Risk Taker

Mixed Messages, Book 3

By: Lily Morton

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Being in love with your best friend is hard.

Henry’s the odd man out. All his friends are settling down, and his reputation as the hook-up king of London seems more like a curse than a blessing, these days. Especially when it keeps photojournalist Ivo, his best friend and the brilliant man he’s loved since they were 15, at arm’s length. But that’s where Ivo wants him, right? Putting aside his feelings, Henry decides to give up casual sex and look for the real deal.

After all, he has no chance with Ivo. Or, does he? 

Henry is everything to Ivo. Best friend, soul mate, the one person who has never let him down. The one person he is loyal to above everything and everyone. But Henry’s in a box marked best friend, and that’s where Ivo’s kept him for nearly 20 years, despite steadily falling in love with the gentle man. And besides, why would Henry want to date Ivo? Burned out and injured, he’s the walking embodiment of damaged. 

Distance has helped Henry and Ivo keep a lid on their attraction, but when they find themselves in the same city for a change -Ivo hurt and needing assistance and Henry more than willing to provide it - the two best friends grow closer than ever, forcing a realization and a decision. 

Risk their friendship for their hearts? Or can they have both? 

From the best-selling author of Rule Breaker and Deal Maker comes a tender love story about two best friends who are perfect for each other, and always have been...if only they knew it. This is the third book in the Mixed Messages series, but it can be listened to as a stand-alone. 

©2018 Lily Morton (P)2020 Lily Morton

The Queen of Snark Reigns Supreme!!

I read this book in one sitting, staying up until 3am to do so. Like Morton's previous books in this series, it was AWESOME! Unlike her other books, it was a bit angstier.

Joel Leslie was phenomenal in his performance of Ivo and Henry. He is my fave when doing British (or French) accents!!

There was great balance between the feels and the funny. These two MCs are ex stepbrothers and best friends. They love each other. Both are in love with the other, but will not put their friendship at risk by trying for more. Angst, angst, angst...they go for more. HEA.

Characters from the previous two books in the series make appearances and we meet Silas, brother of MC Henry, who stars in the next book , Oz (HILARIOUS!!!).

This one is a must for Lily Morton fans...and who wouldn't be? She's writing some of the BEST and FUNNIEST romance out there!

It’s Like Watching A RomCom Movie

This has the classic Lily Morton trademark, meaning, it has lovable characters, endearing appearance of the ones from the previous books and full of banter and British snark.

I find it a bit frustrating in some parts because come on, just get it together you two!! But not enough for me to wanna stop reading. 😉 It’s my favorite trope after all, best friends to lovers. 💙

Joel Leslie’s performance was great. He’s really meant for books with accents and different character nuances.

I want more stories on audio from Lily!!! ❤️

**thanks to LesCourt for the opportunity to listen and review**

Beautiful romantic comedy with lots of heart

Story
This can be listened to as a standalone but it’s the 3rd book in the series and best if you started from book 1 of mixed messages. This story is about Henry and Ivo who briefly grew up as stepbrothers when Henry’s father married Ivo’s mother. Henry is a successful family lawyer who’s been playing the field but had finally gotten tired and ready to settle down except his deepest desire is for his best friend Ivo. However, Ivo’s vocation as photojournalist takes him to dangerous locale and his stays with Henry only lasts for a short time between assignments.

Henry may look soft but he’s tough inside. Ivo may look tough but his insecurities hold him back from taking risks with his heart. The story starts out in a melancholy tone peppered with wry humor but gets lighter progressively in the story as our two main characters find each other and ease into each other’s lives again and found an added dimension to their relationship that they’ve both been craving for and finally got the courage to risk their future.

The string of attempted dates are hilarious as was the night Henry and Dylan enjoyed Dean’s gift. There’s pain, angst, and desire to knock the MCs’ heads together but I laughed out loud at all the humor that laced through the story and I broke down and cried when Ivo brought out Henry’s photo and shared his story with a fellow passenger.

Simply, this story is a beautiful ode to love — best friends to lover, between brothers, between best friends, and between work friends.

Narration
Joel’s narration is pitch perfect and fantastic. He lives and breathes the characters into vivid life with his performance. Each character voice is distinct.

