Lisa Henry

4.5 Stars!

This is a Lisa Henry I’ve never seen before. Well, maybe with her DiscontentedWinter alter ego, but I typically associate her with angst, drama, and suspense. This was the complete opposite.

Know that you’ll get totally likeable characters in the spastic Nick, who lacks a bit of confidence but never on spewing what’s immediately on his mind. It’s his last summer before college and there’s lots of pressure to prepare for the next level. However, Nick’s drowning in the expectations others have of him, and all he wants to do is hook up with his sexy coworker Jai.

Jai’s time in town is fleeting. He’s home for the summer to earn money before he leaves off again to travel the world for the rest of the year, but there’s a snag in his plans and it comes in the form of the bumbling, no filter Nick, who propositions him. How can Jai say no?

This overflows with funny and embarrassment and cock blocking in all forms of epic proportions. It was smart with pop culture love, and this made me laugh as Nick and Jai struggle to figure out their wants and needs and goals. Don’t worry, as this never shorts the reader on the feels either.

I should know better than to think Henry could ever be a one note author. Again, full of humor that’s in the spirit of American Pie but oh so much more. This was a fabulous reprieve from #reallifeproblems that I very much appreciated and was perfectly, just what I needed!
… (més)

No comments? Though a 4.5 score. This Star-crossed series has beautiful tender scenes ... I get it: what is there to say?

The cover blurb says this is a series where regular guys meet famous ones. In books #1 and #2 the regular guys are as far from rock star groupies as you can get - they haven't heard of the famous person.

Ben, a college student who lives in the cocoon of his Baptist religion, meets Marco, a kid who liked music and suddenly found rock star fame with his friend Zane. Marco is older, though still in his 20s I think, and is the regular guy when it comes to sexual experience. He's drawn to the beauty and naivety of Ben who has never been kissed or held, and is full of need to experience something/anything before following his lot in life of being matched with a pretty equally naive girl and having children.

So in these stories, the rock stars get to cross paths with regular people and be themselves - not their images or stage personas or media myths. This premise has a wonderful innocence of discovery and being discovered without the impositions of the 'real world'. And with Lisa Henry's gift for creating magic when two people connect, these relatively short sweet novels are magnetic.

You would search hard to find a more magically romantic series than this one.

I read the 3 novels out of sequence, this one last, but it was thrilling to meet Carter and Noah again - and have narrator Gary Furlong reaching for the Aussie accent for Noah. And there was reference to Xander, Zane's motocross star brother, whom we meet in book #3.

I've listened to the audiobooks, so I get the bonus of Gary Furlong bringing the characters to life.

I just looked up his website where he says: His narrations have been praised for their engaging, captivating, and immersive qualities, with reviewers noting his ability to bring characters and stories to life through his voice acting.

No hyperbole there! - that exactly describes his narrations. His voice is "warm, friendly" says some people-metre gauge.

I've listened to him many times. He won an Audie in 2021 for THE GOOD HAWK by Joseph Elliott, in the Middle Grade category. And he does a great job with Romance.… (més)

I would describe Not Until Noah as the quintessential 2020s romance novel - not too light, not to dark, a mix of drama and romantic comedy. Joyful/sad. Follows a conventional story arc but the devices, trope, etc are artfully blended to disguise these conventions sufficiently that you are not conscious of being manipulated.

The trope here is celebrity meets nobody, and celebrity who wants to be seen for himself falls for the guy who is an innocent in the world. Noah isn't out for what he can get from the famous person - not a bit. Australian, Noah works as a nanny while he finishes university. American movie star, Carter is living temporarily on the Gold Coast, Australia, making a film; he needs a nanny for his 9? year old daughter. Noah's family is from the Solomon Islands and touching upon this culture adds to the story.

I loved this novel from the get-go, and if anything the novel at 7.33 hrs was too short and I found myself hoping there was a sequel for these two - but I don't believe there is.

Actor Carter being closeted made me wonder if in 10 years? 20 years? we'll read these novels that revolve around the angst of "being closeted" and find them boring and dated! If so, it will be a better world by far.

I feel sure I've read more than 2 Lisa Henry novels, but my records show otherwise. She's written 83 novels across several genres.… (més)