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Yet again Sam Mariano blows me away with another addictive, psychologically intriguing, and unexpected genre twister. She takes the MFM romance genre and brings fresh and new eyes to it.
I LOVED this story- and I was really worried I wouldn’t despite being a hardcore Sam fan. I’m all about all sort of romantic arrangements, but the aspect about this that made me nervous was that we had an already long established couple deciding to enter into a relationship with their best friend. WOW- that dynamic is interesting, but so hard to nail- both because there are so many emotions and complications with that in general but also it is hard, then, for everyone to feel on equal footing in the relationship- would one always feel like the “side piece” or the “extra” - how do you transition a pair to a triple.
Well, Sam explores that- and the answer is that you both have to honor and build on and maintain the person-to-person relationships that exist while also completely redefining the “couple”- building a relationship from scratch when there is no “blank slate.”
And, per usual, Sam explores unique and interesting inner workings of her characters. Sebastian is the more traditional Sam lead- cunning, alpha, controlling, the mastermind. He loves few, and those that he does he will move around on his chess board because he DOES love them, and that means getting them what they need. Griff is different- the more “traditional” hero to Seb’s antihero. He’s respectful, kind, generous, patient, even though he’s trapped in a life he hates and has been lusting after his best friend’s wife. Moira almost is somehow less memorable because these men are so dynamic and delicious- but like all Sam heroines, she’s gentle, softer, more submissive, and co-dependent- her own dysfunction needs Sebastian’s, and we come to see there are aspects of her that need Griff, too. Seb needs his bestie Griff and wants to protect his relationship with Moira, Griff needs Moira’s love, and Moira needs to make Sebastian happy.
I love how openly they talk about and try to figure this out- and how it’s not clean and easy- in fact, even at the end, I wouldn’t say anyone is on “equal” footing- and that makes sense because a) Sebastian is in charge here, clearly and b) this is a new and changing dynamic. And, like all Sam books, it is HOT AF and has surprising twists and shocks. But, at the core, we have the complex emotional and psychological character development that just makes me ravenous for Sam Mariano books- I wish we had a whole other book!
Merged review:
Yet again Sam Mariano blows me away with another addictive, psychologically intriguing, and unexpected genre twister. She takes the MFM romance genre and brings fresh and new eyes to it.
I LOVED this story- and I was really worried I wouldn’t despite being a hardcore same fan. I’m all about all sort of romantic arrangements, but the aspects about this that made me nervous was that we had an already long established couple deciding to enter into a relationship with their best friend. WOW- that dynamic is interesting, but so hard to nail- both because there are so many emotions and complications with that in general but also it is hard, then, for everyone to feel on equal footing in the relationship- would one always feel like the “side piece” or the “extra” - how do you transition a pair to a triple.
Well, Sam explores that- and the answer is that you both have to honor and build on and maintain the person-to-person relationships while also completely redefining the “couple”- building a relationship from scratch when there is no “blank slate.”
And, per usual, Sam explores unique and interesting inner workings of her characters. Sebastian is the more traditional Sam lead- cunning, alpha, controlling, the mastermind. He loves few, and those that he does he will move around on his chest board because he DOES love them, and that means getting them what they need. Griff is different- the more “traditional” hero to Seb’s antihero. He’s respectful, kind, generous, patient, even though he’s trapped in a life he hates and has been lusting after his best friend’s wife. Moira almost is somehow less memorable because these men are so dynamic and delicious- but like all Sam heroines, she’s gentled, softer, more submissive, and co-dependent- her own dysfunction needs Sebastian’s, and we come to see there are aspects of her that need Griff, oo. Seb needs his bestie Griff and wants to protect his relationship with Moira, Griff needs Moira’s love, and Moira needs to make Sebastian happy.
I love how openly they talk about and try to figure this out- and how it’s not clean and easy- in fact, even at the end, I wouldn’t say anyone is on “equal” footing- and that makes sense because a) Sebastian is in charge here, clearly and b) this is a new and changing dynamic. And, like all Sam books, it is HOT AF and has surprising twists and shocks. But, at the core, we have the complex emotional and psychological character development that just makes me ravenous for Sam Mariono books- I wish we had a whole other book!
