Showing posts with label Lily Morton. Show all posts

Monday, August 17, 2020

Blog Tour: After Felix by Lily Morton #Review #Excerpt #Giveaway

Blog Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway:

After Felix by Lily Morton

Close Proximity, Book 3

Sometimes the best love stories come in two parts.

When Felix met handsome journalist Max Travers, it was lust at first sight. It was just his luck that he then had to develop a terrible case of feelings and got his heart broken. However, two and a half years later, he’s over all of that. His job is going well, he has good friends, and he doesn’t lack for male company. Which, of course, is when Max has to come bursting back into his life.

Felix Jackson will always be the one who got away to Max. He’s spent their time apart regretting his actions and hoping for a second chance. When an accident lands him in Felix’s less than tender care, Max is determined to grab this opportunity. The only problem is that Felix is equally determined that he doesn’t.

From bestselling author, Lily Morton comes a story of missed opportunities, second chances, and two very stubborn men. This is the third book in the Close Proximity series, but it can be read as a standalone.

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Review

Felix might have a sharp tongue and sarcastic wit but it hides a soft and wounded soul. Everyone likes him for a good time and Felix can’t complain since he likes sex as well but no one ever sticks around after. Of course, Felix never expects them too and maybe that’s part of why they always leave. The walls Felix has built around his heart are pretty impenetrable until he meets Max Travers. Max and he start off on the same page—in lust and ready to do something about it with no strings attached. Unfortunately Max somehow gets under those sturdy walls Felix loves and before long Felix has broken his own cardinal rule and fallen for the guy. But Max’s heart already belongs to someone else—someone he can never have but still pines over and loves—Ivo. When the two of them attend Ivo’s wedding it all comes to a head and Felix sees the truth—he has to get out and never see Max again despite the fact that it will break his heart.

For two years Max lives with the fact that he let Felix get away—too bad it never occurred to him while the guy was his that he loved him. Blinded by his loyalty to Ivo and his belief that it was love, Max lost the one man he could see loving the rest of his life. Now circumstances have presented themselves that will allow Max to be with Felix for two months—he has just that long to convince the hard headed snarky man to take a second chance on him and stay with him forever.

Lily Morton finishes the Close Proximity series with After Felix and it is absolutely wonderful. Felix and Max together is everything I had hoped for to finish this great series. Two men who claim to not need a relationship to fulfill them, who prefer hot and intense sex and the ability to walk away after never see how deeply they fall for each other until it’s almost too late. The breakup that occurs in this story is gut-wrenching but the reconciliation and hope for a future together is just marvelously funny and just as intense. I love this novel for so many reasons but perhaps the key one is that two men who never wanted love also never see it coming and resist it to the bitter end—well, at least Felix does.

The smart mouthed younger man versus the master at hiding his stress and fears clash big time but always find common ground in the bedroom. Felix meets Max at his most vulnerable—having just left a hectic and dangerous career as a journalist who traveled to hot spots and was in constant danger for a new career that he has no idea about or what exactly it will be for that matter. Max is adrift, struggling with PTSD from his time in war torn countries that include being held as a prisoner with his friend with benefits Ivo. He has almost idolized the time he spent with Ivo confusing a deep and loyal friendship with love.

When Felix enters the picture and messes with Max’s pre-conceived notions of love it throws the older man for a loop and sets them both on a path that will ultimately see them split up and leave Felix bitter and angry. When a freak accident brings them together again, Mac is wiser and determined not to let Felix go again without a fight. But Felix is also determined—never to open his heart to Max again.

Watching these two slowly realize just how much the other means to them is what really fine romance writing is meant to be—tumultuous, heated, sexy and fun. Despite what appears to be a heavy premise, there is lots of humor in this novel and Lily Morton knows how to deliver it. Max is a virtual saint in the latter part of this book and Felix is determined to give it to him with both barrels as he makes life for Max miserable. But Max knows the payoff for his patience will be a Felix who is loyal, loving and oh so much fun—and he wants that so very much.

After Felix is just brilliant in my book and I highly recommend it. It can definitely be read as a standalone but this entire series is just great so do yourself a favor and start with book one.

