Nothing Serious

Nice story of Mark and Jamie finding their way in a new relationship. I love that Mark was honest with himself and with his ex to be who he really is. But that they could stay friends too.

Jamie was sweet and I know his relationship with Mark took him a little by surprise because he likes the nothing serious kind of relationships. But the heart wants what the heart wants.

Now what I didn’t like was that the narrator was obviously not from the same part of the world as the characters. Having an American accent when both the characters are obviously from the London area well it threw the book off for me.

And I love Michael Pauley’s work so it wasn’t him per se it was just that it was so glaringly obvious.

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I’m a little confused.

I’m a fan of Jay Northcote’s work and this is not my first audiobook of either Northcote’s or Michael Pauley’s. I checked the date because I was sure this had been made years ago for two very big reasons. Number one: this was not Michael Pauley’s best work. Not in the slightest. There really wasn’t a lot of variation in the voices and I’m aware that Michael Pauley can do much, much better. I have audiobooks in my library that prove that. Not to mention that it really didn’t sound like him at all. And number two...this is based across the pond. Towards the beginning, its mentioned that Mark’s mom lived in Ireland and then his Irish-Catholic upbringing, so I would assume he doesn’t have an American accent. Frankly, considering the language used in the book (“bugger”), it just makes the whole audiobook seem off since there aren’t appropriate accents at all. Was Mark Steadman not available? All that said, the story is classic Northcote and that part is everything I had wanted. I would have just preferred to have a more realistic narration.

2 people found this helpful

Seriously good...

Nothing Serious is an early Jay Northcote novella. I read it a few years ago and enjoyed it. I was interested to hear how Michael Pauley narrated a story set in the UK.

This sweet tale is easy to follow and an entertaining listen. There’s no real angst or heavy drama. Mark’s ex-girlfriend is supportive, as is the hunky Jamie, who selflessly offers himself up for Mark to explore his ‘newfound’ sexuality. They both declare the experiment would be ‘nothing serious’ and the problem only arises when it does become more serious for both guys. Neither of them is willing to express their developing feelings in case they run the risk of scaring the other off.

I liked the characters—both the main ones and the secondary ones, the UK setting, the low-angst and the fact that this is a sweet romance with two guys falling in love and no major drama. The sizzling bedroom scenes sprinkled throughout are an additional bonus. Mark and Jamie are considerate, nice guys. Both are mature and sensible. They have some good times together.

I’m from the UK, but I’m very picky when it comes to choosing audiobooks set there. Or rather, the narrators who have been chosen to perform the stories. Many come across as too old or too ‘BBC’ for the story and if narrated by a US narrator, the accents can be either too cockney or too posh. I often can’t get passed the sample on Audible, let alone the whole story.

I was eager to hear how Michael narrated this story. If I didn’t know it was Michael, I would never have guessed it was him. We don’t get his usual ‘rasping/growly’ voice, which I think worked for this story and the characters. He did a very good job at creating a neutral British accent. It occasionally has an Irish lilt, but then one of the characters has Irish blood. Michael made the story entertaining and easy to listen to. Well done!

1 person found this helpful

British story with American accent...not a good fit

Story: Straightforward and tender love story of a young man coming out and a relationship-phobic young man meeting his match. It is hard to create a fully robust character in a short story, but the author captured the angst of tripping into a 1st time sexual relationship after coming out and the confident and gentle nature of the more experienced partner. The reversal of roles, older person being the virgin to M/M relationship and the younger character being the teacher, was a nice spin. I also enjoyed the author creating a space for Mark, who split from his girlfriend after coming out, and his now ex-girlfriend being friends considering how much time they were together. It shows a very pleasant transition for a couple post coming out. Jamie’s dyslexia was addressed and Mark’s seamless/matter-of-fact assurances that it was just a thing to deal with rather than a hindrance to success, was well integrated. The sex scenes, both the hot steamy ones and the tender romantic ones, were well written.

Narrator: I have enjoyed Michael Pauley as a narrator for other things, but not in this case. It did not seem like a good fit for this story. This story obviously takes place in England with jargon that is unique to that region, I question the choice of having the narrator use an American accent. At one point, early in the story, the narrator appeared to be giving a Boston accent to the Jamie’s older brother. This was a case where the sample would not have allowed me to decide if audible was the proper way for me to enjoy this book. I listened to the 1st two chapters only because I was driving, but the minute I got home, I switched to the kindle version.

Overall-If you are able to withstand the disconnect between the accent and the dialogue, by all means enjoy. If not, read it in Kindle.

Adorable Romance

Mark and Jamie meet when Mark is moving out of his old life with his ex-girlfriend, and into his new life as an out gay man. The chemistry between Mark and Jamie is instant, and they don’t fight against their attraction. Instead, they begin a casual sex relationship that soon turns into something more. I loved how Jay Northcote developed both Mark and Jamie, they were likeable and well crafted, especially for such a short book. Watching them fall in love was sweet, and the sex scenes were hot and delicious. Overall, this was a wonderful book to read. A perfect comfort read that has quality writing and adorable characters.

Good story and narration

This was a very good book. The author concentrates on the relationship between the main characters and gave good background info. Low angst. Narrator was very good as well. The story obviously takes place in England, but the lack of English accent did not detract from the story at all.

Great Audio Book!

I really liked everything about this book. It was pretty mellow in that there wasn’t a lot of angst. Sometimes it’s just nice to listen to a good story with a HEA! I noticed some comments about the narrator not having a British accent. That didn’t bother me at all. I loved the fact that the MC’s sounded their age. I’ve listened to a lot lately where the voices of the characters sounded way to old, this was a nice change!

should have been a British narrator

I Hate that this was done with an American accent. Besides it being stated as being in England, there's frequent usage of British words/terms/phrases that just sound completely wrong coming out of his mouth. I like Michael Pauley, but not for this title. it completely distracted me.

What An Interesting Experiment...

It’s my first Jay Northcote novel and I’m glad I picked this one.

If you’re looking for an almost zero angst, sweet love story and hot sexy times, then this audiobook is for you.

This is a story about Mark who finally chose to live his truth. He came out to his longtime girlfriend, Rachel. He had to move out of their house & that’s when he met Jaime, who was one of the movers.

It’s a story about self discovery, enjoying friendship with additional benefits. They both got more than what they’ve agreed upon. It’s almost zero angst. And I need something like this, so it worked out perfectly.

Michael Pauley is one of my most favorite narrator. I love him, however, this book is actually set in the Uk. I was hoping that we’ll hear Michael with an accent. Alas, it did not happen. 😔 that was my only disappointment. His voice is incredible and even without the proper accent.

American narrator for British characters

Boo!!! So annoying - hire a narrator who is at least willing to make an attempt at accents. British and Irish characters which obvious colloquialisms pronounced in the American accent = SO IRRITATING. Ruined an otherwise good story.