Summer Heat

By: Jay Northcote

Narrated by: Mark Steadman

Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

A summer fling is an ideal cure for a broken heart. But when it's with your best friend, things get complicated.

When Adam is dumped by his boyfriend, a week away at a beach resort seems like a great opportunity to get over his ex. Sun, sea, and no-strings sex will be just the boost he needs to move on with his life.

Adam's best friend, Finn, agrees to accompany him at short notice. Finn's had a crush on Adam for years, but is determined to put his feelings aside and be the perfect wingman in Adam's time of crisis.

A spontaneous threesome with another guy forces Adam and Finn to confront their attraction to each other. Having a holiday fling together wasn't part of the plan, and as their trip heats up, they soon realize that one night of fun won't be enough for either of them.

The passion might be scorching, but their hearts and friendship are on the line. If their romance is going to survive the flight home, they have to be honest about what they want.

©2017 Jay Northcote (P)2017 Jay Northcote

3.5 Stars

Any additional comments?

If you're looking for a steamy, friends to lovers, beach/holiday listen with fairly low angst and you've liked Jay Northcote in the past - you should definitely check this out.

There's no reinvention of the wheel here. It's pretty formulaic, and similar in tone and plot to other Northcote novels.

When Adam finds out his long-term boyfriend/fiancé is leaving him for another man, he goes to his best friend, Finn, for comfort. Finn ends up going with Adam on a summer holiday to Spain that had originally been for Adam and the ex.

The plan is simple, tried, and true - get over his ex by getting under someone new.

There's definitely some high steamy moments here - starting with a threesome that acts as the catalyst to Adam and Finn finally breaking the friends-only barrier. Once the wall is down it's all sex, all the time.

There's also the obvious miscommunication where neither Finn or Adam can tell they are falling for the other and keep saying things that make it seem like they want to only remain friends, when the opposite is totally the case.

Of course, there's finally the AHA! moment where they finally gets themselves on the same page and there's a HFN/HEA to be had in the end.

Mark Steadman narrates the British character voices with ease and it's an easy listen overall for the most part. I once again noticed Steadman's pacing as I continue to have issues with his excessive pauses and his inflection at times. However, I was prepared for his performance as it seems that's just how he narrates.

All in all I recommend Summer Heat if you're in the mood for a quick listen with a lot of sexy times coupled with a light, low-angst read.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Summer Heat

Any additional comments?

Summer Heat is exactly the type of story that I expect from Jay Northcote. This is a friends to lovers story with no real angst and a lot of focus on sex. Adam is dumped by his fiance, who has been cheating on him with a younger man. Adam runs to his best friend, Finn, for a place to stay and comfort. Finn hates that Adam is upset, but he's happy that Adam is now single. Finn's never liked Adam's fiance and has had a crush on him but never had a chance to act on it. Adam is setting in when he suddenly remembers the vacation he had already paid for and instead of his fiance, Finn goes in his place. Of course, the two men have to share a room and a bed on this vacation. Finn's pretty obsessed with getting Adam naked with someone else, but all of that changes when the two are involved in a threesome. Once Adam and Finn are together, there's no going back and what's supposed to be a vacation fling turns into more.

Both men are likable, but Adam more so, in my opinion. Finn grated on my nerves with his obsession with getting Adam in bed with someone else. I wanted to just tell Finn to grow a backbone and tell Adam what he wanted. If it wasn't for Adam being an adult and saying, I want a relationship with you, they'd still be friends with Finn crushing and Adam having no idea. Seriously, communication is an important part of a relationship. If they're not adult enough to talk, how are they going to have a successful relationship? Sometimes this story felt like they were men in their very early 20's, then 30 year old men. And, I think like all of the author's work, there was a lot of heat between characters!

The narrator of this story is Mark Steadman and I seem to go back and forth in how I feel about listening to him. I like that his voice is authentic to the books that I've listened to. He keeps a fairly good pace, and in this story I didn't feel that his non-dialogue bits were as monotone as in a previous book I listened with him as a narrator. He's fantastic at the dialogue and bringing emotions to the story. But, he pauses in the middle of a sentence, and I find that very distracting. I try to imagine the sentence written to determine if there's a comma there and that's why he's pausing but then I'm distracted by the story trying to figure it out. He does give the characters individual voices, but women voices or a Spanish accent is not his strong point based on this audio.

If you're looking for a fun, friends to lovers story, low angst story this is definitely for you! I enjoyed this book, even though I felt at times it had very little surprising moments. Even the ending with Adam's ex-fiance, I knew that would happen before it did. This is the book that you grab when you need time to just ignore what's going on in the real world, and get some steamy action and love happening.


Overall: 4
Performance: 4
Story: 4

A Cute Quick Listen

What’s a guy to do when his fiance comes home and announces he’s in love with someone else? Take a cab to the one place he knows he’ll be welcomed.

What’s a guy to do when his mate shows up in the middle of the night? Invite him in, get out the booze, and commiserate with him.

What’s a guy to do when he realizes he’s booked a vacation and he’s supposed to go with his scum of an ex? Invite his best friend to go with him.

And what’s a guy to do when his best friend invites him to join in a threesome?

Well, to get that answer, you’ll have to listen to the book. Jay has written a low-angst, high testosterone story about two friends Finn and Adam. Finn has had a crush on Adam for as long as he can remember, but Adam has been living with someone Finn has always detested. Having Adam show up on his doorstep and then propose they go on vacation together is a dream come true.

A few adventures and mishaps later, Finn and Adam are seeing each other very differently.

The real question is – is it just the summer heat or is this for a lifetime?

Mark Steadman is a great narrator and did a wonderful job on this book.

