After Felix

Close Proximity, Book 3

By: Lily Morton

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

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 listened to as a standalone.

©2020 Lily Morton (P)2022 Lily Morton

A sweet second chance romance

I absolutely loved this adorable forced proximity contemporary romance.

Felix and Max were adorable together and I loved the chemistry between them.

The storyline was interesting and I loved the world building.

I definitely recommend listening to this entire series although this one can be listened to as a standalone as well.

Joel Leslie performed an amazing audio delivery and narration.

100% recommend this fluffly romance with all the feels!!💜

A Fantastic Rollercoaster Ride

Lily Morton takes you on a rollercoaster with Felix and Max's relationship but it is well worth the ride. It is even better when you add in the narration by Joel Leslie.

Brilliant

This is such a magnificent book from Lily Morton. It's one of my top five favorite books ever, and I read A LOT. I have reread the book several times as well. When the Audiobook came out, I immediately purchased it. First because I adore it, and Second because it is narrated by the excellent Joel Leslie, who is my favorite narrator. His performances are always spot on, reading the book exactly as the author wrote it, with true feelings and how you hear it in your head when reading the book. Often even the other narrators with great voices come off as wooden and flat, missing the realistic feel of the story, the flow of authenticity. More like cold sight readings of a book, missing warmth, angst, tenderness, fear at the appropriate moments. Joel Leslie nails every book, every single time. And I'm so happy that Lily Morton has him for all her amazing Audiobooks. She has written several of my very favorite books, and she and Joel bring these stories to life so greatly.

That being said, I do have a big complaint on the Audio for this, and a few other books. Volume consistency. When I mainly listen to Audiobooks is when I turn in at night. Sometimes I read, but other nights I'd rather listen. The problem is the way the volume goes from normal speaking volume, to barely being able to hear, to blasting your eardrums and scaring the crapola out of you! I seriously have to feel around in the dark for my Kindle, feel for the volume button to try to turn the LOUD down ASAP (characters shouting, or sudden danger), before my neighbor in the apartment above me thinks I'm fighting with someone or I'm in danger. Or when its a sad/somber/poignant moment. So low you can barely make out what's happened or been said. Those times I have to feel for Kindle to sign back on to wake the screen, so I can hit the "back up" button a time or two to be able to hear and understand what was missed while messing with Kindle. And these are usually the most important parts of the story. Sure does detract from fully enjoying the ride. At lease when it's a story I'm already familiar with I can let it ride and just control the volume button for the LOUD moments. I'll know the gist of what's happening. Being able to set the timer for the length of listening time keeps me coming back. But I wish Audibooks or Editors would listen to these inconsistencies and do something about them.

Again, the fabulous Joel Leslie and the truly gifted and magnificent Lily Morton are a dream team. Keep them coming! (Can y'all do Spring Strings next please?) Much love.

One of the Best Books I've Ever Listened to

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series as each book just gets better. This is a truly original storyline and I just loved Felix and Max's story. Outstanding narration from Joel as he absolutely nails each character's accent which made listening that much more enjoyable. Highly recommend!

Highly entertaining

Lily Morton's books all have a certain kind of typical British vibe - the humor, the wit, the snarky and quirky characters, who are often overly grumpy or overly sunshine. They are often opposites in a lot of ways - rich/poor, white collar/blue collar, famous/ordinary and so on. And yet, they all are highly entertaining and diverse enough to enjoy each book for their own characters and their story. A Lily Morton book has some kind of trademark in a way that, as a reader, I'd always recognize her books, even when I would't be aware of the fact it was written by her.
I love her writing and her story telling. From the first book I read by her, she's been one of my favorite authors. An auto-buy, one click author, and most of the time all I need to know is that it's her newest book, not even caring to read the blurb.
Of course I enjoyed some of her books more than others - even from a favorite author you can't always have a 5 star read at hand. But overall, there hasn't been a book yet that has really, really disappointed me.
'After Felix' is one of those that I clearly put in the category of the ones I really loved! It was one of the first of her books that I listened to, and even hadn't read as an e-book yet. It was on my tbr for quite some time, but you know how that goes - that tbr gets longer and longer, and sometimes books just move further down, until you sort of lose sight of them and later come to realize you haven't read them yet, even when it's from a favorite author. So when I got the opportunity to listen to the audio, I took it.
I loved how Joel Leslie portrayed Felix - his English, posh accent was just wonderful. He really brought him to life with all his sassiness and his snark. I enjoyed Max's character as well - so different from Felix, but it shows how well Joel Leslie does different characters, giving them their own distinctive voice.
When they meet at first, Felix and Max are in a Waterstones bookshop in London, and there's an immediate interest there. They hook up and it's quite the steamy hotel room meeting! So, that's where it all starts - a casual hook up that becomes a regular one. No feelings, of course, because Max doesn't do relationships and Felix knows Max isn't interested in more than just sex.
Along the way, however, Felix has to admit he's grown quite fond of Max and their escapades. And when Max reveals he's been in love with one of his best friends and former reporter colleague Ivo
(who has his own book in the Finding home series where he gets his hea with Henry), Felix discovers he doesn't like the way Max behaves when Ivo's around. He starts to question if what he feels for Max could ever in the future, lead to something more than just a hook up status, something he, surprisingly, really wants.
After a terrible night with miscommunications and assumptions and all the things that could go wrong, did, in fact, go wrong, Felix decides he's had enough.
That's when the 'After Felix' part of the book starts. When Max finally sobers up long enough to realize what he's lost. And so he starts on a journey to win Felix back. But Felix isn't that easily giving in. He's guarding his heart, protecting it with an iron fence and a thick wall. He doesn't trust Max, and so Max has to do all he has in his powers, to convince Felix things have changed. That he has changed.
I really enjoyed how Max did everything he could think of to woo Felix, to charm him, to convince him things are different now. And I also enjoyed how Felix responded. He was deeply hurt, and I understood his reluctance to fall for Max's attempts at winning him back. But Max, well, he certainly went deep and did everything he could to convince Felix!

