Review: Emotionally engaging and memorable
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 18, 2013
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.I really hate to say this but Honey Red has dethroned Paradise Hops as my favorite Liz Crowe book. How could it not? There is so much going on in Honey Red that it's difficult to know where to begin.I've read a handful of menage stories and with each one I hoped that it would be the one to change my mind about menage romances. Needless to say it took Honey Red for me to realize that a menage can work and it can work beautifully. It was erotic AND romantic without being trashy or overbearing. Honey Red is more about the emotional journey of three damaged people than the sexual relationship they share.Every time I begin a new book I am eager to see which character I will relate to best. With Honey Red, I connected with Ian, Hannah and Nick. All three were lost and knew it. All three met at the most inconvenient time in their lives and of course, as real people are bound to do, jumped into relationships with other people in order to try and fill that void in their lives that seemed to hunt them down no matter where they went.Hannah is a surprise. She presents herself as a confident, sexy and intimidating woman but at the heart of it all, she's unsure, vulnerable and caring. She may not have all the answers and might be terrified of first, her attraction to Ian and later her attraction to Nick but she's brave enough to stick it out and see where things lead.Ian Donovan is struggling to catch up to and maintain the pace life has set for him. It seems like over night he goes from a bachelor screw up, to a father of a child, to a steadily employed man. It's a lot to take in for one person and Ian doesn't always handle it well. Adding to the pressure is the constant presence of his twin brother Gavin, who seems to have the perfect life. It's tough for Ian to get out of the shadow of his ever successful sibling.But Ian's a walk in the park compared to Nick Traynor, a blind ex-marine with more emotional issues than is comfortable. I've read books that featured ex-military servicemen and women but this is the first time I've felt like I've gotten an idea of what they may go through when they come home from a war. While Nick had an overwhelming amount of obstacles to overcome, Liz made sure to create sympathy for him, even when he was lashing out at people. Along with his physical injuries, Nick suffers from survivor's guilt and that makes it almost impossible for anyone to reach him. Giving him a service dog was a great touch as many service men and women can be seen with service animals these days.What can be difficult in a menage romance is finding a balance between the three people in the relationship. In a "traditional" relationship, there are two people and it's almost natural the way the relationship progresses. In a menage, there's an additional person in the mix and it can be a recipe for jealousy and preferences.Honey Red balances the multiple relationships realistically and passionately. There are three people involved but there are four relationships that need to be represented equally. In case you're confused, Ian, Hannah and Nick are one relationship, Ian and Nick are the second, Ian and Hannah are the third and Nick and Hannah is the fourth.Liz Crowe makes each relationship sexy, erotic and interesting. It doesn't matter if it's between Ian and Nick or Nick and Hannah.While not as emotionally raw as say, Paradise Hops, Honey Red does excel at bringing three imperfect people together who, through many obstacles, begin realize that they might just need each other in order to start healing.Honey Red is one of Liz Crowe's best works in my humble opinion. It is a story that will please her long time fans and hopefully find new ones. If you have not yet read a Liz Crowe book, then you should definitely start with this one.