Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: Vow Maker

SERIES: Mixed Messages #4

AUTHOR: Lily Morton

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 125 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 20, 2022

BLURB:

Dylan Mitchell wants to get married.

However, after seven years of being engaged, that’s looking slightly doubtful. After going through ten wedding planners, they’re gaining a reputation somewhat akin to Henry the Eighth on the wedding circuit.

Gabe has vetoed symbolic dove releases, forests of flowers, fire-eating performers, and puce as a wedding colour. He’s confounded an army of wedding professionals, and now Dylan, the man who knows and loves him better than anyone, has joined the ranks of the confused. Can anything please his fiancé and get them to the altar?

REVIEW:

He’s my lover, best friend, co-conspirator, and teammate. He’s everything wrapped up in a quirky, gregarious, gorgeous man. He is truly my better half.”   – Gabe

Wow! Holy mother of dog, Vow Maker is everything you could ever want from a continuation of Dylan and Gabe’s love story. This book is a wonderful, fabulous, scrumptious gift from Lily Morton to her devoted fans who hold these beloved men close to their hearts. It’s a surprise early holiday present. Their initial story was told in Rule Breaker, one of Lily’s earlier books and a gateway for many into her wonderful world of MM writing. It’s one of my favorite books ever.

After a seven year engagement, Dylan and Gabe are done putting off their nuptials. After many failures, they finally land on the perfect, for them, wedding planner, the astounding, ridiculous – in the best of  ways – Joe. And I’ll repeat what everyone else has been saying: we want need a book starting Joe!

Gabe and Dylan are the same fun-loving, bantering, snarky, madly in love couple as before, but both men have grown, too. I think that’s such an important component in this book: to see this couple maturing while not changing the core of who they are. When Gabe is distracted – worried even – he hides whatever’s bothering him from Dylan. Of course,  Dylan thinks it’s something bad concerning him or the wedding. Dylan exhibits patience, though, allowing Gabe the head space he needs to ruminate. Gabe, who was once afraid to share his feelings because he didn’t want to appear vulnerable, knows he can now share anything and he’ll have Dylan’s caring support.

The wedding itself is both profound in its intensity of love and quintessentially Dylan and Gabe and their sweet dynamic. All of the men from the Mixed Messages series are in attendance. It’s great to see Jude and Asa, and Henry and Ivo. And obviously, the book would never be complete without Billy. Henry delivers a moving wedding toast:

This love, this life they have built together, is simultaneously enough and yet also growing. They’re each other’s road home, the light in the window on a dark night, the fire that warms the other’s bones.” 

There’s text messaging reminiscent of their wildly snarky emails in Rule Breaker, the very thing that made that a standout book. Dylan’s family is so warm and kind – and a riot. I love seeing more of how integrated Gabe has become with them in his life. Having a family of his own now contributes, in no small part, to the man Gabe is today. One final thing: astute readers will remember Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” as Gabe’s ode of sorts to Dylan in Rule Breaker. The song is here, too, and serves as a perfect reminder of their love developing in their first book.

This is not a standalone novella. If you haven’t read Rule Breaker yet, I implore you to do so. It’s one of the funniest MM books out there.

I could go on all day spouting how much I love this couple. I could read another 1,000 pages of their snark and affection for each other. The epilogue is sexy and sweet, a perfect ending. All I can say is thank you, Lily, from the bottom of my heart, for giving us such a heartwarming and hilarious continuation of everything Gabe and Dylan.

I gather him close and hold him tight, feeling his utter rightness in my arms right down to my bones. He fits there as if made for me— this merry-hearted, wonderful man— and I will love him until I die. And if that’s not a good start to a marriage, I don’t know what is. I’ve decided that in our marriage, I’ll follow Dylan as I do in most emotional moments. He’s proved to be a confident, albeit rather snarky, skipper in these matters, but I can’t think of anyone I’d rather hitch a ride through life with than him.”

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon