Perfect Catch is the story of twenty-four-year-olds Calvin 'Cal' Lynch and Troy Hoffman, best friends since they were fourteen. It's the realisation of their chemistry, a decade of tension and want and the maintenance of their emotions in the wake of the change in their relationship all wrapped up with N.R.'s typical writing style and a sense of wonderful humour. There is a degree of awareness to the whole book that I appreciated. Like the best friend to lovers trope being called out, Cal and Troy know they are the stereotypical example of a trope. The humour used is fun and right. I like the characters. It feels a little like Arctic Fire in the limited cast and tent and full-blown intimacy. However, that works on entirely different core premises (I do so love it 😘). Perfect Catch is just cute af, it's low anxiety, best friend to lovers done right.
The slow reveals of the characters was an effective choice. Cal goes from being anxious and questioning in the first half to the driving force, confident and self-assured in the second. He's not a flawed narrator per se but he perhaps is unaware of his own convictions at first. Troy is endearing, human. The sort of character that is common in NR's novels. It is a narrative that moves fast but not illogically so. Their actions and the speed of them are backed by their preexisting relationship, connection and character traits. Such as Cal's relatable love of Steve McGarrett, which is tied to his love of Troy. Jesus, I so did that (though with different characters, and actors). The choice to include the conversation of what-ifs felt like it really was necessary given their hardcore feelings for each other.
Have a collection of quotes and notes
• Total random note... Interesting choice of beer.
• I adore Peta and Cal's relationship. Sparkie and Chippie as nicknames are perfect choices. Also, bless any author who gives us a female tradie. Peta gives as good as she gets and I'm here for it.
• This particular book is set in outside a country town called Claremont (there are two, one in Western Australia and one in Tasmania neither align well to this location).
• My folks were okay with it; well, my mum and sister were fine with it. I think my dad was just relieved I was still a man’s man. I was still keen to do my building apprenticeship and was one of the hardest hitting guys on our rugby team. I think my old man thought all gay men had a swish to their hips. But when he realised it didn’t change a single thing about me, he said he was fine with it. I had to wonder if he’d still accept me if I was more flamboyant. I’d never really thought parents’ love should have limits, but apparently my dad’s might have. — Well hellllooo toxic masculinity. Goddamn homophobia. Australia well and truly sucks sometimes. Because all Aussies know at least one guy who is considered a blokes bloke like that. I do of course know it's not exclusive to us. (Cal)
• I knew that smile. It was his gone-fishin’ smile, his “weekend away with no mobile phone service” smile. Possibly even his “Friday night footy and pizza” smile. It was contagious. — I adore this. Just that knowing someone so well that you know their moods, their smiles. It doesn't have to be romantic, it can be a purely platonic connection, though it is of course heavily romantically coded here. Even if Cal and Troy are both entirely blind to the subtones of it. (Cal)
• I longed to touch him, to have him touch me in return. I wanted him, but more than that, I wanted him to want me. I ached for it. — I don't know what it is about this that makes my stomach swoop. Because I remember this feeling, but it is uncommon to be reminded of that. (Cal)
• Because, even if it turned out Troy would not, or could not, ever be interested in me, it was too late for me. I was in love with him. I had been for years. Was I supposed to risk it all? Was I supposed to tell him how I felt? Because it was getting to the point where I couldn’t keep pretending I wasn’t in love with my best friend. I didn’t have a choice anymore. I had to either tell him or walk away.
And I couldn’t be the one to say goodbye. — There is so much desperation and emotion in this one section. It's a stark realisation. Cal is so painfully sweet. I felt this like a punch. (Cal)
• He pulled off. “Look at me when I suck your dick.”
His words and his tone almost made me come. I did as he demanded, leaning up on my elbows, and when our gazes locked, he slowly opened his mouth and took me in again.
“Oh, fuck,” I whispered. “Troy.” — This exchange struck me, not because it is A moment but because I've read quite a bit of N.R. over the last year. This isn't her usual game. Honestly, it's one step off exhibitionism, not something I've seen her play with, that kind of kink. But for Cal and Troy, it feels more like a deep extension of their intimacy. Troy's need for intimacy. (Troy and Cal)
• “I know. And that’s what I’m scared of,” he said. He looked away, out the kitchen window, like looking at me was too hard.
“Scared of what?”
His gaze shot to mine. “Of losing what we have,” he said. “Of risking it all. You’ve been my best friend forever, and I don’t know what I’d do without you, and that scares me.” — This is a key element of friends to loves, especially best friends to loves. Think of it as Schrodinger's cat relationship. stellarstacey put it really well in her buddie fanfic Buck's New Tattoo "I’m tired of being alive and dead with you. I’m so scared to mess up what we already have that I’m sacrificing what we could have. I wanna open the box on us."
• “Now, if we’re going to do the whole best friends-to-lovers thing, we’d better go about it properly, yeah?”
That made me smile. “I thought we crossed that line already.”
“We frotted the line.”
I burst out laughing. “Then we better cross it more thoroughly.”
Troy chuckled, then with a deep breath, he took my hand. “If we do this, we can’t go back.”
“I know.”
“No regrets?”
“No regrets.” — This made me laugh. This is a moment of full awareness of the trope. (Troy and Cal)
I keep coming back to N.R. Walker. I need a book I can read easily on a busy day which could include lots of disrupted reading I've found N.R.'s are brilliant for that. Engaging enough that you want to know how the characters get where they need to be for their happiness but written in such a way that you can pick it up and put it down without getting lost. This Perceft Catch is a prime example of her work, set in Australia with a minimal cast happiness galore. I will never complain about it.
