Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Hard Tail

  • Southampton Stories, Book 2
  • By: JL Merrow
  • Narrated by: Philip Rose
  • Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (13 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Hard Tail cover art

Hard Tail

By: JL Merrow
Narrated by: Philip Rose
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Pressure Head cover art
Counter Culture cover art
Wake Up Call cover art
On a Midnight Clear cover art
Face Blind cover art
The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings cover art
Caught! cover art
Daisy Does It Herself cover art
Spring Strings cover art
The Accidental Housemate cover art
Escape to the Art Café cover art
Winter at the Dog & Duck cover art
The Hopes and Dreams of Libby Quinn cover art
A Gentleman Tutor cover art
Secret Santa cover art
A Husband for Hartwell cover art

Summary

Finding love can be a bumpy ride 

With his job and his marriage dead in a ditch, Tim Knight doesn’t take much persuading to leave London for the greener fields of Southampton and look after his injured brother's mountain bike shop. But Tim’s a fish out of water in this brave new world of outdoor sports and technical jargon - not to mention struggling with the realization he can no longer deny his sexuality, at least to himself. 

The reason? Matt Berridge, his brother’s bike mechanic. Fit, tanned, and an adorable klutz, Matt takes a tumble the day they meet and falls straight into Tim’s heart. There’s only one problem: Matt’s boyfriend, who Tim’s convinced is abusing him, despite the stories Matt comes up with to explain away the bruises. 

A black belt in karate, Tim’s no pushover when it comes to physical confrontation. But he’ll need to step his courage up a gear if he’s ever going to come out, be himself - and save the man he’s coming to love.

©2012, 2017 JL Merrow (P)2019 JL Merrow

What listeners say about Hard Tail

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Slow Burn

Hard Tail is one man's acceptance and exploration of his sexuality after the breakdown of his marriage. It's also funny with a very slow burn relationship. Tim is a 'posh tosser' whose life has fallen apart but the break from his normal life in London gives him a freedom to explore the sexuality he's hidden for so long. The story is written solely in Tim's perspective but through him we discover the clumsy but joyous creature that is Matt. Matt who awakens long buried feelings. Matt who is already in a relationship. The two leads are delightful, especially Matt, whose predicament is painfully obvious to the reader. The secondary characters are excellent: Adam, Matt's best friend, is adorable; Tim's family are great, even the ex wife; and Wolverine is one of the best animal sidekicks ever.
The narrator does a great job.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A sweet, coming out, slow-burn

Poor Tim with his unsatisfactory London life - moving to the country to look after his brother's bike shop. Enter sweet, clumsy, bike mechanic Matt. Matt brings out the fun side of Tim, enabling him to accept a part of him previously kept hidden.
I enjoyed this story by JL Merrow, the characters were well developed and believable, and the slow-burn romance was realistic and engaging. I loved cat Wolverine - he added some fantastic and well-placed humour!

Narrator Philip Rose did well, he really brought the stiff and proper side of Tim to life especially. I think he could have improved during the more emotional scenes - although Tim didn't seem the type to verbalise his emotions, Matt and other characters didn't sound quite as emotional as they perhaps should have given the scenes.

All in all, a good listen, and I'd certainly consider more by both author and narrator.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Nothing special

Boring, shallow main characters, predictable story, no character development and lack of tension. Narration was fine. I found Tim's doormat behavior off-putting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!