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Johnson Road #1
Coming Together
‘A hot, sweet romance that will have you reaching for the sloe gin’
One very attractive woman. Two ridiculously handsome men. And erotic Greek statues.
Starting out alone at Nottingham University, Sophie Ashworth finds herself sharing a house with soulful, grieving Jasper and charming, irresistible Alex, who is determined to have Sophie all to himself. After all, he’s Alex Van-Zeller and he always gets the girl, right? But he hasn’t counted on the slow-burning affection growing between Sophie and Jasper, and Jasper’s own quiet self-belief.
Then the bloke that you are up against becomes your best mate, and neither is prepared to back down. The two men leave Sophie to make an impossible choice, which goes horribly wrong. It takes a lot of gin, love, and friendship before the solution is discovered. Oh, and a trip to Skegness.
The first of a trilogy charting the lives of Sophie, Alex, Jasper, and friends as they navigate young adulthood, hearing aid batteries, and each other’s bodies.
This is a slow burn MFM over a three-book series
One very attractive woman. Two ridiculously handsome men. And erotic Greek statues.
Starting out alone at Nottingham University, Sophie Ashworth finds herself sharing a house with soulful, grieving Jasper and charming, irresistible Alex, who is determined to have Sophie all to himself. After all, he’s Alex Van-Zeller and he always gets the girl, right? But he hasn’t counted on the slow-burning affection growing between Sophie and Jasper, and Jasper’s own quiet self-belief.
Then the bloke that you are up against becomes your best mate, and neither is prepared to back down. The two men leave Sophie to make an impossible choice, which goes horribly wrong. It takes a lot of gin, love, and friendship before the solution is discovered. Oh, and a trip to Skegness.
The first of a trilogy charting the lives of Sophie, Alex, Jasper, and friends as they navigate young adulthood, hearing aid batteries, and each other’s bodies.
This is a slow burn MFM over a three-book series
239 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 15, 2019
7 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
About the author
Fearne Hill
28 books357 followersFearne Hill resides far from the madding crowds in the county of Dorset, deep in the British countryside. She likes it that way.
Her novel, Oyster, is a 2025 Lambda Literary Award winner. Two Tribes is a 2023 Lambda Literary Award finalist..
Her popular Rossingley series was nominated in nine separate categories of the 2021 Goodreads M/M Romance awards and received an Honourable Mention in the 2021 Rainbow Awards.
Be sure to follow her on Bookbub for the latest sales and releases! https://www.bookbub.com/profile/fearn...
Join her Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/11724...
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fearnehill_...
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/FearneHill
She also writes very brief and not especially insightful book reviews here on GR...
Finally, she also writes straight contemporary romance under the pseudonym Coco Chambers.
Her novel, Oyster, is a 2025 Lambda Literary Award winner. Two Tribes is a 2023 Lambda Literary Award finalist..
Her popular Rossingley series was nominated in nine separate categories of the 2021 Goodreads M/M Romance awards and received an Honourable Mention in the 2021 Rainbow Awards.
Be sure to follow her on Bookbub for the latest sales and releases! https://www.bookbub.com/profile/fearn...
Join her Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/11724...
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fearnehill_...
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/FearneHill
She also writes very brief and not especially insightful book reviews here on GR...
Finally, she also writes straight contemporary romance under the pseudonym Coco Chambers.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 10, 2020
A Joyfully Jay review.
3.75 stars
Coming Together starts the Johnson Road trilogy involving Sophie, Alex, and Jasper and their home on Johnson Road. The story introduces us to all three characters and we get three points of view that are easy to distinguish, although the book mostly feels like Sophie’s story.
Sophie came from boarding school and was tired of living in a dorm. She was then paired up with Alex and Jasper in an off-campus house. This was described as housing that was still part of the school and I wasn’t sure how realistic it was for there to be co-ed roommates assigned. For many reasons, the book read as someone’s fantasy come to life. Sophie is beautiful and has two gorgeous men, one who is extremely wealthy, fall in love with her quickly. The men become the best of friends and they tolerate, to a point, the other’s relationship with Sophie. Alex also is a player and has many bed partners, and Sophie is okay with that, also to a point, as she wasn’t ready to commit to Alex at first.
Read Michelle's review in its entirety here.
3.75 stars
Coming Together starts the Johnson Road trilogy involving Sophie, Alex, and Jasper and their home on Johnson Road. The story introduces us to all three characters and we get three points of view that are easy to distinguish, although the book mostly feels like Sophie’s story.
