Radio Static

by Nicky James, Nick J. Russo (Narrator)

Two single dads.
Two head-strong teenagers.
One dead body.

It was supposed to be a vacation to help Nova reconnect with his son. A cabin in the middle of nowhere, nature all around, peace and serenity. What he didn’t expect was to fall for his neighbor in the cabin across the lake.
He didn’t expect an erratic and unusual broadcast on a radio station no longer in existence.
Nor did he expect a dead body in the water.
Something is happening in the small town of Drysdale.

Mercy likes his mysteries to stay within the pages of his novels. When strange things start to happen at his summer cabin, he and his daughter team up with the man and his son on the other side of the lake to get to the bottom of it. A little amateur sleuthing won’t hurt anyone, right?

Someone out there knows the truth.
Who is the man on the radio?
What does he know?

Mercy and Nova are determined to find out, but are they willing to risk life and limb for answers?
Because someone in Drysdale doesn’t want their secrets revealed.


Radio Static is an MM romantic mystery involving two single dads in their midforties.

Genres: M M Romance, Mystery, Romance, Contemporary, Crime, Suspense, Romantic Suspense

Audible Audio

First published May 31, 2021

About the author

I live in the small town of Petrolia, Ontario, Canada and I am a mother to a wonderful teenage boy (didn't think those words could be typed together...surprise) and wife to a truly supportive and understanding husband, who thankfully doesn't think I'm crazy.

I have always had two profound dreams in life. To fall back hundreds of years in time and live in a simpler world, not bogged down by technology and to write novels. Since only one of these was a possibility I decided to make the other come alive on paper.
I write mm romance novels that take place in fantastical medieval type settings and love to use the challenges of the times to give my stories and characters life.

Reviews

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanna feel the way that we did that summer night, night / Drunk on a feelin', alone with the stars in the sky (Wolves – Selena Gomez).

More like Radio Silence! Get it? Because I wish every character in this book would shut the fuck up! Sorry, that wasn’t very funny, was it? But hey, at least I’m not relaying a joke that did numbers on Twitter a couple years ago back to you as if it were an original story that actually happened to me. It’s the little things, isn’t it? Um, not that I've seen anything like that on my feed in the last couple days or anything like that... ha ha. Just a heads up, but I’ll probably be a lot more scatterbrained than usual in this review because I’m pretty sure I went through an entire Yellow Wallpaper character arc in the process of trying to finish this book. I mean, it’s probably only been a couple weeks since I’ve started this, but damn does it feel like I was reading this bad boy in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where five minutes in the outside world equates to hours in the chamber. But yeah, this book made me angry! But more like a “last straw” kind of anger, the kind you get when you’re bringing in the groceries and your keys fall out of your hands like The One Ring escaping Gollum's gnarled fingers, forcing you to either meticulously put down each and every heavy ass bag or squat down in some kind of a Tai Chi stretching pose in order to get the keys back in the safety of your clutches. Reading Radio Static gave me rage in spikes, so it’s not like I was sitting here in a simmering loathing towards it as if I were reading Flash Fire by T.J. Klune. And I’m just telling you all this because I wouldn’t want you to think that this book garnered any kind of emotional response from me outside of momentary flare ups. Anyway, normally this would be the part where I’d try to steer this ship back to calmer shores by saying something like, “but enough about whatever it is I’m talking about, let’s talk about the book now!" and give you my “annoying dude who piggy-backs off of the thing you just said in the Socratic Seminar” re-tooling of the official synopsis on the book page, but I need to talk about something super important first… that book cover is fuck ugly. And not to be all, “yeah, I said it!” because normally I wouldn’t make such a big hairy deal about these things, but the piercing white-blue burning a hole into my retinas and the big ass Andross head floating there with an Sphinx-like unreadable expression gave me a jump scare every time I’d hop on to my Goodreads profile. Like, did I get hacked, when the hell did I start reading this Keanu Reeves’ The Lake House knock-off!? Okay, enough of my Arthur Fleck stand-up, it’s time to talk about Radio Static!

…No wait, I still have something to say; I keep looking back to the cover and laughing! Do you ever wonder if the models of these things ever find themselves on a book out in the wild and get angry at the graphic design choices? Like, is there a “Shirtless Man on a Book Cover” support group somewhere out there where there’d be dudes bragging about being front and center on the cover of a Riley Hart book while everybody else is pissed off at being delegated to the “omegaverse” or "shifter" romances? I mean, not that there's anything wrong with those kinds of books, but I'm not sure if I would want to be the poster boy of a book about a man who lactates. Oof, can you imagine if you were one of those guys who posed shirtless for a photo shoot only to find yourself on the cover of something called Gay Cuckold. I would crash out, I can’t lie. Hey, why was I the one who had the right look for the gay cuckold? “Yup, there’s our guy, that's the gay cuckold!” Hm, I'm starting to think this site has introduced me to one too many different kinds of gay erotica. Alrighty then, enough stalling… Radio Static! To start off, I think I absorbed about 20% of this book, so don’t go quizzing me on it, because the answer is a big I DON’T KNOW! In fact, this review is going to talk so little about Radio Static by Nicky James that you’d have thought that I didn’t read it at all. But unfortunately… I did. And while I read it in its entirety, I’d say I finished it on more of a technicality than by any enjoyment of the game. It’s like how that Twitch Streamer Kai Cenat created a performative YouTube channel where he’s trying to improve on his reading skills, and that's cool or whatever, but you can tell that he’s retaining zero information from any of the books he's reading because he so focused on the arbitrary time limit he had set up for himself (like, thirty minutes of reading every day). Besides, I can’t think of a worse way to get into reading than filming yourself in front of a camera and only choosing to read those bottom of the barrel tech bro self-help books like The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. Fun fact, I did a book swap with my friend one time where he gave me that book and I gave him Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, and whereas I read his shitty book, mine remained unread for the better part of two years. Huh, I guess the book didn’t work because I still give a fuck about everything! Who needs subtlety anyway?