Excerpt:
“How old do you think I am?” he says mock flirtatiously, leaning in close enough that I catch his scent of sandalwood. It brings back memories of rolling all over those soft sheets in that hotel room. I’ve been perturbed to find my mind straying to memories of that room a few more times than it should have over the last week.
He’s watching me intently again, and I swallow hard and tap my teeth thoughtfully. “I think probably sixty.” He opens his mouth in mock horror, and I laugh. “Only because you’re so wise,” I say reverently. “Being intelligent really piles the years on.”
He shakes his head. “I’m thirty-seven,” he says, trying not to laugh. “Can you see my crow’s feet?”
“A crow never made those lines. That’s surely got to be a bigger bird.” I wink at him as he laughs loudly. I eye the table where a book is sitting next to his pint. “What are you reading?”
He looks slightly awkward. “Ruth Rendell.”
“Oh, Inspector Wexford. My grandma used to watch those on the telly,” I say cheerfully.
“Thank you so much for that information,” he says darkly. “It’s made my day so happy.”
I laugh. “It’s like I carry sunshine wherever I go.” I eye him. “So, do you like reading crime novels?”
“I do.” He smiles. “I’ve always thought it would be incredibly easy to murder someone and get away with it, so I like it that people get found out in these books.”
I blink. “Said no man ever who hoped to get laid.”
He laughs. “I’m not going to murder you, Felix. Your arse is far too perky for that to happen.”
“I always knew my buttocks could save a life.”
He bites his lip, laughter brewing in those dark eyes as he leans forward. “The only way I’ll kill you is when you die from an overdose of the pleasure that my cock gives you.”
After draining my drink, I put the bottle on the table and stand up to grab my coat. “Pride goes before a fall, Max,” I say. “Maybe we’d better get you back to the hotel before you break something.”

Enter the Giveaway:

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About Lily:

Lily writes contemporary romance novels, and specialises in hot love stories with a good dose of humour.

Lily lives in sunny England with her husband and two children, all of whom claim that they haven’t had a proper conversation with her since she bought her first Kindle.

She has spent her life with her head full of daydreams and decided one day to just sit down and start writing about them. In the process she discovered that she actually loved writing, because how else could she get to spend her time with hot, funny men!

She loves chocolate and Baileys and the best of all creations – chocolate Baileys! Her lifetime’s ambition is to have a bath in peace without being shouted by one of her family.

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Audiobook Review: Gideon by Lily Morton Narrated by Joel Leslie #Review #Giveaway

Title: Gideon

Series: Finding Home #3

Author: Lily Morton

Narrator: Joel Leslie

Length: 9 hours, 43 minutes

Publisher: Audible

Reviewed by Sammy

Synopsis

Gideon Ramsay is so far in the closet he should be a talking faun.
A talented, mercurial, and often selfish man, Gideon has everything he should want in life. Fame, money, acting awards - he has it all. Everything but honesty. At the advice of his agent, Gideon has concealed his sexuality for years. But it’s starting to get harder to hide, and his increasingly wild behavior is threatening to destroy his career. Then, he’s laid low by a serious illness and into his life comes Eli Jones.
Eli is everything that Gideon can’t understand. He’s sunny tempered, friendly, and optimistic. Even worse, he’s unaffected by grumpiness and sarcasm, which forms 90 percent of Gideon’s body weight. And now, Gideon is trapped with him without any recourse to the drugs and alcohol that have previously eased his way through awkward situations.
However, as Gideon gets to know the other man, he finds himself wildly attracted to his lazy smiles and warm, scruffy charm that seem to fill a hole inside Gideon that’s been empty for a long time. Will he give in to this incomprehensible attraction when it could mean the end of everything that he’s worked for?
From the best-selling author of the Mixed Messages series comes a story about a man who needs to realize that being true to yourself is really just a form of finding home. This is the third book in the Finding Home series, but it can be listened to as a stand-alone.

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Review

Gideon is drunk—again--and happily enjoying watching his current hook-up and their third make out in the limo. Still feeling a bit washed out from being sick during his last filming, Gideon refuses to give in to going to the doctor like his brother would like and instead parties even harder. But just as he is about to join the twosome who have made their way to his hotel suite a coughing fit causes him to pass out and the next thing he knows he’s in hospital recovering from a near deadly bout of pneumonia. His brother has hired him a nurse, Eli, and booked them on a cruise for senior citizens and Gideon has nothing to say about it even though his snarky moth is still going a mile a minute.

For the first time Gideon begins to feel better—not only physically but also mentally. Eli calms and grounds him and they enjoy a smart banter between them. But Eli is a professional who refuses to get involved with a client—Gideon’s agent, Frank, and his threats about trying to hook up with Gideon notwithstanding. Eli is determined to be just friends while in Gideon’s employ. So even though both men feel the natural spark arise between them they don’t act on it. In fact, it will take a separation to really make Gideon see just how much he wants Eli in his life and it will take some real assurances from Eli to help Gideon see that the lies his agent has planted in his mind over the years don’t add up to him having little worth as an out and proud gay man.