Sophie came from boarding school and was tired of living in a dorm. She was then paired up with Alex and Jasper in an off-campus house. This was described as housing that was still part of the school and I wasn’t sure how realistic it was for there to be co-ed roommates assigned. For many reasons, the book read as someone’s fantasy come to life. Sophie is beautiful and has two gorgeous men, one who is extremely wealthy, fall in love with her quickly. The men become the best of friends and they tolerate, to a point, the other’s relationship with Sophie. Alex also is a player and has many bed partners, and Sophie is okay with that, also to a point, as she wasn’t ready to commit to Alex at first.
Read Michelle's review in its entirety here.
April 29, 2020
I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was closer to a 3.75 but I rounded up.
This book started off well, got a little wayward in the middle but ended well. I liked the characters and the different personalities. Sophie was very up and down for me. I liked her at times but not at others. She seemed like a very weak woman and I felt she needed to toughen u a bit at times. Jasper was good I liked his personality and his background. Alex was weird at times. The story line was good but it seemed dragged out in the middle. third was the best.
This book was closer to a 3.75 but I rounded up.
This book started off well, got a little wayward in the middle but ended well. I liked the characters and the different personalities. Sophie was very up and down for me. I liked her at times but not at others. She seemed like a very weak woman and I felt she needed to toughen u a bit at times. Jasper was good I liked his personality and his background. Alex was weird at times. The story line was good but it seemed dragged out in the middle. third was the best.
February 8, 2020
*ARC kindly provided free by BookSirens for an honest review*
I am truly conflicted on if I liked this or not.
This book got on my NERVES for the majority of the time, but then I have this desire to know about these characters and their story. But I’m just sitting here asking myself, “do I want to go through this AGAIN?!”
This book is stationed in the UK and I was confused when I started this. So very confused. All the lingo and little sayings here and there were confusing to follow at times while also trying to follow this story too.
I love the knowledge this author has about art and such, but I just had to skip a lot of the lectures that this author just needed to write in full, for some odd reason. I don’t know guys, I just wasn’t into it. I was bored.
The plot was indeed basic. The conflict was indeed basic. The characters were average, read before type of characters. Originality? Sure. Especially since I haven’t read a book in this type of lingo and language before, but in general the characters were ok.
Let me tell you the best part of this book. The ending. Loved that ending. So I am so very conflicted! Do I like it? Do I not? The book as a whole only gets 2 star rating, but there were some good parts in between that I just can’t ignore. Sooooooo, I’ll give this book a solid 3 star rating....this author better be grateful!
*ARC kindly provided free by BookSirens for an honest review* PS, this is the second book with BookSirens and I don’t know if I’m liking it so far. The books aren’t the best so far, but I’ll keep going cause it’s free books. Might as well I guess.
I am truly conflicted on if I liked this or not.
This book got on my NERVES for the majority of the time, but then I have this desire to know about these characters and their story. But I’m just sitting here asking myself, “do I want to go through this AGAIN?!”
This book is stationed in the UK and I was confused when I started this. So very confused. All the lingo and little sayings here and there were confusing to follow at times while also trying to follow this story too.
I love the knowledge this author has about art and such, but I just had to skip a lot of the lectures that this author just needed to write in full, for some odd reason. I don’t know guys, I just wasn’t into it. I was bored.
The plot was indeed basic. The conflict was indeed basic. The characters were average, read before type of characters. Originality? Sure. Especially since I haven’t read a book in this type of lingo and language before, but in general the characters were ok.
Let me tell you the best part of this book. The ending. Loved that ending. So I am so very conflicted! Do I like it? Do I not? The book as a whole only gets 2 star rating, but there were some good parts in between that I just can’t ignore. Sooooooo, I’ll give this book a solid 3 star rating....this author better be grateful!
*ARC kindly provided free by BookSirens for an honest review* PS, this is the second book with BookSirens and I don’t know if I’m liking it so far. The books aren’t the best so far, but I’ll keep going cause it’s free books. Might as well I guess.
February 3, 2020
Coming Together is about finding yourself, fighting for love in the most unlikely places, and the bonds you make in between.
The angst in Coming together by Fearne Hill is off the charts
The angst in Coming together by Fearne Hill is off the charts
January 8, 2020
I loved this story! I always adore British romance and these uni students are adorable! I am so in love with Alex Van-Zeller and Jasper is the sweetest man on the planet. This book is so nicely written and had me laughing out loud. Book 2 here I come.
January 8, 2020
This is an excellent new adult contemporary romance. And I really enjoyed the literary touches - it made me look up all the works of art. It makes a change to have a book about Brit students having erotic adventures instead of US ones. I recommend heartily.
February 24, 2020
As a fan of unconventional love stories I am always looking for new stories in this genre. I've read lots and lots of menage stories and I am so glad that I found this series and Fearne Hill. It was such a refreshing slow-burn story with wonderful characters that you could only fall in love with and hope the best for them all. It was so refreshing to read a story that's so British because at least I have read very few menage stories that take place outside of the US. I loved how the characters were different but at the same time they complemented each other. In this first book I thought till the end that it will be an MFM story but luckily we do get a surprise at the end. Art history was wonderfully integrated into the story, so much so, that it made me google all those statues and paintings mentioned, something that I normally never do when I read a story. This first book is just an introduction to our poly family, but so well written and so intriguing that it made me binge read all books in a row.