Summary
Wonderful story and narration. For anyone who’s looking for a romantic comedy that’s wonderfully written and performed, this is it. Strongly recommended.

A friends to lovers romance!

This is the third book in the series and can be enjoyed as a standalone,

Henry and Ivo were delightfully sweet together! I absolutely loved the sizzling slow burn romance and couldn't help rooting for them to be together.

After listening to the first two books in the series, I immediately dived into this one and wasn't dissapointed in the least. It is a bit different from the other two books and I really liked that.

Joel Leslie's narration and audio delivery was absolutely brilliant in this one.

I don’t know

This book fell a little flat for me. I think maybe it was because I listened to all 3 in a row. The first 2 were really good and I enjoyed the idea of this one and the early section was pretty good. I just found myself getting bored and not really caring what came next. I actually fast forwarded through quite a bit at the end because I had just lost interest in the story and didn’t want to devote anymore time to it.

Moorreee

I want more. More books by Lily Martin please!!!! Joel Leslie’s accents are AMAZING. I love his voice.

Fantastic!!

I can't begin to explain how wonderful this story was! There were highs, there were lows and it was so HOT! Joel Leslie Froomkin can't top this work. (or can he?) But first and foremost, it takes excellent content to make it happen. great job. I wish I could start it again for the first time.

Sweet friends to lovers

I enjoyed this book a lot. While the second book, Deal Maker is my favorite of the 3, this is still well worth the read.

I was so happy to finally hear Henry's story since he has been such a lovely character in the other two books.

Ivo was such an interesting character, with so many faults and baggage, and I really enjoyed how Henry loved him, warts and all. The blindness of Henry to Ivo's love was hilarious to listen to, he was just so sure that Ivo would never see him as anything other than a friend, it was charming to see his little bouts of confusion.

Gabe was so funny here, and I really enjoyed the inclusion of Gabe/Dylan and Jude/Asa. But Gabe was especially funny with his knowing glances and that hug.

They both so deserved their happily ever after, and while yes, there wasn't a huge dramatic issue that came in the book, the drama was in them realizing that they were in love and the bathroom scene was hilarious and hot all at once. I agree with Henry on the standing ovation.


Lily's writing is absolutely sensory, you can feel and see the scenes, she is so descriptive with her writing that you're absolutely immersed in what ever is happening in the book. I liked that Ivo had a few more chapters than the other books had with the other half of the love interest. That is the one thing I wished about the other books is more knowledge about the other MC.

Joel did another fantastic narration, I think he does far better with English accents than American. I have heard him narrate both, and far more enjoy him with accents other than American. His voice seems to quaver more in American than any other, but that is really my only issue I have ever had with his narrations. His quivering voice, but in the 3 Lily Morton books he barely does it at all. He has load of voice inflections to support all the characters so you aren't confused, including female voices, although he has a tendency of making them all sound like an old lady. He is absolutely able to show off the characters feelings beautifully, which is the thing so many narrators can't do.


I highly recommend all three of the Mixed Messages books, especially on audio as that brings them to life. I do hope she write more, although it seems like her characters that make multiple appearances are all matched up. Perhaps she can add in more, and Dean would be funny to be matched up, but he is so ditzy I don't know if I could believe he would ever not be a bachelor.

Dull

First, Joel does a fabulous narration as always.

The story and characters have massive potential but the conflict was just the MCs being oblivious which works sometimes but not here. I also never got a handle on who Ivo was. Like he read one way but then acted in ways that seemed out of the character established for him. Even hair color. I was surprised every time his blondness was mentioned.

I ended up skipping the last hour or so except the final 10 minutes.

I much preferred the second book (which still has an oblivious MC as the conflict). The first book - I don’t appreciate employer-employee “snarky” and oblivious romances.

Perfection

I'd just recently re-read Risk Taker when the audio came out, so I was thrilled to listen to Joel Leslie's performances of Ivo and Henry. Joel does varying English dialects well, and I've heard him do Russian and Irish, but French was a first and it added to the story more than I thought it would. I didn't "hear" Ivo's accent when I read the book but listening to the audio and Joel's interpretation made Ivo that much sexier.

There are not enough superlatives to describe both the book and the narration. The book's on my re-read list and the audio is now squarely on my re-listen list.

