Review: Good but I've read better by this author
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 21, 2011
"It's better to be boldly decisive and risk being wrong than to agonize at length and be right too late."- by Marilyn Moats Kennedy -"Trust is letting go of needing to know all the details before you open your heart."- Author unknown -3.5 stars.Caitlin is shocked when her fiancée reveals that he'd like to share her with another man, although she's been fantasizing about it for quite some time. She doesn't know if she should be more outraged or hurt when she hears his proposition, and she's afraid that Nate could be sexually bored with her. But Nathan denies. Cait seems to know what this conversation is all about because Nate's buddy, Liam, will come to see them. Nathan and Liam were friends since college and had served in the Marines together. Nate would like to try a ménage, provided it's someone he'd trust with Caitlin. And this someone is Liam. He hopes that she trusts him enough to let it happen.'Trust me, baby. Trust me to give you what you're too afraid to ask for.''Go ahead and jump off that ledge, baby. I'm right here to catch you.'Cait loves to surrender and just feel, to give up all responsibility for her pleasure and let Nathan take over and unravel her. He never tries to control Cait in any other aspect of her life, but in the bedroom he is absolutely dominant, an alpha male.I must admit that I had a bit a hard time to get into this story. I liked the heroes and let's face it, what's not to like about two very hot and tender (former) Marines? However, the heroine...I can't claim that I 'liked' her. She is sweet and sexy for all I care, but she was too reluctant, too indecisive, and too uneasy. Don't get me wrong, I am all for sensual and erotic foreplay, but it's the foreplay that precedes the sexual act and not the kind of 'Will-I-ever-make-up-my-mind' foreplay. I think there was too much pondering. Of course I get it that she never had a threesome, but you have to make a decision eventually and it took up a lot of time.Nate says that he wouldn't push her into anything she didn't really want to do. However, I think that he did push her and he 'convinced' her ultimately - not all that overtly but he did nevertheless. Obviously it was necessary otherwise she'd have chickened out.Somewhere it's written that Caitlin is so sexy, yet innocent. I second that and I think she is too innocent for a ménage.[...]Did she really want to do this? Cross this line? Yes, she realized, she really did.[...]Even during the ménage, she tries to convince herself that she made the right decision.It felt kind of odd to read about the 'morning after'. Cait was so embarrassed, insecure, even a bit ashamed of what they've done. But those doubts just came too late for my liking. While reading No Holds Barred I thought a few times "Woman, make up your mind already!" Personally I am very decisive and maybe that's why her behavior bothered me.By the way...Liam: "I never kiss and tell." We're so on the same page here, Liam! But I sure hope that he will kiss another woman and his story will be written eventually!What I really liked a lot was the tenderness! Both guys were very attentive and caring! Additionally, one of the good things about Nate and Liam is their focused desire for her. They want to pleasure her and she comes first (pun intended). The three of them generated quite some steam - I can't say they were heating up the sheets because the ménage was not set in the bedroom, though.Overall it's a solid read and I liked it but it is not outstanding. Let me say up front that I read anything written by Callie Croix and Kaylea Cross. She is one of my favorite authors and I just love her writing style! As I understand it No Holds Barred is just not her best book yet, however I will continue to read and enjoy her work, that's for sure. Keep the hot stories coming, Callie/Kaylea!Note to the readers: this novella contains explicit sex (oral, NO anal), m-f-m ménage, graphic language, NO spanking, NO toys