TEST
Narrated by Joel Leslie
Oz, the first book in Lily Morton’s Coming Home series, is loosely linked to her previous Mixed Messages trilogy but works perfectly well as a standalone. If you’re familiar with the author’s work, you’ll find exactly the sort of thing you’ve come to expect; characters who could snark for England, plenty of steam, a wonderful ‘family’ of secondary characters and a lovely HEA. I have to be honest, though. While I enjoyed Oz, it’s far from my favourite of Ms. Morton’s books, and even though it’s got all the ingredients that made the Mixed Messages books real winners, something about it fell a bit flat. The humour isn’t as funny, the wit isn’t as biting, the conflict is very slight and there’s ultimately not much of a story here.
Oz Gallagher doesn’t exactly have a great track record – any track record, really – with relationships, but even so, finding his boyfriend balls-deep in another bloke in their bed is something he could have done without. Over a drink in the local pub, Oz’s best mate Shaun shows him an ad for a House and Collections Manager at the Earl of Ashworth’s property in Cornwall and encourages Oz to apply – he’s got degrees in Fine Art, History of Art and nothing to lose, after all. Oz is surprised, to say the least, to get an interview, and turns up at the swanky London hotel amid all the besuited posh types who are obviously after the job as well. Feeling completely out of place and knowing he’s got no chance against all these chinless wonders, Oz thinks ‘fuck it’ and gives the worst interview ever:
“So, Oz, I see that you have a first class degree in Fine Art and History of Art… And can you say that you’ve used this in a productive manner?”
I shrug and smile earnestly. “It’s allowed me to work on Bernie’s Antique stall on Camden Market.”
And later:
“The position you’re interviewing for is that of the house manager at Ashworth House. Can you tell me what you think that entails?”
I shrug and smile winsomely. “I imagine it’s like being a tour manager, but with less drugs and hookers.”
… and of course, he gets the job.
Silas, the Earl of Ashworth, was left with huge debts when his father died, but wants to see if he can turn things around before he thinks about offloading the place to the National Trust. The house – whose Cornish name is Chi an Mor – is his home, and even though his childhood wasn’t particularly happy (if you’ve read or listened to Risk Taker, you’ll already know what a complete and utter bastard his father was) – the place is in Silas’ blood and he can’t envisage himself anywhere else. His plan is to generate income by opening the house to visitors for part of the year, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get it ready to open on time. His thriving veterinary practice keeps him going financially on a personal level, but he can’t work there and oversee the renovations, and his former house manager – who had been sharing his bed – has recently quit.
Oz arrives to find the situation worse than he’d expected. The car park is still a field, the visitors centre is an empty shell and the workmen… are down the pub. With gusto, gumption and grit worthy of Mary Poppins, Oz deals with the lazy builders, sorts out Silas’ staffing problems, gets everything running like clockwork and even faces off against Silas’ shitty ex for an encore. He’s just that good.
Lily Morton builds a lovely friendship between Oz and Silas to start with, Oz caring for Silas in simple but important ways (like sitting up late to make sure he eats when he’s been out on calls all day), the two of them talking and getting to know each other. Silas is bisexual and freely admits to having had a lot of relationships, but none has lasted very long; he loves Cornwall and doesn’t want to leave, and his previous partners haven’t wanted to be there long term. He’s down-to-earth and lovely and lonely, and I loved watching him demolish every one of Oz’s preconceptions of what a member of the aristocracy would be like. There’s a strong pull of attraction between them from the start, but with both men having had bad experiences of boss/employee relationships, they agree that acting on that attraction would be a very bad idea… until, of course, it becomes impossible not to. ;)
Silas and Oz are good for each other in the best of ways, each finding something in the other they’d never thought to have. The only real conflict in the story comes from the fact that Oz is convinced he’s not good enough; an Irish boy from a Tottenham council estate and an Earl don’t make sense and he can never really fit into Silas’ upper-crust life (impressions only reinforced by Silas’ bitchy mother). But Silas is clever enough to know exactly what Oz is thinking and is prepared to wait for the penny to drop – that penny being that he’s as in love with Silas as Silas is with him and that they’re each other’s person – each other’s home.
