Two Plus One, Book #1
Heat Factor: Definitely steamy, but not over the top
Character Chemistry: I was most invested in the relationship between Justin and Antonio, but Emily building relationships with the two men was probably actually better constructed
Plot: Silicon Valley + Let’s figure out this menage thing
Overall: Come for the menage, stay for the romance
Title Their Nerd plus male-male-female menage equals something nearly irresistible, right? Also, it’s Silicon Valley corporate romance.
Okay. So. Justin and Antonio built a company in Silicon Valley, and it’s been chugging along for about five years. But Justin wants to take his company one direction and the board of directors is just so not on board. What’s an ambitious CEO to do? Start a little side project, of course, so that next time the board can be wowed with a fait accompli.
Unfortunately, when an office is staffed for one project, but the same office is trying to do two projects, things start to slide. Investors worry about missed deadlines. They send in fixers.
Enter Emily, who’s on retainer for the mean investor. At first I thought she was shipped in from out of town, and that was why she was trying to hook up with someone at a bar, but no. Apparently she was just trying to find a hookup at a bar she didn’t really want to be at. It’s there that she meets Justin and the two of them have a super duper fun night…imagining what a threesome with Antonio would be like. Of course, Emily doesn’t know Antonio, and Justin refuses to admit that he has feelings for Antonio at all, because Justin “doesn’t play for that team.” But yeah, it’s hot. So when Emily goes to work the next day and meets Antonio, then realizes the Justin she hooked up with is the CEO of the company she’s been sent to work for, she puts two and two together and gets to thinking.
Let’s get serious, now, though. These people are professionals. They wear business attire. I have been assured that that is not the standard Silicon Valley dress code. Justin and Antonio (who is a super hot, tall, dark Italian man, BTW) are best friends and business partners. Emily, as a contractor, is having a little bit of a conflict of interest. It’s not like they’re at some bar or party and they’re like, “You know what would be a great idea? Sex with all three of us together!” So how do they get from attraction to menage?
I’ll tell you how. Emily’s an instigator. She doesn’t mean to be! She tries to be professional. But she sees things as the outsider that Justin and Antonio are unable to see or are unwilling to open themselves up to. Did I mention Antonio is bisexual? He has been in love with Justin for years.
Books about threesomes are always a little interesting because striking the balance in a relationship in which there are three protagonists, all of whom are in love with or falling in love with each other, is a challenging thing to do. In this case, Emily and Justin have a case of serious bedroom chemistry. They would probably rip each other’s clothes off and think that was super hot and not a waste of money. Justin and Antonio have this long, emotional history. They are so in love! Please figure it out faster! Antonio and Emily is the weak link then? Actually no. They build a really great friendship.
If I were making any arguments, I’d say that the weakest relationship from a sexual chemistry standpoint is probably Emily and Antonio. Emotionally, it would be Emily and Justin. But it’s not by much. Lindt takes a very balanced approach to crafting a story and a relationship that is believable and balanced. Something that, when we get to that HEA, made me love where we left our three protagonists. I believed they would make it work.
Buy Now: Amazon
Looking for something similar?
The Smut Report 