Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Better Place
SERIES: Rainbow Place #3
AUTHOR: Jay Northcote
PUBLISHER: Jaybird Press
LENGTH: 262 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 20, 2019
BLURB:
Joe deserves better. Meeting Dylan helps him see that.
After a recent redundancy, Joe takes a few months off to try and make it as a writer. His partner, Harry, is less than supportive but Joe is used to that after ten years together, just like he’s used to Harry’s controlling nature and his drinking habit.
Dylan, a server at Rainbow Place, is fascinated by Joe as he sits in the café and works on his laptop. His attempts to flirt are met with awkwardness at first, but gradually Joe opens up. Dylan is disappointed when he learns Joe isn’t single. As their friendship develops he begins to worry about the nature of Joe’s relationship, especially when he witnesses Harry’s behaviour in person. Abuse isn’t always physical, and Dylan knows that from experience. His concern helps Joe see his relationship for what it is, and gives him the courage to end things with Harry.
Free to act on their mutual attraction, Joe and Dylan dive headlong into something that becomes serious fast. Joe revels in the passion and intimacy he’s been missing out on for so long, but Dylan is worried that Joe is on the rebound. He puts on the brakes, knowing that they need to slow down to make this last. For this new relationship to work, Joe needs to show Dylan that he’s ready to move on from the past.
REVIEW:
I’d like to say right off, that the timing of this review could not have happened at a worse time. This week happens to be one of the busiest we have all year at my day-job, and I’ve been pulling double-digit work days in order to stay on top of everything. Needless to say, I’m a little spacey and a lot tired. Luckily for you, me, and the whole of the cosmos, this book actually turned out to be my favorite of the series. So that means I don’t have to be extremely grumpy on top of exhausted. Unfortunately…my brain is practically a sieve at this point. If this review comes across as a bit vague, that is why. My brain could either retain the correct spelling of “licensure” or the minute details of this story. It went with the one that brings in the (small) bucks. Apologies all ’round
I’m pretty sure that the two main characters in this book, Joe and Dylan, appear in the other two stories, as side characters. I don’t think we knew much about them coming into this story, though. Dylan works at the cafe, Rainbow Place, and Joe is a teacher, between teaching gigs, who is making a stab at finally writing those YA novels he has always wanted to write. Joe had been made redudent (aka “fired,” by any other name), several months ago, and he gave himself six months to focus solely on his writing before he went out looking for another teaching position. He is able to do this because his partner, Harry, has a rather nice job and agreed to support them in the meantime. (Spoiler warning: Harry is a giant douche, don’t get too attached to him.)
Dylan and Joe get talking since Joe uses the cafe as his writing place, and affection soon starts to grow between them. But Joe is still with the asshole…er, Harry, so they try to keep things just friends. I can give you two guesses on how well that is going to go.
Overall I had a lot of fun with this. It sometimes felt like it was taking forever for Dylan and Joe to get together, but I do appreciate that Jay Northcote took the time let the whole Harry situation sort itself out. And slow-burns are always going to be more my style, so I am hardly one to complain about this. For others, though, I can see how the amount of time it takes Joe to realize just how absolute trash Harry is, can be a bit much. But I think if you stick it out, it is well worth the time it takes for things to swing into gear.
I don’t have too many complaints about this story. Like I said, it turned out to be my favorite of the three so far. I think it did tend to swing a bit to far in the direction of focusing more on Joe than Dylan; not really to the level that it affected my enjoyment of the story, but I do wish that I got more about Dylan’s whole life. We did get some really important bits, though, so I’m not too terribly put out.
The writing was good. The characters were interesting. And despite the fact that my brain is an absolute shambles this week, I didn’t have any problem staying immersed in the story. A good read when you are in desperate need of soft come-down from a very stressful day.
RATING: 
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