What happens when a quiet boy with a secret falls for his best friend?
Finn has always kept people at arm’s length. Being quiet and shy doesn’t get you many friends outside your family, and it’s even harder when you’re running a spicy, secret side project.
But Gem might be the exception to the rule. The game designer is clever, self-deprecating, and appreciates Finn’s affection for all things nerdy. He's the one man who can find the real Finn… if Finn let's him in.
When Gem asks for Finn's help opening a new board game store, it brings the two of them closer than ever before. Soon things become complicated as lines of friendship blur between them, and Finn begins to worry Gem will find out his secret.
But maybe that wouldn’t be as bad as it seems. Maybe Gem already knows the secret Finn's keeping. All he has to do is convince Finn to share…
Finding Finn is a 78,000-word contemporary MM romance featuring late-night shop shenanigans, far too many nosy siblings with no boundaries, two best friends, and some steamy audio fantasies. It contains no love-triangle, no cheating, and no angst.
Charlie lives in England with her husband and a dachshund named Biscuit. She spends most of her days wrangling other people’s words in her day job and then trying to force her own onto the page in the evening.
She loves cute stories with a healthy dollop of fluff, plenty of delicious sex, and happily ever afters – because the world needs more of them. Charlie also believes that love comes in all shapes and sizes.
Charlie has very little spare time, but what she does have she fills with cooking, pole-dancing, reading and ice-hockey. She also thinks that everyone should have at least one favourite dinosaur…
I think maybe this book just wasn't my type. There was nothing wrong with it and it definitely had qualities that I liked, but we weren't what I'd call compatible. Finn and Gem were sweet with each other and I genuinely believed that they were meant to be together but their story relied too heavily on them not communicating. Pair that with a lackluster secret and a dramatic overreaction and I might have gained a few wrinkles between my eyebrows from frowning so much. I'm also not a huge fan of excessive dirty talk, so, while this book was super steamy, Finn basically narrating every sexual encounter took the wind out of my sails. I've always found this author's sex scenes to be very staccato - start, stop, talk, do this, do that, talk some more...you get the point. I like passion and I feel like that is missing in a lot of her books.
Again, this is all a preference thing on my part. This was not a bad book. It was written well and Finn's family, both found and biological, was amazing. Their support for one another was inspiring and I loved how each new member was accepted with open arms. I also loved the idea of a big, happy, queer family where the one straight guy was considered the weird one. I'm sure I'll keep reading new releases in this series, but this one just wasn't for me.
Not bad. but not my favorite in the series. The romance felt a bit anti-climactic after all of their pining (could have been way more pining too)
So much time was spent on Gem's board game shop but I would have liked way more time spent on Finn's audiobook narrator career that could have been fun and interesting to read (his only fans audio career too)
Liked seeing everyone from the roll for love series again. Loved the epilogue with Jules too.
Audio was pretty great. I liked Dan Calley's Scottish accent
4.5 “It has to be something salacious . It’s always the quiet ones.” Eli
Finding Finn ended up being much steamier than I thought and is a medium fast burn with Finn and Gem hooking up fairly early on in the book. They were fire together! There were plenty of sexy scenes coupled with sweetness throughout. Having their friendship to fall back on seemed to allow them to really explore their chemistry.
Finn and Gem made me smile, their friendship was solid as a rock and provided a nice jumping off point for more to happen.
As with book one, I'm still not 100% on board with all the kinky bits. Some worked beautifully, other times it felt a bit awkward as if the situation was twisted to fit the kink.
But that's a personal quirk I have when it comes to dirty talk especially. I like it to feel like it's just a natural progression from the way a couple behave outside the bedroom.
With Finn being such a shy and occasionally awkward person, him suddenly taking charge with his 'Dom light' persona didn't always come across smoothly.
That's my only minor critique though, otherwise I loved watching these two clueless best friends fail to realise they were already in a relationship even though they'd never spoken the words.
I also loved the games store plot. I'm such a huge gaming nerd myself and used to have an extensive collection of boardgames so that was very nostalgic.