Love this story

Would you try another book from Jay Northcote and/or Mark Steadman?

I have read all of Jays books I love his writing especially as he is from the UK and he writes in setting that I have been too and can relate to. I don't want my review to take away from the brilliance of Jays book. However the narrator was not for me.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved both Adam and Finn as much as each other they both brought something special to the book and that is why I love Jays writing

What didn’t you like about Mark Steadman’s performance?

I could connect with this narrator it felt like I was listening to a book being told by a news reporter, the pauses were unnatural and very mono tonned,it felt like he was narrating this book like he had just had it placed in front of him. When a book is being told by both POV and they are the same sex there should be a little effort made to a least make the characters sound different but it wasn't the case with this audio and I sometimes got lost in who was talking.

Loved this sizzling summer story!

This is a super friends-to-lovers novella based around a summer vacation. Finn tries to help his best friend recover from a recent break-up by accompanying him on holiday to a gay resort in Spain. The aim is to make the most of Adam’s newfound freedom, but both men’s feelings for each other takeover, but not before a delicious threesome takes place.

What I love about this story, apart from the hot make-out sessions and possessiveness about each other, are the main characters themselves and their internal struggle with the idea of taking their friendship further. Both men are afraid intimacy might ruin the relationship they already share. At the same time, they are fearful this special time together will be restricted solely to the week in Spain and therefore will end soon.

Jay’s writing always sparks lots of lovely tingles, often edged with a touch of angst. Summer Heat is a quick, easy read/listen, with a great mini epilogue that works well. Very enjoyable!

I've come to associate Mark Steadman with Jay's stories. His voice suits the age and personalities of the British characters. His narration is always steady and clear, with added 'zing' during the emotional and passionate scenes. Great job.

Grab the suncream before listening to this book!

I absolutely loved this book. I read it when it came out originally and loved every bit of it. The story of friends to lovers is always a good one. The additional extra of it happening while they were on holiday just gives it that extra hotness factor, and I'd challenge anyone who fails to imagine themselves in a sunny resort in Spain surrounded by hot men while reading the book!
When you listen to a book you've read before there's always the potential of a disconnect between what you imagine in your head and how the narrator brings it to life.
I am new to Mark Steadman and have only ever listened to one other book he narrated but I am coming to realize that he is excellent at dialog. Every time we have characters in conversation I can always tell who is who and the passion always comes through. Mark is able to convey the right emotion required in each part.
Overall I loved listening to this audiobook and recommend it, particularly if you're about to go on holiday or want to be on holiday.

Perfect read on holibobs

I first read this book on my kindle and was excited to listen to it on audio - I'm starting to be a big fan of audio books as I seem to be on the move a lot more now and I can still take my library with me!

Friends to lovers story, an easy uncomplicated story with no angst (hoorah!) and enough heat to rival the Spanish sunshine!!

Adam - recently dumped by his arse of an ex (Drew) takes his BFF Finn as his replacement to a Spanish resort for some sea, sand and sangria (I may be lying about the sangria....). They start to see/notice non-friendly thing about each other and when they find themselves in a threesome, it's definitely the start of them being "more" than friends. There was a little dallying around "what will happen to our friendship" but thankfully, this did not slide into the miscommunication pit of despair.

I was quickly invested in Adam and Finn, both very likable characters and obviously well suited for each other! Unfortunately, Drew-the-cheater-arsehat made a few unwanted appearances but Niall, Ash and the boys added the banter and made me grin on more than one occasion!

I have couple of teeny weenie niggles - even though Adam and Finn have been friends for many years and the foundation for their relationship was already established, I felt that Adam jumped a little too quickly into Finn's arms. For the end of a 5-year relationship, there was really only one night of tears given over his break-up with Drew and especially as Adam was the injured party, it just felt a tad too fast....

And the narrator.....I like the fact that Jay's books are based in Good Ol' Blighty and in turn has narrators with fairly neutral English accents, but I struggled with this one. Mr Steadman often sounded like he was reading the shipping forecast with every sentence ending in a question....adding at times, a slight aussie twang to the narrative.....it slowly drove me bonkers....

Overall, the story ends on a strong HFN and left me with the serious warm and fuzzies. But sadly for me, I don't feel that the audio did the story justice.

Even better the second "read" through!

Jay has written the perfect low angst, sweet, friends-to-lovers, summer read.

Adam has just been cheated on and dumped by his older boyfriend, Drew. He takes his best friend, Finn, on the romantic vacation to Spain that he was supposed to go on with Drew, for some sun, sea, sand, and sex.

Finn has been secretly crushing on Adam since they met but it was never the right time and he didn't want to risk their amazing friendship. While spending a week sharing a bed at a gay resort in Spain sounded great, Finn wondered if he could keep his feeling a secret.

After a threesome with one of the other guests, Adam and Finn's relationship took a turn for the romantic. A weeks worth of holiday "fling" was the best way to get Adam out of Finn's mind. But when Adam starts to have feelings for Finn...will one week be enough?

Finn and Adam's story has just the right amount of everything. The transition from friends to lovers feels real (some stories it feels a little too fast). They went from best friends with a strong connection, to lovers with that same connection turning into love. With just a touch of angst to make things interested, a little (maybe more than a little) jealousy to spice things up, and a perfect amount of sexy time to make everything HOT!!!, Summer Heat is the perfect summertime beach read!!

Mark does a great job bringing Finn and Adam to life with his voice and creating a nice flow with Jay's words!

A delightful gay romance

I have admired May Northcote's romances ever since I read Into Him several years ago. This one was no exception.

Easy listening

Whilst this is an enjoyable story in its own right, the narrator made me think of Jez!