One-Two Punch

Katie Allen

Publisher:
Ellora’s Cave

Release Date:
September 2008

Genres:
Ménage M/M/F
Contemporary Romance

ISBN:
eBook
9781419918230

Bookmark Rating:

Reviewed by
Yosha

Review Posted:
November 2008

A ménage book, done well, is hot, hot, hot.  This book is hot, hot, hot.  

Beth sees the man of her dreams – well, her hottest fantasies – twice a day through the window at the gym on her way to and from the bus stop.  After watching him break up with his current flame, she finally gets up the nerve to walk in and meet him.  Harry is immediately hot for Beth too.  He agrees to be her trainer, which gives him the opportunity to do more than ogle her curves.  Beth has to put up or shut up when it comes to the training, but it’s all worth it.  Amazing how lust can bloom in the gym. 

Just when their relationship is going strong, Ky enters the gym, and the picture.  Harry is all man, but had fantasies about Ky while they were in the army together.  Neither Harry nor Ky had done anything about their attraction at the time, but neither of them had forgotten it. 

Ky planned on exploring the attraction he felt for Harry.  He hadn’t planned on exploring anything with Beth, but he lusts after her too.  The three of them turn into a strong, bonded trio.  

Their happily ever after is threatened by a stalker who wants Beth for himself.  Lucky for Beth, her men are determined to get her back, even in the face of seeming impossibility. 

ONE-TWO PUNCH has characters I really liked, a plot that was tightly crafted and interesting, and all around HOT sex.  This group explores just about every aspect of their feelings and their bodies.  They care about each other enough that each of the three is willing to try anything, if it pleases the others.  Each of these three has something new to learn from and try with the others, and Ms. Allen was true to her story and characters as they grew. 

What’s more, Katie Allen solves a lurking problem that I’ve thought about, but ignored in many ménage stories.  How would two Alpha males give up enough control and territoriality to make a permanent three person relationship work?  Particularly, when one relationship has already solidified before the second man enters the picture.  Almost by definition, it seems impossible.   

Ms. Allen handles this problem deftly.  Harry is clearly the Alpha in the relationship, while Ky is his second. That doesn’t mean Ky is weak – anything but.  He has to figure out how to redefine his own laws of attraction when he enters into a relationship with Beth as well as Harry.   

At first, I wasn’t sure that Beth was going to be strong enough to carry the story.  Was I ever wrong!  She knows exactly what she wants and is willing to do what she needs to, to get her man.  Or men, as the case may be.  At various stages she is adventurous, playful, nurturing one of the guys, and all around gutsy.  

Harry is the focal point for both of them. In the early story, Harry had to accept some hard truths about himself, offered through the voice of one of the gym regulars, Dominic.  Turns out to be a good thing that Harry listened, because I would not have wanted to miss this story.   

I recommend this story as a starter, if you haven’t read a ménage story before but you want to, or even if you already have a well stocked library of your favorite stories.  Beth, Harry and Ky are definitely worth it. 

And, I’m hoping that Ms. Allen gives Dominic a story too.  I’m sure he could go a couple of rounds before he gets his HEA!

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