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book_tendo 's review for:
Party of Three
by C. Travis Rice
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Thank you to Blue Box Press and NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
I will confess: there was something about the cover of this book that appealed to me after a few beers! Do not drink and Netgalley, folks.
This was the first erotica I've tried so I'm coming into this with the perspective of someone who is sex-positive, very gay, but otherwise a newbie for this genre. Party of Three is about EMT Buckley Mitchell is helping his boyfriend Mateo Cano embrace his sexuality, but things get complicated when Mateo's former Marine mentor and past lover, Jeff Braxton, unexpectedly re-enters his life. When all three men meet at a luxury resort, hidden desires surface, leading to a passionate weekend that could either be a one-time escape or the start of something deeper.
The story is a multi-POV novella told from the perspectives of the three men. To get to it, if you are looking for a book that contains a lot of steamy romps around an emerging throuple - you will have a good time. Outside of that, this fell a little flat for me. The characters feel largely interchangeable and had the same voice (such as the late-40s army major calling someone 'dude') despite their backgrounds and little motivations we are given painting them as very different people. We get into the hot stuff too quickly for me, and as a result the intimacy doesn't feel earned or deserved in the characters. To its credit, the book paints a modern style relationship in a positive light, and while it's idealistic it at least attempts to explore to nuances and difficulties a throuple can face. I also appreciated the author's attempts to add some complexity to the characters, especially Mateo's PTSD connected to his past. That being said, it felt a little red flag that ultimately the trauma just resulted in another plotline to get the three back into bed.
Overall, what it sets out to do by telling a hot and steamy story about three burly dudes it executes well. It just doesn't elevate anything beyond that.
I will confess: there was something about the cover of this book that appealed to me after a few beers! Do not drink and Netgalley, folks.
This was the first erotica I've tried so I'm coming into this with the perspective of someone who is sex-positive, very gay, but otherwise a newbie for this genre. Party of Three is about EMT Buckley Mitchell is helping his boyfriend Mateo Cano embrace his sexuality, but things get complicated when Mateo's former Marine mentor and past lover, Jeff Braxton, unexpectedly re-enters his life. When all three men meet at a luxury resort, hidden desires surface, leading to a passionate weekend that could either be a one-time escape or the start of something deeper.
The story is a multi-POV novella told from the perspectives of the three men. To get to it, if you are looking for a book that contains a lot of steamy romps around an emerging throuple - you will have a good time. Outside of that, this fell a little flat for me. The characters feel largely interchangeable and had the same voice (such as the late-40s army major calling someone 'dude') despite their backgrounds and little motivations we are given painting them as very different people. We get into the hot stuff too quickly for me, and as a result the intimacy doesn't feel earned or deserved in the characters. To its credit, the book paints a modern style relationship in a positive light, and while it's idealistic it at least attempts to explore to nuances and difficulties a throuple can face. I also appreciated the author's attempts to add some complexity to the characters, especially Mateo's PTSD connected to his past. That being said, it felt a little red flag that ultimately the trauma just resulted in another plotline to get the three back into bed.
Overall, what it sets out to do by telling a hot and steamy story about three burly dudes it executes well. It just doesn't elevate anything beyond that.