Rating: 5 🌈
I know I’m in for a grand time when I haven’t even gotten through the first page and I’m laughing at the verbal antics and eagerly anticipating the author’s next steps.
Morton starts off each book with pertinent and moving quotes. Here it then goes a bit further.
Each chapter begins with a hilarious letter to a fan, “reportedly “, from movie star Asa Jacobs, 44, single father to the adorable Billy, age 5.
How they come about is part of this marvelous romance between two men who have sworn off relationships because of the pain, disappointment, and history behind them.
That’s such a simplified version of Deal Maker. This is a story where you’re be laughing at the oh so real…yes I recognize that…antics of Billy the 5 year old or giggling in anticipation at the stuff Jude is no doubt planning because of, nope. Read the story.
Jude Bailey is a masterpiece of a character along with Asa Jacobs. Morton writes complicated people so beautifully.
Jude’s model gorgeous exterior hides a razor sharp wit, a kind heart, and a fierce loyalty towards those he loves. His history is revealed slowly, in texts, phone conversations, and eventually an emotional exhale of history that brought him to his career and situation.
Asa Jacobs is a older huge man. Big physically, capable of an enormous range of emotions, chillingly cold to rage, to a man who deeply loves his son. Also someone carrying immense pain from a past relationship .
His household consists of equally unique characters whose personalities will become as memorable as those of the main characters.
There’s so many downright hilarious scenes here , also characters like Dean that honestly deserve their own gloriously Dim award. He’s magnificent in his own way. And I’ll just say it. Hamster! Love it!
Also deeply moving scenes that dig deep to show our mens fear, doubt, growing love, and resolve to protect those they care about the most.
The Jude’s parents and the entire Devon section was intimate and inviting. It felt like family.
This is one of those stories where at the end you’ll find that your face hurts from smiling so hard and your heart feels so warm. You feel that great!
It’s on my comfort read list now.
I’m highly recommending Deal Maker (Mixed Messages #2) by Lily Morton. It’s plain romance magic!
Mixed Messages:
✓ Rule Breaker #1
â—¦ Goodbye, Fletcher #1.2
◦ Jude’s Intervention #1.3
â—¦ Scrambled Eggs and Lemsip #1.5
â—¦ The Valentine Do-Over #1.7
✓ Deal Maker #2
â—¦ Risk Taker #3
https://www.goodreads.com › showDeal Maker (Mixed Messages, #2) by Lily Morton – Goodreads
Available in Kindle and paperback formats
Also available in Audiobook format
Synopsis:
Sometimes your mouth makes deals that your heart can’t honour.
Jude is a highly successful model, but a very reluctant one. His life is full of casual hook-ups with pretty men in glamorous locations, but it’s still empty. However, circumstances decreed a long time ago that this was his path, so he’s resolutely stayed on it and accepted his fate with good grace. He made a deal with himself and his hook-ups. Get in, get out and no ties with anyone.
However, an accident at home one night leads to him making a new deal and accepting the offer of help from an unlikely source. It leads to an unexpected summer of falling in love with a larger than life man and his child.
But by the end of the summer his reasons for not staying are still valid. Will he turn away? Can he?
Asa is a talented actor who has spent time away from the scene to look after his son. But now he’s back, and the last thing he needs are complications from the gorgeous man who is staying with him. Scarred from too many betrayals, he has no intention of forming a lasting tie with anyone. However, he can’t resist the beautiful man with secrets, and to his horror he develops feelings.
But a deal’s a deal and they said it was just for the summer. What can Asa do with a man who has forever in his eyes and goodbye on his lips?
This is the second book in the Mixed Messages series but it can be read as a standalone.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 