I also adored the mini plot with Finn's other best friend Chantelle which I won't go into too much detail on.
The Epilogue was just lovely too and I'm looking forward to Oscar's book next.
I was really looking forward to this story. It was a nice story but it did not blow me away. Finn and Glem were a nice couple but something was missing for me.
RTC but I quite enjoyed this one, it was super sweet and it was really hot and steamy, which I always like. I just wish these people had better communication because their lack of communication made it harder for me to get into the book.
I received an ARC of this book and this is my honest opinion
I absolutely loved Always Eli so I couldn’t wait to read about Eli’s brother, Finn. But holy heck I was not prepared for how SMOKIN’ this book is! Finn and Gem’s chemistry is off the charts once that fire is lit but they are also so so sweet. I am a sucker for a good friends to lovers story and with some unique plot additions, it just made a really enjoyable read. We also get to see a lot of our friends from the Roll for Love series and Eli and Tristan from the first in this series! The friends and side characters are really what put this all together. Can’t wait for Oscar’s book.
It’s always the quiet one, Finn is the quiet and shy from his family, who would have thought that this book’s narrator had a dirty secret ! I love the dynamic between this secret and Gem, just perfect to see how he accepts it and how Finn is just the right guy for him, giving him exactly what he needs.
Gem has been struggling a lot wit my his dream to be a game designer, but when an opportunity arises he goes for opening a game shop, and Finn is with him every steps of the way. As time goes, Gem realises that he sees Finn as more than a friend and when they start talking about h00kup and Finn takes charge of the situation, Gem lets himself be in the moment.
Such a cute story, from friends to lovers, with so much support, understanding and love.
I loved the first book in this series and I liked this ok. I liked both of the main characters I just never really got all that excited about their relationship.
We meet Finn in Always Eli. Finn comes from a large family and is kind of quiet. Gem works for Jay at the Lost World and is Finn’s best friend. Jay talks him into starting his own business, a game store. He always dreamt of being a game designer. As Finn and Gem work to get the business ready, they start exploring their friendship and moving it into lovers. These two are hot, so much heat and steam pour off the pages. I loved all the interactions with all the guys from the previous stories, including the Roll for Love series and Always Eli. I literally couldn’t put it down! Overall, freakin fantastic!! The story kept me engaged, hooked me from the beginning and didn’t let go. The story was really well written with complex characters, the pacing flowed smoothly, highly recommend. I am voluntarily leaving a review form an advanced copy that I received. My reviews are solely based on my thoughts and opinions.
Book: Finding Finn Read By: Ebook and Audio Author: Charlie Novak Narrator: Dan Calley Genre: MM Romance Main Characters: NA Recommend: yes Spice: 🌶️️ 🌶️️ 🌶️️ Age recommendation: 18-30+ Years My feelings:
I have no idea how I ended up in the world of MM but here I am. Im not a man, and nor am I interested in same sex relationships…. But reading MM for some reason is very very entertaining.
“Sometimes it felt like there were two parts of my brain: the shy, quiet part and the devious, horny, controlling part that reared its head at the most inopportune moments. For some terrible reason, all I could compare it to was the Venom symbiote, but I wasn’t going to examine that comparison too closely because I couldn’t deal with the whole monster-fucking thing today. Not on top of everything else.”
Clearly I have a kink I never knew I had lol This was great, steamy and very very moreish.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Reread via audio April 2022 So freaking good. Please pick up a charlie novak book asap.
Original review: Oh this was so good! I really really love it when authors connect all of their books and Charlie Novak is incredibly good at it. She does it in a way that you can read the separate series and still know what's happening. So even though Finding Finn is part of a different series than Natural Twenty, the books are still connected. Just like the way that the Strawberry Kisses series connects as well.
