Genre: Erotic RomanceFirst Published 1 October 2011
Published 5 May 2015 by Tri Destiny Publishing
Number of pages: 144
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ I really liked it
Synopsis | Review | About the author | Excerpt | Giveaway
"Ryan and Grace Sullivan have all the outward indications of a happy life: money, success, an undeniable physical attraction that quickly evolved from whirlwind relationship to marriage. But lately, Ryan's become moody and distant. As their relationship starts to crumble, Ryan discovers something about himself he can't admit just as Grace realizes the young man she encounters at an invitation only party, Henri Christophe, a celebrity chef with the most successful restaurant in Las Vegas, is her husband's lover. But Henri holds a secret himself. He wants to be more to both of them.
Trying to make their unconventional arrangement work, Ryan's deep-seated fear of relationship failure continues to thwart everyone's happiness. When he finally walks away instead of confronting the emotional connection the trio share, he returns to find their lives flipped inside out. A sought after hotel and resort consultant, Ryan has yet to meet a problem he couldn't solve. But when it comes to his own heart, Ryan may be too late."
The "Vegas Miracle" by Liz Crowe represented a couple of firsts for me, as not only this was my first taste of her work, but also my very first ménage read - male/female/male -, which I approached with hesitation as generally I am not an avid reader of erotica and romance, and do not find same sex encounters appealing. However, I will not judge a book until I have read it... so here we are...
Given the nature of this novel, be warned that there are very graphic sexual scenes: m/m, f/m, m/f/m, and f/m/f.
If you are prudish about any of the above, this book is not for you.
However, if you are comfortable with these topics, you are in for a real treat.
Liz Crowe weaves her tale using a third person narrative, to show us relevant events from the perspective of each of her three main characters.
The story unfolds through a fairly wide (at least seven years) and mostly linear timeline interwoven with some extended flashbacks. I found this technique very engaging and effective, and could easily see this work being turned into a movie which positively explores the emotional complexities and turmoil of romantic relationships.
The characters are well explored, candidly and sympathetically, as they deal with new, uncomfortable and unconventional situations. In particular, Crowe provides us with profound insights into the cause of Ryan's behaviour and insecurities.
The sex is of course very hot, frequent, daring and extremely well written - there should be something in there to satisfy anyone's fantasy.
Astonishingly for me, despite my personal preferences (i.e. no interest in threesomes of any kind) and beliefs (i.e. people are inherently jealous, possessive and insecure - these are insidious traits which are bound to undermine a three way relationship), Liz Crowe not only made me believe that a ménage a trois could work, but she made it sound extremely desirable, and even preferable to a conventional relationship from an emotional point of view.
As a personal point of curiosity, Liz Crowe, beside being smart and funny, also has a passion for beer and brewing (in fact she also reviews and writes non-fiction about it - check out her A2 Beer Wench and Brewing Passion blogs), and this clearly comes through in her writing. As a fan of anything peaty, I was sold at this point:
[ARC received from the author/publisher]
Given the nature of this novel, be warned that there are very graphic sexual scenes: m/m, f/m, m/f/m, and f/m/f.
If you are prudish about any of the above, this book is not for you.
However, if you are comfortable with these topics, you are in for a real treat.
Liz Crowe weaves her tale using a third person narrative, to show us relevant events from the perspective of each of her three main characters.
The story unfolds through a fairly wide (at least seven years) and mostly linear timeline interwoven with some extended flashbacks. I found this technique very engaging and effective, and could easily see this work being turned into a movie which positively explores the emotional complexities and turmoil of romantic relationships.
The characters are well explored, candidly and sympathetically, as they deal with new, uncomfortable and unconventional situations. In particular, Crowe provides us with profound insights into the cause of Ryan's behaviour and insecurities.
The sex is of course very hot, frequent, daring and extremely well written - there should be something in there to satisfy anyone's fantasy.
Astonishingly for me, despite my personal preferences (i.e. no interest in threesomes of any kind) and beliefs (i.e. people are inherently jealous, possessive and insecure - these are insidious traits which are bound to undermine a three way relationship), Liz Crowe not only made me believe that a ménage a trois could work, but she made it sound extremely desirable, and even preferable to a conventional relationship from an emotional point of view.
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| Unfortunately Meteor no longer produce this beer |
As a personal point of curiosity, Liz Crowe, beside being smart and funny, also has a passion for beer and brewing (in fact she also reviews and writes non-fiction about it - check out her A2 Beer Wench and Brewing Passion blogs), and this clearly comes through in her writing. As a fan of anything peaty, I was sold at this point:
"I'll take a glass of Mortimer if you have it."As a brewing aficionado, I cannot help but love her!
It was his favourite French beer, a frothy lager with a unique flavor of peat smoked whiskey malt.
[ARC received from the author/publisher]
About the Author
Amazon best-selling author, mom of three, Realtor, beer blogger, brewery marketing expert, and soccer fan, Liz Crowe is a Kentucky native and graduate of the University of Louisville currently living in Ann Arbor. She has decades of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as a three-continent, ex-pat trailing spouse. Her early forays into the publishing world led to a ground-breaking fiction hybrid, “Romance. Worth the Risk,” which has gained thousands of fans and followers interested less in the “HEA” ("Happily Ever After") and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”).
With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, in successful real estate offices and at times in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are unique and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, frustrate and linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.
Don’t ever ask her for anything “like a Budweiser” or risk bodily injury.
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