TITLE: DIAL M FOR MENAGE
AUTHOR: EMILY RYAN-DAVIS
Pages: 129
Date: 05/03/2014
Grade: 4+
Details: No. 2 Ménage on 34th Street
Received from Carina Press
Through Love Romances and More
Own / Kindle
The blurb:
Katrina Holland began the New Year by waking up
with two men in her bed. Introducing marine Hunter Croft into her marriage was
passionate and explosive—for Katrina and
her husband Liam. But now that the honeymoon period is over and they've
returned to the real world, can this arrangement ever work?
Liam Holland thought he had it all—a beautiful
wife, great home, and a solid career. Only one thing—one man—eluded him. When
he saw an opportunity to grab Hunter, Liam reached out with both hands,
determined not to let go. But as the first rush of passion fades, Liam must
identify exactly how far he's willing to go to keep Hunter a part of their
lives.
Hunter needs something only Liam and Kat can give
him. But while he's willing to change some aspects of his life to be with the
couple, he's a marine before all else. When a reassignment means relocation,
he'll need to move on—with or without his two lovers.
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My
thoughts:
Two months have passed since the
events in ‘Ménage on 34th Street’ that brought Katrina, Liam
and Hunter together. Two months that brought them a level of happiness none of
them thought achievable, but didn’t solve all the practical issues resulting
from their unconventional relationship.
Hunter knows he is with the two
people he wants to spend the rest of his life with but is also sure that this
relationship will never be acceptable in the eyes of his superiors in the
military. And his career is as important to him as Liam and Kat are.
Liam is still struggling with
control issues. He can’t stop himself from keeping information that might
distress or upset Kat and Hunter from them even while he knows that his secrets
will cause trouble.
Kat can’t believe her luck now that
she is with the two men who mean everything to her. She is all too aware of
both Liam’s and Hunter’s issues though, and being the one in the middle, trying
to hold it all together is emotionally draining.
Now that Hunter is about to receive
his new posting it is time for this triad to put action to their words. Is
Hunter really comfortable with having his two lovers close to his work
environment and are Liam and Kat really prepared to leave their familiar
surroundings behind in order to be with the man they have chosen as the one who
completes them?
I read ‘Ménage on 34th Street’
in December and wrote the following words in my review:
“...by the time the story ends you know that these three people
will be in a relationship that requires work and compromise on all sides, that
things won’t always be easy or smooth for them...”
I also stated that I was delighted to see that a sequel was
forthcoming and that I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next to
these characters.
I was right on both fronts. This story deals with all the issues
connected to making a triad work. Traditional relationships can be tricky at
times. Throwing a third person into the equation, with their own ego, history,
and hang-ups, creates a whole host of extra potential pitfalls. All three
characters involved have their own doubts and insecurities. And because all of
them deal differently it causes tension. Liam’s reluctance to share what
bothers him until he thinks he’s found the perfect solution drives both Hunter
and Katrina crazy. Hunter’s need to keep his emotional life completely
disconnected from his professional one, creates frustration for all three of
them. Katrina is, at times, stuck in the middle; trying to read both her men
and defuse situations before they become too big.
The road Kat, Liam and Hunter need
to travel to come to a place where their future seems secure is hard and at
times filled with fear and confusion. It is the way in which they confront
their problems and refuse to stop talking to each other that sees them through
and made this book such a very satisfying read.
“This is where my military training
is going to serve us (...). If I didn’t learn anything else, I learned how to
move beyond being part of a whole, to seeing the whole as an entity bigger than
its pieces. The three of us, we’re bigger together than as individuals. We’re
bound together and we’re not coming apart now.” – Hunter.
As they go along Liam, Kat and
Hunter learn to trust each other as well as themselves. They discover that
while they may each have their own hang-ups and insecurities, they are in complete
agreement when it comes to their need to be and stay together and that it is
those differences between them that make them so much stronger together.
“They were three separate people
even when they were together, and being individuals meant they had different
relationships with one another. Those one-on-one relationships made them a
stronger whole.”
And it was that focus on the intricacies
of the developing relationship that made this book so much more than ‘just’ another
hot and fascinating read. Having said that, the story was most definitely hot
and fascinating, especially Hunter’s slow but oh so sensual acceptance of his
need for Liam.
“When Hunter drove into her and
froze, shuddering first, then going pliant in her embrace while Liam raced to
join them, it was not ordinary. It was perfect.”
This story ends in a most satisfying
way. It was both the happy ending I was hoping for and completely credible. Of
course that does leave me with one issue; it is quite possible that this is the
last time I get to read about Liam, Kat and Hunter and that idea makes me a little
bit sad.
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