Title:
Helping Hand
Author:
Jay Northcote
Publisher:
Jaybird Press (self published)
Length:
33,000 words
Genre:
Contemporary gay romance
Cover
Artist: Garrett Leigh
Release
Date: Friday June 26th
Wanking with a mate isn’t
gay—as long as you keep your hands to yourself.
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.
Excerpt:
Afterwards, Jez blamed the alcohol for
loosening his tongue, because he didn’t think about it before he spoke. The
words tumbled out before he could stop them.
“Man, I’m seriously horny now. Have you got
any decent porn on that laptop?”
“Huh?” Mac snapped his head around to
meet Jez’s gaze. Jez’s heart pounded erratically, but his dick was still
standing to attention. “What… you mean, you want to wank in here? Now? Wouldn’t that be weird?” Mac
sounded seriously freaked out.
Jez backtracked quickly, cheeks hot.
“It doesn’t have to be weird. I’ve done it before with guys at school, and it’s
never been a big deal. But don’t worry about it. I’ll go and watch my own stash
instead. But I need something soon, ’cause I’m gonna explode after watching
that sex scene.”
Jez was expecting an instant no from
Mac. He wouldn’t have blamed him. A lot of guys wouldn’t be into what Jez was
suggesting. Jez’s heart still thumped hard, but his arousal didn’t abate
despite his anxiety. He was shocked by how much he wanted this.
Mac bit his lip and frowned.
“Seriously. You’ve done that?”
Jez shrugged, trying to look
nonchalant. “Yeah. Like I said, it was no big deal. Just guys messing around.”
Mac stared a moment longer, then he
stood, and Jez’s heart sank as he walked away. But Mac only went to fetch his
laptop from the dining table. He sat back down and then opened it and tapped in
his password.
“What sort of stuff do you wanna
watch?” Mac’s voice was gruff and he focused on the screen rather than Jez.
Fuck. They were really going to do this,
then.
My thoughts:
What can I say? It is getting very hard
to write about Jay Northcote’s books without repeating myself because she consistently
gets it spot on. Helping Hand, like every previous book by her I’ve read, drew
me in from the opening paragraph and kept me hooked until the very last
sentence.
This is a sweet, somewhat angsty and
very hot story. Mac and Jez's journey from friends via friends with benefits to
more than friends was compelling and the characters themselves were vivid,
realistic and relatable.
While this is a light and mostly fun
read, it did provide me with food for thought. It must be very confusing when
you suddenly find yourself attracted to somebody of the same gender when you’ve
always considered yourself straight. I was mesmerized with Mac’s journey from
denial, to enjoyment to the realisation that no matter how much he might want
to blame it all on lust there was more happening between him and Jez. And I
loved how Jay Northcote dealt with Jez and Mac’s confusion as to how to label
themselves in the future.
“Labels can be restrictive. Sometimes
you need to stop thinking about gender and sexuality and focus on the person.
If you care about them, if you feel good when you’re with them, if you’re hot
for them...then what does any of the rest matter?”
What does the rest matter indeed. As a
fervent hater of labels in general, this quote spoke to my heart and my
believes.
Once again, I highly recommend a book
by Jay Northcote. Written so fluidly the book almost reads itself, Helping
Hand will entertain and excite you in equal measure.
Author Bio:
Jay lives just
outside Bristol in the West of England, with her husband, two children, and two
cats.
She comes from a
family of writers, but she always used to believe that the gene for fiction
writing had passed her by. She spent years only ever writing emails, articles,
or website content. One day, she decided to try and write a short story–just to
see if she could–and found it rather addictive. She hasn’t stopped writing
since.
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