My old patterns continue. I'm about to binge-read through all of/most of Jay Northcote's work. Starting with his Housemates series. The four novel (the second full-length novel in this series) is titled "Watching and Wanting."
["Watching Jude’s cam show stirs desires Shawn’s always denied...
Shawn is adrift. Recently graduated, he’s stuck in a dead-end job that barely pays the bills. His girlfriend dumped him, his friends have moved on, and he’s still in Plymouth—going nowhere.
Jude is a student living in the same shared house. Out and proud, he’s everything Shawn’s been running from since he hit puberty. When Shawn discovers Jude works as a cam boy, he can’t resist the urge to watch one of his shows. It makes Shawn want things that scare him, yet his fascination forces him to confront his attraction.
Keen to explore his bicurious side, Shawn suggests they do a show together. Jude agrees, and things get complicated—and kinky—fast. But Jude isn’t looking to get involved with someone so deep in the closet. If Shawn’s going to get what he wants, he needs to find the courage to stop hiding from himself and be honest about who he is."]
I kinda knew Shawn would end up getting his own book. Because that's how books work. Especially the romance genre. Especially this particular branch of the romance genre. And I figured that he would work that whole redemption-arc, secretly-queer-or-will-be-but-can't-accept-it-because-internalized-homophobia-and-toxic-masculinity. Which, I'm not mad about, because that's real-life and I always believe in a good redemption arc. Though, I know a lot of people aren't (because real-life people don't always deserve a redemption art--neither to fictional people *cough* Snape *cough*--especially if they're a noted bully previously in the series to previous main characters--which Shawn was, though he apologized). Therefore, I had no problems with him, especially after reading him through his own POV and knowing how he thinks, but I know people might.
Okay, onto the rest of the review.... I really, really liked these two. Shawn was so shy and closeted (pun intended) about his desires and dreams, but Jude just wasn't and has never been. They balance each other out. They want the same things in the bedroom, but outside of the bedroom, they've become really close friends who look out for each other and push each other to do their best.
They kind of just jumped headfirst into the sex thing. But it was seriously hot. And they taaaaaalked. Granted, not about their feelings, but about boundaries and safe words in their sexual relationship, which is just as fucking important (that #consentissexy thing). There was a brief sub-drop scene, but Jude gently helped Shawn into an aftercare situation got both of them back out of the scene safely. And it forced them both to realize their true feelings for each other, which, I'm never mad about. ;)
TRIGGER WARNINGS: homophobia, internalized homophobia, self-hatred, social anxiety, anger issues, sub-drop, sex work for an online platform, again as if sex work isn't a real career which it is, etc
#watchingandwanting #jaynorthcote #helpinghand #likealover #practicemakesperfect #macandjezdovalentinesday #startingfromscratch #prettyinpink #housemates #housematesseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks
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