The Player

By: Lily Morton

Narrated by: Joel Leslie

Frankie Bishop had only been married for a few months when he became a widower, leaving him with a mountain of debts, a business on the edge of ruin, and a parrot called Hank Marvin.

Three years later, the business is finally thriving, and Frankie finds himself ready to look for love again. It comes as a complete surprise to discover that he’s developed feelings for Con — his late husband’s best friend and now Frankie’s business partner.

Why did he overlook the gorgeous man who's been by his side through everything? Even more importantly, how can he tell Con about his feelings when Con seems to have suddenly found love with another man?

©2024 Lily Morton (P)2024 Lily Morton

Joel Leslie and Lilly Morton go together like tea and biscuits.

A lovely standalone novella which was originally a giveaway. Lily added an epilogue to expand the content, and it's as lovely as the gardens in the story.

Wonderful Novella!

I love listening to Joel Leslie narrating anything. But, this lovely story is so sweet and his voice just adds something extra! The two MCs had been best friends for years, when Frankie's husband of a few months (Con's best friend) suddenly died. With a quaint town, a wacky parrot and a nosy neighbor, this story was entertaining, spicy, and sweet. I highly recommend this listen!

Humorous Friends to Lovers story

Love the humour in Lily's books, they always get me laughing.
And Joel's voice delivers it perfectly.
Some incredibly zany characters, and a rather funny parrot with interesting timing with some one liners.
Definately well worth listening to.
I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review

One more delicious romance in a small package

One more book by Lily to add to my favorites list 💛 I’m so glad I decided to wait for audiobook to be released before reading this novel for the first time! 😍 I loooove Lily Morton’s books for their charming British atmosphere, humor, chemistry between MCs, sweet HEA and good written characters and story as a whole! 💫 Joel Leslie has done a great job enhancing all that ☺️

Slow burn, age gap, best friend and ex’s friend tropes, lots of misunderstanding, pining, hot seduction and finally being together.. all that in a good paced relatively short story 👍🏼

Definitely recommend!

A Pleasure to Listen

This is such a sweet story, as expected from Miss Lily Morton and Joel Leslie just adds a chef kiss on top of it

Frankie & Con

I loved Frankie and Con’s story. Once again Joel Leslie does a wonderful job of bringing Lily’s characters to life. He has a way of drawing you into the characters and nails the wit and snark every time. In their story Frankie finds himself coming out of the widow fog he has unknowingly been in since his husband’s passing three years ago. Color comes back to his life, and he begins to see his husband’s best friend Con, and his, in a whole new way. I loved seeing these two dance around each other, each feeling a way, but neither just coming out and saying it. A mutual friend decides to take matters into her own hands and to try to help the process along. Overall this was a fantastic listen filled with laughs, good friends, a parrot that we all wish we could have and a wonderful HEA.

"Con, I have always been yours, and I always will be."

This book is so, so good. I actually bought the audio because I saw that Joel Leslie was the narrator. It was fantastic! Funny and romantic with a touch of pining, a little jealousy, and a beautiful HEA. The entire performance had me hooked. The book is great on its own but I would suggest getting the audiobook. 💯 worth it.

Colorful characters, favorite narrator

I enjoyed this story when it came out last year, but the audio with the extra epilogue was even better! Joel always does the best accents and somehow made the lack of communication less annoying to me. Frankie, Con, and the colorful cast of characters (including our dear Max!) made for a very fun novella. No angst, low heat, HEA.

Lovely friends-to-lovers novella.

This was such a lovely story! Great setting (the Cotswold never disappoint!), wonderful characters, a whole village of busybodies and Lily Morton’s own brand of snark and banter. It was really a joy to listen to!
The story is told from Frankie’s POV, and though he struggles to come to terms with his feelings for Con, it’s quite clear to everyone but him that the man feels the same way, so it’s quite entertaining to see him fumble his way through!
Joel Leslie as usual adds his own kind of magic to Lily’s already wonderful books.

Frankie & Con and Lily M & Joel L = MEANT TO BE!

Reading and listening to a book at the same time is one of those things that I've always gotten an immense amount of enjoyment from. Another combination that I can never get enough of? The dynamic storytelling duo of Lily Morton (her writing) and Joel Leslie (his narration)! Their latest offering is The Player, a previously published novella that now includes a new epilogue, and it's a friends-to-lovers romance with a bit of a twist. Frankie Bishop (27) is widower who lost his husband months after their whirlwind romance and wedding. Three years on, light is beginning to seep back into his grayish life, but he finds himself needing to accept two things: one, his feelings for his best friend and business partner, Conrad (aka Con, who I think is in his 30s because he was Frankie's late husband's best friend, but I could be wrong), are beyond platonic; and two, it may be too late for him to do anything about it considering Con's just arrived back in Cotswolds with a guy who could very well be his new boyfriend.

My favorite thing about The Player had to be the close-knit relationship that Frankie and Con shared. They pretty much knew almost everything about each other, save for the fact that they were both pining for one another and hoping for far more than "just" being best friends. There's a reason why Joel Leslie is such a go-to of mine when it comes to audiobooks. He never fails to leave me thoroughly impressed with his ability to distinguish one character from another, regardless of whether they happen to be one of the main characters or part of the supporting cast or even a feathered scene-stealer named Hank Marvin! He brought such life to an already wonderfully entertaining story by Lily Morton, and the almost five hours I spent reading and listening to Frankie and Con's love story was time well spent. I laughed out loud and loved everything about The Player--yes, even Lucy Scrimshaw. Five stars!