Review: Starting Over by Annmarie McKenna
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 2, 2010
This novella mixes two elements that usually are not my cup of tea, a D/s relationship and a ménages. And already you have probably understood that both elements are not dealt in an usual way, since probably it's the first time that I found this mix, I think it's embedded in a D/s relationship to not be a ménages, the relationship between a Dominant and a submissive is so tight and particular that it's not easy to add a third party.Here it's possible since, even if without doubt Dane, a doctor, has a Dominant attitude towards his partner Garrett, a patrol officer, for them it's more a game, in the light version of the word, than a real 24/7 bond. Dane likes to order around Garrett when they are at home, and probably Garrett likes to be a bottom and doesn't mind to "play" with Dane. Garrett is a gentle soul, it's not wonder that he is a patrol officer, I wouldn't be able to see him like a tough cop; he is more like a neighbourhood cop, the one who responds to the call of a nanny to save her kitty or something similar. On Dane's side there is probably also an element of relaxing, to let it out all the tension gathered after a day as ER doctor. So no, Garrett and Dane don't have an usual D/s relationship and for this reason there is space between them for a third man, they even say it aloud, that probably they need Aaron to fill up the void that sometime they have working different shifts: it's not exactly a romantic explanation, but it's one that probably works.Aaron is still mourning the loss of his partner David two years before, but he is probably on the rising slope, he is ready to move on, and Garrett and Dane stumble upon him in the right moment. Being incapacitate after an accident to which Garrett was a witness, help the couple to convince Aaron to go home with them to recover. The near proximity with a committed couple put Aaron in a continuous horny state, and since Garrett and Dane are quite clear in their offer to include him, Aaron has not even the "cheating" factor to help him. And since his mourning period was always at the end, neither that prevents him. It's an easy victory for Garrett and Dane and Aaron doesn't oppose much resistance. The only doubt that I had at the end of the story was what role Aaron will take in the relationship: even if Dane and Garrett play at D/s between them, it doesn't seem to me that Dane did the same with Aaron, if not for being maybe a little more forceful than a normal partner. It's possible for Aaron to have an ordinary ménages with them, while Garrett and Dane continue to play at Dominant and submissive?