Review: Cinderella in space---only she takes home both Prince Charming AND Prince Valiant! Way to go, girl!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 1, 2014
Menage fiction always appeals to me when it's entered into with all parties being equal. 'At Their Service' features an alien race -who are basically humans with a different moral code, violet eye shading, and one noted anatomical difference which is a spare erogenous zone on the lower back- called Threni whose culture encourages polyamory. Their family units to be "complete" require two males and two females from what I gathered during the read and these units are meant to be all comprised of equal partnerships between all members of the marriage.The only exception to this? The Royal House.It seems that this wasn't working in their favor however as Prince Abran was the only product of his parent's union which led to a campaign to change the laws so that he could take part in a 'traditional' Threni marriage where four people could all marry one another. This is implied to also have something to do with his genuine love for his personal valet, Oshan, who is a charming figure that is easy to fall in love with from the very beginning. Oshan is kind, sexy, and has patience for Abran's spoiled behavior without ever allowing himself to be walked on which I greatly appreciated. I also enjoyed that they were definitely equal partners in the bedroom which is rare to see in M/M fiction.Drella comes into play as basically Cinderella in this piece. She comes from a family whose "complete" marriage is broken because her birth mother has been ill for years while her two fathers are passionately in love with each other---and her other mother Breda is ignored making her a spiteful shrew who pretty much uses Drella as slave labor in their house. Drella is unassuming yet strong at once. She takes the maid position at the palace to get out a bit as much as to try to cope with her life in her broken family home.I admit when I first saw Drella interacting with Abran and Oshan? I thought she was going to be tacked on to their love affair.She wasn't.In a remarkable literary feat, the author manages to make it clear to the reader that Drella is appreciated in her own right by both Oshan and Abran for different reasons. She's not some token female who is going to breed the Crown Prince future heirs: Drella matters to them. She is important. She is loved.There's a lot of fantastic sex in this one that will burn up the screen of your e-reader. If you want to read good menage scenes? This book has them in spades. No pairing or partnership seems spared. There are scenes with Abran and Oshan, Oshan and Drella, Drella and Oshan, and Abran and Drella as well as scenes where all three of them are in bed together. I really enjoyed that sex was something that was perfectly acceptable among the Threni people. They are encouraged to take multiple partners as much as they seem to imply that being "monosexual" is something strange or unwanted. That was a fresh take for me. I liked that.I'd give this one 4 stars overall as I did enjoy it, but there was a lot of predictability during the course of the story which took away from my enjoyment of the read. Some of the dialogue was unusual to me and off-putting. I would definitely say that I had issues with a few of the more "swish-and-flick" moments that allowed for the eventual HEA of the story; I've never been too keen on stories where the author uses convenient explanations to work out complex situations. Handwaving? Doesn't do it for me unless it's Star Trek and then all bets are off. I'll buy anything William Shatner sells me.Sexy, fun, and well worth an afternoon read for a fan of menage fiction. I could have used more sci-fi in it, but really? It's a solid 4 star read all the way around.***Note: My review is based on a complimentary copy provided to This Redhead LOVES Books Blog in exchange for an honest opinion.***