised by the story. I, too, was expecting hot sex but instead got a sweet and perfectly paced love story.

It’s a classic trope, and a fantasy of countless gay men, to jack off with a buddy and have it escalate. But Northcote works absolute magic with the cliché and elevates it so it doesn’t even seem like a trope. Within a minute of Jez and Mac watching porn together I was drawn into the story.

I’ve listened to a few books by Northcote and liked them but hadn’t been blown away. This story changed all that. Northcote will now be one of the authors I follow closely.

Narration Review:

I’m often hesitant to listen to self-published audio books. I know paying for narration is expensive and sometimes authors have to sometimes sacrifice quality for monetary reasons. That is not the case here. Mark Steadman did a great job with Jez and Mac as well as the other characters.

Recommended narrator for sure.

oh wow, I was not expecting how good this was

Pros: Good writing, believable characters, HOT BISEXUAL BOYS, a sweet and sexy love story. The reader is very good, too

Cons: er...too short, maybe? no, scratch that, it's just the right length. The short length means the story can keep up the same heady pace that a new passion can have.

A short story with a good bit of character devolpm

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

A hot sexy story with decently flushed out characters.

What does Mark Steadman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His accent was fantastic and really set the correct stage for the story. I just wish a little variation between the two MC's was done.

Who was the most memorable character of Helping Hand and why?

Jez of course. I loved his journey through the book in regards to his relationship with Mac.

Any additional comments?

*** I was provided a copy of this audiobook for a fair and honest review ***

Jez and Mac are roommates in a house in college who start out as friends and end up as something more. The book starts off innocently enough with the two deciding to stay in on the weekends instead of going out with their other roommates. For Jez it's to save money and for Mac he needs to concentrate on this studies.

One night Jez suggests they watch porn together, they do and as the weeks go by their encounters start to progress from wanking next to each other, to helping each other and it continues until they become sexually involved.

Then Jez does something he never expected, he falls for Mac in a big way and the two of them need to figure out what to do about how their "relationship" is going to proceed.

Story

There was something about this story I really liked, I think it was Jez's realization that it was more then just getting off with Mac and dealing with how that changed not only his situation with Mac but with his whole world view. I really loved Jez and wanted the best for him. Mac was a little harder to get a handle on as the story is from Jez's view but it was nice to see him deal with the changes in his life in a mature, adult way and not act like a a*&hole.

Narration

I liked the narration on this, Mark Steadman's accent help sell the story I just wish there had been a little better distinction between Jez and Mac's voices but overall it was a good job. And the sex scenes.. holy heck they were hot.

Fantastic short story.

Definitely a recommend and the narration is fantastic. Looking forward to more by this author.

Good

I liked this story a lot. I like the characters and all the feels I got. I didn’t like at the end when all the loose ends got told to us instead of experiencing it. I’m used to that happening in many stories so it didn’t frustrate me as much as left me wishing there were more. Overall I really enjoyed this story.