Dean joins his best mate Mal as the top two on my favourite Lily list
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This goes straight to the top of my favourite Lily books right behind Dean’s best mate Mal and his wonderful farmer Caden.
It’s difficult to describe the feeling I had when reading this book because anticipation only goes so far. I’ve wanted Dean’s story ever since he first showed up but it was only when Jonas also arrived on the scene that it became clear that’s who he was utterly perfect for.
They’re not just opposites, they’re so far apart in their outlook and approach to life you have to wonder how they could ever work, but they do. They work like the softest blanket on the coldest day, like a cup of hot chocolate soothes the aches or a sip of ice cold water brings a perfect chill when it’s roasting hot.
Dean is goodness in human form. He’s kind, he thinks the best of people, even when they don’t return the same to him, he loves animals of all kinds, dogs in particular, and he’s been in love with Jonas from the first time he saw him, when Jonas did a kind deed for him when he was a new and clumsy model just starting out at the Durand Agency.
Jonas, on the other hand, comes across as grumpy, cold, determined, dry and somewhat rigid in his attitude to life but as you find out more about his past, it becomes clear he’s had to lock his hopes and his heart away.
I loved his relationship with his younger brother Olivier, here you see Jonas does have a big heart, his daughter Ruby is a mystery to him but as he falls into a whirlwind summer with Dean, his love for her becomes a precious and visible thing.
They’re insanely hot together too. Dean knows all the tricks for showing off his body to its best advantage, but as Jonas spends more time with him, he realises it’s Dean’s heart and his kindness that is the most attractive part of him.
I could keep gushing on about this book for another 500 words, it’s just pure joy to read, it makes you smile, it makes you want to thump Jonas (but also totally understand why he does what he does) and it makes you wish you had a mate like Malachi Booth, sarcastic and bitchy, but willing to cut and bleed to protect Dean’s wonderfully hopeful (but never stupid) view of the world.
This book is glorious, it’s certainly one of Lily’s best and I don’t think anyone who’s been waiting for Dean’s story could be anything but perfectly satisfied with how he finds his happy ending.
#ARC kindly received from the author via GRR Tours in return for an honest and unbiased review
Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings 
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