Review: Tops Down Bottoms Up by Jay Northcote

Title: Tops Down Bottoms Up

Author: Jay Northcote

Publisher: Self-Published

Length: 91 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: I’m glad that Jay Northcote decided to expand this cute story, but I wish he would have fleshed it out even more.

Reviewed By: Jules

Blurb: Will Rowan’s festival fling with sexy dancer Seth lead to something more permanent?

Rowan is stuck at a folk festival helping out a mate, and it really isn’t his scene. The yoga and singing workshops are bad enough, but morris dancing is the final straw. Bearded men with beer guts prancing around wearing bells—who wants to watch that?

All Rowan’s preconceptions are shattered when he meets Seth—a morris dancer, and the stuff Rowan’s fantasies are made of. Seth persuades Rowan to come to a dancing workshop, and Rowan’s willing to do whatever it takes to get to know Seth better. The attraction is mutual, and a lesson filled with innuendo and flirting leads to an incredible night together.

When Rowan arrives home, he’s gutted to find that Seth has given him the wrong phone number. Assuming Seth did it on purpose, Rowan resolves to forget about him. But fate—and friends—conspire to get them back together. Will they manage to stay in step this time around?

A much shorter version of this story was originally published in the Not Quite Shakespeare Anthology by Dreamspinner Press. This version has been revised and extended. Almost half of it is new content.

Review: Tops Down Bottoms Up was a light, fun read. I enjoyed both MCs, though I definitely would have liked it more if there had been more character development. I don’t know much about Seth or Rowan besides how they met, and that Seth was a morris dancer and Rowan worked for an art center. I did look up morris dancing because I wanted to understand more about what it was, so I was able to better envision what they were doing, but it would have been nice if there had been more description in the book. I would have also loved to learn how Seth got involved with morris dancing, and came to join the troupe he’s in.

The way the guys meet was very cute; Rowan and his buddy Max are checking out the folk festival entertainment lineup while taking a break from working Max’s tent when Rowan starts ranting about how lame morris dancing is, how loud and annoying, and how all the dancers are “fat sweaty old men,” when Seth, the guy Rowan had been ogling at the bar, chimes in that they aren’t all old and fat, with a cheeky wink and grin. It turns out, of course, that watching Seth dance is an unexpected turn-on, and Rowan ends up getting way more involved than he planned on when he signs up for the dancing workshop.

I’m glad that Jay Northcote decided to expand this cute story, but I wish he would have fleshed it out even more. While I liked the guys together, and the premise was unique and fun, the ninety-one pages consisted of much more sex than story. As I said, it was sweet, it was fun, the guys were likeable and sexy, and I enjoyed the little bit of atmosphere and culture I was able to get out of it…but, I have to say that I was left wanting more from the story.

You can buy Tops Down Bottoms Up here:
[zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B074TVDMFQ?d” style=”blue” size=”large” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon/Kindle Unlimited [/zilla_button]