Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: BTW: By the Way
SERIES: After Oscar Book 3
AUTHOR: Lucy Lennox and Molly Maddox
NARRATOR: Michael Dean
PUBLISHER: Ginger Cat LLC
LENGTH: 8 hrs and 15 mins
RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2020
BLURB:
James:
My assignment is simple: Go to the Cape and seal the real estate deal for my most important client. No problem. I’m good at my job, I know how to close a sale, and this time won’t be any different.
Until I meet Sawyer, the sexy young bartender I accidentally kiss in the broom closet. Turns out, he’s one of the owners I’m here to negotiate with.
Okay, so that complicates things. As does the fact that he doesn’t want to sell. Or that we can’t keep our hands off each other despite being on opposite sides. And most of all…that I might be falling for him even though I know better. I’ve made the mistake of falling for a younger man before and I won’t do it again.
Sawyer:
For me, family is everything, and nothing represents ours more than the Sea Sprite, the motel that’s been in my family for eighty years. Sure, others (*cough*James*cough*) may describe it as rundown or derelict or in desperate need of a wrecking ball. But I call it our legacy.
I’ve got plans – big plans to renovate the motel back to its vintage glory. The only thing standing in my way is James Allen, the fancy-schmancy lawyer from New York with his adorable smile, jaw-dropping assets, and his client’s millions of dollars.
James seems hellbent on destroying my future. But maybe there’s a way for us to build a new one together…
REVIEW:
If you’ve been reading this enjoyable After Oscar series from the esteemed writing duo of Lucy Lennox and Molly Maddox, you may recognize parallels between this third entry in the series, BTW: By the Way, and Book 1, IRL: In Real Life. In both books, a rich, uber-successful, city guy (Wells and James, respectively) falls in love with a younger, small-town guy (Conor and Sawyer, respectively) who is opposite from them in many ways. The rich, city guy’s underlying business objective, which serves as the main plot driver, runs contrary to the interests of their small-town love interest. The stories both revolve around that moral dilemma as complicated by unexpectedly and unintentionally falling in love with the “adversary”.
Note, you do not need to read the prior books in the series to enjoy BTW. And even if you have read IRL, you will still enjoy BTW, especially as vocalized in the audiobook by Michael Dean. However, I do think some of the shine was taken off BTW because of the parallels I mentioned. It also made the story arc a bit predictable. However, where Ms. Lennox and Ms. Maddox show off their writing prowess is where the parallels diverge within the same framework.
In IRL, Wells and Conor have adverse objectives, but Conor doesn’t know that. A large component of the plot there revolves around Wells’ opportunity to leverage that knowledge to advance his business objective. In contrast, in BTW, Sawyer learns soon after meeting James that they are on opposite sides of a business transaction. This creates an interesting push/pull dynamic between them that is very different from what we see in IRL. Sawyer battles his anger and frustration about the situation and James’ role in it while recognizing James’ doesn’t have full control over the situation. James finds himself in between the proverbial Scylla and Charybdis with no viable way to reconcile his requirement to do his job with his love for and desire to support Sawyer. At the same time, he constantly manages his reaction to Sawyer’s frustration and often misplaced anger.
So despite obvious similarities, Ms. Lennox and Ms. Maddox still succeed in crafting an immersive story with two male leads, Sawyer and James, who are colorful, complex, engaging, and endearing. Their unlikely pairing, like Wells and Conor’s in Book 1, works despite all the reasons on paper why it shouldn’t. That is the result of excellent character development and deft weaving of personalities into a couple that makes sense.
While I haven’t read Ms. Maddox before, I have read plenty of Ms. Lennox’s works and world-building is one of the things she does best. The incredible detail and inherent feeling of the Cape and the Sea Sprite motel come through clearly, creating an immersive environment.
Michael Dean’s vocal performance in the BTW audiobook adds to that immersive experience. He effortlessly communicates the complexity of Sawyer and James’ fears, vulnerabilities, love, principles, and values. He explores the nuances of their characters, conflicted feelings, and goals through the textures of the voices he gives them.
Mr. Dean’s vocal choices for Sawyer and James are spot on. Sawyer gets a higher-pitched voice that rides the edge of “surfer dude”, reflecting his youth and exuberance. However, while he may seem to have a free-spirited attitude, we still hear in his voice when things are important to him. We understand the seriousness of his commitment to renovating the Sea Sprite even in the face of opposition and lack of support from his own family. James gets a lower-pitched, slightly gruff voice perfectly reflective of his energy. He’s older, very cognizant of the age difference between them. He also has a bit of a beleaguered spirit, and that comes through, along with frustration at his predicament. Yet through Mr. Dean’s vocal inflections and delivery, we also discern James’ hopefulness for something promising and different that he can achieve with Sawyer at his side.
Overall, BTW succeeds more in audio form than in book form. Listening to Mr. Dean’s voice bringing Sawyer and James to life augments the experience of this book. So I highly recommend that when you read it, you do it with your ears.
RATING: 
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