January 31, 2020
Sophie Ashworth is going out on her own for the first time. She’s lived at boarding schools and with her military family all over the place but for college, she’s stepping out of her comfort zone. She’s going to live off-campus in a house with two other students she’s never met and they are both guys. She arrives at the house first to find the bedrooms have been assigned by the rental agent and she got the one with the biggest bed she’s ever seen in her life. She meets Jasper first, he’s a year or two older and a medical student. He’s gorgeous but quiet and seems really sad. Alex doesn’t show up until the next day and she thinks he may be the most attractive person she’s ever seen in person and apparently is perfectly comfortable being barely dressed around strangers. (Who’s complaining? Not Sophie)
Both Jasper Coutts and Alex Van-Zeller both think Sophie is beautiful but Alex is the first to declare he wants to have her. Jasper keeps to himself but Sophie starts to slowly pull him out of his shell. She finds out the reason he’s so sad is his younger brother Christian recently died. Jasper is afraid to sleep in the bed because he was sleeping next to Christian when he died in his sleep. Sophie tells him if it would be easier for him he could sleep in her bed with her. At first, he resists but eventually when exhaustion is so bad he has to get some sleep he gives it a try and it soon becomes a habit but all they do is sleep until one night he spoons her and massages her abdomen while she is having cramps. Alex is a trust fund baby with more money than he could possibly spend in one life-time and he’s been deaf since birth and has cochlear implants and he is determined to have Sophie but she keeps resisting him because he seems like a ‘man whore” and she doesn’t want to join the parade but once he kisses her, really kisses her, her will power is losing strength.
Sophie doesn’t understand how she could possibly be falling for both Jasper and Alex. They are so different but she is developing serious deep feelings for both guys. She also thinks there must be something wrong with her for wanting both of them. As the term progresses they all grow closer as a group, the guys have let each other know they are interested in Sophie but neither guy wants to hurt the other guy either.
I enjoyed this book so much I’ve already purchased and read book 2 (Stepping Out) and can’t wait for book 3 (Three Lives). I’m right there with Sophie on her confusion and attraction to both guys. They both have amazing qualities and together would make the perfect man.
Both Jasper Coutts and Alex Van-Zeller both think Sophie is beautiful but Alex is the first to declare he wants to have her. Jasper keeps to himself but Sophie starts to slowly pull him out of his shell. She finds out the reason he’s so sad is his younger brother Christian recently died. Jasper is afraid to sleep in the bed because he was sleeping next to Christian when he died in his sleep. Sophie tells him if it would be easier for him he could sleep in her bed with her. At first, he resists but eventually when exhaustion is so bad he has to get some sleep he gives it a try and it soon becomes a habit but all they do is sleep until one night he spoons her and massages her abdomen while she is having cramps. Alex is a trust fund baby with more money than he could possibly spend in one life-time and he’s been deaf since birth and has cochlear implants and he is determined to have Sophie but she keeps resisting him because he seems like a ‘man whore” and she doesn’t want to join the parade but once he kisses her, really kisses her, her will power is losing strength.
Sophie doesn’t understand how she could possibly be falling for both Jasper and Alex. They are so different but she is developing serious deep feelings for both guys. She also thinks there must be something wrong with her for wanting both of them. As the term progresses they all grow closer as a group, the guys have let each other know they are interested in Sophie but neither guy wants to hurt the other guy either.
I enjoyed this book so much I’ve already purchased and read book 2 (Stepping Out) and can’t wait for book 3 (Three Lives). I’m right there with Sophie on her confusion and attraction to both guys. They both have amazing qualities and together would make the perfect man.
March 29, 2020
This was my first Fearne Hill novel, I honestly selected it because I love her name. Silly but true. 🤓 I must start by saying that the premise was iffy for me. In real life, based on the men I’ve dated, my husband, and the men I know, I don’t believe the idea of 2 male friends/roommates dating the same girl at the same time, while having TRUE feelings of love, and not just lust, is possible. When I suspended my reality and just dove into #5 Johnson Road, it is totally workable/doable. Sophie is a typical attractive young woman with an equal need to rebel/make her parents proud. After 8 yrs of boarding school she is ready to give living off campus a try. She is randomly assigned a house with 2 young men. Jasper, who lives upstairs with Soph, is quiet, reserved, and deeply hurting but amazingly sweet, thoughtful, and sexy as hell. Alex, the downstairs housemate, is Adonis in the flesh, vivacious, comfortable to be himself, and openly sensual in every way. What starts as fun flirting and gentle comfort turns into a thrumming ball of intense emotion and sexual desire. I still don’t think this would be any guy’s fantasy but it definitely works from a woman’s perspective.😉.