Lily Morton completes her Finding Home Series with Gideon’s story now in audio. While Gideon can definitely be listened to as a standalone, those familiar with the series will see old characters crop up and remember Gideon for being a bit of a jerk from the previous novel. Needless to say little has changed in his personality and it is just this aspect of Gideon that the narrator, Joel Leslie, brings off brilliantly. This narrator’s ability to carry off a bored and snarky British accent allows him to completely embody the essence of Gideon. It is uncanny how Joel Leslie just brings this character to life with his vocal prowess—Gideon sounds just as you might imagine him to and honesty it’s wonderful.

Not only Gideon but the other characters in this story are done so well with just variations in pitch, pacing and certain affects. Happily the different voices never bleed into one another. They are each uniquely voiced and recognizable. The humor and romance that are present in this story are brought to life quite well. This story and Joel Leslie’s talents are a match made in heaven and honestly I can think of no other narrator who could pull it off with such aplomb.

Giveaway

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Monday, August 3, 2020

Random Review: The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings by Lily Morton #Review #Giveaway

Title: The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings
Author: Lily Morton
Self Published
Publication date: November 14, 2019
Length: 278 pages

Reviewed by Sammy

Synopsis

Levi Black is at a crossroads. After suffering a loss and breaking up a long-term relationship, he’s looking for a change. When he receives the news he’s inherited a house in York, he seizes the opportunity to begin a new chapter in his life.

However, when he gets there, he finds a house that has never kept its occupants for very long. Either through death or disinclination, no one stays there, and after a few days of living in the place, Levi can understand why. Strange noises can be heard at all hours of the day and night, and disturbing and scary things begin to happen to him. He never believed in ghosts before, but when events take a sinister turn, he knows he must look for help. He finds it in the unlikely form of the blue-haired leader of a ghost tour.

Blue Billings is edgy, beautiful, and lost. Utterly lost. He conceals so many secrets that some days it’s a miracle he remembers his own name. He knows that he should ignore Levi because he threatens the tenuous grip Blue has on survival. But there’s something about the kind-eyed man that draws Blue to him. Something that demands he stay and fight for him when he would normally run in the opposite direction.

As the two men investigate the shocking truth behind Levi’s house, they also discover a deep connection that defies the short length of time they’ve known each other. But when events escalate and his life is on the line, Levi has to wonder if it was wise to trust the Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings.

Purchase Link

Review

Levi is both excited and trepidatious about his new home. There’s lots of renovations to be done to the place he’s inherited before he can actually move in but still it signifies a new beginning in his personal life. His ex-boyfriend cheated on him after five years of being together and Levi is ready to put it all behind him and start over. It’s odd though how both the estate man and the contractor are hesitant to tell Levi much about his new home. When most of the dust settles and Levi moves in he quickly realizes why. There is someone or something else in the house with him and it wants him gone. Levi has never really given much credence to the idea of ghosts but York has a history of ghost sightings. So when Levi needs help he turns to one of the men who make their living giving tours—Blue Billings.

Blue has never had an easy life—he’s done things to survive which he is not proud of but he gets by—barely. When the flustered man who now lives in the notoriously famous murder house asks him for help he can’t help but agree. That decision sets off a series of events that lead Blue and Levi deeper and deeper into the unknown and further into danger. Along the way Levi will unlock Blue’s secretive past, fall in love with him and try to convince the man that some things do stay—and he intends to be one of them.

Lily Morton stands out for me as an author who not only writes incredibly good stories but develops characters with depth and charisma. The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings is an outstanding example of this author’s amazing talents. Not only is this a gripping tale that begs one to leave the lights on while reading it, the two main characters and plethora of side personalities are so interesting and intriguing that one is immediately drawn into the story. While Levi is almost a near perfect individual with kindness and understanding to spare, he never feels unrealistic to me—rather he is the kind of person we all want to have in our life—one that never judges and always remains faithful no matter how bizarre things get. For Blue, he is the first man who both overlooks his somewhat tawdry past and also believes in the extrasensory abilities that Blue has always had. Finally Blue finds the one person who gets him who desires him as a whole person with all his baggage, and not just as an easy lay one can later discard. So many have discarded poor Blue-it is heartbreaking to learn his backstory but Levi turns out to be a sort of redemption for Blue in so many good ways. Now if only Blue can accept what Levi is offering.

The ghostly paranormal aspect of this novel is downright terrifying and the mystery surrounding it all is not one that is easily unraveled by the reader. I loved that. A good mystery is worth its weight in gold and this story offers that in spades. So we have romance, macabre goings on and an evolving mystery all rolled into one in this novel and the author keeps all the different plot pieces floating effortlessly.

With a friendship that grows into more for both Blue and Levi hanging in the offing, it is imperative they rid the house of whatever or whomever has taken deadly ownership of it. That is the gist of this marvelous story, The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings, and if you have not yet read this incredible book then I suggest you do so at once. I can only hope that the author writes the sequel to this one soon.