I LOVED this story- and I was really worried I wouldn’t despite being a hardcore Sam fan. I’m all about all sort of romantic arrangements, but the aspect about this that made me nervous was that we had an already long established couple deciding to enter into a relationship with their best friend. WOW- that dynamic is interesting, but so hard to nail- both because there are so many emotions and complications with that in general but also it is hard, then, for everyone to feel on equal footing in the relationship- would one always feel like the “side piece” or the “extra” - how do you transition a pair to a triple.
Well, Sam explores that- and the answer is that you both have to honor and build on and maintain the person-to-person relationships that exist while also completely redefining the “couple”- building a relationship from scratch when there is no “blank slate.”
And, per usual, Sam explores unique and interesting inner workings of her characters. Sebastian is the more traditional Sam lead- cunning, alpha, controlling, the mastermind. He loves few, and those that he does he will move around on his chess board because he DOES love them, and that means getting them what they need. Griff is different- the more “traditional” hero to Seb’s antihero. He’s respectful, kind, generous, patient, even though he’s trapped in a life he hates and has been lusting after his best friend’s wife. Moira almost is somehow less memorable because these men are so dynamic and delicious- but like all Sam heroines, she’s gentle, softer, more submissive, and co-dependent- her own dysfunction needs Sebastian’s, and we come to see there are aspects of her that need Griff, too. Seb needs his bestie Griff and wants to protect his relationship with Moira, Griff needs Moira’s love, and Moira needs to make Sebastian happy.
I love how openly they talk about and try to figure this out- and how it’s not clean and easy- in fact, even at the end, I wouldn’t say anyone is on “equal” footing- and that makes sense because a) Sebastian is in charge here, clearly and b) this is a new and changing dynamic. And, like all Sam books, it is HOT AF and has surprising twists and shocks. But, at the core, we have the complex emotional and psychological character development that just makes me ravenous for Sam Mariano books- I wish we had a whole other book!
Merged review:
Yet again Sam Mariano blows me away with another addictive, psychologically intriguing, and unexpected genre twister. She takes the MFM romance genre and brings fresh and new eyes to it.
I LOVED this story- and I was really worried I wouldn’t despite being a hardcore same fan. I’m all about all sort of romantic arrangements, but the aspects about this that made me nervous was that we had an already long established couple deciding to enter into a relationship with their best friend. WOW- that dynamic is interesting, but so hard to nail- both because there are so many emotions and complications with that in general but also it is hard, then, for everyone to feel on equal footing in the relationship- would one always feel like the “side piece” or the “extra” - how do you transition a pair to a triple.
Well, Sam explores that- and the answer is that you both have to honor and build on and maintain the person-to-person relationships while also completely redefining the “couple”- building a relationship from scratch when there is no “blank slate.”
And, per usual, Sam explores unique and interesting inner workings of her characters. Sebastian is the more traditional Sam lead- cunning, alpha, controlling, the mastermind. He loves few, and those that he does he will move around on his chest board because he DOES love them, and that means getting them what they need. Griff is different- the more “traditional” hero to Seb’s antihero. He’s respectful, kind, generous, patient, even though he’s trapped in a life he hates and has been lusting after his best friend’s wife. Moira almost is somehow less memorable because these men are so dynamic and delicious- but like all Sam heroines, she’s gentled, softer, more submissive, and co-dependent- her own dysfunction needs Sebastian’s, and we come to see there are aspects of her that need Griff, oo. Seb needs his bestie Griff and wants to protect his relationship with Moira, Griff needs Moira’s love, and Moira needs to make Sebastian happy.
I love how openly they talk about and try to figure this out- and how it’s not clean and easy- in fact, even at the end, I wouldn’t say anyone is on “equal” footing- and that makes sense because a) Sebastian is in charge here, clearly and b) this is a new and changing dynamic. And, like all Sam books, it is HOT AF and has surprising twists and shocks. But, at the core, we have the complex emotional and psychological character development that just makes me ravenous for Sam Mariono books- I wish we had a whole other book!