Oz is funny and sexy, with great secondary characters and wonderfully descriptive prose, but the story loses momentum after Oz and Silas become a couple. There’s no real drama (and I’m not talking about over-the-top melodrama, just… something to propel the story forward) and no real tension as a result – and that’s fine; low-angst stories can be great, but I just wanted a bit more from this one. And Oz the character… well, he’s witty, gorgeous, warm, capable and caring; he’s a good cook, he’s a brilliant manager, he’s got an answer for everyone and a plan for everything – in short, he’s more than a bit too good to be true, and that got to be wearing after a while.
In Joel Leslie, Lily Morton has found the perfect narrator for her particular brand of sexy snark. He’s an incredibly talented performer and it was obvious to me within the first five minutes of their very first collaboration, Rule Breaker, that I was listening to a narrator who completely ‘got’ his author and her characters. His comic timing is superb, he has a wide repertoire of character ‘voices’ and accents, and isn’t afraid to go big in the more emotional moments – especially the sex scenes, which should probably come (!) with a bucket of ice. All those things are true in Oz; timing, characterisation, differentiation and pacing, it’s all superb, but something about his performance here didn’t wow me as much the others he’s given so far in books by this author. I’m not 100% sure why that was, but I suspect it’s because I wasn’t wild about the accent he adopts for Oz (To clarify, it’s not bad or inaccurate, I just… didn’t care for it). Mr. Leslie’s vocal characterisations are terrific and every character sounds different and is easy to identify; he set himself a huge challenge in sustaining a completely different accent for the vast majority of the story, but towards the end, it starts to slip, especially when it ‘bleeds over’ into some of Silas’ dialogue, which makes him sound odd given he doesn’t have an accent earlier in the book.
BUT. I suspect that for many (most?) listeners that won’t be an issue – it’s just that accents are ‘my thing’ and I tend to be pretty exacting about them. Joel Leslie is one of my favourite narrators, and so my expectations are very high; and I suppose what I’m saying is that here, he’s merely very good as opposed to outstanding!
Oz it isn’t going to make my list of Lily Morton favourites, but it’s a sweet, hot, fun listen and Joel Leslie does a great job. If you’re in the market for minimal angst, hot sex and a dirty-talking earl, you need look no further!
Running Time: 9 hours 6 minutes
Breakdown of Grade: Narration – B+; Story – B-
Buy it at: Amazon, Audible or your local independent bookstore
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Grade: B
Book Type: Audiobook|Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 17/05/20
Publication Date: 04/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
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This is my first and so far only Lily Morton book, but it was perfect for me during this lockdown. I have been in the mood for humorous and low angst romance and this fit the bill for exactly. It made me laugh and feel good and I loved the sweetness of it all. I thought Joel Leslie did a fine job, but I did think Oz’s accent was a bit too broad. It was fine, but not quite at his usual level of perfection. I do plan to listen to more Morton, but some of the plots sound like I’d be better off waiting until my outlook has improved. With Oz’s accent in mind, I give this 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Oh, you HAVE to go back to her first series – I liked this one, but it pales in comparison to the Mixed Messages books!
(I’m sure you’ve noticed we’re now including Audible links with reviews where the audio is available at the time the review is posted! I hope it’s helping!)
Throwing this on my TBR pile!
I’d start with her earlier Mixed Messages series – those were all high grade stories for me, and I also liked The Summer of Us (I reviewed it for a TBR Challenge, so there’s a review here somewhere!); this one isn’t in the same league IMO.
Ladies. EVERYBODY knows Deal Maker is Lily’s best book. :) Isn’t it funny how her fans are split between favorites? A good problem to have!
Oz is probably my least favorite Morton book! Not sure why. I just didn’t connect with it – or him. It has all the Lily signatures – idealized settings and characters – but I thought it was a bit boring. I did love the Silas cameo in her new Spring Strings, though!
No comment on the audio specifically – although I certainly wouldn’t be able to distinguish accents!