So Finn is an audiobook narrator and also does audio porn on the side. Except no one would ever suspect that of Finn because he is shy and mild-mannered with anxiety in his day-to-day life but when it comes to sex, he is dominant. Then there's Gem, who is a game designer and is opening up his own game store. This whole series is delightfully nerdy in terms of board games and fantasy elements, but you don't have to be familiar with role-playing games or board games to understand. I know literally nothing about dungeons & dragons and games similar and still really enjoy these books.
Anyway, Gem and Finn are best friends and they both have feelings for each other but neither one of them want to act on it because they're not willing to risk their friendship. Obviously, they do eventually act on it and it becomes a friends with benefits kind of situation before they both pull their heads out of their asses.
I liked that there was very little angst in this book and I loved the secondary characters who were previous main characters making an appearance. I especially loved Finn's friendship with Chantelle and her daughter. It was pretty freaking cute.
The sex scenes were hot, but it took way too long for them to communicate like adults and say that they liked each other. Also, I didn't buy Gem not recognizing Finn's voice during the Q&A, when Finn specifically said he was using his real voice. Overall, too much manufactured drama.
This book is the second in Novak’s Forever Love series, but it works perfectly well as a standalone. I didn’t read the first one, and it seems it’s a series of family members getting their HEAs. It also appears, with a little bit of research, that it’s a spin off from the author’s Roll For Love series. But I didn’t need to have read either to enjoy this story and didn’t feel like anything was missing.
I was drawn in right from the start, though it took a little bit to sort out the large cast of characters. This stems from the books that have come before, and had I read them, it probably would have been easier to jump right in. But the author does a great job of giving every secondary character a sense of place, and it didn’t take more than a couple of pages to have all the supporting characters settled. I loved the sense of found family here, even though some of the characters are blood related, and it had a lovely sense of charm about the whole thing.
In Finding Finn we follow the love story between Finn and Gem. The two of them are good friends and when Gem breaks up with his boyfriend they get closer and soon become friends with benefits. They start to develop deeper feelings for each other but they say nothing because they are afraid they are going to ruin what they already have. I really enjoyed their journey to their happily ever after. This book was perfect for February and Valentine's day. Sweet and romantic with two wonderful main characters that had amazing chemistry. I also really loved all the side characters. Great story and great writing. I had a fantastic time reading it. I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.
What an amazing book. Quite honestly this is the first book that I have read by Charlie Novak and now I have to read alll the ones I have missed. You have Gem and Finn; Gem is trying to build a game but has not gotten all that far. Finn is a voice narrator with an “extra voice job” he enjoys. When Gem decides to open a gaming store, Finn helps him out. They start as friends and slowly start with benefits. Loved the chemistry between them and high steamy heat. I always love when there are epilogues showing a snippet of their lives.
I love friends to lovers. This one was really sweet and hot. I love each second of it.
I love that Finn had this side of him. It make a good contrast to him being so shy and reserved. I love that Gem decided to do the game store it was totally right for him. These characters are really wonderful in their own ways and I love that they really complete each other.
that was fun !! i think i had bigger expectations for this book since it's a bunch of tropes i absolutely love. but it was still a nice short read for my 3-hour flight
Nnnngh. Hi, Finn, you are my favorite forever, thanks. Loved every page of this one--to the point that I cannot be coherent. By far my favorite of all the related series.
Finding Finn is the second book Forever Love series by Charlie Novak. This book is about Finn and Gem. I really liked their story. It was sweet, sexy, full of feels and very well written.
3.5 stars - Slightly disappointed by this one, while still enjoying it. I thought more would be made of Finn’s side gig doing audio porn (sort of NC-17 ASMR). This felt like a meal that has components you enjoy, and tastes good, but you can’t help thinking if combined slightly differently, it could have been amazing.
Finn and Gem - we met them in Book 1 of this series and there was definitely sparks between the best friends.
This BF to lovers read, has loving family, helpful friends and board games. The oh moment when they realise they might be more than best friends is cute.
OMG! I think this is Charlie Novak's steamiest book yet!
