The Way She Reads

The Marrying Kind is Jay Northcote’s second novella featuring Nathan and Owen. The first book, The Dating Game, tells the story of how these two men ended up together and if you haven’t read it yet you really need to do that first. As my review of that book indicates, reading The Dating Game won’t be a hardship at all.

I enjoyed every minute of my second encounter with Nathan and Owen. Two years after their first date they’re still as into each other as they’ve ever been and neither has any doubts about their commitment to each other. Nathan wants to take the final step and marry the man he loves. Owen on the other hand is happy with the status quo and doesn’t really trust himself to be suited to married life. It takes a minor disaster to make both men realize that being together is far more important than the presence or absence of a ring on their fingers.

I had a wry smile on my face during a lot of this story. I couldn’t help thinking that the things that separate us are nothing compared to everything that connects us. Show me almost any couple about to be married and I show you a couple going through many of the fights and much of the nervous tension Owen and Nathan put themselves and each other through.

As always Jay Northcote managed to take an everyday situation and turn it into a magical tale. It is impossible to read Jay’s books and not get caught up in her character’s lives. The Marrying Kind is a gentle tale describing the sort of situation most, if not all, of us can relate to as experienced by two men it’s impossible not to like. As such it is a one-sitting read; you won’t want to put your E-reader down until Owen and Nathan have reached the happy ending they so richly deserve.