I adored this book when I read it with my eyes in August of 2023. I knew then that the only thing that could make me like this book more would be to listen to Joel Leslie perform the audiobook. Once again, he has done a fantastic job performing Lily Morton’s words. Below is what I wrote when I read the book with my eyes.

Original review:
I haven’t laughed so much in a long time while reading a book. French Fancy is an amazing story. I started laughing before the end of the first page. I laughed so loud that my husband asked me what was so funny and I had to read it out loud to him – and then he laughed.

Lily Morton has the amazing ability to make me LOL one minute and practically sob the next. The story is told in first person POV with Pip having control of the majority of the chapters but we start hearing from Olivier around chapter eleven and then he keeps popping up from time-to-time.

Pip is a delightful character. We met him in The Sunny Side but you can absolutely read this as a standalone story. He has been very ill, and his recovery is going slowly, so his wealthy boss sends him to his villa in the South of France to recover. Pip is supposed to have the place to himself but his boss’s brother, Olivier, shows up unexpectedly. They hit it off and agree to a sex only relationship because neither of them wants anything long-term.

I marked no less than 10 places where I LOL’d and I normally don’t mark much of anything when I read. I’m going to quote one short passage, which I’m sure is much funnier when read in context, but it made me smile so hard. The scene is Pip getting off of a bus; he’s moving slowly because he’s still feeling poorly:

“You getting off at any point today?” the driver asks grumpily.
I come up next to him and pause. “That’s a very personal question to ask a young man. How do you know I’m not having a day of abstinence?”

There is so much more I could say about this story, like how Olivier needs to get his head out of his a$$ and like how awful Olivier’s mother is, but I really just want to say READ THIS BOOK, you won’t be sorry. It’s a nice long story that never drags a bit; Lily’s writing is rich and descriptive and a pleasure to read. Her fans will enjoy getting glimpses of characters from other of her stories but like I said, this one easily reads as a standalone.

I have to admit that as I was reading this book I kept hearing Joel Leslie’s voice in my head. I don’t know if he will do the narration if Lily decides to have French Fancy made in to an audiobook but he’s done several other audios for her so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he will also do this one. The humor, wit and snark that is trademark Lily Morton comes to life even more for me when I hear Joel perform her words.

There is a nice long epilogue set one year after the end of the story and both Pip and Olivier get to tell their part and I thought it was fantastic.

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A brilliant idea occurs to me. “And you’d better go now because the owner is here. He’s inside.”

I still can’t see his face, but somehow, I know he’s amused. My impression is confirmed when he says, “Really?” with a great deal of lively scepticism.

“Oh yes.” I shift from one foot to the other rather awkwardly. I’m used to being naked in front of men, but more pleasurable things are usually on the agenda. “He’s my lover, and he’s gone to make drinks. Then he’ll be out here, and there’ll be hell to play.”

“Oh, dear. That does sound worrying. Is he dangerous?”

His beautiful French accent lingers on the last word, and I’m lost for a second. Then I rally.

“Oh, very,” I say airily. “He’ll kill anyone who looks twice at me.”

“He must be a very busy man.”

The compliment disarms me. “Oh well, of course,” I say, regaining my composure. “Thank you. You’re quite right, stranger who is not an axe man.”

“I am definitely not that. I don’t think I could fit an axe in my shorts’ pockets, no?”

“You’d be surprised. I’ve met a few men who’ve got enough room down there to stock the contents of B and Q,” I say unthinkingly.

He throws his head back, laughing. It’s a very attractive sound.

“You should go,” I say wistfully. This is the most exciting thing that’s happened to me since my ex shagged me in a glass lift.

“Ah, because your lover will emerge soon, yes?”

I nod.

“And your lover is?” he asks.

“Oh.” My thoughts immediately spin towards the enigmatic brother of my boss. “He’s Olivier Durand.”

“Really?”

I raise my eyebrow. “He’s insanely possessive of me.” I wave a hand down my body. “And who can blame him?”

“Indeed.”

I narrow my eyes. “I can’t help feeling you don’t believe me, stranger danger.”

He steps forward, and a torch sheds light on his face. I stiffen. It’s a face I last saw in a photo in the kitchen—the picture that showed him smiling with my boss’s arm over his shoulders.

“Shit,” I say morosely.

Olivier Durand chuckles, his eyes dancing. “I do believe you. You are incredibly convincing, but now I am in a quandary.”

“Sounds painful.”

“So painful, because I’m afraid I will now have to visit a doctor.”

“Why?” I ask faintly.

“For my memory loss, of course. Here was I thinking myself a hale, fairly hearty, and very single young man, when pouf, I am the victim of amnesia and cannot remember the name of my beautiful young lover. And after that, I shall have to get my shotgun ready to begin shooting your many suitors in a fit of insane rage.”

“Oh dear.”

He starts to laugh again. “It is Pip, yes?”

I put my hands on my hips. “Who else?”

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