The Gift

The Gift by Samantha Kane

Jeremy and his best friend, Rhys, were taken as prisoners of war at the Bey of Algiers, and were tortured while awaiting payment of their ransom. In prison, the two become even closer, but they connect over their mutual love of Jeremy's wife, Cordelia. Cordelia is in love with her husband, but she has always been in love with Jeremy as well, and when the two return she is overjoyed. The situation between the three of them begins awkwardly as Cordelia wants both men, and both men are interested in her. Jeremy and Rhys have agreed that they will both be Cordelia's lovers and both men love each other as much as they love Cordelia. Cordelia is embarrassed about her desires, and Rhys is terrified that Cordelia will reject him, but Jeremy knows his wife enjoys carnal activities enough that she will welcome Rhys into her bed. On their first night back Cordelia is worried that she will hurt her husband by making her desire for Rhys known, but luckily for her, Jeremy is definitely a take charge kind of guy, and he has no problem making his own desires known. Just as he had predicted, Cordelia wants to share her love with both of the important men in her life, and the three of them agree to engage in polyamorous relationship.

This was a very short novella that was quite obviously leading up to only one thing, but the way in which the story got to the inevitable threesome was very well done. There truly was a relationship between the three characters; between Cordelia and Jeremy, Cordelia and Rhys, and even Jeremy and Rhys. That made the eventual happily ever after more realistic and understandable and made it seem like they really could have their happily ever after. Rhys had demons that scared him, and Jeremy had his fair share as well, and Cordelia had enough guilt over her feelings for Rhys, that the three of them were all able to heal each other. The threesome was incredibly hot, and there was one scene with just Jeremy and Cordelia that was just as sexy. Jeremy was pretty dominant throughout both scenes, which I understood as he was watching his wife have sex with another man. I really liked finding this historical erotica, that went beyond just sex and managed to squeeze character development and true relationships into the story.

How to Chose a Cowboy

How to Choose a Cowboy by Daire St. Denis

Tessa Savage goes to a ranch to relax and enjoy some nice time, but she does not expect to find two incredibly hunky cowboys who rev her libido. Wade is big, brooding, incredibly handsome and can bring her to a melting puddle with just his words even while teasing her and stringing out the pleasure. Conner is fun loving and adventurous and a relationship with him would be far easier with Conner, but Tessa has no idea who to choose! Wade is domineering and controlling, and perhaps just what Tessa needs, but Conner's flirtatiousness is impossible to turn away from. For a week the three of them sizzle up the pages and on her last night, Tessa knows she finally wants to get what she has been desiring for so long. This is an "interactive" novel and the reader is allowed to choose which cowboy she wants Tessa to end up with, but of course nothing is quite like it seems in this novella where everyone gets exactly what they want. Although the ending may not quite be everyone's happily ever after, it is precisely what Tessa and her two hunky cowboys need.

This novella wasn't too short but there was no pretense that it was about anything but Tessa getting some delicious loving from two hunky cowboys. Tessa lives her life on the go and doesn't settle down and Conner and Wade's proclivities have chased off women in the past, but these background pieces of information are skirted over and aren't really explored as problems they need to work through. Wade is a complete dominant and their are strong themes of dominance and submission throughout their scenes and some bondage, however there is very little of the S&M part of BDSM. The sex scenes are incredibly well written and very hot, really scorching the pages but not for the faint of heart and far from historical romance territory. I also did not like how there was not a happily ever after really and I learned that Tessa features in several other novels and has an apparently insatiable libido. Interesting story, that I would have liked more if it had ended in a relationship.

Three Little Words

Three Little Words by Lauren Hawkeye

Malachi Hunter and Adele Cavanaugh are complete opposites as he is pre-law and she is a wild child, complete with tattoos and dyed bright red hair, but the two nonetheless strike up a friendship and soon a heated sexual relationship. But Malachi is still stuck with the mindset that he needs a perky blonde to help his career, while Adele's insecurities and belief that she could never be good enough for someone like Malachi. When his fraternity brothers make an offhanded joke, their relationship is shattered and Malachi goes off to law school, while Adele drops out of school to work in a cafe. Two years later Mal moves back into town and becomes roommates with Dorian, a member of the band Three Little Words. When Dorian sees Adele in the cafe the attraction is intense and immediate, but she is shocked to go back to his place and see Mal and even more stunned when it only takes one instant for both of them to realize that things are not over between them. Dorian is surprised that he doesn't feel jealous about Mal and Adele's connection, and makes it clear to Mal that he has no problem if they continue seeing each other, while Mal feels the same. Soon Adele is caught up in a very happy triangle with both of her hunky men and she finally feels safe enough to reveal a tragic incident in her past. Both Dorian and Mal know how lucky they are to have found such a wonderful lady and agreed that she was definitely worth twisting societal norms for.

There was a really good amount of character development for such a short novella, however the characters themselves were caricatures. Mal was the fraternity with the posh background who needed a stereotypical lawyers wife, Adele was the "bad" girl with the semi-abusive past who took her frustration out on the world by getting tattoos and dropping out of college, while Dorian was the aimless musician who apparently made a living playing shows in a college town. I would have liked more intricate characters who didn't conform to boring stereotypes. However, I was completely drawn into their relationship and how it developed, which was odd because I admit I am not usually a fan of three-person relationships. While I cannot declare it was a lasting relationship, the book certainly made it clear that a relationship was certainly possible, and even a happy possibility, for them. For a threesome erotica, this novel was surprisingly tame, and definitely could have been a lot hotter, but I actually enjoyed it better this way because it made it clear that the focus was really on the relationship between the three of them. Overall this was a really fun read that changed my perspective of what a true threesome novel could be, but next time I hope to like the characters more.

Complete Abandon

Complete Abandon by Julia Kent

Six months ago Laura gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and since then her life has centered around the baby, to the exclusion of all else, including her very handsome partners, Mike and Dylan. Mike and Dylan are frustrated at Laura's sudden lack of interest in anything sexual, despite their best attempts to get her hot and bothered. Laura's friend, Josie, recommends they check out her e-reader and they are stunned when they find that she's been reading tons of erotica, including some very kinky things. They decide to take Laura up to a ski "cabin" while Josie and her boyfriend Alex spend time with the baby. Alex hopes that this will convince Josie that she's ready for more in their relationship. Once at the cabin, Laura is hurt when she realizes that they've read her e-reader and continues to worry about her baby. Luckily, Mike and Dylan have come prepared with plenty of the gizmos and gadgets from her stories. Slowly, they break down Laura's reluctance and put her insecurities about her post-baby body to rest and break out quite a few of those toys they brought. Soon, Laura is back to her usual outgoing and adventurous self and Dylan and Mike are more than happy to reap the rewards of their work.

This was a sequel to a previous novel that I hadn't read, so I found myself with a complete lack of investment in any of the characters. That means I really didn't care about any of the characters at all and wasn't interested in their problems or what they were going through. The entire book was about sex from beginning to end, and I guess the relationship part of the story was covered in the previous book which meant that all this book was left with was horny people who wanted to have sex. This would have been somewhat acceptable if the sex had been any good, but it surprisingly wasn't. Besides one erotic scene between Alex and Josie, the rest was just blah, despite the use of sex toys and two hunky men. And call me a prude, but I felt it weird that in a threesome there was not any discussion at all of what the two men were thinking and how the whole situation really worked, but perhaps that was covered in the previous book. Overall this was a pretty awful story that may have been made better by reading the prequel, however I certainly don't feel inspired to do so after reading this.