The Sunny Side by Lily Morton

Narrated by Joel Leslie

The Sunny Side is the much hoped-for story of Jonas Durand, the owner of a well-respected and successful modeling agency, and Dean Jacobs, one of his top models. Dean has been featured as a side character in several Morton books (especially Deal Maker), and is part of The Model Clinic, a funny series of shorts about a podcast featuring models answering listeners’ (sometimes inappropriate) questions, that Ms. Morton writes for her newsletter. Dean has had his sights on Jonas for years, while the very buttoned-up, always under control Jonas has fought his attraction tooth and nail. Dean is laid back with a sunny outlook on life that belies what he’s personally gone through, while Jonas has let his life experiences make him more closed off and serious.

Dean spent his early years being belittled by family and teachers alike for being slow, lazy, and stupid. It turns out that he’s actually dyslexic and has never had the help he’s needed to learn to read properly. Dean’s booking agent at the Durand Modeling Agency was the one who arranged for the dyslexia testing and now helps him with contracts. Other than her, only his good friend and fellow model, Mal (Spring Strings) knows. Dean’s been smoking weed to deal with the stress of living on his own after he left home in his early teens, and continued staying stoned to deal with the demands of the modeling industry. Being perpetually wasted only added to his reputation as an air-head model who few people take seriously. He’s now given up weed in order to fulfil a promise made to his nephew, but he’s finding that negotiating life without that filter is tougher than he’d imagined.

Jonas left the life he’d planned for in France to take-over his mother’s modeling agency when he realized she was badly mismanaging both the finances and the models. It was basically a hostile take-over, and his mother has never forgiven him for it. Her volatile behavior after his father’s death meant a young Jonas had responsibility for his even younger brother, and the experience convinced him that having order in his life was of utmost importance and that emotions can’t be trusted. Now in his early forties, he struggles to make emotional connections, even with his five year old daughter, Ruby, whom he shares custody of with his ex-wife. Jonas has been attracted to Dean since he met him, but he’s kept that attraction ruthlessly under control due to his own rigid code of conduct and his desire for order. But when Jonas is called to retrieve Dean from jail very early one morning, the two start to have conversations about more than modeling, and Dean’s sunny outlook starts to have its effect on Jonas.

The heart of this book is Jonas falling for Dean (Dean has already fallen for Jonas). Jonas starts to see and appreciate Dean’s innate goodness and ability to put everyone he meets at ease. Jonas also learns about Dean’s dyslexia and how that, combined with the years Dean spent stoned, have left him open to verbal abuse from people in the modeling industry. After being called stupid his whole life, Dean accepts the label, and seems confused when Jonas defends him. Dean’s assumption that his company is of little lasting value to people is heartrending at times. Thankfully, Jonas sees Dean’s strengths: that he’s good with numbers and good with people. But the romance doesn’t run smoothly since Jonas thinks he’s too old and rigid to be with someone like Dean, and Dean doesn’t always think he’s worth staying with.

Joel Leslie adds depth to this story and its characters with his ability to imbue his narration with realistic emotions not only in the dialog, but also in the narrative passages. In print, I found this to be an entertaining, if fluffy, contemporary romance. While listening to Joel’s narration of the book I found Dean to be a more nuanced and complex character, and his situation in life more poignant. Joel’s Jonas is also more relatable, with deep seated fears and rigidly controlled emotions. This added character depth made the third act drama feel more in character this time around. This is the value of a great narration, to help readers connect better with the story and the characters.

The Sunny Side is, overall, a relatively lighthearted and humorous romance, but with this excellently narrated audiobook, you might see below the surface of the story and appreciate its underlying depth.

Carrie