This audio was highly entertaining - I think there's something magic between Lily's words and Joel's performance. For some reason they fit perfectly. I really can't wait to listen to more of their collaborations!

Waiting for Max

Felix and Max get HEA.
The narration. I consume audiobooks almost as much I read them on my kindle. The narration for this book felt flat. Joel Leslie is very good at his job; it’s just I have heard all his voices too many times before. I own all of Lily’s books on audio and unfortunately Joel sounds the same. I have had to give relisting a break because I am unsure what book I am listening to. Joel seems to have a softer voice and a raspy deeper voice. It also runs into secondary characters. I would recommend this audiobook because it’s Lily Morton, but not for the narration. I am hoping a change-up will happen in the future.

Getting lost in this story a second time is great

After Felix is one of my favorite books by this author, and it was such a treat to get lost in the characters and story a second time. The narration is very well done—complete with a light, upbeat tone and a great rhythm to bring this story to life.

Max and Felix are wonderful and well-developed characters who intrigued me all on their own. Together, these two are fire, with amazing physical and emotional chemistry. I once again felt completely swept away by their romance.

On top of a great love story that has excellent timing and a gentle unfurling of feelings, After Felix boasts fantastically witty banter that often left me grinning. If you have yet to fall for these characters, I urge you to give them a try. If you’re like me and want another chance with them, I definitely recommend this audiobook.

Lovely

I absolutely adore Joel Leslie’s narration. One of my favs!
Great store of love lost and finding those way back together.

Another smash hit from Lily Morton

Joel Leslie and Lily Morton make magic together. This was my second reading of this series, along with the previous two series and I loved every minute. I love the repartee , the snarkiness and the overall mastery of language. Please keep them coming!

Funny and so entertaining!

This story is sweet, sexy and full of flirty snark. Loved every moment of this listen and love replaying it when my choices for new books are limited. The narration was excellent!

Perfect

I'd been saving this audio for when I had the time to give it the proper attention that it deserved and got through it in 2 days. I couldn't stop listening to how perfectly Joel Leslie brought Felix to life with his snappy retorts, sharp wit and vulnerable heart.
As with the book, I did actually cry more than once and was grateful for breaks because there's so much hurt between them for so long.
The ending, like the narration, was perfect

funny and lovely romance x

This has all of the Morton trademarks, it's full of snark, sarcasm and fun banter, but it's also got a lot of angst, heartbreak, and sorrow. Poor Felix, he experienced a sadness, anyone would find difficult to come back from, and I've got to say that it pulled at my heart strings.

It really helped to see the start of Felix and Max's romance. Ms Morton had teased us with these two throughout the previous stories in the series, and I was desperate to find out what had happened. After I'd read the first part, I was all, 'Damn you Max! You pillock, how could you...bastard!'.

After this, the portrayal of Felix's mental state and his thoughts throughout the story, it made it easy to fall in love with him, and want everything to work out for the best. My heart definitely skipped a beat or two when things got really tough for him.

I did eventually warm to Max , the eejit, and forgave him, but my heart was definitely with Felix. I also loved the drawn out back and forth, and the beautiful slow build of new love and trust.

Joel did a fantastic job, as always, on his narration. He totally brings Lily's characters to life, and he performs snark so very very well. Loved it.

