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Adrian Powell has a secret, a secret he’s guarded for 17 years. But it’s come at a cost—few friends, fewer lovers, and a lifetime of loneliness. If he’s a bit grumpy and a tad pessimistic, who can blame him? So, exactly how he’s ended up with a bunch of nosy friends, a beautiful lakeside cottage and a successful business, is beyond him.
It’s a life he never imagined, and one that includes a problematic new neighbour, Niall Carmichael—an irritating, equally grumpy, sexy as hell silver fox, who kisses like a dream, shakes every one of Adrian’s walls, and who might just prove Adrian’s undoing.
But secrets have a way of catching up with you. And when Adrian’s past comes knocking, it might just threaten everything he’s built.
Rating: Narration – A; Content – B
Jay Hogan returns to the spectacular scenery of the Southern Alps for Flat Whites & Chocolate Fish, book three in the Southern Lights series. It’s a steamy and emotional antagonists-to-lovers romance between a grumpy, enigmatic barista and a property developer who strike sparks off each other from their first meeting, but who have both come to the conclusion that love is not for them. A touch of suspense adds some tension to the story, but never overshadows the development of the various relationships in the story, both romantic and platonic.
In book one of the series, Powder & Pavlova, Adrian Powell worked at the coffee shop/bakery run by Ethan Sharpe, and by the end of the book, the two of them had set up a coffee-roasting business together. For all that Adrian has known and worked with Ethan for a few years now, he’s been very careful not to reveal much – if anything – about himself or his past, and fully intends to keep it that way. Keeping himself so fiercely to himself certainly makes for a lonely life – he doesn’t have friends or lovers (apart from the odd casual hook-up) – but it’s safer that way for everyone concerned, himself included.
He arrives home at the solitary cottage he owns on the waterfront of Lake Wakatipu (and I’m so jealous of the spectacular views!) one afternoon in the pouring rain – and is annoyed to find access to his driveway blocked by a van. This… isn’t good. The only other property near him is an old, run-down uninhabited place, so he doesn’t have neighbours – which is one of the reasons he decided to buy his solitary cottage, and as he isn’t expecting anyone – with or without a van – his annoyance starts ramping up. After several long blasts on the horn, a guy wrapped in a black oilskin comes over and knocks on the car window; he introduces himself as Niall Carmichael and explains that he’s bought the dilapidated property further around the lake and is going to be developing the site into a luxury B&B. Adrian can’t help noticing the guy’s striking green eyes and rugged features, but no amount of sex appeal can tamp down his horror at the thought that his home, his safe harbour from the world, is going to be next door to a building site – and that the privacy he’s spent a lifetime guarding is going to be shattered by a bunch of unwanted tourists once the redevelopment is finished.
Niall is planning on sticking around for a few months, just long enough to see the work well underway before he hands over to a manager and moves on to his next project. He certainly doesn’t need the added distraction of a gorgeous, pissed off neighbour, but there’s something about Adrian’s prickly stubbornness he just can’t ignore.
Adrian and Niall make a point of avoiding each other as much as possible over the next few days, although, much to their annoyance, neither of them can stop thinking about the other. Things don’t get off to the best of starts thanks to Niall’s noisy demolition activities, but a slow thawing of the frost begins shortly afterwards, and a cautious truce leads to them becoming closer and the beginnings of the development of a mutual trust. It’s not easy – both men have pasts which have convinced them they’re better off leading solitary lives – and for Adrian, concealing the truth has become such an ingrained habit that sharing himself with someone isn’t something he’s ever imagined being able to do.
In this book, we find out exactly why Adrian has been so cagey about his past, and why he’s been so reluctant to let anyone in. Following a terrible childhood, he’s lived his life on the move, never putting down roots or making connections, but now, even though he’s done his best to discourage them, he has actual friends, people who care about him and are there for him, he has a home and a career he loves… but he’s still looking over his shoulder and waiting for the other shoe to drop. He doesn’t know how he came to have people like Ethan and Tanner and Stef in his life, and even as he tries to tell himself they’d all be better off without him, he also craves the kind of affection and warmth they offer – they’re like the family he never had. And the last thing he wants to do is to put them in danger.
