Perfect Fit, #3
Heat Factor: Sex is frequent, varied, and inventive
Character Chemistry: High sexual chemistry, plus some cute moments
Plot: Stephanie joins established couple Jesse and Grant for a weekend of sexy rumpus – but do they want something more permanent?
Overall: *fans self*
Back in January, we wrote up a post about menage romances, and author KB Alan was like, “I have one where one of the three is dominant” and I was like, “I’ll try it, I’ve never actually read one like that!” So she sent me a copy, and here we are.
The first thing to know about this book is that it is extremely explicit. There is a lot of sex here, and we get a lot of details. Furthermore, this is a BDSM menage, so don’t be surprised when the whips make an appearance. Note that not every sexual encounter is a BDSM scene – Stephanie, Grant, and Jesse also have times where they just have sex, and the boundaries between bondage play and other interactions are fairly clearly demarcated. (More on this below.)
Ok. So we’ve got a solid checkmark for sex. How’s the relationship?
The backstory behind the sexy weekend rumpus is that Jesse and Grant have decided to open their relationship. Grant is bi, and Jesse doesn’t want him to feel like he’s losing something in committing exclusively to another man. They’ve picked Stephanie (a friend of Jesse’s from the BDSM club they all frequent) as the woman that they will pursue – and had already decided at the beginning of the book that she wasn’t just going to be a booty call, but rather that they wanted to integrate her into the relationship. Frankly, I wasn’t sure why they picked her; this was a definite weak spot for me. But! Once they all started interacting and bouncing off each other, I bought their chemistry.
Of the three, I felt that Stephanie was the most fleshed out as a character. I could really understand her fears and motivations going into the story. She’s feeling a little maudlin because all her friends are partnering up. She thinks Grant and Jesse are totally hot and really enjoyed watching them together at the club. She worries about her place in the relationship, since they’re already established – even once it becomes clear that the sex is really great for everyone, it takes her a while to accept that they are courting her, that they want her in their lives all the way.
Grant is the Dom in the relationship, and he is the most opaque. He’s kind of a forgettable standard CEO type, whose central conflict is getting his family to accept his male partner (and worrying what they’ll say when they learn about Stephanie). He may be the boss in the bedroom, but I felt that Jesse was the glue that held everyone together, which was an interesting dynamic to read. Jesse and Stephanie are playful together in a way that shows their emotional connection beyond the bedroom, but that Grant sometimes seemed aloof from.
I do want to address the BDSM side to things in more detail. For most of the time, the characters clearly demarcate their Dom/sub space by confirming that they will do a scene. However, when Grant and Jesse first invite Stephanie to join them for a weekend of fun, Grant calls Stephanie – randomly, during the day – and goes into Dom mode. He tells her how it’s going to be, what kinds of clothes to bring, that sort of thing. Stephanie is physically aroused, but she also makes clear that she’s a sub in the sheets, not in the streets; outside of scenes, she takes care of herself, thank you very much. In response, the men are like, maybe that’s because you have trouble making yourself vulnerable and you should let go of that – and the way it was presented made me sort of uncomfortable. However, this issue never comes up again. Grant never bosses Stephanie around outside of their demarcated space. Stephanie never thinks about wanting to be a full-time sub now that she’s found her men. So while that one scene did give me pause, that plot element was quickly dropped. Whew!
Overall, I would say that this really steamy read was pretty good. The sex is varied enough that it never got boring, and Alan seems to really know her shit when it comes to the bondage side of things.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.
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