Nobody Else's by Nell Iris Release Blitz

Mars enters Pisces, giving Beckett Cooper the opportunity to assert himself when it comes to a secret infatuation; his best friend’s younger brother Levi. But can Beckett trust what’s in front of him and be brave enough to take what he wants?

With Venus in Virgo, people usually become more reserved, but Levi Byrne always takes the opposite road of what’s expected of him. So, instead of pulling back, he reaches out for a man he’s been interested in for years; Beckett Cooper.

Is it the celestial bodies aligning to bring together two people destined for each other? Or is it a simple tale of boy meets boy, boy likes boy, and boy wants to kiss boy? Do Beckett and Levi even care, or are they too busy getting to know each other... and falling in love?

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“Beckett?”

The voice made my stomach jump and the corners of my mouth turn up even though I was so tired I’d thought I’d never smile again just a moment ago.

“Levi. Hi!” Stubble covered his face and he approached me with a spring in his step and a happy grin that made my heart pitter-patter in my chest. Oh gawd, he was cuter than ever. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

He threw his arm around my neck in a quick, one-armed hug. The heat of his body penetrated my cold soul, but before I had time to hug him back, he let go of me and stepped back. I missed his warmth instantly. I wanted more. I wanted to bury my nose in the crook of his neck and just stay there until this crappy day was gone and forgotten. Feel his hands on my back and his soothing breaths in my ear.

Shit. I swallowed around a lump that appeared in my throat. I had it bad.

“I’m here to get some celebratory ice cream. I finished my project on time, so I thought I’d treat myself.”

“Great job. Congratulations!”

“Thanks!” His eyes sparkled at me. “Are you getting ice cream, too?”

“No. I was trying to figure out what to eat for dinner. I can’t decide what sounds the least disgusting,” I said and picked up two depressing looking boxes. “Lasagna or pepperoni pizza?”

Levi drew his eyebrows together and then took both from me and threw them back into the freezer. “You can’t eat crap like that. It’s no good for you.”

“I know,” I sighed. “But my fridge is empty and I’m too tired to both shop for groceries and cook.”

He looked at me then, swept his gaze from head to toe. “You look exhausted. I’m sorry I didn’t notice earlier.”

“It’s fine.”

With an unconvinced look on his face, he asked, “Are you all right?”

“Yeah. Just tired. I had a terrible day at work.”

“I know all about those.” He sucked his lower lip into his mouth, letting his eyes flick over my face, taking in what I was sure was tired lines around my eyes and a mouth trying its best to smile. “I have an idea,” he said after a few moments. “What if I make you dinner? I’d need to borrow your kitchen of course, but if you feel like a homecooked meal... I’m your guy.”

I drew a breath and held it. Blinked. “Are you serious?” I asked in a whooshing exhale.

“I am.”

“But what about your ice cream celebration?”

“It can wait.”

His kindness coupled with my fatigue choked me up. Half a second from bursting into tears, I asked, “Why?”

“Because you look like you need someone to take care of you.”

I couldn’t help it then. A tear escaped. I turned my face away and squeezed my eyes shut. A part of me wanted to turn and run away, hide my stupid sensitivity from him and not be the guy who cries in the grocery store aisle. But another part knew he could be trusted and even if I broke down completely here, he wouldn’t make fun of me.

“Then yes. Thank you,” I choked out.

Gentle fingers plucked the shopping basket from my grip. His other hand found its way to my nape and caressed me for a second. It was just a brief touch, but it gave me the strength to wipe away the tear and look at him again.

“Let’s go. I know just the thing.”

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆
Nobody Else’s was just too freaking cute. I’ve become a fan of Nell Iris’ novellas over the past year, loving that the author gives me just enough of a look at a couple and where they’re at in their lives and relationship, yet leaves me wanting more of their story because I’ve enjoyed my time with them. Within a couple of hours, I’ve met new friends and fallen in love with them, and Beckett and Levi are no different.

Using the best friend’s little brother trope, Iris is able to start the story with a bit of built-in history that makes Beckett and Levi’s awkward dance both cute and believable. By changing narrators with each chapter, we learn that not only are both men attracted to one another, both doubt the other would see them as a potential love interest. Beckett has some self-esteem issues due to his less-than-fit appearance, not believing anyone, let alone Levi, would be attracted to a boring man with a soft belly and three years on him. On the other hand, Levi worries that he’s too young at twenty-three to catch Beckett’s eye, worried he’ll always be seen as Matt’s little brother. But with the right stars and planets in alignment and some cheeky horoscopes to nudge them along, the two find themselves meeting up without Matt, getting to know one another better, and developing their own friendship. I had mixed feelings when Levi informed Matt that he planned on asking Beckett out, but that was because I went from wanting to throat punch Matt to wanting to hug him, after elbowing him in the solar plexus. But their talk gave Levi the courage to ask Beckett out and it was tooooooo funny watching Beckett go all teenage girl, giddy with excitement, when it happened.

While the date was perfect and demonstrated just how well Levi knew Beckett, I was a tad surprised with how far things went on their first official date – which is the only downside of this being a novella. Even with their built-in history and them having spent time together (including a spur of the moment dinner that could be considered their first unofficial date), I didn’t expect the clothes to come off. However, as neither man is a player and we know they both really like one another, it actually made sense story-wise and in the progression of their relationship. Both are men who prefer a quiet evening in, men who are looking for something long-term and see the potential for it with the other, men who look before leaping, so the decision to get physical fit who they are and is driven by feelings and a long-time attraction, not by lust. I always find meet-the-parents dinners amusing when the boyfriend already knows the parents but is meeting them as their child’s love interest for the first time, and Nell Iris didn’t disappoint. As I expected, the author left me wanting more, but left me with one of the cutest endings I’ve read in a while – I may have awwwww-ed at it. Nobody Else’s was a sweet read and exactly what I needed this evening.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars

This is a gentle and very sweet romance. Even though Beckett is in his late twenties, it feels like a new adult story because Beckett and Levi are both quite wonderfully innocent. Tiny details like Beckett’s hang-ups about his weight and Levi’s slightly overwhelming family commitments make the two men come fully to life in a short novella.

For a short book, a little bit too much time is spent on secondary characters like Levi’s brother and mother. I don’t read many short stories or novellas – mostly because I struggle to believe in insta-love stories that race to a happily ever after. And this story is no different. There is limited time spent developing Levi and Beckett’s relationship into a convincing partnership. The happily ever after feels a bit rushed and a bit forced. Levi and Beckett feel incredibly young and a happy for now might have worked better.

Nell Iris is a romantic at heart who believes everyone deserves a happy ending. She’s a bona fide bookworm (learned to read long before she started school), wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without something to read (not even the ladies’ room), loves music (and singing along but, let’s face it, she’s no Celine Dion), and is a real Star Trek nerd (“Make it so”). She loves words, poetry, wine, and Sudoku, and absolutely adores elephants!

Nell believes passionately in equality for all regardless of race, gender, or sexuality, and wants to make the world a better, less hateful, place.

Nell is a forty-something bisexual Swedish woman, married to the love of her life, and a proud mama of a grown daughter. She left the Scandinavian cold and darkness for warmer and sunnier Malaysia a few years ago, and now spends her days writing, surfing the Internet, enjoying the heat, and eating good food. One day she decided to chase her lifelong dream of being a writer, sat down in front of her laptop, and wrote a story about two men falling in love.

Nell Iris writes gay romance, prefers sweet over angst, and wants to write diverse and different characters.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Nobody Else's by Nell Iris to read and review for this tour.