Helping Hand

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

Very hot, very sweet, and very nicely narrated

Mac (James) and Jez (Jeremy) are two broke friends/roommates. Stuck for entertainment they stumble into a new way to pass the time.

Jez has “experimented” with other boys while in the all boys prep academy before university, but Mac has only ever identified as straight. So when the two of them find themselves bored, a little drunk and a little hot after watching an episode of “Game of Thrones” – it’s Jez who suggests they find some porn to work the tension off. At first, the rule was no touching, but a bit of watching. Since that worked so well…

Over time things progress from watching to touching, to sucking to… you get the idea.

Interestingly, it’s the kissing and the cuddling that make each of them wonder “am I gay/bi”.

It isn’t until they are “outed” that they have to face facts and admit that this might just be something more than they bargained for.

**

The smexy times are really, really hot and the slow build to the love affair is rewarding and fulfilling.

My only wish would be for more time in Mac’s head – somehow – because I didn’t feel like I really got to understand his motivations very well. Jez was so clear but Mac more of a mystery.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and give it 4.5 of 5 stars

Audio

I’d really enjoyed Mark Steadman’s work on Lover’s Leap and so I was excited to see how he’d do here. Well… he was great! I loved his version of Mac – solid, steady – and he does the British humor so well – nice dry delivery and all that. I really like his voice and found this amazingly easy to listen to and thought it really brought the story to life.

Highly recommended!

Narration 5 of 5 stars

Overall 5 of 5 stars

Great book by great author

Another hit by Jay Northcote! I absolutely loved this story from start to finish. Two men who didn't realize they were attracted to other men, but figure it out together was a nice plot. I loved the way they handled the ups and downs and awkward moments. While this rang a bit like 'gay for you' it didn't at the same time. I really loved the way it all worked together.

It was a great read that was sweet and sexy all at the same time. I loved the secondary characters as they only added to the story and make it just that much better.

The narrator did a good job with the story, except I specifically remember in one sexy scene he started reading it too fast as if it was a bomb going to go off instead of a hot and heavy scene.

I received a free copy of this book to read for Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review.

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.

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!

Not a fav...

Any additional comments?

Wow! I usually adore Jay Northcote's tales but this one is definitely not one. The writing is good and of course the characters are lovely; I think I wanted more of the emotional connection between the characters rather than the sex.

Now, please do not get me wrong, if erotica is your thing, this story is perfect for that 'I wasn't gay until I found you' type of tale that's incredibly steamy.

So, though not my favorite from this author and perhaps if the narrator (who isn't bad) had had a younger voice, close to the ages of the characters, it may have helped a bit. The narrator sounded about 3 or 4 decades older than the young college students.

An oldie but a goodie...

This is my favorite book out of the Housemates series and one of my comfort re-listens. I read it way back in the day (multiple times) and enjoyed it just as much on audiobook. It’s not exactly double GFY, but more of a bisexual awakening from both characters. It kind of reminds me of Evangeline Anderson’s Str8 Boys but with a better overall story arc. Jez and Mac will always remain one of my favorite book couples, hands down. The rest of the Housemates series didn’t do a whole lot for me with the exception of Shawn and Jude’s story...because there’s really nothing better than the homophobic friend getting his own gay happy ending. Mark Steadman was perfect for this and the voices used for Jez and Mac fit their personalities exactly how I imagined.

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.

Short, Sexy, and Sweet

FIRST BOOK REVIEW:
Helping Hand is the first book in the Housemate series by Jay Northcote. I was introduced to the book quite accidentally – I saw somewhere that it was free on Amazon and I decided to try it. Have to seize the opportunity, right? 🙂

As said, it is the first book in the series which deals with different people in the same household (even though some leave and others come), all of them students. Helping Hand focus on Jez and Mac, two ‘straight’ guys who have partied way too much last year and are now staying in – Jez because of his overdraft, and Mac to focus on his studies. And as we all know, staying in can be annoying enough, and so much more if you are stuck in your room. So the two hang out, watch series or play games…until Jez suggests doing something more 😉

Despite being more into each other than in porn, they pretend to watch it while masturbating together…although there is an instance where watching it brings some change to the hands-off thingy.

It was adorable how oblivious and in SO MUCH DENIAL they were, especially Mac, who kept insisting ‘he’s not gay’ which *technically* is true but… Come on, Mac 🙂 Also both of them are ‘these are just my feelings, there is NO WAY he’s into me’ and they don’t talk about it until the end! 🙂

There is some angst in it, although not too much. It is resolved quickly (obviously, since the book is short), and nicely. It was HOT, it was sweet, it had oblivious guys, friendship, and an obligatory, great, sweet, happy ending 🙂

AUDIO REVIEW

The book was amazing and since it has been a while since I have read this book, it was nice to be reminded what adorable dumbasses Jez and Mac were. I loved the narrator, and I thought he got the voices well and it was a pleasure to listen to the book. I loved every second of it (except maybe Shawn because he's a terrible dickhead in this book) and I could listen the book for hours.

A book to be listened again and again

Helping Hand it's a charming book but it's more than that , it's an exploration of many themes of modern times. Sexuality being fluid, feeling attracted to a person regardless of their sex , not hiding your desires behind old preconceptions or to fit in a particular mold , those are some of the subjects Jay Northcote has written about in this coming of age, refreshing, sensual and entertaining romance story.

This author convincingly and skillful writes a love story that touches one's heart and reminded me of the first time I really fell in love.

Mark Steadman narration of the book was spot on and convincing.

Helping Hand

College Housemates Jez and Mac, spend a lot of time home together studying and trying to stay out of trouble and save money while the rest of their roommates go out to pubs. And either though neither of them are "gay" the more time they spend together, and the closer they get, one thing leads to another, and of course they end up in bed together, trying to fight their actual feelings for each other... This is a Sweet and Sexy shorter Novella. A great start to this Housemates series.
Audio - It took me a few minutes to get used to the narrator, Mark Steadman's accent, but once I did it was all good. He did a great job getting me into this book, I enjoyed it and I look forward to his narration on the rest of the books in this series.

Loved the story and narration

5 wonderful stars from me!

The tags "Love is Love" and "Love Wins" fit this story perfectly. Neither Jez nor Mac would label themselves as 'gay' at the start of the story and even by the end they are reluctant to slot themselves into such restrictive pigeon holes. They love each other and that's all that matters. But to reach this conclusion they have to move from friends, to friends with benefits, to lovers and then finally boyfriends. What starts out as just sex and helping each other out gradually leads to a physical and emotional connection between the two young men as they battle to sort out who they are and who they want to be with.

I loved every part of this story. Jay's characters are realistic in their behavior and mannerisms. I adored how the physical intimacy between Jez and Mac gradually developed along with their feelings for each other. I understood their desire to keep their special arrangement hidden from the other housemates and their reluctance to admit this was anything but giving each other a helping hand in the bedroom. Jay, as per usual, wrote smoking hot scenes and I thought she surpassed herself this time with portraying the sizzling chemistry between these two lovely boys. The story gave me wonderful 'feelz' from start to finish. Fantastic!

5* also for the audiobook. Great narrator - perfectly suited to Jez's college character. Loved hearing this story.

Friends to lovers

What a lovely book with an HEA. Great writing again from Jay.
Two college friends, exploring and finding themselves. Great story, well worth the read or listen on Audible or both.