I’ve still got to catch up with LM’s books, but it’s my least favourite so far. And we all know that Rule Breaker is the best, if by a small margin! :P Mind you, I did it in audio rather than print and I freely admit that can make a difference – JL is 100% spot on with the narration in that one.
I love how her characters pop up for cameos – whilst reading Spring Strings I spent a lot of time thinking that we’d met Malachi before. I wasn’t happy until I’d tracked him down in Jude and Asa’s extra ‘Green Eyed Monsters’!
Oh yes! At first I was a bit lost trying to figure out how I knew him – and isn’t it remarkable how she redeems his character in this one? Honestly, Spring Strings is wonderful. She’s so great with a short story – have you read The Tattoo Artist and the Writer from the Heart2Heart: A Charity Anthology? It’s also SUPER AWESOME.
Ha, I’ve been waiting for your review, Caz!
Lily Morton was new to me as an author this year and I read all the available books of the 3 linked trilogies straight through, just before lock down. I’ve revisited them a few times since as I find them perfect comfort reading and was also really impressed with Joel Leslie’s narration of the first three books (MIxed Messages trilogy) on audio.
Lily Morton creates people and places that, although idealised, are recognisable as being in present day UK. Her research into where people would live, what they would do, wear and eat according to background are spot on, And then there is the humour and the snark……………. Oh, and the sex………………
Oz is my favourite book so far. I love Oz’s character, especially his chippiness and the way he is a catalyst for things to happen to people around him. (Maybe that’s in the next books?) He’s also the only character in the whole series from a working class background. I agree that there’s not much plot in the book, Caz. It’s really just Silas, who recognises very early on that he loves Oz, waiting for Oz to realise that he loves Silas and that he (and Chi an Mor) are his ‘home’. For me it’s more about the atmosphere.. and the feelings…..
We talk blithely about some narrations enhancing books and making them seem even better. Sadly, this narration does the opposite for me.
And it’s all about the accents.
I’m not sure why the narrator chose to use a broad Irish accent for Oz when the author states that Oz’s accent is a mix of Irish and London. It’s doubtful that someone who had been to school in London would have retained such a strong accent after moving there as a child – his mother would have though. Anyway, I could have probably put up with the Irish accent if it hadn’t seeped into Silas’ speech and thoughts as well. Silas should have the poshest accent of the lot of them and shouldn’t have Irish vowel sounds!
The worst accent of the lot, though, is Oz’s friend from London, Shaun. He doesn’t have a convincing accent for a young, present day, Londoner – it’s the accent of an older person/earlier era and just makes Shaun sound as though he has learning difficulties! I laughed when Dick Van Dyke was mentioned in the text – it’s not that bad, but it’s not good!
Anyway, I look forward to the narration of the next book being better and to Joel Leslie’s usual high standard. (Polite suggestion – please eradicate the hint of C3PO from Milo’s voice!)
I can’t agree with you on the story – LM has yet to top Rule Breaker, IMO – but I completely agree on the accent issue (I just didn’t have space in the review to go into as much detail as I’d have liked, plus I’m aware it’s an issue that won’t be an issue for many non UK listeners). LM does say the accent is a slight one – and what we hear is far more than “slight”, plus, as I’ve said, in the later parts of the story, the accent JL uses for Oz starts to bleed over into Silas’ dialogue. I can only guess that the different facial muscles used to produce the different vowel sounds etc. were becoming kind of ‘second nature’ and harder to drop as time wore on. I read somewhere that accents are usually ‘fixed’ by the age of about twelve, so if you have grown up somewhere as a teen, you’re more likely to retain that accent for the rest of your life, even if you move from place to place. (Notice I say “usually” – I’m sure there are exceptions). But basically yes, I think the accent wasn’t a great decision this time, even though the performance as a whole is pretty good.
Re. Milo – I read a post from JL at LM’s FB page saying that Milo’s voice is based on Michael Sheen’s character in Good Omens – given I read that post before I listened, I heard that rather than C-3PO!
Okay, I’d better watch Good Omens before the next audio comes out. It’s Milo’s story and he has a darker backstory than most of LM’s leads so I don’t want to be thrown by his voice.