menage

Rule of Three by Kelly Jamieson

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Rule of Three
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Mild Kink
Genre: Contemporary, ménage
Reviewed by Kate

206 pages


Kassidy is finally reaping the rewards of always following the rules. She has a job she loves and is in a fulfilling relationship with her boyfriend Chris. In fact, after a year of dating, they’ve just moved in together and it’s looking like marriage is on the horizon. Then Chris’s best friend Dag comes to town for a visit.

Dag has secretly been in love with Chris since they first met. But it was obvious Chris would never consider a relationship so Dag never admitted his feelings. He left town years ago, trying to outrun his feelings, but is back to see if there’s any chance of being with Chris now.

Kassidy and Dag are shocked by (and Chris is oblivious to) the immediate sparks that fly between them. To their credit, neither Dag nor Kassidy act on their attraction. Instead they spend a few days becoming good friends. When it comes out that Dag and Chris have participated in threesomes together before, Kassidy decides to step out of her good girl box and give a threeway a try. But when everyone’s true feelings are uncovered, will any of them be left without a broken heart?

I had just finished a Harlequin Special Edition and may have been complaining to Anne a bit because, while I love me a good Harlequin Special Edition, it just didn’t have the heat level I was looking for. So later Anne emails me about Rule of Three. Something like, “Saw this menage story. Thought of you.” Aren’t big sisters the greatest?

Kelly Jamieson has a new fan. Because holy hotness, Batman! This one was scorching. The kind where you just have to take periodic cool-down breaks, you know? But the best part was it wasn’t sex written for sex’s sake. These characters were deep and complex and-oh crap, I’m getting a tad gushy, aren’t I?

My only complaint was that the HEA ended too soon.  I would have liked to see an epilogue with this one.  Of course, without an epilogue, I get to make my own up.  How about you?  Epilogue or no?  Which do you prefer?

Tempted by Two by Portia Da Costa

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Tempted by Two

Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Mild Kink (light bondage and spanking)
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage 
Reviewed by Anne
90 pages
 
“So are you two a pair of tag team bluebeards who regularly use that painting to seduce unwary women into your… um… combined clutches?”
Marcus laughed too, and Owen just grinned.
“Busted.”  p. 12
 
Katie is on vacation and she’s checking out some paintings by her favorite artist, Marcus Dane.  She’s alone, admiring a particularly explicit painting of a trio of lovers when she’s approached by Marcus.  Happily caught off guard and star struck by the attractive artist, she accompanies him back to his place and meets his partner, Owen.  They invite her to join them for a ménage like the one pictured in the painting she was admiring.  Though initially hesitant, Katie agrees and the story takes off from there.
 
This novella weighed in at 90 pages on my reader. A HEA ménage seemed like a lot to take on in that situation – especially given that Katie was a stranger to Owen and Marcus. So, I went into this thinking it might just be an encounter or have a HFN ending. Happily, it was a true HEA. However, it had sort of a fantasy feel to it for me, because I think a HEA triad is a complicated thing to pull off. It happened in 90 pages here because things were simplified. I was happy to suspend disbelief for this one, though.

Da Costa writes great sex scenes, and I enjoyed them here. Marcus and Owen were open with each other and with Katie, which was refreshing.

There wasn’t much discussion of relationships. There was some talk about how they loved each other, but it seemed to me that more discussion was warranted: between Owen and Marcus – How will our relationship change? Do we both want to add a third permanently? and between the guys and Katie – What will it be like to live as a triad? Who pays the bills? Are we out in the open or not? 

What will our families and friends think? None of those conversations happen in this novella.

The same applies to the BDSM scenes in the story. They come out of nowhere and we don’t see much discussion about them. Was this something Katie had done before? Who wanted it?  Honestly, it was a little jarring and almost out of place.  They were still well written and hot, though.

I think my biggest problem was that I wanted more. I wanted it to be longer. (ha!) and I wanted it to go more in depth. That’s probably asking too much from a novella. I’m wavering between a 3 and 4 star grade. I know I went on a bit about the things I missed, but the stuff that was there (mainly sex) was really good. So I’m going with a 3.5 star grade.

*Note – I nearly had to knock this down a grade for use of the term “love-eye” (no, really, it’s in the book! p. 47) but I don’t want to hold my language issues (and my laughter) against the story, so I’ll leave the grade as is. 


So, how about you?  Do you enjoy ménage?  Does the term “love-eye” work for you?

Fever by Maya Banks

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Fever (Breathless, #2)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-High
Series-Breathless #2
Reviewed by Kay

This installment of Maya Banks’ Breathless trilogy is my favorite so far. I really enjoyed it. Great heroine, pretty good hero. Good supporting cast also. I’ll let you know what I liked and disliked in just a moment. Let me summarize first.

Jace Crestwell  sees Bethany Willis across the room at his sister’s engagement party and something happens. The world shifts on it’s axis and he is almost overcome with a sense of possessiveness. He’s never had that kind of reaction to a woman before. And he’s had plenty of women. Plenty. He knows he wants her but he usually has his best friend, Ash along for the ride(pun intended). Bethany is different. She’s special and he can’t understand how she can be since he has just seen her. Ash sees his interest and against Jace’s wishes approaches her and propositions her.

Bethany is taken aback at first but due to the attraction she feels for both of them but Jace especially, she agrees. She does negotiate dinner in the deal though. The reason I bring that up is that Bethany is homeless and works odd jobs when she can find them. She’s part of the wait staff at this engagement party. She feels a little at odds with her decision to go home with them but takes the chance. They spend the night together and she ditches them in the morning.

This encounter has changed everything for Jace, Bethany and Ash. Jace has met the woman for him, Bethany has possibly met someone who will have her back and Ash realizes that his best friend’s priorities have changed. There is a lot of emotions in this book. Relationship evaluation too. What place you play in different people’s lives.

What I did like: Jace’s immediate realization that Bethany was his. His acceptance of this and of her and her past. Bethany as a character. I love the tortured heroine trope. Life was never kind to her but she always came out swinging. Ash’s acceptance of how things should be.

What I didn’t like: Jace’s extreme BDSM stuff but that’s more of a personal preference. His numerous doubts of trust with the people he was supposed to love. Jack pretty much was annoying and useless.

You got a small glimmer of life on the streets and a bad example of the foster care system. I know that not all examples of the foster care system are bad and that needs to be pointed out. This was a solid addition to the series and I eagerly wait Ash’s book. I want it NOW!