Niall is mid-forties and divorced; his ex husband insisted Niall was married to his work rather than to him, and Niall has come to admit that was true, he was a workaholic who was more concerned with his business than he was with making a life with the man he loved. He’s decided he’s not a good bet for a long term relationship, but there’s something about Adrian that makes him want to try again – which is wonderful and terrifying all at once.
The combination of steam, warmth, humour and poignancy Jay Hogan incorporates into her romances really works for me, and Flat Whites is no exception. Her characters often fall into lust quite quickly, but she takes the time to develop their emotional connection so that by the end of the story, the listener is left in no doubt about their commitment to one another. Adrian and Niall are likeable, three-dimensional characters who have good reason not to want any emotional entanglements, but they find that impossible to remember once they start getting to know each other and getting under one another’s skin. Their romance is well developed, with plenty of humour, genuine caring and affection.
The one thing that really struck a bum note for me in the story is the intrusiveness of Niall’s family. It’s not an uncommon trope in romance for there to be a family member or friend who is constantly nagging at one (or both) of the principals about their love life, and in this book, we have Niall’s mum, his sister and his bestie (whom I otherwise liked) all turning up whenever they feel like it to tell Niall how to live his life. Niall is forty-six, but his mum and sister are especially pushy and just don’t know how to take ‘no’ for an answer, and no matter how good their intentions, just bulldozing over someone’s personal boundaries isn’t endearing or amusing. When I read my 2021 review of the book, I didn’t single this out as a problem, but in audio, it made more of an impression on me. Thankfully it’s not too many scenes, but it’s enough for me to have noted it.
Gary Furlong has narrated a dozen of Jay Hogan’s books now, and he’s definitely grown more settled into the accent, which has slowly acquired more of a Kiwi ‘twang’ as time has gone on. As always, the performance is well-paced and he captures the personalities of the two leads perfectly – Adrian’s deep, prickly growl is nicely contrasted with Niall’s warmth and more upbeat manner – and the secondary cast is appropriately voiced and clearly differentiated. Mr. Furlong really delivers on the emotional content of the story – the chapters near the end are particularly charged and he conveys every last scrap of feeling in them – and he’s good in the intimate moments, too. Jay Hogan writes sex scenes that are quite earthy, and they’re performed confidently and without going over the top. Flat Whites & Chocolate Fish boasts a tender, sexy romance between two guys who have been knocked about a bit by life, plenty of humour, lots of steam and a terrific performance from Gary Furlong. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable listen and I’m happy to recommend it.
This review originally appeared at AudioGals.
Caz's Reading Room 
I wasn’t sure about your negative point, so I reread the book. First read was when it originally came out and I thought it was okay. But this second read…you were right. OMG! Niall’s sister is a real pain. And the mother (though she’s there for comic relief) is really annoying on this second read.
Still the series is worth the read. I reread “Tamarillo Tart” often.
I think that in my case, I do sometimes gloss over things more in print because I don’t find them as noticeable as I do in audio. I will pick it up in audio if an author uses a particular turn of phrase a few times in a book, even if those instances are hours apart, whereas I might not notice them in print. In some books it bothers me less – Alexis Hall’s 10 Things That Never Happened is a case in point; I could have done with less of the family, but they were there as more than simply a way to nag characters about their relationships. Honestly, though, I really wouldn’t care if the “interfering family” trope just died a death.
>>> I really wouldn’t care if the “interfering family” trope just died a death.
Ditto.
And, for this time of year, could we get rid of the car accident in a snow storm in the middle of nowhere with the grumpy loner rescuer.
Hah! I can deal with that one provided the rest of the story is done well – Fearne Hill’s recent Second Best Men is a good example and well worth reading. Mind you, we get so little snow in my part of the UK (south east/east coast) that stories set here that feature snow lying inches deep always require a massive suspension of disbelief!