When I think of Charlie Novak's writing, I imagine a gorgeous romance, all the romance you could possibly want, with a good dose of heat, but focusing on the romance. Well, Finding Finn has all the romance you could possibly want, but the heat factor in this one is hot enough to melt your Kindle!
Together, Finn and Gem are lava hot, with Gem discovering a secret side to Finn that they both find oh so satisfactory!
Apart from the heat, the relationship side of their "friends with benefits" arrangement was beautifully written. It is clear from almost the beginning that neither of them considers the other simply a friend, but both are too afraid to voice their opinion in case it drives the other away. This is a plot device that I absolutely love, but it is very easy to stretch it out too much to the point that it becomes frustrating rather than sweet. Not so here. The growth of Finn and Gem's relationship is slow and steady, at least emotionally, but fast enough that you can see the progression and know it will be beautiful when it happens.
Charlie Novak is one of those writers I turn to when I’m looking for a light and relaxing but absorbing read. Her books are generally low angst, with any dramatic moments being resolved fairly quickly so that they add another layer of interest to the story but aren't emotionally taxing.
really enjoy her writing style. It flows so well that you turn the pages without even noticing you're moving through the story. Her characters are always well developed, and one of the benefits of books where the characters essentially stretch over both series is that you get a lot of character development. As a result, it's always a joy to meet those characters again in other books. I like that her characters are everyday people, well, except for Jason! It adds a touch of familiarity and gives the stories a 'family' feel.
Finding Finn is the second book in Charlie Novak's Forever Love series. This series is a spin-off from the Roll for Love series. While Forever Love can be read in isolation, I'd recommend at least one of the Roll for Love books just for background. Of that series, I've only read (so far) the last book, Proficiency Bonus, and I found it gave me an excellent grounding in all the main players that feature in this spin-off series. It is also an entertaining read all on its own, so it's not a hardship!
Finding Finn is a gorgeous addition to the Forever Love series. I loved watching Gem slowly realise just what he has in Finn, and Finn building his courage to actually go for what he wants. I have had so much fun interacting with Gem, Finn, Finn’s whacky family, and their circle of friends. These are all people I wish I knew in real life, and reading one of their stories is always a happy experience. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
It’s a pretty universal fact that it’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for. The character of Finn already interested me because he appeared to be an adorable, anxiety-ridden cinnamon roll from the outside, but that couldn’t possibly be the full story. In his outing as the hero of his own story, Novak presents a fantastic but believable three-dimensional character with hidden depths and an intriguing secret (I thought I’d predicted the secret going in—I was wrong, and the reality is so much better). In contrast, love-interest Gem is pretty much exactly as he appears on the tin. This portrayal is nowhere near a bad thing because he and Finn have fantastic chemistry once they allow the sparks to fly. I especially loved the slight reverse age gap element of the dynamic that builds between them, even if the story itself doesn’t give that aspect much weight.
This contemporary romance is a phenomenal friends-to-lovers arc centered around two men who grow closer over the events of the “external” plot. It seems like it’d be a simple story from the outside, but I had a ton of fun with the slow build toward the revelation of Finn’s secret and the various ensuing reactions.
As usual, Novak populates her stories with excellent secondary characters in the form of family and friends we’ve either fallen in love with in previous books or can’t wait for their own stories. Overall, this is a fun novel that is simultaneously a relaxing delight to read and absolutely impossible to put down. I look forward to catching glimpses of Finn and Gem’s happily ever after in later books, both in this series and others. Novak has created a delightful shared world that I always love to visit.
Disclaimer: I received an electronic ARC of this novel from the author.
