Review: OVERALL A NICE MMF MENAGE STORY
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 14, 2014
“Do you still think of Her?” he asked suddenly. His dark gaze captured mine, and his expression fell serious.“Her?” I knew full well who he was talking about. Her, She, was fictitious, and stemmed from a drunken conversation we’d had several years ago.“I’m sorry, Josh.” He covered my hand with his. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”“No, it’s fine.”He rubbed his thumb over my knuckles and stared, unblinking at his caressing movements. “Seriously, forget it.”I sucked in a deep breath. I couldn’t ignore the question, not now he’d asked it. Because the truth was I did still think of Her. In quiet moments She was conspicuous by her absence....I had the Glass Knot by Lily Harlem on my TBR list for a while so when I saw it on sale, I picked it up. I love ménage books, with MMF relationships being my favorite to read so I was excited to read this one.The set up for The Glass Knot is a little different than other ménage stories I have read. Nick and Josh have been happily married for ten years. Nick is a bit older and was previously married to a woman before he met and fell in love with Josh. Nick was Josh’s first love and his first sexual experience ever. He was a virgin when he met Nick and never had sex with anyone else. Although very happy in his marriage with Nick, the idea of being with a woman sexually offers a certain appeal.… the thought of sex with a woman appealed to me, even though I loved Nick and loved having sex with him, I often imagined being inside a soft, sweet feminine body. And, like a small crack above a door frame, over the years of that door opening and shutting— each time I fantasized about being with a woman— it just got bigger. Now it was so big, that crack, it was starting to spit little chunks of plaster onto the foundations of our relationship. Nick had been right to bring it up— it was time to face facts. I wasn’t as gay as I thought I was.While on vacation celebrating their anniversary, Josh meets Laura on the beach and invites her to dinner. Nick, realizing that Josh has questions about what sex with a woman would be like, encourages him to check that off his to do list by seducing Laura. Nick basically gives Josh a pass to have sex with Laura. One night and that’s it. Unfortunately, what seems so reasonable and harmless in theory has potentially far reaching repercussions for all involved. The Glass Knot is the story of what happens to a relationship when one night of discovery leads to deeper feelings, jealousy, and betrayal.While reading the first half of The Glass Knot, I thought this would be a three star book for me. There wasn’t anything wrong with the book, I just didn’t enjoy the story line as much as I hoped I would. One issue may have been that I didn’t really care for Laura in the beginning of the book. I held nothing against her for her one night with Josh. Nick certainly approved Josh sleeping with her and to each their own. It was her handling of other situations that left me feeling like she was a bit of a home wrecker. When Josh invites her to come to the cottage and she realizes upon arriving that she’s not wanted there by Nick, she should have left immediately.Maybe I should just go home. Cut my losses. Who wanted to be an unwanted guest?But why should I?Josh asked me to come and stay. I’d driven all that way in my clunky car, spent money on petrol and was hoping for some much-needed work. No, I was here and I was staying— at least until I saw Josh.It was that kind of thought process that rubbed me the wrong way initially. With Josh and Nick being married, I felt like it was her responsibility to back off once she realized Nick wasn’t comfortable with her being there. The fact that Nick didn’t like her, didn’t like sharing his husband, and was worried about how she was affecting his marriage seemed very reasonable to me. I put myself in Nick’s shoes and my heart hurt for him a little.“I’ve spent the last ten years trying to make everything perfect for Josh. He’s the love of my life, my everything. This home, supporting him through the beginning of his career, the extravagant holidays, placating his damn homophobic father, I’ve done it all to make life perfect for Josh, and then…” He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut; his long, black lashes meshed together and the small crinkles on the outer edge of his sockets deepened. “And then you, in just one night, make everything perfect.”Somewhere around the half-way mark though the story came together a bit for me and became more enjoyable. I think the change in dynamics that occurs between all the characters helped make the story more enjoyable for me. It also became easier to like Laura as a character and to stop feeling bad for Nick.The Glass Knot is an erotic romance and the steam level was what I expected, HOT!“Is he in your ___?” Josh asked.My mouth wouldn’t form words, even one word, so I nodded and bore my hips down for more, more filling, more sensation. My need to climax had turned me hotter than the fire at my side, and I was feverish with desperation. I wanted to cry out in ecstasy but it was as though my body was not my own. Nick had claimed it, he was in control.“Oh, yeah, take him, take him in your ___. It’s so good when he does that, isn’t it?” Josh said excitedly.The book is listed as 270 pages but it is a quick read. I wish it would have been longer. I think the bones of the story were good but could have been improved by spending some time exploring the dynamics and feelings of the characters as the relationship develops. There were a few editing issues, missed punctuation, a few words where it looks like a letter was left off, etc. Nothing that distracted me from the story, just something I noticed here and there.My rating is 3.50 but I am rounding up to FOUR STARS. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend to others that like to read MMF ménage story lines or erotic romances. I would definitely read this author again in the future.