Reviewed by Valerie and Larissa

 

TITLE:  Merry Measure

AUTHOR:  Lily Moton

PUBLISHER:  Self-Pubished

LENGTH:  204 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 2, 2020

BLURB:

Arlo Wright’s introduction to his sexuality came when he saw his older brother’s best friend, Jack Cooper, in his sweaty football kit. Unfortunately, he didn’t have long to enjoy the revelation because he promptly knocked himself out on a table.

Relations between them have never really moved on from that auspicious beginning. Arlo is still clumsy, and Jack is still as handsome and unobtainable as ever.

However, things look like they’re starting to change when Arlo finds himself sharing a room with Jack while on holiday in Amsterdam at Christmas. Will the festive spirit finally move them towards each other, or is Arlo just banging his head against a wall this time?

 

VALERIE’S REVIEW:

Merry Measure has become one of my very favorite Christmas romances. This is a happy book, a feel good in your soul, no angst book. And although it’s full of classic Lily Morton humor, there’s a laid-back elegance and sophistication to the fictional world and the writing. Arlo and Jack’s love story embraced me in the warmth of family and friends, a dazzling city at the holidays, and two men who have, from the very first page, a genuine affection for each other that blossoms into a forever love.  

Arlo Wright is so, so lovable. He’s a twenty-four year old teacher who grew up with unconventional parents and loves his brother, Tom, dearly. He wants to love Tom’s best friend, Jack Cooper, dearly, too. He’s had a crush on him since he was eleven and Jack was fifteen. Arlo is famously clumsy, messy, and disorganized. Jack describes him as a warm, funny, dreamer. In a word, he’s merry. Jack is a darling, too. He’s an architect, a kind man, and a loyal friend. He’s dated a procession of men and women, but nothing ever sticks. As the product of cold, demanding parents (whom Arlo hates with a vengeance), he’s now a cautious perfectionist. Jack is the opposite of Arlo; in a word, he’s measured. Arlo and Jack have a well-established, friendly rapport because of their close relationships with Tom. Their connection feels natural, borne of years knowing each other so well. There’s an easy-going banter, gentle teasing, and lots of kindness and support.  

When they travel to Amsterdam for a holiday getaway with Tom, his boyfriend Bee, and friends Freddy and Diana, they find themselves needing to share a hotel room (the last room left, of course!) It throws a curveball into Arlo’s intentions to squash his crush on Jack, and thwarts Jack’s plan to ignore his own growing feelings for Arlo. Amsterdam is good for them. Arlo brings lightness and frivolity to Jack’s life. Jack seems free of his self-imposed constraints and is laughing and smiling. He’s happy. They slow down to get to know each other on a deeper level (and on a carnal level) as they morph into much more than friends. 

Elegant and sophisticated don’t mean staid in this book. Think snowballs in the face, and a hand job during a very public canal boat ride. Think a classic Rembrandt subject looking like she’s belting out “It’s Raining Men.” It doesn’t mean humorless, either. This book is laugh-out-loud funny at times. Because Arlo and Jack are so comfortable with each other, they’re generally uninhibited. Add a little (or a lot) of alcohol and there are many hilarious moments, such as when they wake up to a trashed hotel room: “What the fuck? … Did we entertain Guns n Roses last night?” Or when Arlo gets tangled up and stuck in his shirt when trying to strip off his clothes for Jack. Arlo provides plenty of humor in just existing. He’s a happy, klutzy, walking catastrophe. 

Ms. Morton is a world class world builder in this book. Oh, how I would love to return to Amsterdam during the holidays, to Morton’s world. To a city bedecked in fairy lights, cobbled streets lined with illuminated canal houses, and smiling, pleasant bicyclists bundled up to ward off the crisp winter air.  I want to take that boat ride with Arlo and Jack (I really, really want to be on that boat with them), and stumble out of a bar with their dear friends.  

The story is greatly enhanced by the superb supporting cast, including Tom, Bee, Freddy, Diana, and an obnoxious ex-boyfriend who will make you grit your teeth. The reason Ms. Morton’s characters are so strong is because of the extensive dialogue. We experience this story instead of simply reading it because we’re engrossed in their conversations. 

Merry Measure is a warm and fuzzy novel that is among the best M/M holiday romances I’ve read (which is an inordinate number for one individual). If you want to immerse yourself in enchanting Amsterdam at Christmastime, with characters you’ll fall in love with, while giving your smiling and laughing muscles a good workout, look no further. This is a 5 heart/star read. (With a perfect cover model.) 

