Like I Wished

Heather Bay, Book 2

By: Charlie Novak

Narrated by: Dan Calley

Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Dreaming about my best friend’s brother is one thing, him actually falling for me is another.

Baking cupcakes for the science department bake-off shouldn’t strike fear into the heart of chemistry teacher Noah, but his previous record hasn’t exactly been glowing. In an attempt to stave off another year in last place, Noah turns to the one man who might be able to help him: his best friend’s older brother, Spencer.

Noah’s had a crush on the vibrant and sporty footballer turned baker for years, but the chances of anything happening between them are slim to none. Spencer is caring, funny, gorgeous...and totally straight.

Spencer has never thought about dating men before, but after watching Noah lick buttercream off a whisk he’s suddenly realising he’s not as straight as previously thought.

Revelations about his sexuality are one thing, but his footballing past being dragged into the present is another, and Spencer isn’t sure which is more stressful. But he’s sure about one thing: He wants Noah in his life. Now all they have to do is figure out how to make their wishes come true.

Like I Wished is a hot and heartwarming best-friend’s-brother contemporary MM romance featuring adorable ghost cupcakes, a bisexual awakening over biscuits, gate-crashed first dates, gym-bro besties, and lots of hot chocolate.

It is book two in the Heather Bay series, and while it can be listened to as a stand-alone, it’s best enjoyed as part of the series.

©2022 Charlie Novak (P)2022 Charlie Novak

More, more, more

Charlie’s Heather Bay series is comforting and warm and these small-town, Yorkshire coast friends will make you smile.

Like I Wished is a delight. Spence and Noah are so lovely and kind. Truly, they are as sweet as the cupcakes they bake!

Best friend’s brother romance between the sporty baker and the science teacher. Noah has crushed on Spencer for a long time, but when Spencer offers to help him learn to bake the crush becomes hard to ignore.

Never did he think it might be reciprocated.

The story is low angst, but there is still enough life tension to keep things interesting.

PS. I will say it every time, narrator Dan Calley is incredible, and makes this story even more of a dream.

Loved it

Few authors can write such sweet no angst stories without them just being too sweet and cloying. Charlie Novak is definitely one of them. Noah and Spencer are a shining example of a “my best friend’s brother” trope full of sweet moments and some spicy loving. Really good story and Dan Calley does a great job of reading it.

Lovely brother’s best friend romance

I enjoyed Noah and Spencer’s story. They are both great guys who deserve their HEA, and I’m a huge fan of no angst stories that just tell me about two people falling in love without all the drama. I quite like Dan Calley’s voice and will definitely listen to more by him.

As Sweet As Cupcake Frosting

As with other titles from Charlie Novak this one is a part of a world with great characters and it’s very sweet with zero angst. Noah and Spencer fit together very well. This is definitely part of a universe of characters so it helps if you read book one first so that you kind of have an idea of what was going on with the group of friends. This is almost always the case with Novak’s books. This is a lighthearted entertaining listen. The only issue that I had was mentioned another review that Calley’s narration doesn’t really differentiate too much between their voices so it is easy to get lost between the characters, and if you’ve listen to other books by Charlie Novak that are narrated by Dan Calley listening to too many of these in a row can just seem very monotonous due to the narration. Recommended though for a sweet (pun intended) no angst read

Umm buttercream

Am I a sucker for best friends, brother to a lover? Is it worse when you know it’s a zero-angst book? Yes, but that is what I love when I know I am picking up any book from Charlie Novak. I loved when Spencer realized that he wasn’t looking at men in the gym to see their form. He found them attractive, but the one person who pushes all the right buttons is his brother's best friend. Noah is a disaster in the kitchen, but when he comes up with an idea to have Spencer teach him how to make cupcakes, nothing can go wrong. Can Noah push down everything that he has always felt for Spencer? Who knew buttercream could be seductive?

Adored it

I loved this book when I read it falling in love with Charlie’s characters instantly. Dan brought these men to life and did a wonderful job narrating them. Loved it!!

Sweet and steamy!

Another sweet and sexy read by Charlie Novak with wonderful narration by Dan Calley!
This is friends to lovers, bi-awakening, best friend’s brother…and there’s lots of baking!
Noah has had a crush on his best friend’s brother for years, but Spencer is definitely straight. After an injury robbed Spencer of his football career, he joins his brother in opening a cafe. When Noah needs help for his school bake-off, Spencer is happy to help. But the more time he spends with Noah, the more he discovers his feelings may be more than friendly.
I really liked Spencer’s journey. He’s not at all freaked out by being attracted to a man, and he leans on his friends (and goes down some internet rabbit holes 🤣) to figure out his feelings. He never treats Noah as an experiment or source of discovery, and Noah is very accepting and supportive.
These two are very sweet together and their friend group is hilarious:)

A bit disappointed

I really liked the sweet, almost-too-low-angst, best-friend's-brother story when I first read it, and it was nice to read it again this way. However, I was pretty disappointed in Dan's narration this time. There was little to no discernable difference between Noah and Spencer's voices! So if you zone out a bit, or if they're having a conversation without obvious dialogue tags or cues or whatever, it can be confusing who's talking at any given moment. It really bothered me the whole way through; I've listened to plenty of others by him and while he doesn't have a huge range of voices usually you can tell the two MCs apart! Ah well, can't win them all.

