Watch Me (Extracurricular Activities #1) (2018) is the first in a series by a new writer Neve Wilder.
The series follows protagonist Nate Sanders, a college student, who thinks he is straight but his beliefs on his sexuality come into question when he feels strongly attracted to his housemate Eric. While Nate is masturbating, Eric accidentally walks in on him which causes Nate to wonder whether he liked Eric watching him in such a sexual state. After this he sees Eric with a male friend and a female friend and finds himself getting jealous. But Nate has other matters to attend to as well with his pending Calculus exam which is not a subject he is very good at (as it’s in the maths realm I could definitely relate to that!) but all is not lost as Eric is very good at Calculus. So Calculus hero Eric comes to the rescue to help Nate with the study preparation for the exam. But study preparation doesn’t quite stay that way when Eric agrees to help his bi-curious friend to find out if he really is into lads.
It is quite a steamy read which I don’t personally mind but if you like a ‘left to the imagination’ kind of story this series might not be to your tastes. It’s a very well-written book that explores sexuality and the search to find out who you are and I think it does so in a very authentic way. As someone who is pansexual I very appreciated that the author explored the area of sexuality from the perspective of the middle of the sexuality spectrum. A lot of characters in fiction tend to be either gay and straight and there is definitely a lack of representation in comparison of other sexualities. So it was nice to see that Eric was bisexual for a change. And while it was never completely made clear in this first outing whether Nate is bisexual, heteroflexible or is straight and simply attracted to Eric there is still a step away from a completely binary way of feeling in terms of his sexuality.
As a couple I think Nate and Eric have very good chemistry. Nothing seems forced or contrived. It all feels very natural. Their dialogue with each other flows very easily and there is the perfect mixture of tenderness, compassion and humour in their interactions with each other which helps the reader to want to root for them to get together and really make a go of things. This is quite a short read that you could finish in 1-3 sittings depending on how much time you have to spare for reading but there is so much packed into the book and you really get to know the characters and their personalities. Very rounded characters who really work well together and who drive the plot in a very seamless fashion.
A really great read and I look forward to at some stage soon embarking on the next adventure in the Nate & Eric/Naric series.
To get your free copy of Watch Me (Extracurricular Activities #1) by Neve Wilder go to (Free until September 30th):
https://www.instafreebie.com/discover/author/26867/neve_wilder
And for more about Neve Wilder and her work go to:
culturevultureexpress 