HIGHLY recommend.

Waited a long time for this - well worth it

I have waited ages for this series to be put out on audio and I was not disappointed. Joel Leslie does the most fantastic British accent..

His French one was pretty neat too. He made Henry and Ivo come to life. His posh Henry had me in stitches at times with his witty one liners Ivo is the snarky one.

Their love story starts when they are 15 and Henry’s homophobic Dad marries Ivo’s drunken gold digger Mom.

They stay the best of friends despite both of them knowing from an early age they wanted to be together.. it’s really only when Ivo’s mums current husband talks sense into Ivo that he realises that he really does love Henry.

Lily Morton did a fantastic job with this and had me in stitches and tears more than a few times. It’s a shame this was the last in the series..

fantastic

this series just fills you with happiness and laughter. narrator first class as usual.

I laughed and cried in equal amounts

I’ve just found Lily Morton and I regret I didn’t find her sooner. This serious of books are brilliant and so funny, I laughed my ass off. So good A*****

I love this series, and I love the author.

I love this series, and I love the author.

The two characters meet at 15 years of age when Henry's father decides to marry Ivo's mother. The only good thing about the short marriage was the deep friendship between Henry and Ivo.

I loved this book. Henry and Ivo are super characters, and I love the drama between them, the deeply rooted love they have for one another. If only in Ivo's words he could get his head out of his arse.

The English humour in this book makes you smile most of the time—excellent writing.

Joel Leslie did wonders with the characters accents, posh English and Ivo's French accent. Easy to listen to. I did speed up the narration like usual to 1.25 on audible.

Risk Taker
Mixed Messages, Book 3
By: Lily Morton
Narrated by: Joel Leslie
Series: Mixed Messages, Book 3
Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins


❤❤❤❤❤ Overall
🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 Narration
📚📚 📚📚📚 Story
Read at 1.25 speed on Audible

Loved it

I loved this book, it made me cry and laugh. The characters were lovely and the storyline was interesting. As usual Joel Leslie was brilliant and brought the whole thing to life.

Risk Taker - No Risk involved with one

Loved this romanticly, hysterical audio book.
So well written and relieved that it didnt follow the usual format, meet, fall in love, fall out, make up!
Had me laughing so much, really loved the way the writer bounced the characters so well off each other and Joel Leslie is such a genius at bringing the characters to life, I could really see them in my minds' eye. His accent for Ivo was so good, rich and sensual. Love the plummy brit accent, esp when he did Henrys Dad!
Well worth the credit!
Love an audio book you just get lost in!

Yet Another Great Instalment 🥰

Great series!

I have loved this series from beginning to end - just beautiful with a fantastic storyline and humour.

Even better, the characters always end up in Devon (at some point), and even my home city of Exeter gets a few mentions!! Definitely a bonus!!!

Please, please please if LM reads these comments can you release the ‘Short Stack’ short stories in between each main audiobook in audiobook format??
It would be great to listen to the whole series instead of just the main audiobooks!!

Highly recommend if you’re a fan of LM or if you’re a fan of this genre 😁😊

5🌟’s definitely!

Hooray for Henry! His turn to shine and find love

I love this mixed messages series by Lily Morton with her quirky, complex characters, so I was happy to see Henry get his turn at finding his true love/soul mate after being the friend and confidant in the previous books in the set.
Joel Leslie is one of my all-time favourite narrators and he does a wonderful job, as always, of bringing the guys to life. Highly recommended fun contemporary MM romance with a best friends/step-brothers to lovers trope.

Another brilliant love story

Again Lily Morton and Joel Leslie have the winning touch. I always enjoy Lily Morton's books and have read the series before I bought the audio books. Henry and Ivo were almost melancholic at first and I wondered if the same snark and humour in the first two books would feature, thankfully it did. Joel Leslie brings such an array of emotions to the book, he really brings the characters to life and when he does all of the previous characters in the same scene he doesnt falter in his rendition of the voices. Thanks guys, another satisfied customer...keep them coming...

Superb

such a great friend to loves story made even better by the fabulous narration by Joel Lesley. His French accent for Ivo made the story for me. I can’t think of anything more to say than superb