Narrated by Joel Leslie
Our heroes from Lily Morton’s popular Rule Breaker (Mixed Messages #1) are finally getting married after a seven year engagement. Vow Maker recounts the amusing challenges that face Gabe and Dylan as they try to plan a wedding. Readers need to be familiar with Rule Breaker since this novella is a follow-up story and doesn’t stand on its own,
The story opens with Gabe and Dylan interviewing yet another wedding planner after firing one and having two more leave in tears. To say Gabe is a bit difficult to work with is a giant understatement. He admits he’s not much of a romantic and doesn’t understand why anyone would want to make a huge ordeal out of getting married. The current candidate bombs the interview when she instructs Gabe and Dylan to “Picture this: After saying the magical words, dozens of doves will be released..” To which Gabe responds, “Which magical words? Abracadabra?” and then shows her the door.
The next wedding planner to show up for an interview is stumbling-down drunk, having come from a situation with one of his brides that obviously required a lot of alcohol. Instead of being mad, Gabe seems thoroughly entertained, and before long Joe Bagshaw has been hired as the new wedding planner. Once sober, Joe actually proves himself to be excellent at his job, full of patience, good ideas, and on at least one occasion, a bit of insightful advice.
There are some serious moments when Gabe has bad dreams related to his difficult childhood, and both men are trying to do whatever will make the other happy without actually talking to each other. Still, much of the novella is taken up with the snarky banter Gabe and Dylan are known for, and with cameos from the other couples in the Mixed Messages world, Jude and Asa (Deal Maker) and Henry and Ivo (Risk Taker). We also get to see Gabe’s ex, Fletcher, again when they run into him at a restaurant. I admit that the whole restaurant scene, which includes sex in a public restroom, feels like filler. Why would Dylan or Gabe (or for that matter, the readers) even care about Fletcher’s opinions eight years after he and Gabe broke it off? In fact, why would Fletcher care?
It’s difficult to swallow the notion that Gabe and Dylan have spent over seven years engaged and living together but have never had a serious talk about their preferences for a wedding. And I thought it odd that they would choose to have sex in the restroom of a swanky restaurant, and that Gabe would conveniently have a sex toy with him.
Joel Leslie is one of my favorite voice actors and has narrated all the connected books in this Mixed Messages universe, which includes many, many male voices. I admit that once or twice I wasn’t able to tell who was talking when the gang was all together, but it was a minor issue. Other than that, Joel’s narration is exactly what I’ve come to expect. The novella is dialog heavy and he does an amazing job conveying the humor, snark, love, and sadness in every word. He also does a very funny drunk Joe!
This Mixed Messages novella ended up being something of a mixed bag for me. I loved revisiting Gabe and Dylan, and mostly enjoyed the snarky banter. On the other hand, some of the humor feels recycled and there are a couple of weak plot points. As always Joel’s narration is excellent and helps smooth over some rough spots, so can I recommend this on audio for Lily Morton fans who want to see Gabe and Dylan finally tie the knot.
Carrie
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