Triad

Bound to be Taken by Becca Jameson

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

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Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Moderate Kink
Genre: Contemporary, BDSM, menage, m/m/f
Series: Emergence #1
Published: 4/8/14
Reviewed by Kate
272 pages

Stephanie overhears her bosses saying that if she was more personable, they would give her the promotion she’s been after.  So she decides she needs to bring a date to the upcoming office party.  But who to bring?  Aiden and Dane live in the same apartment building as Stephanie, and they’re looking for a date themselves.  They have an upcoming dungeon party but they need a submissive.  In exchange for a date to her company party, Stephanie agrees to act as their submissive at their party.  But it quickly turns into more than an act for Stephanie.

After finishing the second book in this series, Bound to be Tamed (Review here:  https://dirtygirlsgoodbooks.com/2014/08/20/bound-to-be-tamed-by-becca-jameson/ , I knew I had to come back and read the first book.  I had to see how Steph, Aiden, and Dane got their start.  And what a start it was.  The chemistry between the 3 of them is almost overwhelming at times.

My one complaint is that Dane and Aiden are supposedly new to the whole being a Dom thing.  They’ve only been studying it for 6 months and have never had their own sub.  They’ve been taking turns being subs for each other (did I mention that Dane and Aiden have a well established sexual relationship?) and have decided they’d like to add a third partner to their relationship.  For being such newbie Doms, they really seemed to just instinctually know way too much.  They recognize the fact that Steph is more than a part-time sub, she’s a full-time one before Steph has even admitted to herself that she’s a submissive.  They were just way too able to read her and I kept thinking “there’s no way they could recognize/know that if they’re so new to this whole Dom thing.”  Of course maybe they’re Dom prodigies.  Other than that…

If you enjoy your menagés with m/m action and a heavy dose of BDSM this one is for you.  It will keep you turning pages and fanning yourself until you reach the last page.  Then you’ll be reaching for the second book.

I really enjoyed the m/m aspect of this menagé.  Do you have any other menagé books to recommend that have the male characters involved with each other as well?

Never Been Kisssed by Mari Carr

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

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Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Mild Kink
Genre: Contemporary, menagé
Series: Second Chances #5
Published: 8/19/14
Reviewed by Kate
155 pages

As a New Year’s resolution, Shelly has vowed to become someone else.  Someone other than the shy, overweight virgin that she currently is.  She’s got a diet underway and has joined a gym.  Maybe her coworker, Christian, can help her with that virginity issue.  Or maybe her kickboxing instructor Lance.

I’ve read other menagé romances before.  Okay.  I’ll be honest.  I’ve read a lot of menagé romances before.  And it seems like if the heroes don’t start off with a really strong relationship (I’m talking non-sexual here, like brothers, cousins, life-long best friends, etc.), then the menagé relationship seems more of a spontaneous decision that we’re expected to believe is completely logical course of action.  A well-there’s-one-of-her-and-two-of-us-what-else-can-we-do? kind of mentality.  I loved that this one didn’t follow that pacing at all.  It starts off as a friendship that very gradually grows into more.

There is no secret that Shelly is overweight.  I appreciated that it was not something that was only mentioned once or twice.  Each chapter started off with an entry from Shelly’s weight loss journal.  And Christian and Lance are supportive of Shelly, no matter what weight she’s at.  It isn’t because she’s losing weight that they love her.  In fact Christian was well on the way to falling for her before she even started the diet.

This was a great friends to lovers menagé, the kind you don’t run across too often.  While they’re not all in bed together by the end of the first chapter, we still see that they’re working toward something lasting and special.  I wish I could find more of this kind of relationship to read.

Eternal Fires, Eternal Love by Lynn Stark

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

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Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: paranormal, m/m/m menagé, shifter
Series: White Horse Clan #1
Published: 4/5/14
Reviewed by Kate

After the death of their mate and children almost 50 years ago, Ian and Malcolm, (a vampire) haven’t been as close as they once were.  Ian (a warhorse shifter) has been lonely but content to stay alone, but now he’s feeling the need to gather mates and form a herd once more.  And Malcolm keeps reminding him how much he needs that bond.  When Malcolm and Ian catch the scent of their mate, they discover Danny, a younger (in shifter terms) gibbon shifter, and the hope that maybe they can have that deep connection that comes with a mated triad once again.

I find it hard to write a review comparing this book to others that I’ve read because there was so much uniqueness with this one.  I’ve never read a m/m/m menagé before, much less one set in a paranormal world.  So I’ll share my 5 favorite things about this book.

 

  1. Come on!  A vampire, a warhorse, and a gibbon walk into a renaissance fair…what sounds like the start of a joke is actually the start of a great book.

 

  1. You’re forced to abandon all former “rules” you’ve had when reading paranormal romances and immerse yourself completely in the world Lynn Stark has created.  Much like the way Stephanie Meyer threw the rules of vampires out the window when she wrote about sparkly vampires in the Twilight series, Lynn Stark has rewritten the rules of almost every paranormal romance I’ve read.

 

  1. Ian is considered an alpha, the leader of his non-existent (at least at this point) herd.  As such he can impregnate both females AND males!  And yes, we get to see exactly how that all plays out.

 

  1. All sorts of paranormal creatures.  Obviously vampires, warhorse shifters, gibbon shifters.  But also trolls, griffins, dragons, giraffes, rabbits, wolves, and more.

 

  1. Danny’s inner gibbon often comes out.  Being younger, when he is scared he often finds himself shifted to gibbon form and climbing up to cling to one of his mates.  This made me laugh too many times to count.

 

While I know that this one won’t work for everyone, I’m really in love with it and I can’t wait to read the second one!  If you like menagé, m/m, or paranormal romances I suggest you give it a try.  If you’re like me and enjoy all three of them, this is a trifecta of goodness just waiting for you to read.

The premise of this one is kind of out there, but it really worked well for me.  What’s a premise that sounded outlandish but you really ended up enjoying?