Review: By Surprise

By Surprise by Alyssa Turner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



4 starsmenage, m/m/f, romance, erotica

"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." - Franklin P. Jones

Summary:
A male gay couple is living in their dream-house when one of them looses his job. Solution comes in the for of a childhood friend that needs a big room to stay.
They all fall in love with each other. Their journey is unexpected and sweet.

cover 4 stars

I can see it's a contemporary menage. It's not really really hot, but that's not what this book is about.
I wished they had kept the leaves out, so the title would have been in the bottom not on top of the people.
I would buy in a store without much thinking.

characters 4 stars

Paxton: He is ok. Yeah, he should be the one for me to love usually, because I adore a cop and he seem to be the dominant in his relationship. But then, starts my few problems with Paxton. First he is too perfect, and I adore imperfections. Second, I did not love the fact that he wasn't complete honest with his partner, maybe because I did really liked Nicholas and felt that he deserved it better. (3 stars)

Nicholas: He is adorable. Gay that has never had any interest in a woman before. He is insecure, but he takes on the things that he fears instead of hiding from them. I was a bit bother by the fact that he wasn't looking for another job, but that's my personal craziness lol.(4 stars)

Jodi: My favorite of the trio. I really liked Jodi. She had everything to be a victim, but she wasn't. She took on her ghosts straight-on and she was never afraid of taking the next step. (5 stars)

plot 4 stars

The biggest surprise of the book, and at that moment Ms. Turner won me a little bit, was that this book was a love story. It was a menage, but it was never focus on the sex between three people. It was focus in how; Jodi that has always loved Paxton, that loves Nicholas and Jodi, that starts no also love Nicholas, win the game of her life, Nicholas' heart. Really, for a short book, it was kind of emotional roller coaster of the three characters. Specially for Nicholas.
Even though the book tries to bring Jodi to the spotlight, I throughly felt that this journey belong to Nicholas most of all. It was not cheesy how a gay man start to love a not-perfect-at-all woman.

The story was easy to read, and it come as a nice surprise for me. I did end the book wanting more, and that for me was the fault of the book. It should have been a full novel and not a novella.
I wished the author had more time to give us a full account of this love journey.

sex heat 3 stars

Sex was never the focus of this book, it had a few scenes, not that hot, but endearing.
The one big scene with all three characters was equallly divided between the three, which is always good IMO.

originality 5 stars

For me it was really new. This was the first book I've read with menage that didn't explore the sex so much and that if focus more on the internal/emotional journey of the characters. It was different and unexpected for me, the reason why I gave 5 stars.

editing 5 stars

I don't remember any problems at all.

Impressions and Opinion

I was suppose to have read and reviewed this book last year. Due to personal problems I wasn't able to read until this week.

For those that loves erotica, specially the hardcore type this maybe a bit to tame.
If, you like erotica, but also venture into romantic stories like I do, you will enjoy this read, that will take you into an emotional journey.

I will keep on reading Ms. Turner's book because, what I've read so far, has really captivated me.




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