As a writer Fearne spends a good amount of time developing the characters into believable, likeable people who are living and breathing on the pages. She has created a pace that flows beautifully, moves fast enough to stay intriguing but not so fast that you lose the nuisance of the story. I will definitely be reading book 2 and 3 to see how this relationship continues to develop. I was given a complimentary ARC through Book Sirens in exchange for an honest review. I hate saying that because I feel like readers may doubt the validity of the review but this is truly my honest opinion on the book.
Pippa, My Secret Book Spot
As a writer Fearne spends a good amount of time developing the characters into believable, likeable people who are living and breathing on the pages. She has created a pace that flows beautifully, moves fast enough to stay intriguing but not so fast that you lose the nuisance of the story. I will definitely be reading book 2 and 3 to see how this relationship continues to develop. I was given a complimentary ARC through Book Sirens in exchange for an honest review. I hate saying that because I feel like readers may doubt the validity of the review but this is truly my honest opinion on the book.
Pippa, My Secret Book Spot
August 1, 2020
Great read!
This story starts with Sophie about to start life at University of Nottingham but rather than rooming in halls of residence with the other freshers she ends up renting a room in a house share. She has not clue who her housemates will be but what walk through the door will change her life forever. Jasper is a quiet, perpetually sad and emotionally withdrawn Irish guy but something about his new housemates let’s him open up for the first time in a long time. Alex is a billionaire playboy who has a lifestyle most people would dream of, so how is it ends up sharing a house with two strangers his first year at uni.
The threesome get to know each other on more ways than one but when feelings come into play how will Sophie choose between the two guys she has fallen for?!
Loved it! A great page turner of a read with all the steam you would expect and a few twists thrown in for good measure. I would happily read the next instalment of this story.
I read this book voluntarily for an honest review.
This story starts with Sophie about to start life at University of Nottingham but rather than rooming in halls of residence with the other freshers she ends up renting a room in a house share. She has not clue who her housemates will be but what walk through the door will change her life forever. Jasper is a quiet, perpetually sad and emotionally withdrawn Irish guy but something about his new housemates let’s him open up for the first time in a long time. Alex is a billionaire playboy who has a lifestyle most people would dream of, so how is it ends up sharing a house with two strangers his first year at uni.
The threesome get to know each other on more ways than one but when feelings come into play how will Sophie choose between the two guys she has fallen for?!
Loved it! A great page turner of a read with all the steam you would expect and a few twists thrown in for good measure. I would happily read the next instalment of this story.
I read this book voluntarily for an honest review.
January 13, 2020
I found this book by a new indie author accidentally and thoroughly enjoyed it, although it wasn't what I was expecting. The characters are very British, the uni is obviously very British. I love the bromance between Alex and Jasper and I hope it leads somewhere in Books 2 & 3.
Some parts of this book are hilarious - particularly the scene in the gin bar had me laughing out loud.
Finally, the artwork on the covers of both books is amazing.
Some parts of this book are hilarious - particularly the scene in the gin bar had me laughing out loud.
Finally, the artwork on the covers of both books is amazing.
March 2, 2020
The book blurb left me believing this was going to be a steamy coming-to-terms with polyamory between the three protagonists. This seemed to be the author's initial intent, too. However, it missed this mark and about 60% into the novel the book starts to drag and begin to fall apart (plot and chemistry wise).
Perhaps with some deep editing this novel could reach it's full potential.
*I received an ARC in exchange for a review. This review is my own.
Perhaps with some deep editing this novel could reach it's full potential.
*I received an ARC in exchange for a review. This review is my own.
February 29, 2020
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. However as soon as I finished I purchased the 2nd book within minutes. I needed more!
Great chemistry between the trio of housemates and the bonds they each form with each other. At times emotional and some points frustrating as I wanted to shake them.
Great chemistry between the trio of housemates and the bonds they each form with each other. At times emotional and some points frustrating as I wanted to shake them.
May 14, 2020
An MFM tale of where house mates Sophie, Alex, and Jasper find love in an unconventional way, and figuring out who each is within the group. I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
January 13, 2020
As for the sequel - enjoyable but elevated to 5 star because of the beautiful artwork on the cover
January 12, 2020
I hope that it is refreshing to have a British version of an American college book. And the three main characters are so very different. Sophie is naive and middle class, whereas Jasper has already survived loss and hardship. And Alex? Well, he has everything.
This is a sweet, light-hearted love story, made even more so by the art history sprinkled throughout it.
This is a sweet, light-hearted love story, made even more so by the art history sprinkled throughout it.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews