Noble by Jet Mykles

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was kind of surprised by this book. I liked the previous books in the series but it hasn’t lived up to the greatness that is the Heaven Sent series. I was hoping for a mildly bland book to round out the Indigo Knights without anything really objectionable. I definitely got that with Noble but I also found the book more entertaining and interesting than the two previous books. It was an easy couple to end on with no real drama and only a half hearted attempt to throw some tension in so the story didn’t end halfway through. Ultimately though I liked the story and couple and was glad to have the series end on a relatively high note. I actually read this entire story extremely quickly and found it engaging enough to want to finish fast. That rarely happens anymore. For fans of the series and Mykles, they won’t want to miss this one but it’s probably not the best one to start out with. Although it can be read as a stand alone, tons of names are thrown around from the previous books that will be confusing unless readers have a flow chart about each character, their band position, and relationship.

Noble is the last of the Indigo Knights (and Heaven Sent) to get into a committed relationship. He’s pretty happy with his status and uses his extreme socializing to engage in casual sex. He’s into one night stands but nothing permanent. He’s out and proud and has no desire to hide that at all. So of course he has to fall for the one man that can’t be open about their relationship. Donny Foxley is the next new thing in acting, having just signed on to do a super popular sci-fi trilogy. He also has a morality clause in his contract, which prevents him from coming out as gay. That doesn’t stop him from exploring the chemistry between him and Noble. The two men can’t keep their hands off each other and both fall in love pretty quick. Except Noble refuses to be anyone’s secret and they both know that Foxy can’t come out while he’s under contract.

The story is told from Noble’s POV and it’s pretty entertaining. Noble is loud, proud, and happily casual about sex. He flits from man to man, always in a crowd and happiest when he’s out and with people. He’s not a loner and prefers to always be surrounded by people. So he knows his feelings for Foxy are serious when he realizes he doesn’t mind being alone if he’s alone with Foxy. Noble is full of sweet vulnerabilities as he struggles from the very beginning against his feelings. It’s clear he falls for Foxy from the very first kiss but he definitely fights that out of fear for a while. It’s sweet and soft to watch the two fall in love, mingled with a lot of hot sex scenes. There are probably a few too many sex scenes but I honestly wasn’t complaining at all. I found the two men lovely together and their romance felt genuine from the start. I could see why they fell in love and felt they made a great couple together.

The story does throw the whole closeted issue up again and again as the main reason the two aren’t just happy ever after from the first night. It allows the story to continue and some mild tension to exist but I found it kind of annoying if anything. It clearly wasn’t a big deal and Noble’s few freakouts over it made me question his maturity more than anything. The question was never if Foxy was going to come out, it was always when. So I couldn’t really buy into the big drama that Noble found it relationship ending. Then the story made a mention of how every single couple from both HS and IK had broken up then gotten back together and it reminded me how formulaic this whole plot was unfortunately. I almost started skimming the book then.

Ultimately I liked this final book better than the previous two because it was easy, light, and very entertaining. The drama was low and hardly there, which definitely helped. The couple also was one of the better ones. They felt honest and real and I wanted them to go off into the sunset together. As a final chapter to the IK, this works really well. While I may not have loved the entire series but it ended on a good note. It still beats most of the rocker books out there.

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