Title: Nothing Special
Author: Jay Northcote
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages/Word Count: 187 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Blurb: Noah thinks he’s nothing special. Average height, a bit on the skinny side, and cute but rather geeky, he’s relentlessly ordinary. He certainly doesn’t expect to be noticed by Sol, the gorgeous dark-haired stranger Noah sees on his commute home most days. But when Noah’s friend, Dom, persuades Noah to take a huge risk in a bid to get Sol’s attention, things turn out better than Noah dared to hope. Noah and Sol start dating, and much to Noah’s surprise, his feelings seem to be reciprocated.
But Noah’s insecurities make him doubt Sol. He doesn’t believe he’s interesting enough or sexy enough to hold Sol’s attention, and as Sol tries to get closer, Noah’s instinct is to pull away to protect himself. If their relationship is going to survive, Sol needs to convince Noah that he sees Noah very differently than Noah sees himself. Because to Sol, Noah is something very special indeed.
Review: Are you bold enough to approach someone you think is attractive and ask them out? Noah doesn’t really think he is either, until he goes for it by placing an ad in a personal section of the local paper. Most nights on the way home on the train, Noah sees this ruggedly handsome man. Noah tells his best friend all about him, and he keeps encouraging him to place an ad in Rush Hour Crush. What do you know? Sol, the hottie Noah’s interested in, happens to read the ad while on the train with Noah.
These two characters are about perfect for each other, except for Noah’s own self-esteem issues. He really thinks that he’s not enough for Sol, and he keeps trying to cause issues between them by using that as a wall. I have to say that Noah’s deprecating attitude was probably my only issue with this story. Sol constantly tells him he’s more than enough, he’s beautiful to him, he’s perfect in Sol’s eyes… but Noah never seems to realize that it’s real. That is, he doesn’t realize it until the very end of the story.
Nothing Special is one of those comfortable, can read again stories. The characters feel like they are old friends. I instantly wanted to give Noah lots of hugs, love and to cheer him on as he got his man. Sol, was just one of those guys you connected with, especially his love for his family. Sol with his little sister is absolutely adorable, and it’s the moment in the book where I utterly fell in love with him.
Jay Northcote has quickly become a favorite read for me because her characters are solid, the storylines are well crafted, and they’re also very down to earth. All that I’ve read have featured working class characters with realistic life issues. As a reader, I happen to really enjoy stories featuring normal, everyday characters over billionaires falling for shopkeepers, etc.
I recommend Nothing Special for anyone that loves a sweet, adorkable young man who is brave enough to reach for the possibility of true love, as well as for those that enjoy a comfortable, low angst love story with solid characters and a good storyline.
You can buy Nothing Special here:
