First Time

By: Stella Starling

Narrated by: Michael Fell

It’s 2007, and no one is out at Hamilton High School....

...least of all Cody McPherson, the star quarterback everyone says is destined for the NFL; the boy who the entire school expects to see crowned Homecoming King in a few weeks.

Cody’s dad wants to see Cody start the professional football career he’s been grooming him for all his life. Cody’s friends all want him to hurry up and ask Jessica Edmonds to be his Homecoming date. Some days, it feels like everyone in the state of Ohio wants to chime in with an opinion about which college he should play for.

Just about the only one who doesn’t seem to want anything from Cody is Simon Andrews, the transfer student who’s been tutoring him in biology. Cody’s pretty sure he wants something from Simon, though. Not something he can ever admit to, of course. Not something he’d ever do anything about. And definitely not something he expects Simon to want, too.

It’s 2007, and Simon has no plans to come out any time soon....

...especially not before he graduates. Hamilton is the sixth school that Simon Andrews has attended during his high school career, and all he wants to do is keep his head down, his grades up, and make it through graduation without attracting any attention. Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t things at Hamilton that attract Simon’s attention.

Well, just one thing, really: Cody McPherson, the too-nice, too-hot, too-straight jock who Simon’s been crushing on - er, tutoring, ever since the start of the school year.

Simon has started looking forward to his study dates with Cody more than he should. He can’t imagine ever letting Cody know he’s interested. Not after he’s already experienced firsthand just how ugly coming out at the wrong time, to the wrong people, can be. Besides, Simon doesn’t expect to be at Hamilton for long enough to matter. Sure, his mother has promised that this time, she’ll hold down a job long enough for them to stick around, but Simon’s too smart to trust that either.

There’s a first time for everything though, and at Hamilton High School, there are going to be a lot of firsts.

First Time is a coming-of-age gay romance novella of approximately 34,000 words that contains an unruly set of butterflies who take up residence in Simon Andrews’ stomach, biology tutoring that comes with a heaping side of sizzling chemistry, a quarterback with two left feet, a first date with far too many participants, and two boys who are each terrified of coming out...right up until the moment that they finally manage to do it.

Every Stella Starling romance takes place in the same interconnected, contemporary world.

First Time is a prequel to Cody and Simon’s present-day love story, which will be told in the novel Second Chance.

©2018 Stella Starling (P)2019 Stella Starling

A Great Prequel

This is a great prequel with good writing. The plot was entertaining and it was steady throughout the book. I found the story and characters wonderful. The characters were developed and thought out. Cody and Simon are the MC’s of this book. An enjoyable coming of age book that I can highly recommend as a good read/listen. The narration was good it wasn’t monotone and there were different voices. I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

Very sweet boy meets boy story

I liked this sweet story. This light, YA short listen with adorable characters and good narration was perfect book to listen in between long more serious books. This author and narrator are new to me and I can't wait to listen to more books from them. Looking forward to continuation of Simon and Cody romance.

Loved It!

Michael Fell does such an amazing job of giving voice to these two wonderful guys. I really hope Cody and Simon get a second book because I would love to see more of them. This is such a sweet coming of age story. I loved how adorable these guys were together. Cody is a super sweet jock who everyone just loved and Simon was adorable in his geekiness.

AWWWW

A very sweet Heart warming love story. the book was very refreshing I would recommend 🥰🥰🥰

Beautiful story!

This is such a beautiful short story. Cody and Simon are so cute together that I just love them so much. I love reading/listening to coming to age type of stories. Then Michael Fell does an amazing job in make this story even sweeter. I just absolutely adored listen to the story.

This coming of age story is totally adorable!

Cody and Simon are so freaking cute as they navigate through their very first love story during their senior year of high school.
The story is set in 2007, and is presented as a prequel to their current story (second Chance, which should be released in 2019).
The book leaves Cody and Si at the end of their high school prom dance, with a HFN and a promise of forever.
Micheal Fell is a new to me narrator, and I loved the job he did in expressing Cody and Simon's feelings.
I can't wait to get these two boys' HEA!

A good comfort read, but very little else

I read "The Boyfriend Game" by Stella Starling, but when I bought First Time, I didn't quite put it together that it was the same author. And if I'd known it was, I wouldn't have bought it. Not that I disliked The Boyfriend Game, it was just a little too unrealistic for me. I did like First Time, however, so I'm glad I bought it.

Cody and Simon are crushing on each other hard at the beginning of First Time, and being very obvious about it. From the very first chapter, however, the audience knows that all of Cody's friends already know about it and are working to get them together. Since Simon doesn't seem to have friends (he's new in school), this means that every character in the book is already ok with Cody and Simon having a relationship right from the start. Which is great--I actually think jocks and cheerleaders get a bad rap in fiction; most of the ones I know are perfectly nice people--but it doesn't really leave much room for any sort of conflict. There were a couple avenues I thought the book could go down to throw a couple obstacles in Cody and Simon's path, but Starling never quite gets around to actually doing it, so what we're left with is a novel that starts out with everyone relatively happy and they just keep getting happier throughout.

Which is good, if you're looking for a comfort read. But don't go into this expecting any complications or angst whatsoever. I don't particularly like huge amounts of angst but a little conflict would have been welcome. The book does say "A Second Chance Prequel" on the cover but there doesn't seem to be any more books in the series (maybe they're being written).

The book doesn't have a lot of sex in it until the final chapter which is quite explicit. Again, not a complaint.

Michael Fell does a great job as narrator.

First Love Sweet

All kinds of cringing and embarrassment over the absolute adorable romance between the high schoolers. Lol, in a good way, I mean. I felt their emotions so clearly it made me sympathize with and feel everything. Felt just like being a teenager did while reading it. Just a warning—the definitely not YA sex scene surprised me. Not in a bad way, just in a don’t let a teenager listen to this because you think it’s an actual YA book, lol. It’s not.

Michael Fell gave it just the right amount of awkward, awed teenage boy falling in love with his narration. All in all, perfect way to pass a few hours. Looking forward to the MCs’ next book.

Finding courage and acceptance

This was a sweet story about two teenagers who find the courage to be themselves and ultimately find acceptance in their circle of friends.
The plot is realistic with teenage emotions and challenges. The characters were well described and developed. I'm eager to see what happens to them in the future.

The narration was smooth and engaging. An enjoyable experience.

A sweet Young Love story

First Time by Stella Starling is a prequel to another book slated for release. Which is great since this book made me want more of the main characters, Simon and Cody. Oh man, these young men are so adorable and sweet and I am absolutely 'shipping them right now. I can not wait for the continuation of the story of their love. I liked that this ended in a happy for now way....The only downside I see if that since this is a prequel to a second chance romance, thesewonderful and adorable young men will be breaking up at some point and I feel a crack in my heart imagining what may have happened.... but insure their second chance will put those pieces back together for me. This is a great book... definitely recommended.

Michael Fell does a good job bringing this story to the audio audience. Voice is easy to listen too, seems to fit the mood of the story.