
Rating: 4.5🌈
The Model Agency has been a favorite of mine because of its unique characters and wonderful relationships. Their journeys to HEA often set in gorgeous places when it’s not actually in the office of the agency itself.
Reuben Langley is a character we’ve met before. He’s had a tremendous impact on Pip and Olivier as their next door neighbor and friend in the south of France (French Fancy #2). And we caught glimpses of some of the early photographs of Xavier mentioned there.
Xavier Conway is also one of those characters who is notable from previous books and the author’s monthly blog. This due to Pip’s chatty humor and insightful commentary, focusing in on how Xavier’s insane social life and inability to stay on schedule is one of Pip’s greatest challenges. Especially when Pip becomes a model manager.
Yes, Pip will always be my favorite. Let’s get this out of the way. And, marvelously, we see lots of him here. He forever has the best lines.
Call Back is a great second chance at love story. We begin with present day and Xavier’s physical and emotional downward spiral. Too many parties, drugs and forms of self punishment have left him feeling empty. However ,he’s committed to a runway to walk with Dean and Mal.
And in the audience is Rueben, along with Olivier, Jonas and Pip.
It will end up being an emotional event that leads to a dramatic moment.
From present day and then backwards to the past where they first met, we see the circumstances where Rueben and Xavier came together and how disastrously they were parted.
Then the second chance they are given at Rueben’s house on the Isle of Mull in the Hebrides.
Those are wonderfully written and beautifully executed scenes on the island. A love note to the island and the people who live there. And the relationship that resets between them is grown realistically and with depth of detail.
Even Ibiza gets a golden opportunity to shine here as a romantic partner for the couple as a location. I did wonder what would happen to Rueben’s villa in the south of France but Morton had that figured out too. Perfect! Love it when there no drop in continuity.
If I had anything here that took me out of the book (trust an animal lover to obsess about it) , it’s concerning that Bernard, the IW. If Lily Morton had chosen any other breed I’d have been fine probably.
But she chose an Irish Wolfhound as a pet for Xavier, one that had been dumped on the island.
I’ve been lucky to have had three IWs in my lifetime. They aren’t often seen outside of those who’ve gotten theirs from breeders here in the USA, let alone being dumped. Maybe it’s different in the UK. However , IWs are sight hounds with pretty specific behaviors. And retrieving isn’t one of them. I’ll just say that Bernard acts exactly like a Golden Retriever or Lab in the book and nothing like an Irish Wolfhound. Ask me how I know.
That’s my say. Next time pls choose to make the dog a mutt or even a lab who loves its balls. Side eye.
Did I love the romance, so so much. It’s fabulous.
A definite recommendation!
Book cover design by Natasha Snow Designs
The Model Agency (3 book series to date)
The Sunny Side #1 (Dean and Jonas)
French Fancy #2 (Pip and Olivier Durand)❤️🫶
Call Back #3 (Rueben and Xavier)
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Blurb
Once upon a time, Reuben Langley broke Xavier Conway’s heart.
Five years later, Xavier has convinced himself that he’s over it. Now a famous supermodel, his life is filled with faraway locations, glamorous parties, even more glamorous men, and so much noise. And if his mind still drifts to the quiet and responsible war photographer he loved and lost, then no one else has to know.
Xavier’s living the dream until everything comes tumbling down around him, and when he hits absolute rock bottom, the person there to pick up the pieces is Reuben.
Reuben fell in love with Xavier the first moment he met him—a wild, sassy boy in a hotel bar. When he found out that he was his best friend’s son, it should have stopped him, but it didn’t.
That passionate affair came to a disastrous and painful end, and since then, Reuben’s had to be content with the tiny glimpses he’s had of Xavier over the years. But now, Xavier needs him, and Reuben isn’t going to turn away this time.
Set in London and the Inner Hebrides, this is a story of second chances and a constant, hopeful love.
This is the third book in the Model Agency series, but it can be read as a standalone.
Please see the disclaimer at the beginning of the book for content some readers may find triggering.
June 21, 2026
Language
English
Print length
455 pages
Book 3 of 3