Hi guys, we have Jay Northcote stopping by today with her new release Practice Makes Perfect, we have a great excerpt, a fantastic giveaway and Aerin’s review, so check out the post and click that giveaway link! <3 ~Pixie~
Practice Makes Perfect
Jay Northcote
Getting experience with the guy next door seems like a great idea—until the lines blur.
Dev, a geeky first year physics student, has zero sexual experience and he’s determined to change that ASAP. After a bad time in halls of residence, he’s starting the summer term with different housemates and a new plan of action.
Ewan lives in the house next door to Dev. He’s young, free and single, and isn’t looking to change that anytime soon. When awkward circumstances throw them together, Ewan offers to help Dev out in the bedroom in return for maths tutoring, and Dev jumps at the chance.
They work their way through Dev’s sex-to- do list, but what starts as a perfect no- strings arrangement gets more complicated as their feelings for each other begin to grow. If they’re going to turn their lessons in lovemaking into something more permanent, they need to work out how they feel about each other—before they get to the end of Dev’s list.
NB: Although this book is part of a series, it is a complete story with different main characters and can be read as a standalone.
Excerpt
Sitting on his bed, Dev yawned, his full stomach making him sleepy. He stared at his phone as he contemplated calling home but decided he couldn’t face it tonight. He loved his mum, but she did tend to bang on. Once she got him on the line, she’d end up talking for ages and asking him a million questions he was too tired to answer. Instead, he sent his mum a quick text.
All moved in, everything’s good. I’m shattered now so I’m going to have an early night. I’ll call you tomorrow.
She replied within seconds as though she’d been waiting for him to call.
Okay sweetie, glad you’re settled. Sleep well xxx
He picked up his notepad and crossed off phone home. Texting counted. He also crossed off everything else on his list for today.
That was Saturday done. Dev set his notepad aside, opened his laptop, and pulled up his lists app. He liked his notepad for day-to- day organisation; it gave him a certain satisfaction to cross out the things he’d done and to get to the end of the day with all the tasks completed. But for longer-term planning, he kept his lists on his Mac, synced to his phone.
For the first time in six months, Dev could breathe again. Finally he had a safe place where he could get back on track and look to the future. He began to type.
Things To Do This Term
Make some friends
Learn to cook
Research sex stuff
Join Grindr
Get some experience
Find a boyfriend
He stared at the words on the screen and sighed. That seemed like a lot of things to aim for. But it was good to have goals, right? Jez and Mac seemed really nice, so hopefully Dev was already on his way to achieving the first objective. And that bloke Ewan… Dev’s mind conjured up the image of the flame-haired hunk who lived next door. Ewan had been friendly.
Maybe there was potential there too.
About Jay
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.
Where to find the author:
Website | Twitter | Facebook profile | Facebook Author Page | Jay’s books
Giveaway!
Win a $10 Amazon or ARe Giftcard!
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Review
Title: Practice Makes Perfect
Series: Housemates #3
Author: Jay Northcote
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novella (168 pages)
ISBN: B01H7V027A
Publisher: Jaybird Press (June 22nd 2016)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3.5 Hearts
Reviewer: Aerin
Blurb: Getting experience with the guy next door seems like a great idea—until the lines blur.
Dev, a geeky first year physics student, has zero sexual experience and he’s determined to change that ASAP. After a bad time in halls of residence, he’s starting the summer term with different housemates and a new plan of action.
Ewan lives in the house next door to Dev. He’s young, free and single, and isn’t looking to change that anytime soon. When awkward circumstances throw them together, Ewan offers to help Dev out in the bedroom in return for maths tutoring, and Dev jumps at the chance.
They work their way through Dev’s sex-to-do list, but what starts as a perfect no-strings arrangement gets more complicated as their feelings for each other begin to grow. If they’re going to turn their lessons in lovemaking into something more permanent, they need to work out how they feel about each other—before they get to the end of Dev’s list.
Length: 54,000 words approx.
This book is a complete story and can be read as a stand-alone
Product Link: https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Makes-Perfect-Housemates-Book-ebook/dp/B01H7V027A
Review: Dev is a geeky physics student, a virgin who has absolutely NO sexual experience and is determined to fix that problem through a hook-up app. After all, Dev loves knowledge, and not having any when it comes to sex makes him feel inadequate. Starting the summer term in a brand new residence with like-minded people is the best opportunity to discover his sexuality that Dev can think of.
Ewan opened a package without checking the delivery address and that changed his life forever. What does one do when accidentally receiving the neighbor’s dildo?… This awkward and embarrassing start to Dev and Owen’s relationship was fun as hell to read, but sadly one of the few original things to happen in Practice Makes Perfect.
So Ewan the ginger hottie, Dev the virgin twink, and a list full of sexual acts ready to cross off, is a cute and totally predictable recipe that will definitely make you smile because it’s CUTENESS OVERLOAD! What starts as a friendship with mutual benefits (don’t forget about the statistics tutoring Ewan gets and the cooking lessons thrown in for Dev’s benefit) becomes emotionally charged when both Dev and Ewan start having those pesky, unwanted feelings for each other.
While I found this book a cute and enjoyable to read, it didn’t blow me away; there were a few things that made me feel bummed, like the lack of ingenuity or originality. There is absolutely no twist or turn to make this story riveting and engaging, basically what I expected is exactly what I got; maybe I’m becoming a picky reader but I expect more from such a talented author. Another thing that had me scratching my head was the way that list of sex acts went… they pretty much checked off each one along the way, but after feelings started getting in the way, both Ewan and Dev were afraid that the list would come to an end and so would their benefits. Umm…. what exactly stopped them from doing each thing on the list more than once? Doing something once isn’t called practice, so they needed much more rinse and repeat for all that to make sense.
Also… We have two smart guys that aren’t immature kids, but who suffer from a total lack of communication. That’s a pet peeve of mine because it shouldn’t be that hard to let someone know you like them by using three simple words… I LIKE YOU. That would’ve taken care of the undue stress and drama.
Overall a nice and enjoyable read but don’t expect anything that blows you away.
