Review: If you love menage, you'll enjoy this book
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 11, 2014
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.I initially began reading Poppy’s Passions by Stephanie Beck because I love ménage stories. I was expecting a lot of hot, steamy sex, but I got so much more than I had hoped. Not only did this book leave me hot and bothered, but I was pleasantly surprised by how emotionally riveting the story was. Once I started reading, I could not put the book down.Poppy Maguire meets the Paraby boys when they are town for a car race. The four immediately click and develop true friendship. And it’s that friendship that leads the men to comfort Poppy after a hard day in her job as a nurse. The comfort turns physical and the four enjoy a night of great passion. Unfortunately a family emergency pulls the guys away the very next morning. When Poppy realizes that the one night of delight has left her pregnant with twins, she is unable to find the Parabys. Fast forward four months and they are back in town for another race. They run into Poppy at the hospital and discover her pregnancy.Poppy returns with Cody, Trevor and Michael to their home in Montana and discovers that their parents are involved in a polyandrous relationship. They want that type of relationship with Poppy and work on convincing her that they can be a family.I loved all three of the Paraby men. Each one was special in his own right and offered something different to Poppy. Any one of them would make a great husband, but combine all three and what woman could resist.Poppy came into the relationship with a lot of baggage. She lacked confidence from the constant criticism of her family. She really grows emotionally throughout the story as the men’s love teaches her that she is worthwhile.One of the things that I enjoyed about the writing is that Ms. Beck kept things so real. The heroes are not always perfect and they do and say dumb things sometimes. The dialogue was sometimes strange but I found it endearing. After all, most people don’t speak like romance characters. One example is a conversation between Poppy and Cody about his love for her.“What you are offering is like eating too much chocolate, but if I ate ten pounds I would probably vomit. I don’t want that to happen with us.”It may sound funny, but my husband and I have had similar silly conversations like this one.I also appreciated that Ms. Beck showed the difficulty involved in this type of relationship. A blending of two people in a relationship is difficult enough, but blending four people presents its own set of challenges. And there is also the public reaction to a multiple relationship. The conversations between Poppy and Mary about how Mary dealt with this situation were heartfelt and sweet.Luckily the end of the book is not the end of the story. Ms. Beck has written two other novellas that continue the story of Poppy and her men. I’m glad because when I come to care about characters like I care about Poppy, Michael, Cody and Trevor, then I want to know how their relationship is continuing.