Safe Place

By: Jay Northcote

Narrated by: Hamish Long

Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

Where do you go when your home is no longer a safe place?  

Alex is about to turn 18 and is firmly in the closet. He’s been biding his time, waiting to escape to uni and finally come out away from the oppressive influence of his homophobic father. When he flunks his exams, he’s stuck in the small town of Porthladock - and what’s worse is that he’s working for his dad. The only thing that makes it bearable is Cam.  

Cam’s comfortable with his bisexuality, but he doesn’t broadcast it. Young, free, and single, his social life revolves around playing rugby and hanging out with his mates. He’s attracted to Alex, but with the six-year age gap, Cam’s wary of getting involved. Plus, he thinks Alex needs a friend more than he needs a lover, and as their friendship grows, Cam decides he’s not willing to risk ruining it for casual sex.  

When Alex’s dad finds out about his sexuality, Alex is suddenly both jobless and homeless. He finds work at Rainbow Place, the local LGBT-friendly café, and Cam lets Alex stay in his flat for a while. But Alex would rather be sleeping in Cam’s bed than on his sofa. With them both living under one roof, their feelings for each other grow stronger, and the sexual tension is hard to ignore. Will giving in to it ruin their friendship and complicate things for Alex even more? 

Although this book is part of a linked series, it has a satisfying happy ending and can be enjoyed as a stand-alone.

©2018 Jay Northcote (P)2019 Audible, Ltd

✫✫ 5 Stars ✫✫

I knew when I finished book 1 that I was going to end up loving this series. Alex & Cam's love story is perfect. This is a sort of friends to lovers story with such a hard story line too. I loved that most of this book these two are friends, for me this really helped build the connection and made me really anticipate them coming together. The chemistry & attraction is there from the beginning but I felt like these two really needed to find themselves before they could be together and that made their HEA perfect. This book deals with hard situations, especially for a closeted gay teen with parents who are not open minded at all. The best part about this story for me was the character growth and the build up. Seriously when these two finally come together it was hot & sweet. Now the only bad part is having to wait for books 3 & 4 on Audio, thankfully the wait is very short.

I enjoyed Hamish Long again in this book and can't wait to listen to him narrate the rest of this series.

10 people found this helpful

Safe Place

It was a given I was going to listen to the next book because I enjoyed the first one so much. I think I loved these characters more if that is even possible. Alex is so authentically himself but for when it comes to being himself at home. You can’t really blame him though, growing up with knowing you would never be accepted. I can’t even think of such a thing, breaks my heart frankly.

Cam, oh Cam, I get why he puts up all the barriers he is afraid to love and lose something that to him is so precious. He stole my heart too I can’t help it these book make me have all the feels.

Alex’s family ohh this was hard for me. I think because I have a Bi daughter and always knew no matter who my children grew up to be I would love them no matter what. This was especially hard to listen to, the hate for your own child. I can’t fathom it. I wish this didn’t happen in real life or in fiction but sadly it does, my hope for our future is for people to educate themselves and put yourself in your child’s place for 1 second.

Again the narration is dreamy, I can’t explain it better than that his voice, his accent yes please, more, please.

1 person found this helpful

Simply Amazing

I loved this book! I needed some time to get used to Alex's voice but once I did, it was perfect. This was probably my favourite, or second favourite in the series and the audio is just...awesome! I am so glad these books are in audio, because it is way more convenient for my commute, and that the narrator managed to get the characters very well!

I can't wait for book 3 next week!

1 person found this helpful

Superb!

Worth the credits! Jay Northcote writing and Hamish Long narrations are superb! On to book 3.

Excellent

LOVED.THE.NARRATOR!!
Absolutely loved the story. Riches to Rags. Loved the end, payback to his nasty.tempered.dad!

GREAT.

I listened to this book at 1.25x

I really loved the first book, Rainbow Place and didn't think Jay Northcote could top it, and again I was so wrong. Jay really knows how to write a good book.
I really think his books make the Heterosexuals understand the LGBTQ community better. I personally don't know what I'm talking about, but it really made me understand things better. and see the Bullying and homophobic slurs that so many people make that I live in a bubble and didn't realize was going on that much.
I still believe love is love.
Sorry the narrator Hamish long did a wonderful job just as good as he did in the 1st book.

