Title: The Marrying Kind

Series: Owen & Nathan – part 2

Author: Jay Northcote

Genre: contemporary m/m romance

Length: 35,000 words approx

Release date: Friday 17th April 2015

Publisher: self-published (Jaybird Press)

Editor: Sue Adams

Cover artist: Garrett Leigh

 

Series info:

The Marrying Kind is a sequel to The Dating Game. It continues Owen and Nathan’s story, so I recommend you read The Dating Game first. I have no firm plans for more stories about Owen and Nathan. The Marrying Kind has a definite happy ending, so please consider their story complete for now.

Blurb:

Nathan wants to put a ring on it, but is Owen the marrying kind?

Two years on from their first date, Owen and Nathan are living together and life is good—except they’re not on the same page about marriage.

A traditionalist at heart, Nathan wants it all: the wedding, the vows, and a pair of matching rings. Owen, on the other hand, believes marriage is old-fashioned and unnecessary. They don’t need a wedding to prove their commitment to each other. Love should be enough on its own.

All it takes is one moment of weakness on a night out to force the issue. Owen finds himself engaged after a half-drunk proposal, and Nathan’s enthusiasm sweeps him along. But as the big day approaches, the mounting tension finally combusts.

If he’s going to save their relationship, Owen will need to decide once and for all if he’s truly the marrying kind.

Marieke’s Review 

This is the sequel to The Dating Game, where we met Nathan and Owen. They are now living together and are very happy. Nathan is just missing something, a show of commitment. It’s not like he’s unhappy without it, but he feels the need to stand up with Owen and demonstrate his love and commitment to his family and friends.

Owen doesn’t believe in marriage. His father was a cheating bastard, who made his childhood very hard sometimes. What if his marriage to Nathan would turn out just like that?

*Spoiler alert*
Owen secretly thinks he might be a bit too much like his father, and doesn’t have it in himself to be a good husband. But because he was the one to propose and the wedding plans are in a advanced stage, he doesn’t want to say anything about it. The longer he puts that off, the more he’s scared of hurting Nathan. Losing his job isn’t making him feel any brighter either, and he’s a bloody pain to live with for a while.

Nathan and his brother want to go hiking in Scotland for a weekend, but Owen is busy looking for a new job. Just before Nathan walks out of the door, Owen says the one thing he shouldn’t have and they have an argument ending with Nathan leaving without kissing Owen goodbye.

It takes a smart younger sister for Owen to see his real problem with marriage and Nathan getting hurt for things to get things back on track.

This story was sweet and very funny, but also very predictable. The writing is wonderful though, especially the British slang makes it come across as pretty real. We already know Owen and Nathan, so that feels familiar and a bit like a warm bath. The only real issue I had with this story was that it doesn’t feel as a new book to me. It’s too much a sequel. Like the little chapter at the end of Harry Potter that says 19 years later.

Maybe if the plot line had been a bit more original, or there had been more angst or action? But right now it feels like a really long epilogue to me. A sweet one, but still.

RATING: 

Dan’s Review

In “The Marrying Kind” Jay continues the story of Nathan and Owen from “The Dating Game”.  They’ve moved on from the dating thing and have now been living with each other for awhile.  Nathan though suspects Owen isn’t happy with the relationship.

Then to Nathan’s surprise, after they’ve had a few cocktails one evening, Owen proposes!  He asks Nathan to marry him.  But did he really mean it, or was it the alcohol talking?  The next day, after avoidance on both their parts, it turns out that Owen did mean it.

Their families are thrilled and everyone wants to pitch in and help plan for the big day, especially their mothers.  But Owen isn’t as on board as he has been saying he is, and Nathan is again getting suspicious.  To be fair to Owen, his parents are divorced, and still hostile to each other.  That is the only type of relationship he knows, and he worries he will be a lousy husband to Nathan.  To make things worse, Owen’s job is on the line and losing the job will mean a loss of all his income and him having to rely on Nathan to support him.  He is used to standing on his own and not comfortable with being a “kept” man.

It all comes to an explosive ending when Nathan is leaving to go hiking in the Scotland mountains with his brother.  Owen tells him the truth about his indecision about the wedding, and after quarreling harshly, Nathan leaves without them kissing goodbye.  Then he proceeds to not answer any of Owen’s text messages or calls.

When Nathan and his brother are caught in a freak snowstorm and trapped on the mountain top, all hope might be lost.  Is it too late?

This book really did read as more of a conclusion of the first book, rather than a standalone book.  It could not, and should not, be read as a standalone.  That said, as a two book series, I recommend both “The Dating Game” and “The Marrying Kind”.  Jay Northcote never fails to please.  My rating is based on reading both books together.  I would rate slightly lower based just on this second book, but hey, I just read them together and it worked well! 🙂  So yes, you read correctly.  My recommendation is you go purchase both books immediately and read them back to back for a sweet love story!

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon

ARe: 

Smashwords

 

Nathan glanced surreptitiously at Owen sitting beside him as Jack and Simon spoke their vows. Jack’s voice was quiet but sure, and Simon’s rang out clearly over the assembled crowd.

 

Owen’s gaze was fixed on the couple, and his eyes were suspiciously bright. As Nathan watched, Owen cleared his throat and wiped what Nathan assumed was a tear out of the corner of his eye.

 

Nathan suppressed a smile and turned his attention back to the groom and groom. So much for Owen’s protests that he didn’t see the point in weddings and that they were outdated, pointless events that were stupid even for straight couples unless they were religious. Even if he didn’t believe in the principle of marriage—gay or otherwise—it was nice to see he wasn’t totally immune to the emotion of the occasion. Nathan was going to enjoy taking the piss out of Owen later. But in the meantime, he reached for Owen’s hand and squeezed. Owen squeezed back.

 

Nathan’s eyes were moist too by the time they’d finished. The part where the celebrant said “I now pronounce you husband and husband” really set him off. Simon looked so utterly radiant after he and Jack finally stopped kissing and turned to face the wedding guests, hand in hand. Jack was flushed and awkward compared to Simon. He obviously wasn’t happy being the centre of attention, unlike his new husband, but his smile was genuine and the joy rolled off both of them, touching everyone in the room.

 

Nathan sighed. Owen’s hand was still in his. Their fingers were tangled together casually—just like their lives. They’d been in a relationship for over two years now, living together for half of that, and Nathan had never been happier. But looking at Simon and Jack, he wanted more. He wanted that. But he was afraid to ask Owen, because he was pretty sure what his answer would be, and it wouldn’t be the one Nathan hoped for.

 

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.

www.jaynorthcote.com

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