Wonderful

Lily Morton has written a great story in her usual witty manner, but with a lot of feeling. After I was able to get to know both Felix and Max briefly in the previous volumes, I was very excited to see what would happen next with the two.

Poor Felix won my heart. Poor because he has already experienced a lot of sorrow and sadness in his life and I could understand that very well. When he meets Max, they both agree that it should remain non-committal. But things always turn out differently than you think and at Max's best friend's wedding, Felix ends the relationship with occasional sex. Two years later, the two meet again and a lot has happened in that time. Now Max is trying to win Felix back.
The author created the characters complex and interesting. It never got boring with the two of them. On the contrary, I really liked Felix's biting nature and the humor in general, which is spiced with a lot of sarcasm. I would have liked to talk to Max from time to time, but towards the end I liked him too. Whereby Felix is and remains my favorite here.

The story is told both in the present and in flashbacks to the past, which is a nice change. The author has done this so cleverly and so you learn bit by bit what happened in the two years, but also in the time before.
There is not only sunshine in this book, there is also a lot of heartache and sadness and therefore I was very happy about the happy ending. A both lighthearted and in places sad book that was entertainingly told.

Joel Leslie nailed Felix perfectly with his biting, yet witty comments. He did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life in an incomparable way.

Enjoyable, though lacking diversity.

I've had in my mind to try a Lily Morton as her books are always recommended as funny. The blurbs and covers have never appealed though, so I did not until I got the opportunity to review this audiobook.

It took me a little while to get into Joel narrating contemporary, but once I did I was surprised at what an easy listen it was. I ended up staying up late on the second night to finish it.

Felix is a fantastic character, and I really enjoyed his wit. I would have enjoyed getting to know Max better, with a more detailed account of his experiences which are the root cause of his issues in this book. Felix's trauma is also not very palpable. For example, having an angry drunk for a father, I would have expected him to be more nervous about Max's excess drinking.

I don't tend to read contemporary books which don't involve another subgenre (e.g. action or bdsm) but I found this to be similar in tone and characters to Alexis Hall's Boyfriend Material.

As a Londoner (who is not posh or white) I find it off-putting when books set here do not reflect the amazing diversity of this city. The cast of characters are (presumably) all white and of a set that either is - or rubs shoulders with - aristocracy. Felix is the most normal character, but even he had to be poshed-up by having had a scholarship to a private school. I found it off-putting that Max kept talking about how he was attracted to Felix's posh accent, which smacks of snobbery.

Unless you are a certain type of undesirable person, it is frankly impossible to live in London and not have people in your life from a range of ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. I would like to see that better reflected in books set here.

Gorgeous story and excellent performance

Perfect.
I've wanted Max and Felix's story since forever and I'm so glad we got it. The story is split into two parts, one set before book 1 and the second part after book 2. And despite I knew how part 1 would end I still found myself sobbing so hard I gave myself a headache.
Some clever use of flashbacks cover important scenes in the gaps between part 1 & 2.
Felix and Max are a great couple. Their chemistry was obvious in the other books, but in their own book it fairly bubbles off the page.
Joel Leslie does an excellent job, especially showing the vulnerable fragile side to snarky, whip-sharp Felix.
Highly recommended.

standard story from Lily Morton

This is an okay if fairly standard romance from this writer. My sympathy was definitely with Felix especially as his friends and family are happy to embrace the guy who broke his heart with no signs of loyalty or feeling for him at all. Max is as usual described as the most amazing human being ever who no one can resist, despite half the character traits he is credited with not being demonstrated at all. overall good narration as ever and a good if predictable story.

Brilliant end to the series

Listen to the first books before this one. Overlapping characters so it's more enjoyable this way. To be honest, the first book in the series is my favourite -Best Man, but I enjoyed them all and would recommend.

A heart warming second chance

This book has what you would expect from Lily Morton. Sassy main characters, humorous moments, hot moments between the sheets and lots of love.
Joel Leslie does his usual excellent job of narrating this book. The only issue is I sometimes found myself getting lost in his voice so lost track of the “real” world.
Although can be read as a stand alone, I would recommend reading other books in series first, so understand other characters dynamics better.

Loved this book

I just loved Felix and Max and their snark, so funny. This book made me laugh and cry as their story developed. As usual Joel Leslie was brilliant and brought the whole thing to life. I highly recommend this book. can't wait for the next one to be translated into an audio book.

Loved it!

I loved the second book of the series, but this one was off the charts! Amazing and so lovely to listen to! I don't know if Lily reads the reviews, but I surely hope that I could see a little bit more of the after getting together part.. a little everyday happiness.