I received a promo code in exchange for this honest review.

😍😍😍

I absolutely love Noah and Spencer together! They are both super sweet! I loved the baking lessons that Spencer gives to Noah. I want Spencer's Barbie kitchen because it sounds amazing!

I love the side characters in this series. I can't wait for more of them to get their HEA's!

The narration made the story even better!!

Fluffy goodness 😍

I love how sweet and feel good Charlie Novak books are. I wish people really communicated like they do in these books. They are good books for modeling healthy communication!
Anyways this book was amazing and I wanted to hug the characters throughout the story (especially Spencer!). I LOVED there was no drama with Alex, it's always weird to me when siblings get mad so I loved that he didn't and supported them. I do look forward to future books in this series!! Dan Calley continues to grow on me, but I have to listen to him with headphones, for some reason it's harder to focus on like in my car or on my Google home. Would definitely listen to this again!

such a feel-good story!!!

I can always count on Charlie for a feel-good heartwarming story and this one is fantastic! Body positive, heartfelt with no angst this is a modern and realistic love story.

I love Heather Bay and this found family and I love all the mentions of Charlie's other characters from other series, they're all so cleverly linked!!! I also love the hints dropped for future stories and can't wait for more from Heather Bay!!!

Dan Calley gives fantastic performance and truly brings these characters to life!!

Like I Wished

Like I Wished was such a sweet, no angst story! I like Noah and Spencer story! These two are the sweetest! Noah have a crush on his best friends brother like forever, he is a science teacher and this theme is his turn on the baking cupcakes for the bake-off but he isn’t very skilled on it, so he turns the his best friend’s older brother for help.

Spencer is a former football player turn baker, Spencer is “straight”, he enjoy baking and he starts teaching Noah to bake, he was never attracted to another guy but watching Noah lick buttercream he realize that maybe he isn’t straight, he isn’t afraid of his feelings for Noah and he wants him.

I was actually heart warming, sweet and steamy, I love best friends brother troupes and bisexual awakening is the cherry on top! These two have a great chemistry and the dirty talk was a bonus!!! A well written story, very likable characters and great friendship A great story brilliantly brought to life by Dan Calley's narration. A fantastic listen with a guaranteed HEA.

This book was just as adorable as its two MCs!

Seriously, it’s comfortable and cozy like a warm blanket and a hot chocolate (in any variety Spencer may offer you) on a rainy autumn day. No angst, tons of love and so much sweetness!
Noah and Spencer are both so adorable! Noah, the not-so-fit, quiet science teacher has had a crush on Spencer, his best friend’s older brother, since he was 13; but he knows nothing can come of it as he very well knows Spencer is straight. And Spencer IS straight, isn’t he? At least that’s what he thought for the entire 31 years of his life; except now he’s looking at his little brother’s best friend in a seriously-not-straight way, and he’s ready to roll with it.

I love this group of friends and their interactions: they are always ready to tease each other but are also and especially also there for each other whenever there’s needs, be it lending an ear and giving suggestions or cheering one of them up!

So sweet.

Noah and Spencer are just the sweetest couple. Spencer is a happy, relaxed person “the human equivalent to a golden retriever” and Noah is just so nice and likeable. He’s also crushed on Spencer, his best friends brother, since he was a young teen.

Circumstances have them coming together to bake and soon enough Spencer begins to question how straight he actually is. I loved how he readily accepted the change in his sexuality with out any major angst and just fully embraced who was now. There’s no miscommunication between Noah and Spencer and no angst, just the lovely moments of two special people falling in love. There’s also plenty of heat filled steamy times between them and lots of tender loving moments.

This was an absolute joy to listen to and left my heart all swoony and gooey for these two wonderful characters. Characters that are a perfect fit for narrator Dan Calley. He gives a wonderful performance making it easy to distinguish one character from another. He also maintains the tone and cadence for each throughout the entire performance.

Homecoming.

MM, Second Chance, Small Town, Contemporary, Romance. The second book in the series but reads well as a stand-alone with no loss of enjoyment or understanding. A great story brilliantly brought to life by Dan Calley's narration. A planned temporary return to his hometown changes everything in ways that he could not have imagined. A fantastic listen with a guaranteed HEA.

Fluff fest

Story: Noah and Spencer were so awesome! I loved the MCs and the fluff dripping from the pages. There is no angst here at all and I loved it!
Narration: Great performance by Dan Calley!