Audiobook Review: Summer Heat by Jay Northcote

Summer Heat 

by Jay Northcote

Blurb

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.

Buy Links

https://www.audible.com/pd/Romance/Summer-Heat-Audiobook/B073HJHFQR

http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Fiction/Summer-Heat-Audiobook/B073HJ5YF8

https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Heat/dp/B073HKYG4N/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summer-Heat/dp/B073HHV97F/

*** Audible code provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my listening pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***

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