Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: On Circus Lane
SERIES: The Wright Brothers
AUTHOR: Lily Morton
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 7 hours and 6 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 19, 2025
BLURB:
The first time Bee Bannister met Tom Wright, he couldn’t stand him.
Everything about the man aggravated him—his perfect hair and body, his confident arrogance, and the way he looked straight through Bee.
Which is why it’s such an unpleasant shock to find that he’ll be sharing space with him while on a Christmas holiday with friends in Scotland.
However, as the days fly by and snowy Edinburgh begins to work its magic on him, Bee discovers that sometimes first impressions can be very misleading. Tom is kind and funny, and somehow, rather than looking through Bee, he actually sees and likes all of him.
The two men grow closer, but will Bee follow his heart or his head when the holiday ends? And can relationships that start so badly ever lead to love?
From best-selling author Lily Morton comes a festive romantic comedy about enemies to lovers and the magic of Christmas.
This is the first book in the Wright Brothers series.
REVIEW:
Oh what another delightful audio gem from Lily Morton. Previously I had listened to Merry Measure, which is technically the second book in this series and takes place during another Wright family holiday excursion to Amsterdam. This tale has the group of friends (found family) going to Edinburgh. These are two of my favorite cities in the world, so I was happy to get to listen to this episode which brings Bee and Tom together 🙂 Love the found family aspect of these tales. Steven is the same bitchy guy in this one 😉
The dynamic/trope here is completely different to the second book in that Tom and Bee are complete strangers. They have a rather inauspicious first meeting where Bee get a totally wrong impression of Tom. He’s not had the easiest of times. He’s an academic working on his 4th degree? Maybe 5th? Anyway, he’s quite different to Tom who is one of their few friends who actually has a job related to his course of study. Mistakenly Bee thinks that Steven, their friend Jack’s boyfriend is being wronged. He isn’t. He’s a complete twat 😉 It doesn’t take too long for Bee to figure this out though.
Tom is the nicest guy. When Bee rushed off to join his bestie and Tom in his car with Jack and Steven, he makes a big show of sending off his one night stand. It’s a LITTLE embarrassing. But not nearly as embarrassing as getting to Edinburgh with clothes for a beach vacation. In December. 😛
Bee is a bit out of his element and when they get to the guesthouse, it’s decided that Tom and Bee will share the last set of rooms. Uh-oh. Bee is well on the way to figuring out that Tom has his best interests at heart and that Steven is interested only in Steven. Bee feels sorry for Jack (as does everyone else).
Tom and Bee are smitten 😉 Everyone else sees it and eventually they act on it. Everybody is happy for them. But Bee has VERY cold feet. He’s been bullied, neglected and made to feel like he’s simultaneously too much and not enough for anyone to want to keep. Tom is going to have to work to convince him that he totally is worth it!
Love love love this adorable holiday story 🙂 Tom and Bee are so darn cute together. I loved how Bee totally misread their first encounter and how he slowly came around to realize that Steven is NOT who he appears (emphasis on appearance). Tom is a lovely guy and he’s falling for Bee. He understands that Bee is a little bit gun shy, but he’s worth it.
Once again Joel Leslie does a fab job with all the characters and accents here. The humor and frantic nature of this story is spot on. Tom and Bee cannot be more different – from their families to their jobs to their pasts. But they are so good together 🙂 I adored the ending especially – perfect blend of humor and romance. Well done Lily and Joel – you two are rockstars. Highly recommended for the whole series 🙂
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