VALERIE’S RATING: 

 

LARISSA’S REVIEW:

I can sum up Merry Measure in one word: Perfect.  Once you’ve read the book, though, you’ll recognize the irony in that statement.  If there’s one overarching message from this overwhelmingly lovely, heartwarming, wonderfully written holiday tale, it’s that there is no objective perfection.  Subjectively, maybe perfection can be found.  But subjective perfection that is individually focused is very different from objective perfection to the world at large.  So is the personal and emotional impact from striving for the latter rather than the former. The struggle for our couple, Arlo Wright (apropos last name) and Jack Cooper, longtime best friend of Arlo’s older brother Tom, is this perfectionistic ideal, although Arlo is concerned mainly with subjective perfection vis-a-vis Jack, whereas Jack pushes himself to be objectively perfect for everyone all the time.

When we first meet Arlo, he is rushing to meet Jack for their flight to Amsterdam.  Arlo is late, discombobulated and in desperate need of coffee, and in his distraction and haste, he gets himself stuck in a revolving door.  Apparently, this type of event is not a surprising or uncommon occurrence for Arlo. Arlo self-deprecatingly describes himself as “disastrous”: “I mostly bring chaos, mess, sarcasm, and clumsiness.”  Jack affectionately says Arlo is his “own personal version of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.” 

But Arlo, for the most part, embraces this as who he is, especially given his crazy parents and “chill”, atypical childhood.  Arlo, Tom and family may have their idiosyncrasies, but they are fiercely loyal and loving, and together, they’ve “always been a team.”  There is, however, one exception to Arlo’s self-acceptance:  When it comes to Jack, Arlo sees himself as far from perfect and therefore unlikely to ever catch and keep Jack’s love:

“How long will it be before my clumsiness and disorganisation stops being quirky and endearing and he moves on to the next perfect specimen?

Then we have Jack, who is handsome, smart, kind, loving and generous. Basically, he’s the whole package.  But Jack is buckling under the pressure of perfectionism, driven into him by his parents and his demeaning ex-boyfriend, Steven, who pride being perfect above being happy and loved.  We observe Jack struggling with anxiety and the burden of trying to live up to an unachievable standard.  He doesn’t experience joy, laughter and love except with the Wright family, and predominantly with Arlo.  But even then, Jack believes that can’t overcome his inadequacies borne of his need to please everyone and meet his parent’s rigid, exacting, impossible expectations.”

Lily Morton always creates couples that seamlessly fit together, and Arlo and Jack are no exception.  Arlo is the epitome of objective imperfectness, but he is perfect for Jack.  Jack is serious and focused and Arlo helps him lighten up and have fun.  On the flip side, Jack is the steadfast, organized, grounding force Arlo needs to balance out his scatterbrained tendencies.  Arlo is the puzzle piece that fits Jack and vice versa, and together they are a complete picture.

The choice of title here is apt.  Arlo is merry;  Jack is measured. Together they are ideal counterpoints.  But measure has multiple meanings:  “Measure is the old word for a dance”, Arlo points out, and what is a relationship if not a dance.  A measure is also part of a piece of music, and Arlo and Jack together create a very happy tune.

Most of all, Arlo’s love helps Jack readjust his perspective and transform because it fills him with joy and laughter, leaving no room for anything else.

“‘I will take everything you give me,’ Jack says solemnly. ‘All the chaos, all the mess.’ … ‘Because it comes with you, Arlo.  You fill my head all the way through, so I don’t think about being perfect. Just perfect for you.”

In addition to this theme and message Lily has beautifully weaved through the story, there’s another phenomenal aspect of Merry Measure that she’s created: extraordinary world building. This book is an ode to Amsterdam.  You will feel like you are there, and then wish that you were IRL.  Lily said she got the idea for this story when her husband took her to Amsterdam, and she absolutely fell in love with the city.  She wrote most of the descriptions in the book on her phone in real time while she was there. The scenes she brings to life make her adoration of Amsterdam obvious and her descriptions are so vivid, you can virtually see, feel, touch and taste what she describes.

Overall, Merry Measure is yet another exceptional addition to a long line of superb Lily Morton stories.  Her writing is sharp, witty, snappy and snarky. (She doesn’t call her FB group “Lily’s Snark Squad” for nothing! 🤣)  She creates beautifully deep and complex relationships, and authentic, multi-dimensional characters who act like adults – maybe sometimes misguided adults, but adults nonetheless. There’s no manufactured melancholy, artificial angst or unnecessary drama.  It’s real, it’s true and it hits you in the heart, and sometimes your gut, and it stays with you after the story is done.

If you can only read one holiday story this season, let it be Merry Measure.  Reading this book is like wrapping yourself up in a warm blanket. The only downside is that when the story ends, it’s like stepping out of warm covers on a cold winter day.  The consolation is you can grab coffee and climb back under because there’s a Jack and Arlo short story coming for her newsletter subscribers, and of course you can always start over and wrap yourself up in this lovely story again. 😍

LARISSA’S RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

Amazon