Starting from Scratch Audiobook By Jay Northcote cover art

Starting from Scratch

Housemates, Volume 5

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Starting from Scratch

By: Jay Northcote
Narrated by: Lewis Carter
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Starting over isn't easy, but Ben is ready to live his life as the man he was always meant to be.

Ben is transgender and is back at the university after hormone treatment and chest surgery. His new housemates have no idea about his history, and Ben would prefer to keep it that way. He's starting from scratch, and his life is finally on track, except in the romance department. The idea of dating guys as a guy is exhilarating but terrifying, because if Ben wants a boyfriend he'll have to disclose his secret.

Sid is drawn to Ben from the moment they meet. He normally gets what he wants - in the short term at least. Ben's guarded at first, and Sid's not used to guys rejecting his advances. He eventually charms his way through Ben's defenses and helps Ben on his journey of sexual awakening.

It doesn't matter to Sid that Ben is trans. He's attracted to the whole person and isn't worried about what is - or isn't - in Ben's pants. They're good together, and both of them are falling hard and fast, but Ben's insecurities keep getting in the way. If Sid can convince Ben he's committed, will Ben finally be able to put his heart on the line?

Although this audiobook is part of the Housemates series, it has new main characters and a satisfying happy ending and can be listened to as a stand-alone.

©2017 Jay Northcote (P)2018 Jay Northcote Contemporary Contemporary Romance Romance
All stars
Most relevant  
I have read this book ages ago, and have never realised how important it would be for me. But when the audiobook came out, I had to get it. It is easy to listen while commuting, and it is really amazing. Even cis people will have no issues "following" Ben's story. And I adored Ben and Sid. They are adorable characters, and I just want to hug them. The other flatmates also make an appearance and it is nice to see their relationships progress as well.
I loved how Sid NEVER made Ben feel bad about being trans which is an admirable thing when it comes to books featuring trans characters. I guess having it be ownvoices in this part of the story is amazing.

The narration is also very good and I'm enjoying the book every time I (re)listen to it. It is just amazing and it means so much to me and I think everyone should just read/listen to it. <3

Amazing and Revealing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What a great story. I knew when this book started that the subject would be very enlightening for me. I really enjoyed these two characters so much and I adored their love story. It was so beautiful to "read" about their unconditional love. Seriously I wanted to cry for their situation at first because I can not even image how hard any of it must be but this was written so perfectly and these guys handled it with pure love <3

The narration was great!!!

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've always wondered why people can't just write a simple story that tells of a casual experience. I found one. I kept waiting for the tragedy shoe to drop and thank goodness it didn't. Just two people getting to know each other and building something special. Loved every second. Trans positive, realistic, relatable.

Exactly what I needed to life my spirits

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Listener received this title free

I adored this one in the Housemates series by Jay Northcote! It was probably my favorite of the entire series. The transgender aspects of the book were handled so well and I loved the main characters. Lewis Carter is a new narrator for me and I am happy to say that he did a nice job!

Wonderful!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Listener received this title free

I haven't read many books with transgender characters but this is my second one by Jay Northcote. The story is romantic and educational. It also seems very authentic to me and perhaps that's because the author himself is transgender. I've been following his writing for a while and also his journey on Facebook. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there like Jay does.

Starting from Scratch is about Ben who is returning to college after hormone treatment and chest surgery. He wants to live his new life openly but he doesn't really want to come out as transgender. He's never really had a romantic relationship so when Sid shows an interest in him, he's not sure how to respond. He knows that he will have to tell Sid that he's trans if anything serious is to develop between them.

I loved that Sid didn't care that Ben is transgender; he's interested in the whole person and he wants Ben. Convincing Ben to date him isn't easy but he knows it will be worth the effort. It's not easy to get Ben to come out of his shell but once he does the two of them form a bond that is really special.

This story really touched my heart and I thought that Lewis Carter's performance was great. I enjoyed his voice and would definitely listen to more audiobooks performed by him.

A copy of this audiobook was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

A touching story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The best authors often show what they want the reader to know and learn rather than directly tell them and that makes for a more captivating story. Unfortunately, this story does a lot of telling. There are also many unnecessary details about mundane things that aren’t pertinent to the plot or character growth. The issues in the storyline are all valid but seem to be resolved too quickly and easily. Things also progress really quickly with the characters in this story, which raised a lot of relationship red flags for me but I recognize many relationship stories do this, so it wasn’t a huge surprise.

As much criticism as I have for this book, I still enjoyed it. I wish we had more stories about trans men and transmasc people out there…

A lot of telling instead of showing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a smart, sexy, heartfelt book about two men falling in love, one of whom is transgender. This is my favorite romance I've read all year. It was fun, but also deep. My wife is transgender, and I rarely find romances that accurately portray what loving a transgender person is really like. This book is amazing. I haven't read the rest of the series, but I will now.

Lewis Carter was an amazing narrator too. I'll definitely be checking out his other work.

Funny and beautiful with a flawless narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
4.5 stars. After taking time off to transition, 25 year old introvert Ben is back at uni and vows to make more of an effort to be social. He’s a lot more confident after top surgery and a few years of hormone therapy, but is still scared to be open about being trans to his flatmates and is terrified of dating after a few bad experiences. When he hits it off with his roommate’s friend Sid, Ben realizes he needs to take a leap of faith that Sid will be worthy of his trust.

This is my second time reading this book and it’s just the sweetest story. Ben and Sid are total sweethearts. Ben is at a place where he’s very happy with his body, but he still occasionally struggles with gender dysphoria and internalized transphobia. He always immediately challenges his own negative thoughts and refers back to coping mechanisms and affirmations he learned from his therapist. He’s pretty insecure and has trust issues, but luckily Sid is smitten with him and up for the challenge of earning Ben’s trust. Sid is so gentle with him and does his own research so he can be as considerate and respectful as possible. The two talked everything out before getting intimate and I loved that. I liked watching Ben get more confident and come out of his shell over the course of the book. I also loved Ben’s close relationship with his mom. She’s very encouraging and loving and I was so glad he had that solid foundation of family support. One thing that kind of amused me was how polite these two guys are. I think it’s the politest romance novel I’ve ever read!

I listened to the audiobook and Lewis Carter did a great job with the narration. I especially liked how he did Sid’s voice. It was very easy to tell the two main characters apart.

𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 is the 5th book in a very fun NA/college series set in England, but it can be read as a stand alone.

CW: Gender dysphoria, internalized transphobia, brief recollected transphobia, and unfortunately this book is a few years old and has a couple Harry Potter references but honestly JKR would hate them.

Sweet NA/college gay romance with trans rep

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Listener received this title free

This book surprised me in so many ways. It’s so good, great story with genuine characters that you can’t help fall in love with.
The was a new to me narrator, but I was happily surprised with an amazing narration. Very enjoyable highly recommendable

So good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.