Why stop with all the drama and baggage of two characters at a tipping point in their relationship with each other when you can have double the fun? Include some healthy doses of physical, mental, or emotional trauma in every character, then sit back and wait for the fireworks.
Pardon my snarkiness (which that cover deserves, though I know it’s through no fault of the author). I adored this book and its four heroes and burned through it in one evening. It’s not a perfect novel and included some of the elements that I dislike about romance stories. However, it does feature the perfect amount of angst, healing, and sexiness for any love story, much less one between four characters. Like the cover says, this isn’t two couples getting together. It’s two couples with history who merge into one relationship in the beginnings of a truly epic love story.
One of my usual complaints is when a romance has no strong supporting characters, only caricatures who exist to support the protagonists. In this case, few additional humans are involved in this story except as villains, but the rescue animals that populate Zak and Killian’s home more than make up for it. The various dogs, cats, birds, and mini-horses have distinct personalities, and interactions with them are relevant to the plot.
Noah’s age and the physical representation of his previous trauma made me leery about his character being included in this relationship, but I felt that Kennedy handled his inclusion and healing with sensitivity and deftness. (I think it’s important to note that being involved in the relationship is NOT what heals Noah; instead, their support gives him the strength and peace to finally do so.)
The story progression reveals each character’s past, and each man goes through a complete character arc to reach their happily ever after. I’ve become a definite fan of this author after reading multiple of her books, and I recommend this novel to readers looking for stand-alone menage stories.
Rating: 4.5 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.