Great narration and great story

What happens after Happily Ever After? I've often wondered. Sometimes you get a chance to find out, if there's a sequel but often, once the Grand Gesture has happened at the end of a book then that's it for that. But what if that's not it. What if we start with the ending and then see what happens after the Grand Gesture?

That's the premise of this book. I am a late starter to Lily Morton but I've certainly made up for it. This is a one-click author for me and she never fails to entertain me, make me laugh and sometimes cry and it's almost a guarantee that once I start one of her novels, I'll read it until I'm finished. This is certainly all that too. It has Lily's trademark snark, and Grumpy/Sunshine is quite possibly my favourite trope. Nobody writes it quite like this though. Wren is a joy, he's cheerful, happy, snarky and utterly optimistic which given his utter shit start in life is nothing short of surprising.

Like Mateo, I fell for Wren when I read him stand up to the odious 'friend' Owen and his group of bullies, I haven't read a put down like that this side of Oz (another of Lily's snarky heroes). It made me love him and I was invested in his story. I laughed (Bernie Boo), hissed with anger (Leandro), cheered (the dinner table with mother and sister) and rooted for him all the way.

I loved the narration too, it's another fantastic narration by Joel Leslie and it really adds to the story and brings Mateo and Wren to life.

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OK story but fantastic performance

M/M
Age gap
Opposites attract
Fake relationship
Rich/poor
Summer vaca romance

Story = 3.5 stars
Narration = 5 stars

This is only the 5th book of Lily's that I have read/listened to but it's the first one I didn't love and didn't rate 5 stars. The other 4 being Best Man, Merry Measure, Charlie Sunshine and After Felix. This one lacked the humor in the other books that I loved. I really liked the main characters and although they were cute together I didn't feel the intense chemistry I normally feel. Mateo had his walls up and it took way too long to see even a crack in them. This wasn't a page turner for me. I found the first half didn't really interest me at all. There was too much focus on the external. I enjoyed the 2nd half much better but it still didn't suck me in. The ending was great though.

Joel did a fantastic performance. He expresses all the emotions wonderfully and did a convincing European accent for Mateo. All the characters voices were distinct and suited the characters which brought the story to life and made it a pleasure to listen to.

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An Enchanting Love Story

A really lovely romance!

This was a sweet and straightforward love story. There's the drama over the age gap, and the differences in the pair's financial situations, but it works into the story in a nicely low-angst way. Lily Morton instead fills us in with vivid descriptions of the lush landscape, historic landmarks, suptuous food, and lively social situations. Very entertaining!

The audio version is performed nicely by Joel Leslie.

an audiobook copy of The Cuckoo's Call was provided for the purpose of my honest review, all opinions are my own

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An angsty, wonderful listen

Perfect if you need to read about warm and sunny places as winter closes in. Majorca isn't all that's hot, though, so are Wren and Mateo together. I trust Lily Morton, but there were times in this one I really feared Mateo's awful family and his inability to see past them might mean this one wouldn't/couldn't have and HEA. Nerve wracking in the best way for a reader. Also, authors please continue to bring on these amazing Epilogues! Joel Leslie and Lily Morton continue to be a match made in heaven. He gets her sense of humor and perfectly brings out all the angst and heartbreak as well as the ending happiness.

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Fantastic

Another fantastic story by Lily Morton. Great character to get to know and follow. Joel Leslie did a super job with the narration.

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Fun story

To me this is a romance but so much more. I feel it’s a combination of fun and heartache. Fun in that Wren is such a unique character. His history is so sad yet he doesn’t let it pull him down. He keeps coming up with things he has learned and uses them in a matter-of-fact way. Most people don’t see through the front he puts on that he is always fine. He really has some negative feelings about himself and it causes relationship problems. Then he meets Mateo.
Mateo has a personality that caused me to be sad for him. He has had nothing from his parents to show feelings and relationships are something he wants. Yet when he meets Wren, he is faced with someone totally different than he has met before. Wren is upfront with his opinions. He has no trouble telling Mateo the good and bad. Mateo wants Wren to stay around so he comes up with ways for Wren to be needed.
The problem between them comes when Wren doesn’t feel good enough for Mateo and Mateo doesn’t do relationships nor feelings. Good thing for Mateo’s grandfather. His grandfather is a joy. He has a way of seeing things around him and trying to resolve the issues. He recognizes Mateo’s feelings for Wren even if Mateo doesn’t. He also sees Wren as who he really is.
I really enjoyed listening to this story. I feel Joel Leslie was perfect as the narrator. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and I don’t think anyone else would have fit these characters as well.

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2 people found this helpful

outstanding ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Once again the dream team of lily and joel produce another wonderful story, lily's writing never fails to wow me, and this book brought me out of a slump, I'm pleased I'd saved it for when I'd really need it, and listening to joel never fails to impress me, I wish every book could be narrated by him..
this love story was by far my favourite, both MC were lovable from the start and I couldn't put it down..

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Great narration

Joel Leslie gave a great performance here. The mix of Spanish and Italian for Mateo must have been challenging and for the most part it was done well. Wren's pov chapters were perfectly executed.
This is my second time through the story and while I was charmed again by Wren, little niggles appeared.
On the whole, I love Lily Morton stories but there will always be one that doesn't work the same as the others, and this is that one for me.
I will happy listen to After Felix forever and ever and though I enjoyed this listen, it isn't one I'd necessarily return to.

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1 person found this helpful

I loved this opposites attract story.

I read this book nearly a year ago. Listening to Joel Leslie's excellent audio performance was like experiencing the book for the first time all over again; he's one of my favorite voice actors. There's really nothing more I can add so I'm just going to paste a copy of my original review below:

I knew after reading the Prologue that this story was probably going to tear me up at times while reading but I was also confident that Lily Morton would have everything work out fine in the end.

Wren is absolutely the most wonderful character. He was raised in the foster care system and bounced around from home-to-home but he’s never let it get him down. He has such a wonderful view on things. Even when sh** happens (like his “best” friend abandoning him) he doesn’t let it get him down for long.

Mateo is wealthy and totally out of Wren’s league (so says Wren) but he rescues Wren and the two of them form a friendship. Mateo sees right away that Wren has great insight for a lot of things and he enlists him to help temporarily with his business. His outlook on relationships has been colored by his father’s failed marriages and his current wicked step-mother and half-sister.

The story is set in Majorca and Venice. Lily Morton’s richly descriptive writing made me want to visit both of these places. Since that isn’t likely to happen, I will just enjoy remembering what she wrote in this book. 😊

I loved Wren and Mateo together even if I wanted the smack Mateo a few times and tell him to wake up and appreciate Wren. This is a story that is full of heart with just enough lighthearted bits mixed in with the parts that had me nearly sobbing. In the end I was sobbing happy tears.

The epilogue, set two years after the end of the story was really wonderful. Epilogues are often my favorite part of a book and I loved getting a little more time to spend with Wren and Teo and learn where life has taken them.

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

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Couldn’t put it down

Yet another brilliant. Funny, sarcastic book from Lily Morton. Her personal snipe and humour are brilliant. Travel the world in this one and enjoy the sites and sound. Brilliant.

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