Okay then, Radio Static! This is a book about a bisexual dude and his annoying teenager vacationing at some shitty lake and then they meet some gay dude with his annoying teenager and then they all start investigating the town’s dark secrets after they find a dead body washed ashore. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I can go back talking about nonsense! Just kidding, I’ve just been so negative that I don’t want to have to rip the band aid off and come out and say exactly what’s been on my mind the entire time I've been writing this review: this book is bad. The characters were bland and only elicited negative emotions of irritation and active dislike, the setting was underutilized, and the mystery was horribly under cooked. It's bad! And because the main cast had no personal link to the mystery and no real attachment to the setting outside of one of the dad's childhood memories, I couldn’t for the life of me understand why none of these characters just got up and left the second they saw a dead body!? Let's be real, nobody in this off-brand Scooby Gang is Sherlock Holmes, so when the game was afoot, they needed to get to stepping! Hey, I love Duke’s Chowder at Cannon Beach as much as the next guy, but if people started dropping like flies, then I'd hightail it out of there! Sure, you could say that the childhood nostalgia or the romantic tension between the two dads made a strong narrative reason as to why they felt compelled to stay and make the kind of memories that’d last a Before Sunrise lifetime, but because their dynamic was fraught with clichés and generic 27 Dresses romantic comedy conflict surrounding their motivations, I couldn’t help but be thoroughly unconvinced. I mean, it didn’t help that the two main characters were named… Nova and Mercy!? Those aren’t names, they’re Xbox Gamertags! And you know what? Maybe this book should have been re-configured into a vaguely homoerotic Xbox Live love story instead. You know, like that one episode of Black Mirror where Anthony Mackie’s bestie could only get his dick up when they booted up a knock-off Street Fighter and roleplayed as Chun-Li while Mackie was Ryu or whatever. Man, what a shitty episode. But yeah, at least with a video game angle there’d be an already built-in gay subtext to fall back on, because otherwise, the two men in this book had the chemistry of rubbing together two pieces of sandpaper. Gross image and sound, I know and I'm sorry. Seriously though, I'm just wondering why the infamous Folgers' incest commercial from 2009 had more romantic feeling behind it than this book!

“If I let him in, if I gave myself permission to have this without guilt, I knew I would never be lonely again.”

But these things are just minor nitpicks, aren’t they? There’s no need to crash out over something so mid, chill out dude! Yeah well, I also didn’t like how Mercy and/or Nova (whichever one of them has a daughter) talked about Raelyn (nice WASP mom name, by the way) and the way he went all “I Loved Her First”, het-core laced, “shotgun wedding” whenever he was discussing her. It was weird and creepy rather than endearingly protective in the way I’m assuming the author was going for. The way he would constantly talk about how being against his daughter walking around in what he perceived as skimpy clothing or making grand statements about how all teenage boys “think with their dicks” and then go on really long-winded rants over her body was incredibly off-putting and made me wish that the dead person who washed up on the shore was one of the weirdo dads. I wish they vacationed at Camp Crystal Lake so Jason could have a shot at skewering either Mercy and/or Nova! That's two wishes down, what should be my third? I mean, sometimes discomfort is the point of the narrative, like how how Gillian Flynn used crass and blunt descriptions for the characters in Sharp Objects in order to keep the audience in a constant state of discomfort and hair raised suspense, but I’m pretty sure the moments where the dads were disrespecting their children’s bodily autonomy was instead supposed to evoke a boomer ass “kids these days” kind of head nodded agreement from readers of a certain age. And you know what? What’s with all these writers thinking that putting teens or kids in stories will automatically make the story more charming and cute!? I hate to say it, but it’s still the authors job to make the audience care about these characters regardless of age, is it not? It’s like the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love where Steve Carell’s character has a “wise beyond his years” son (the actor who played him had a clown ass name like Bongo the Gumba or some shit like that) who was obsessed with his babysitter and bothers her throughout the entire movie because he thinks that he’ll eventually win her over. Yeah well, I hate to break it to Hollywood writers, but just because Bongo is a kid doesn't make that behavior normal! I'm just reminded of those people who think adding kids to their cat videos in Instagram will make the vid twice as cute, but that’s simply not the case! Get that kid out of there, I’m here to look at the cats!! Okay, I’d better change the topic before I start looking like one of those “child hater” people, but I’m just trying to say that Nova and Mercy weren’t given a free empathy pass right out the gate simply because they had children with them, and the author did almost no work in fleshing them out as characters outside of their most superficial character traits.

