Menage by Emma Holly

Menage by Emma Holly (Excerpt)



I already have a couple of Ms. Holly's Black Lace titles and liked them alot. I've previously read VELVET GLOVE and IN THE FLESH. In fact, VELVET GLOVE was the first of her books I read and enjoyed and was a gift from GG, but I digress.


I purchased Menage on my own cheesecake/sugar high with a certain "super" reader egging me on. (A side note: Did you know that librarians compulsively straighten and turn books out and reshelve books in a book store? They do!) Okay, I admit it, she didn't egg me on, she merely pointed to it and commented it had recently been newly released. I snatched it off the shelf all by myself.

Now I'm not someone who automatically picks up and buys every book with a menage in it. Nor do I buy every book with an erotic romance label. Which is hard to believe since I read this one hard on the heels of FORBIDDEN PLEASURE by Lora Leigh and my recent raves about Megan Hart's books. In any case, I bought it because Emma Holly is a proven good read for me and I like to think I'm pretty discerning about my erotic romance.

I decided to do a review and make a commentary about this particular book because I think Ms. Holly did such a great job of realistically presenting the prurient interest and fantasy part of a menage along with the difficult and emotionally messy part of being involved in a relationship where there are three people. Haven't you ever been reading a book and thought where's the doubt, the worry, the emotional insecurity? People, as a rule, just aren't that well adjusted. We all bring our sack of rocks to whatever we do...especially relationships. Ms. Holly addresses those questions and the characters' motives in MENAGE.

Kate is a woman firmly established in a career and business that she loves and is sharing her flat with two younger men. Both of the young men are just finishing advanced degrees and starting their careers. As the story and the relationship begin Kate arrives home one day to find her two attractive flatmates engaged in sexual shenanigans in her bedroom. It seems that Joe has some interest and hot fantasys where Kate is concerned. Sean, just wants to keep Joe happy and maybe help himself by helping Joe.

Reading this book so soon after reading FORBIDDEN PLEASURE just emphasized the difference between a book that is more pure fantasy (FP) than reality (Menage). Certainly when it comes to the real issues of possessiveness, love, jealousy, anguish and acceptance that has to be a part of any threesome, Ms. Holly is head and shoulders above any other book I've read on the subject.

The sex is hot, the dynamics of the trio interesting and thought provoking. Seriously. Completely original (to me) in her take on a menage relationship and the happily ever after, I really enjoyed this book.