Every book I read by Charlie Novak just warms me up from the inside every time! Finding Finn is the latest release in her Forever Love series. Finn and Gem met a year ago through mutual friends and have become close over that year. When Gem is dumped in a public fashion, Finn takes the opportunity presented to act on the “non-friendly” feelings he’s had for Gem from the start. Finn initially takes this as a “FWB” situation, fully believing that he’s not worthy of someone actually loving him. He’s the type of man who pushes everyone around him to be the best they can with encouragement, but can’t see himself the way that others do. Gem needs someone who believes in him and will push him to reach toward goals he didn’t even know he had. As they spend more time together, their true feelings emerge. I really loved the “behind closed doors” aspect of this story when it came to Finn’s “Side Hustle”. Most everyone has that part of them that they keep to themselves and don’t want to share with the general world at large. You just have to find that one person who will love you because of those aspects, not in spite of them. As usual, the author brought us an emotional story of two people falling in love in such a way that you just can’t help but fall in love yourself with the couple. Charlie Novak brings us characters that you just want to spend time with in real life. Can’t wait for Oscar’s story and I wonder if we’ve already met his other half? If not,, there was a certain side character in this book that I would love to see a story for!
This was a great story! Finn is nerdy and shy, and I love him from the first moment. The fact that he has a spicy side project got me intrigued. I was a bit surprised how spicy it was, and I’m a fan of all things spicy! Especially dirty talk…. Gem has dreams about designing games, and takes a chance when a local shop is available to rent and starts the process of opening up a board game. Gem seems like a great friend right from the start. I always enjoy a great friends to lovers story and this story is definitely not a disappointment. They have a great friendship, but I feel like I’m losing the feeling of that there’s something more between sometimes when I read this…that might be because there’s a lot of family mentioned and I can’t keep up with all the names. I haven’t read the first book in this series, and that might have been a mistake. Cause the side characters probably features in both the books. This is my mistake and mine alone! The side characters are great, and I’m definitely gonna check out the previous book and the next. When they do begin to explore their relationship there’s no doubt about the sizzling chemistry! Hot, hot, hot! With lots of dirty talk! I really enjoyed the way they eventually trust each other and the way they just understand each other. I’m secretly hoping for a bonus short with more edging…😇 Charlie Novak is an amazing author who writes stories that makes you picture everything in your head, and characters you love.
I’ve been wanting Finn’s story since we first met him in Lewis’ book “Proficiency Bonus” and was not disappointed! Gem is also a known character, having popped up in the “Roll For Love” series as well. It was great to see them get their HEA while getting to visit the characters from that series again. I loved the “Roll For Love” series and am super happy we got to visit that world again. This is the second book in the “Forever Love” series, which followed the “Roll For Love” series. It can definitely be read as a standalone, but you’ll enjoy it even more if you’ve read those books first so you have more background for not only Finn and Gem but the side characters as well (especially Finn’s crazy family!)
The story itself is a well written, low angst, friends-to-lovers trope. Charlie Novak has built a fun world, both with Gem’s bookstore and gaming friends and with Finn’s crazy family. You’ll laugh along with getting the feels as Finn and Gem’s relationship deepens and Gem’s new dream of owning a game store becomes a reality. Finn and Gem are squishy loveable characters, but holy heck, the steam! Beware, your Kindle will melt by the end of the book. As is mentioned a few times throughout the book, it’s always the quiet ones.
**I was given a free ARC copy of this book and am happy to leave an honest review in exchange.
𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤. What happens when the shy guy with a secret falls for his best friend?.
Best friend's to lovers romance featuring an adorable nerd and a shy guy whos not quite all he seems.
𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴! . . . *𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘦* Now that was a Steamy read, not to mention adorable and delightful and everything I love in a romance. I'm not normally a huge fan of the Dom/Sub vibes but the author absolutely made it work for me with these two.
Their Chemistry and development both together and separately was just beautiful and I loved every minute of it. I also really enjoyed the dynamic between Finn and his family and I loved getting to see a bit more of them in this book.
The author did an incredible job at making me fall head over heels for these two and i devoured the whole book in one sitting.
𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤. Oh yes. It is low Angst and full to the brim with love, laughter, heat and adorable moments that will have you smiling. Whether you're new to the author or a seasoned reader of her work I would definitely recommend grabbing this delightful story with both hands.
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐟. • Contemporary MM Romance. • No Angst. • Best-Friends-to-Lovers. • Very Steamy Romances. • Dom/Sub Vibes.