Actually, you know what? The kid characters were awful too! I’m sorry, but the whole “bratty teen” trope is played out, and it only ever detracts from a story. I was over the little Dennis the Menace shtick they had going on the moment Nova and/or Mercy's son started talking shit about old music. When will writers realize that the biggest audience for super obscure indie music and old school jams are teenagers!? Sure, this could just be me, but I was an absolutely insufferable music snob when I was a teen, all speaking about the textured layers to Channel Orange or how "Luther Vandross sings better than all the pop singers nowadays" and shit like that. I know I talk a lot of shit about John Green and how his books suck, but at least he had enough respect for his young readers to treat them like people rather than props for their parents to control. There is a reason why he was the reigning champ for years. Look, normally this is the point where I try to see some kind of good in the book in order to seem more rational or whatever, but I’ve got to say that I did not enjoy one page of Radio Static. One moment it’d be boring me to sleep with its lackluster mystery and the next making me wish I were "Lea Michele" illiterate when it would hard focus on the Hallmark movie romance between Tweedledee and Tweedledum over there. I’m sorry, I’ve been in Ultra-Hater Mode this entire time, and it’s kind of hard to turn off. See, my problem is that when I’m like this, my most favorite thing to do in the whole wide world is make grand-sweeping statements, but whenever I do... I sound like a total dick (because I am). There’s this YouTuber I like that talks about random ass drama, dissecting it and all that, and while the both sides approach makes her seem more informed on topics and issues most of the time, after a while it can come across as spineless. Like, in her most recent video she was talking about how a lot of interviewers nowadays suck because they aren’t classically trained journalists, and instead just exist in that whole TikTok influencer sphere where there’s no thought or due diligence put into the research anymore. And it’s a good video, but one part that I took issue with was when she said something along the lines of, “none of this is to say that there’s no merit for influencer interviewers, and that we can make room for both” or something like that, and I’m sorry, but that's a half-measure Walter! I don’t think there’s artistic merit behind any of those gimmicky interviews facilitated by a boot-licking clout chaser doing their typical clout chasing thing for the sole purpose of stroking the fragile ego of some buccal fat surgery addled celebrity. Face all unmoving and lacking emotion like they had just been reading Radio Static by Nicky James.

We’re all aware that Alex Cooper’s faux “girl boss”, “unpacking traumaa~aa” podcast is garbage now (Hipster Mode Activated: "I always thought that"), but I'm of the mind that Chicken Shop Date and Hot Ones are trash as well. But again, I'm just not into celebrity worship in general, and I thought we had moved past that point in pop culture where we'd all lose our shit when a celeb takes a selfie or responds to a tweet (Hipster Mode Activated: "I was never impressed by that stuff"). But yeah, very few podcasts are of worth while and even fewer interviewers are good at interviewing, and if I had the Infinity Gauntlet, I would remove every podcast in the world except for The Weekly Planet and Conan O’ Brien Needs a Friend. In fact, I would double back around and super erase Dax Shepard's little incel podcast where he talks weirdly about and shares way too much information relating to his children. Hey, he'd fit right in as a character in this book, wouldn't he? Yeah well, my grand statement towards Radio Static is that while I only absorbed 10% of it, it made me 100% sure that I will likely never read another book by this author. I mean, unless I’m doing another buddy read or something out there speaks to me, but then I’ll probably have to lapse right back into Ultra-Hater Mode. I know this is as unserious as it gets, but I think it says something about my opinion towards Radio Static that I couldn’t for the life of me associate a song with it. And I was even going to ask the person I buddy read this with what song she chose, but then I remembered that I’m literally the only person who attaches lyrics to my reviews like some kind of Tumblr girlie circa 2015. Sure, none of this matters and nobody would look twice if there weren’t any lyrics on this review in particular, but I really do have a lot of fun picking out songs and the fact that there wasn't any music that resonates with this book says all you need to know about my standing with it. At first I thought a Buddy Holly song would be good, he’s always got a good selection of the lethargic and yearning hits, but I can’t use him here because… I actually like his music. It can't be a song I actually love! And then I figured I could use a song that has no substance or artistic merit, like something by Meghan Trainor or Charlie Puth (“we declare Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist”? Um, who the fuck is “we”??), but it also has to be something I actually listen to! See, it may seem like there’s not a lot going on over here, but I’ve got rules, I tell you, rules! So let’s summarize, the song lyrics I put at the top of this review have to belong to a song I won’t change should it play on the radio, but also mid enough to the point where it’s obvious that I have no respect for the song or the artist in order to reflect my dual feelings for both it and this book. Oh, I've got it! Let me know, how did I do?

In your eyes, there's a heavy blue / One to love, and one to lose / Sweet divine, a heavy truth / Water or wine, don't make me choose.

[Snjez · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the characters so much, and when I say characters, I mean Nova, Mercy, Cooper and Rae, because all of them were equally great.

The relationship between Nova and Mercy was really sweet. They were quite different in many ways, but also had a great connection from the start and I enjoyed watching them get closer.

I think I loved the relationships they had with their teenage kids even more. The way the author wrote Cooper and Rae was just perfect. I admire her ability to write such realistic characters.

I loved the setting. It felt so idyllic with those two cabins on the lake in the middle of nowhere, and it was also a perfect location for the mystery part of the book which was pretty great and kept me intrigued until the end.

[Eugenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMIGODOMIGODOMIGOD!! 👏👏👏👏👏

5 FREAKING STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!!!

Yes!
Summer vacay
2 Snarky teenagers (they were PERFECT!)
2 40+ MCs
One gay, one bi
2 cabins
1 lake
Birdwatching (yes, that’s code for something else)
Yoga (no, that’s really just yoga)
Swims
Laughs
Flirts
Fun

Mysterious radio rants
A dead body
A cold case
A small town
4 amateur sleuths
Loose ends
And it all ends with a BANG! 💥

I loved EVERYTHING about this thriller:
The UST
The teens flirting
The interactions between the dads and their kids
Best “Dad coming out to son” EVER!
The setting, “O Canada 🇨🇦”
The slow unraveling of the mystery
Not knowing whodunnit
The guys finally getting it on!!!
The ending 😱💥❤️😱💥❤️😱

Yes! Read it. Now!

[Shile (Hazard's Version) on-hiatus · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

I ended up liking it. Some parts were okay, some not.

I liked the Nancy Drew type of mystery part. It is what kept me going even though it was predictable.

I didn't buy the romance part, Mercy and Nova lacked the chemistry that gets me going when it comes to romance, it all felt rushed.

I liked their kids though.

Overall it was an okay read.

[Papie]

DNF at 55%
I really liked Nova and Mercy but I didn’t love them. Their teenaged children, Cooper and Rae, were cute and funny.

But the mystery part didn’t hold my attention at all. I don’t care about what happened in 1994. I don’t even care about what happened to the second woman. Maybe it’s just my mood. But I felt very detached from that whole part of the story and I’m not going to force myself to continue.

No rating. It’s well written and I can see it working for a lot of people, or even me in a different mood. But not today, my friend. Not today. 🤷‍♀️

[*J* Too Many Books Too Little Time]

DNF @ 41%

This one just wasn't holding my attention - not the romance or the suspense.

[꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ brandon sklenar’s baby (*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ*.ﾟ · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 Nancy Drew wannabes got themselves tangled up on something that doesn’t concern them and when the bad guys caught them for snooping so much the wannabes were surprised? TOTGA did the romantic suspense so much better because on that the mystery/suspense was heavily tied to Charlie but in this there was nothing. They’re just campers! I can hear Damian from the movie Mean Girls when he shouted “She doesn’t even go here!”. Instead of a she we got ‘they’. 3 stars for the romance.

[oshiiy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars 💫

I enjoyed reading this book. It wasn't the most romantic book but the mystery part was well done.

Nova and his son Cooper came to the Lucent Lake summer cabin to spend their whole summer, and Mercy and his daughter Rae appeared to be their neighbors. Nova and Mercy were instantly attracted to each other, and their sweet flirting turned out to be something more and more.

The dilemma happened when Cooper and Rae found a dead body on the lake in the middle of the night. The two families reported it to the Police, and after investigation, the Police said that it was an accident.
On top of everything, they heard some strange broadcast radio static from their radio and the person who was behind the radio talked about Vivian’s missing that went on in ‘94 and he was constantly saying that it was a murder.
There was a huge nagging sound telling Nova and Mercy that they shouldn't stick their nose in the sheriff's business, but they began to discover what was going to happen. Nova, Mercy, and their kids were skeptical since there was obvious evidence indicating Clarice’s murder (a dead body in the lake) wasn't an accident. Further, they thought Clarice's murder was certainly linked with Vivian’s missing and not a coincidence.

I really liked the mystery part. Because it put me on edge and I kept guessing who was the person everything behind. It was very intriguing to read Nova, Mercy, and their kid's assumptions about the whole thing and how they chased every clue step by step. I liked how the author has balanced both mystery and romance parts in the book. 🤍

[NicoleR.M.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, just wow. Nicky James and Nick J. Russo are one hell of a team. This was so, so good!
FRTC.

Look, the way Nicky writes mystery and romance is just extraodinary. Somehow she finds the perfect balance between the two and this book was yet again a perfect example. No, there's not a lot of heat, but in all honesty, I didn't miss it. It was so much more about the romance and the feelings than it was about sex.

This book is about Mercy and Nova, who are vacationing at a lake with their teenagers, Mercy's daughter Rae and Nova's son Cooper. From the moment these two notice each other, a friendship (and a crush) develops. Mercy is very protective of his daughter, and Nova repeatedly fears Cooper will be thinking with his dick instead of using his brain.
Nova and Mercy hit it off quite well too. There's a mutual interest, though it's clear Mercy is trying not to act on it, because he's sworn Rae would always come first, and that wouldn't work when getting involved in a relationship.

Then Rae and Cooper find a body in the lake and that mystery seems connected to short broadcasts that they hear on a frequency that Nova used to listen to when he was a teenager himself. Broadcasts about a girl that's disappeared a few years ago, a case that was never solved.
None of it makes any sense, though, and when they report things with the local sheriff, strange things start to happen, and they all seem to connect to that old, unsolved case from the past.

As usual Nick Russo's narration is spot on. He is such a pleasant narrator, using all these distinctive voices for all the characters, owning all the emotions that this story needs. The mystery was another excellent story, keeping me on edge until the end. Every time I thought I had things figured out, the story took another turn and all my theories went out of the window again. I love when a story has twists and turns like that, keep surprising me continuously. And Nicky does that so well! I haven't come across a mystery romance novel by her that has been disappointing.

There were times I wanted to slap some sense into Mercy's head, though. Specially when the moment comes when there are choices to be made. The way he made up his mind already, not open to anything Nova had to say...Got me kind of mad at him!
Also, these kids were young. They were still in their early teens. And even though, like every teenager does, they thought they were wise beyond their years, when they thought they knew everything and were stubborn enough to proof it, I don't know if I would have trusted them with all the things Nova and Mercy trusted them with. That's something debatable.
But all in all, this story left me with a very satisfied feeling. The mystery solved (of course) and Nova and Mercy on their way to a hea. What more could you ask for in a mystery romance story?!

I was kindly given a complementary copy of the audio by the author, this is my honest, unbiased review

[Marci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm. I liked this, didn’t love it! I wasn’t invested in the romance plot - like at all. But I still enjoyed other aspects of the book enough that I’m glad I picked this one up! The amateur sleuthing was delightful and I found whenever we veered into the romance plot - I just wanted to go back to the mystery plot. 😂 The hijinks the whole crew got into were so fun and very Nancy Drew coded. But the romance just didn’t hit for me! No chemistry or spark to be found.😔

[~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semicolons~✡~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

~3.5~

The beginning was promising. I liked the cabin in the woods setup, and I really liked the teenagers, Raelynn and Cooper.

I liked Nova too. Mercy, not so much. He was ridiculously overprotective of his daughter, treating her like she was 4, not 14. He was also quick to lash out at Nova for anything that went wrong.

The mystery was interesting, as was the amateur sleuthing - at least initially. It wasn't hard to figure out who the perp was, so every time Mercy and Nova were all, "We need to tell the sheriff," I facepalmed.

The last chapter was an epilogue of sorts, which was nice. We don't get many of those from Nicky James.

But the second-to-last chapter where the MCs fuck a few feet away from the cabin where the kids are sleeping was a total head scratcher. No way would uptight Mercy do such a thing. I'm a very chill parent, the opposite of overprotective, and NO, absolutely not. Gross.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blurbs are funny things. I don’t always read them. I’m not certain why, I just…don’t. When I do, I tend to skim and look for key ingredients. Having devoured this story and licking my chops while doing so, I can confidently tell you that looking back, the first few words tell you nearly everything you need to know.
Two single dads. Yes, romance is the brightest thread in this gripping story.
Two head-strong teenagers. Although their sassy and endearing children could very well pass as sidekicks to the main characters.
One dead body. Completing the package is the dead body aka murder and therefore, mystery. If you’re a diehard mystery fan and looking for your next puzzle to solve, you might be underwhelmed. However, I’m first and foremost a romance junkie and this ticked all my boxes while leaving me pleasantly pink. The story quickly wound around me and I held stock-still, a sucker for its chase. The three hundred-plus pages slipped by in a blink and I’m already craving my next NJ surrender.

What's to like: I feel as though I solidly connected with Mercy and Nova. It doesn’t matter that I’m not a guy or a father. I’m the same age as Nova and my daughter is the same age at Mercy’s. Having my baby girl who is also thirteen going on twenty-three put me smack dab in Mercy’s shoes. I nodded along while alternating between smirks and sympathetic frowns. I know not everyone is fond of kids in their romance novels but I absolutely ADORED Rae and Cooper. I found it hilarious that both the kids and parents were crushing on each other. Getting cockblocked by your parents, isn’t that every teen’s nightmare? Even if you’re not a parent, I think you’ll enjoy their humor and frisky antics. Anywho, the characters actually belong in the next section, because I loved them! Yet, there is plenty to appreciate here…from the soothing setting to the unsettling cold case, I enjoyed it all. Top of my list would most definitely be Nova and Mercy. Which takes us to…

What's to love: Unexpected and inconvenient love is one of my favorite things. It’s almost like fate laughs and dares you to defy what has been placed in front of you. For Mercy, that’s the sexy lumberjack across the lake from their summer cabin. Mercy made a choice fourteen years ago and forged his path as a single dad. His heart belongs to the light of his eye, his daughter Rae. But could take something for himself and still be the dedicated dad he’s proud to be? If he could, it’d be Nova. Nova is his dreams come to life. However, his younger mirror image is his worst nightmare. His daughter will remain a delicate flower if he has any say at all. Come to find out, Rae is a gorgeous rose full of thorns and fully capable of taking care of herself, no matter how much he wants to deny it. Her mother (who happens to be his best friend) has passed along her own skillset to Rae, which is sprinkled with independence and spunk. So, it’s no surprise that she caught the eye of the handsome sixteen-year-old staying nearby. Speaking of Cooper, if he breezed into my daughter’s life I would bite my tongue and sit on my hands because he is wonderful. Since Nova is his father, this isn’t shocking. *sigh* Nova. I want to pluck daisy petals. He is patient, kind, loving, and an attentive lover. He is hoping to strengthen the bond with his son, fearing he’s slowly losing him. I loved the man he is, the father he strives to be, and the partner he yearns to become. AND I seriously love his name. Ha! They are hot and hilarious as they chase answers they may not want to uncover. I was rapt the entire time from the bonds formed and reinforced to the trail of dead bodies.

Beware of: Quick spark with a slowwwww burn. A wild card….cheeky children. And a thrilling tale with more than one private dick on the case.

This book is for: If you’re searching for a spellbinding story with a mismatched bunch, steady that finger and stop here.

4.5 stars

[DJO · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars rounded up. Hoo boy, I struggled with this one.

*The way this cast of characters meddled and Scooby-Doo’ed their way around town, inserting themselves where they didn’t belong, questioning and investigating everyone and everything, without any kind of knowledge or experience, was whacked and unrealistic. What adult does that? Esp with two teenagers in tow? Nova and Mercy constantly harped about setting good examples for their kids yet they acted like idiots, endangering themselves and their kids over and over.
*Cooper and Rae got on my nerves big time. They were bratty, whiny, disrespectful, and selfish. Maybe it was the way Nick Russo voiced them. And maybe I’ve just been lucky with my own kids, and apparently all my kids’ friends for that matter, but I can’t imagine dealing with that level of assholery.
*I grew impatient with Nova and Mercy’s seesawing. They’d emphatically agree that nothing could happen between them and then they’d turn around and flirt, leer, strut, cop feels, and drop sexual innuendos all over the place. They were more teenager-y than Cooper and Rae. Their getting off together while the teens were so nearby was gross.
*Sometimes it felt like the plot focused more on Nova’s chest hair than anything else. It was constantly referred to. And in the same vein, what 43yo man, with two teens underfoot, including a 14yo girl, wears his flannel shirt (flannel?? Weren’t we told a million times how hot it was??) open without a shirt underneath, even in town at the diner? Yuck.
*Totally a me thing, but I did not agree with either man’s parenting styles, esp Mercy. I know Rae was only 14 but he was OTT hovery and overprotective and it grated.
*I didn’t care for the writing. I’ve really jibed well with other NJ books but here the writing seemed weak. I didn’t find the mystery compelling at all.

Hate to be so negative, and I'm clearly a very tiny island, but this just wasn’t for me.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good whodunnit and this one had me hooked. The teenagers were brilliant. Captured perfectly. I had concerns they would annoy me but they were written so well and the relationships between the four main characters were great and had me laughing aloud a few times. The mystery wasn’t my favourite that I’ve read but everything else made up for that. I absolutely loved how the characters genuinely act in their 40’s. The relationship progression and their thought processes suit their ages and I love how genuine their thoughts and actions around parenting are.

[Steph (Teacups & Tropes) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner for me.

I stopped last night before bed but I should’ve moved a little further because I seriously had nightmares about dead people in lakes. 💀

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two single dads. Two headstrong teenagers. One dead body. A cabin in the middle of nowhere, nature all around, peace and serenity. It was supposed to be a vacation to help Nova reconnect with his son. But he didn’t expect to fall for his neighbor in the cabin across the lake. He didn’t expect an erratic and unusual broadcast on a radio station no longer in existence. And he definitely didn’t expect a dead body in the water. A murder mystery romance, it incorporates a number of elements that keep you involved in the many storylines the author’s weaving.
The "stars of the show" are two families. One is a single gay dad, Rae, and his 14-year-old daughter. Mercedes “Mercy. Mercy's mother is Rae's best friend, Tammy, who is now married to someone else. He thought that after a series of bad relationships that he’d never be a father. Now Rae’s his life along with his work. It’s his well-earned time to relax and enjoy some peace and quiet...so off the "middle of nowhere" they go.

Then there is Nova Charette and his 16-year-old son, Cooper. Nova is divorced but still on friendly terms with his ex-wife. It’s his 16-year-old son he needs to establish a closer relationship with. A summer vacation at their cottages at Lake Lucent should be the thing to get them reacquainted. The perfect place or so both families think. Then they find the cabins are next-door to each other… a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl. Suddenly, the two dads are finding that their plans are overturned and even more...they're fighting their attraction to each other, as well as two hot, hormonal teenagers.

This part of the story that I would call "my favorite" was when the two families first met. The instant teenager "magnet action" that happens between their kids, was so realistic and on point funny. Reminded me of my own daughter's first crush on our neighbor boy. From the dads' reactions to their kids snarky "put upon" dialogue, along with the swimsuits that the dad’s just were not really ready for was hilarious. They're terrific fathers and excellent parental role models, but the two kids had them almost speechless. The issues they cover with both kids are one every parent has had at one time with their kids. The doubts, the pride, love. Nicky James obviously gets what it feels like to be a parent. It flows through both the father characters.

To make matters increasingly more interesting, Nova and Mercy find each other mutually as attractive as their kids are finding each other. Awkward? Do you think? While Nova has always been open about his bisexuality, who is the one person who’s unaware? That would be...Cooper, his son. One of the best parts of the entire story was Nova coming out to his son. The two guy's budding romance is complicated by their kid’s relationship, along with each man’s past and the fact that Mercy is a single dad who has developed what can be called "tunnel vision" about his responsibilities, so having any other relationships just makes the fumbling and hesitation towards something they want so completely believable.

We were promised there was mystery and murder in the story, and there is, and it was fine. It was a little odd, but I liked the idea of the voice that came over the crackling radio that immediately grabbed everyone’s attention. The details were a bit sparce, but it lured them into a maze of mystery and murder in the small town. I almost immediately knew who the "villain" of the story was because Nicky James had strewn a lot of clues around which made this reader more interested to see how it would play out instead of anxious to see who the murderer was. What saved the saved the mystery part for me, was the part the two families played in it...especially at the end. That was both exciting as well as emotional. I was invested in both sets of characters, both the dads and the kids. I wanted to see them all home safe and sound. Happy and romantic... at least on the dads parts.... that’s what happened. Wonderful ending.

I don't have far to go to find another story by Nicky James. She's one of my favorites and I own many of her works. I seldom recommend book as folks have many selective requirements for what works for them, but you are a lover of contemporary romance...and remember that this is two guys... and murder mysteries.... you might enjoy meeting these two dads and their kids.

[Szidi ☼ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you know that feeling when you can't put the book down no matter what? When you stay awake all night just because you have to know how it will end? When you haven't read a book in months until midnight, then comes Nicky James and this book?!

Two single dad in the middle of nowhere with their boy and girl, best summer vacation am I right? One dad is gay, the other is bisexual, but not out to his son. Two teenagers without civilization and wifi, it was only a matter of time they get closer.

Oh and I forgot to mention the dead body and a missed person of 30 years. Sounds awesome, right? ;)

I just loved Nova and Mercy. Their personalities were so good, I loved that their first priority were the kids, but no matter what they tried to do, they just couldn't get their hands and eyes off of each other. The air was sizzling around them and I loved those little touches and the funny and flirty banter between them.

The romance isn't the first priority in this book, but let me tell you, it has WAY MORE romance in it then some other books. With only one sex scene and a handjob, a couple of kisses, and that's it. But the emotions behind the words! Oh god. That's my favorite thing about Nicky's books, the strong emotions behind the pages. You don't want to miss or skip anything while reading.

The mystery was so good an interesting. I couldn't tell who the bad guy was and wasn't prepared what would happen in the end. It was mind blowing and so good.

I enjoyed this book so much. Nova and Mercy together, ahh, love them!

[drew]

no star rating. i got less than halfway through this and decided that i don’t actually care what happens to any of these characters nn.

[alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.25] Two single dads become neighbors when they take a trip down to their lakefront cabins to spend quality summer vacation time with their kids.

The story starts off like any casual excursion with begrudging teenagers, teen hormones in the air, distraught parents having panic attacks over teenage monkey business, and said distraught parents dealing with their own shenanigans as they confront the ~feelings~ growing between them.

But soon their moments of relative calm are interrupted by exceedingly worrying events, starting with the ramblings of a deranged-sounding man giving voice to a buried truth on a radio station that hasn't been transmitting for years and a dead body floating in the lake.



Welcome to the nearby quaint and ofttimes eerily quiet town of Drysdale, where the atmosphere reeks of bad vibes and fish (obviously because something smells fishy 😏....okay I'll walk myself out now.)

Say hello to our amateur sleuth quartet :

- Nova: the walking stereotype of a ruggedly handsome wilderness man with body hair for miles and plaid shirts for days, bird whisperer, professional Mercy-butt appreciator, pretty outspoken and honest, took this trip to bond with his son Cooper, bisexual (but hasn't gotten around to telling his son yet), often threatens to "break his [son's] dick off if he so much as thinks about using it for anything other than pissing".

- Mercy: a single gay dad whose only priority is his daughter Raelynn (but also secretly craves the company of a special someone in his life); SUPER protective of and far from ready for his daughter to grow up, and as such, a bit high-strung when it comes to her wellbeing; googles local nunneries whenever a boy appears within eyeshot of his daughter; yoga and meditation guru; voracious mystery novel reader; admirer of Nova's chest hair.

- Cooper: Nova's 16 y/o Supreme Lord of Eye Rolling son; no phone, no life; a growing boy with a blackhole for a stomach; has an obsession with getting that elusive sip of alcohol; starts off as a miserable grumpster but a good boy when it comes down to it; the bravest soul!

- Rae: Mercy's 14 y/o go-getter daughter who's not afraid to flaunt her stuff with confidence (yas girl!), considerate and observant, could do with less fatherly interference but loves him to death all the same, frequently reminds her father that he deserves happiness too.

---

The gradual transition into the mystery and the mounting "what is going on??" is subtle at first, but once it begins to snowball, I found myself internally yelling at them to run for the hills and leave this effed up mess behind before it came around and bit them where the sun don't shine.

But as much as my logical side was saying they should really hightail it out of there (and the characters themselves even acknowledge that staying is not the smartest idea), I can't fault characters for throwing self-preservation out the windows and playing detective in a mystery novel because otherwise there wouldn't be a story to read in the first place. Nancy Drew amateur sleuthing ftw 😌

Nerve-wracking? Yes. I got chills during the radio scenes, in part because I was remembering the static noise from a beat-up radio in an escape room I played recently while searching through stations, and well, I'm easily frightened so...needless to say, it left an impression 😆

The whodunit mystery was insanely fun, (and while the culprit wasn't a huge surprise as they have a tendency to be one of the "untouchables"), the twists and buildup to the reveal were exhilarating!



The romance manages to strike a nice balance with the impending sense of danger as we accompany the squad on their impromptu mission to unearth the small-town's old secrets. While insta-attraction erupts between Nova and Mercy, there's a natural progression to their relationship as they explore the possibility of them existing outside of a summer fling.

The increasing levels of stress do take a toll on their relationship, but come on, stumbling upon a dead body and fearing for your child's safety tends to do that to a person. Besides, they do eventually address the blame-throwing arguments as unfair and completely uncalled for so.... Frustrating in the moment, yes, but I'll argue that extreme circumstances call for a liberal application of the benefit of the doubt.

Unfortunately, not everything worked for me. Nova's more heavy-handed approach to raising Cooper did rub me the wrong way every now and then (borderline toxic masculinity?), and sometimes I just wanted to give poor Cooper a hug. In the epilogue, they do seem to have developed a greater mutual understanding (nothing like a murder mystery to father-son bond over, am I right 🤪) so I'll stop here and hope for the best.

Aside from my aforementioned qualms, the parent-child interactions were surprisingly enjoyable, and the many open conversations about sex and safety had me clapping (even if that's the last thing teens want to hear out of their parents' mouths). Consent is sexy and respecting your partner(s) even if they change their mind is sexy!!! Not to mention, Nova's teen experience with consent shed light on other forms that sexual coercion/manipulation can take so kudos!

My first Nicky James's mystery and I wasn't disappointed. Guess it's time for me to read The One That Got Away!

*Note for anyone who’s already subscribed to Nicky James’s newsletter: you can find a link to the free bonus scene in the official Radio Static release announcement email! As I spent some time following the link to sign up again in hopes of triggering an email to be sent my inbox (didn’t happen), hopefully you won’t have to run in circles like me 😅

[Sjoukje · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you discover a body and you know it must be murder, but the police tells you it’s an accident, what would you do?

Leave it alone, or maybe go to another police station when you know the sheriff is lying to you? Or at least find another cop in the station to talk to when you know you’re being lied to?

Or… investigate the situation yourself with your boyfriend, teenage son and your boyfriend’s teenage daughter? Yeah, I don’t think so.

No responsible parent of teens in their right mind lets their kid investigate a few murders when the police is obviously involved. So that felt incredibly unrealistic and just plain stupid. (And guess who turns out to be right in this situation? Not those dads I can assure you.)

And then there’s the love story that I picked the book up for. It’s not really lovely. They fall in love pretty quickly but they’re fight a lot too, especially when it comes to how protective Mercy is of his daughter. And that got old really fast when Mercy allowed her to join the fun in their investigation. And then the rest… He thinks Nova’s son is a predator because apparently all boys are (although he says himself multiple times “not all boys” referring to himself, but Nova’s son must be one). It is ok to get a hand job under water though where your daughter can see you (and she does spot it and teases him with it!) Gross!
And then later he keeps turning Nova away because it’s just a summer fling and he wants to protect his daughter.
I think his daughter maybe needed some protection from him as well. I mean: having sex where your kid can see you on top of being hot and cold to your boyfriend all the time is just not setting a great example either.

Anyway: I liked Nova, and I liked the mystery in the book. It would have been a lot better if there wouldn’t have been kids involved. Because that took the story from great to very icky.

Don’t recommend and it will never be read again by me 😄

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forty-something men acting like forty-something men...!!!! Nova and Mercy were so completely relatable. Their parenting concerns, insecurities and fears were so normal that it just felt so refreshing to read a book where the parents genuinely care about their kids happiness and safety 😂

I enjoyed the mystery, and the suspense of not knowing what was going to happen next was really good. I did click who the bad guy was almost immediately though, which was a little disappointing because I like mysteries to really make my brain work.

The romance was definitely more of a subplot but once Mercy removed the giant stick from his arse, I really liked them together. I also liked how Cooper and Rae bonded and I loved the epilogue!

*
*
*
HRCYED2: The Last 10 Years / Challenge Yourself

[Jennifer Reilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I devoured this book. I knew reading the blurb and seeing that cover that this book was
Going to be amazing. I could not put this book down even when I was working.

Mercy, Nova, Rae, and Cooper were four very special characters. I absolutely adored them. The story surrounding the mystery and what was happening at that lake was done well and kept you guessing right up to the end. The stranger broadcasting was creepy considering the radio station had been closed for years. Who is the man on the radio? Who killed the girl?

I felt like I was part of the story being in the cottages as she clearly describes where you are, swinging into the lake, part of the Mystery.

Let throw in Mercy and Nova finding love within each other at the most inopportune time. These two have sacrificed so much of their lives for their kids that it’s their time for happiness and man did I love them together.

Rae and Cooper (the kids) also pulled at my heart and made me fall head over heals in love with them and what they were experiencing as teenagers. Man I’d need therapy as an adult.

Anyway, pickup your copy and hold on for love, fun, and a mystery.

[Starr (AKA Starrfish) Rivers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skipped most of it honestly. Too slow. And Mercy gets on my nerves sooooo bad.

It was meh.

[Liya · Rating 4 out of 5]

~4.5
Older likable MCs, engaging mystery plot, realistic teenagers, perfect epilogues - both in the book and the bonus one.
The book is more on a mystery side than romance but the chemistry between MCs was strong and I loved Mercy and Nova together.
Bonus epilogue conditioned to subscribing to the author newsletter, and though I'm already subscribed to Nicky James newsletter I do not like this practice. I loved the bonus scene but firmly believe it should be part of the book

[Amur Thera · Rating 2 out of 5]

The good
+ Nova
+ Cooper and Rae
+ Both dads wanting what's best for their children
+ The growth of the bond between Nova and Cooper throughout the book
+ When one of the MCs decides he's going to come out, the coming-out happens on his terms without some drama with an accidental coming-out

The neutral
o Only Cooper and Rae got therapy in the end, but it was quite obvious all four of them needed it
o I understand that amateur sleuthing was the whole focus of the book, but they still kind of pissed me off with the stupid things they did and the danger they brought upon their children

The bad
- I really didn't like Mercy. He was an asshole to Nova all the time, yet Nova still wanted him. He was also kind of a bad parent, and a total hypocrite
- I think Mercy only wanted Nova for his chest hair. It was mentioned every three pages that Nova had such great chest hair, but everything that made Nova Nova was bad (Nova showing alpha behavior, Nova's way of raising his son (seriously, he knew Cooper for over 16 years, I'm quite sure he knows how to parent his son, yet Mercy kept finding issues with his parenting and never showed remorse when shown Nova was right all along)). It was like he didn't even like Nova, only thought him physically attractive
- Quote from Mercy's thoughts: "Nova seemed like the kind of dad who took a macho approach with his son and had spent Cooper's whole life teaching him that men don't feel emotion or cry." This quote really really pissed me off. Until that point, Nova had shown three times the emotions that Mercy had, he never worried about his image, and he made himself vulnerable all the time. Yet Mercy still dares say something like this (as I said, criticizing everything that made Nova Nova), and when Nova explains that Cooper didn't want to show weakness in front of a girl he likes, Mercy still doesn't take it back
- I think the way Mercy raised Rae was really too hovering and it made me feel awkward
- Mercy's reasons for not wanting to date Nova were bullshit (and he knew it) and he never apologized to Nova for hurting him by pushing him away
- There were three sex scenes, of which one happened in sight of their children, one happend outside on the deck while their children were right inside and one happened in private. I didn't like two of the three scenes for obvious reasons


I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend this book. It just kind of pissed me off.

[Rielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute characters with a slightly predictable mystery.

The book started strong and seemed like it would be a fun summer mystery romance. I liked our MCs and their two teenagers were fun. Actually, the teens were the best part. They were moody, annoying, and sometimes sweet just like teenagers. I even got initially invested in the mystery.

I’m not sure what happened, but I got a bit bored about 60% in and paused reading. I thought the killer was obvious early on, but suspected that might just be a red herring. That bit of not knowing had me half reading and half skimming to find the ending. Yeah, I got it right. That was disappointing.

I wanted more from the mystery and the romance. Even the romantic scenes felt like something was lacking. Getting a handjob in sight of your kid? Eh. And then the MCs got annoying. Mercy was way too overprotective and Nova became oddly aggressive. It was just a lot.

The epilogue was cute though.

[Ana Nimity · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've not read all of Nicky James' catalog but I've read most of it, especially her recent work - except The One that Got Away, which I'll remedy quite soon - and Radio Static isn't like anything else she's published. It's romantic suspense, emphasis on suspense, and I loved it so much I read it pretty much in one sitting.

While the plot, a true murder mystery, drives the story, the characters are fully fleshed-out and believable. Because the MCs each have teenagers, it's necessarily a slow burn, but the tension between the two men ratchets up just like the tension over the nearly 30-year-old cold case that suddenly appears not to be so cold.

Nicky kept me guessing until almost the end, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this tense thriller.

[HarriReadsRoMMance · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story, Raelynn and Cooper were hilarious! I didn't fully buy into the romance between Nova and Mercy and Mercy as a father was waaaaaay OTT.

[Delia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is more a mystery/ suspense than romance but is a great thriller and I liked it a lot! It was well written, great main characters and even if it was predictable I still enjoyed reading it!

[Simone - on indefinite hiatus - · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I didn't know better I woulda thunk I was reading a Tal Bauer book... 🤨🙄🤷‍♀️