On to book 3.

Nice NA friends to lovers story.Love this series!

I really love friends to lovers stories, but I was a bit bummed by the slow, long-winding road this couple had to take to get to their HFN. Cam and Alex have noticed each other already in the first book in the series, with Alex crushing on the cute, slightly older guy who seems way out of his league. Cam's extremely reluctant to act on (or even admit to) his feelings for Alex, and even though he definitely has his reasons, it still made it a bit difficult for me as reader to believe in the strength of his love.

I did like that Cam and Alex became friends under difficult circumstances and I was completely charmed by the secondary characters... seeing Seb and Jason again was amazing and the others like Sophia, Amber, Hayden and Wicksy are a great bunch of friends and I'd love to see more of them in the following books.

I also would have liked to have seen more of Alex and Cam as an actual item. They only get together at the very end of the story, so we don't really see them grow as a couple.

Narration: This is the first audiobook by Hamish Long that I've listened to and I absolutely loved how he brought the characters to life. He has an amazing voice, very warm and pleasant to listen to, and the English accent is just so charming! I loved his interpretation of Cam and Alex's voices, making Alex sound slightly younger than Cam without making him sound juvenile. All in all, an excellent narration that really added to my enjoyment of this story.

Amazing book

Such a good book. It is 2nd part of series and is a must read.

Hurt comfort in a delicious British accent

This is a new narrator for me, but he is lovely! Great voice, fantastic accent work and good feel for characters. He made the story come to life beautifully!

The magic of Jay Northcote's writing to me is the sense of community he creates. He has a wonderful touch for creating a group on friends were each is interesting and unique in his/her/their way. In this series, much like his Housemates books, you get the feeling of an ongoing story and enjoy all the side characters popping in again with an update. The other part of his writing I absolutely adore is how he describes sexuality and sexual acts. Jay brings a realness to every scene, both physically and emotionally, he shows situations that are not pure romantic idealism, and for that I admire his writing and storytelling.
I have to admit it took me a bit of time to get into the story of Cam and Alex, I was a bit put off by the fact Alex is not 18 yet even though it was just a few months and 6 years apart is not such a big age difference. I eventually learned to like them, when Alex grew and matured so did his story and it was an amazing transition to read. They go from casual almost hook-up to friends, to eventual lovers and it took the time it took because Alex needed to understand who he is first, stand up for himself and figure out how he wants to live his life. Cam's refusal to be more than a friend to him is frustrating but in the end it gave them the safe place to be themselves so they can find courage to be a couple. It was a VERY satisfying ending to an emotional journey of self-discovery and growing up.

As always, Jay's writing is funny, witty and sexy, with a bit of angst and a lot of self-restraint to make the fire burn that much hotter when they let go.

Adorable coming of age story

This is as much Alex's story as it is a romance. We meet Alex toward the end of the first book when we discover that Alex's dad is the homophobic letter writer who whips up hate for Rainbow Place, so we know that Alex isn't going to have an easy coming out story. What makes things easier for him is his friendship with Cam, Cam who he's attracted to, and who is attracted to him. But they don't act on this attraction since Alex needs a friend and Cam is commitment shy.
And therein lies the deliciousness of this story: the yearning looks, the slow build UST. All helped along by two engaging MCs. Alex is all young and earnest, Can is older (by 5 years) and scared of losing Alex's friendship if they start something.
I love Rainbow Place, the sense of found family, and all the amazing characters.
And the narrator does an excellent job, instilling the story with a sense of newness and wonder.
Lovely.

Jay's second in the series

Number two with a good ending after a few hiccups along the way and enough spice to keep you happy a good listen hope you enjoy.

Brilliant Audio Book

I started and finished this audio in one night, but it was 4am when it concluded.
Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Alex and Can and Rainbow Place.
Their romance was a slow burn and I actually thought a couple of times that it wouldn't go anywhere but preserver for the HEA.
Lots of characters in this book and twist and I have to say that Hamish once again does this book justice as the Narrator.
I do need to ask though did Jay watch East Enders about 20 years ago, might have to email him and ask....
Once you read or listen you may also ask the question.
Would happily read again and recommend.