Hard Tail cover art

Hard Tail

Southampton Stories, Book 2

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Hard Tail

By: JL Merrow
Narrated by: Philip Rose
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About this listen

Finding love can be a bumpy ride

With his job and his marriage dead in a ditch, Tim Knight doesn’t take much persuading to leave London for the greener fields of Southampton and look after his injured brother's mountain bike shop. But Tim’s a fish out of water in this brave new world of outdoor sports and technical jargon - not to mention struggling with the realization he can no longer deny his sexuality, at least to himself.

The reason? Matt Berridge, his brother’s bike mechanic. Fit, tanned, and an adorable klutz, Matt takes a tumble the day they meet and falls straight into Tim’s heart. There’s only one problem: Matt’s boyfriend, who Tim’s convinced is abusing him, despite the stories Matt comes up with to explain away the bruises.

A black belt in karate, Tim’s no pushover when it comes to physical confrontation. But he’ll need to step his courage up a gear if he’s ever going to come out, be himself - and save the man he’s coming to love.

©2012, 2017 JL Merrow (P)2019 JL Merrow Romance Sports Heartfelt

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All stars
Most relevant  
Hard Tail is one man's acceptance and exploration of his sexuality after the breakdown of his marriage. It's also funny with a very slow burn relationship. Tim is a 'posh tosser' whose life has fallen apart but the break from his normal life in London gives him a freedom to explore the sexuality he's hidden for so long. The story is written solely in Tim's perspective but through him we discover the clumsy but joyous creature that is Matt. Matt who awakens long buried feelings. Matt who is already in a relationship. The two leads are delightful, especially Matt, whose predicament is painfully obvious to the reader. The secondary characters are excellent: Adam, Matt's best friend, is adorable; Tim's family are great, even the ex wife; and Wolverine is one of the best animal sidekicks ever.
The narrator does a great job.

Slow Burn

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Poor Tim with his unsatisfactory London life - moving to the country to look after his brother's bike shop. Enter sweet, clumsy, bike mechanic Matt. Matt brings out the fun side of Tim, enabling him to accept a part of him previously kept hidden.
I enjoyed this story by JL Merrow, the characters were well developed and believable, and the slow-burn romance was realistic and engaging. I loved cat Wolverine - he added some fantastic and well-placed humour!

Narrator Philip Rose did well, he really brought the stiff and proper side of Tim to life especially. I think he could have improved during the more emotional scenes - although Tim didn't seem the type to verbalise his emotions, Matt and other characters didn't sound quite as emotional as they perhaps should have given the scenes.

All in all, a good listen, and I'd certainly consider more by both author and narrator.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review

A sweet, coming out, slow-burn

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