DIAL M FOR MENAGE by Emily Ryan-Davis

Publisher:  Carina Press
Published:   03/03/2014
ISBN:  B00H08N9YY
Genre:   Erotic Contemporary Ménage Romance

Book format:  E-book
Obtained via:   Publisher
Reviewed by Helena Stone; helenastone63@gmail.com

Rating: 4+

Two months have passed since the events in ‘Ménage on 34^th Street’ that brought Katrina, Liam and Hunter together. Two months that brought them a level of happiness none of them thought achievable, but didn’t solve all the practical issues resulting from their unconventional relationship.

Hunter knows he is with the two people he wants to spend the rest of his life with but is also sure that this relationship will never be acceptable in the eyes of his superiors in the military. And his career is as important to him as Liam and Kat are.

Liam is still struggling with control issues. He can’t stop himself from keeping information that might distress or upset Kat and Hunter from them even while he knows that his secrets will cause trouble.

Kat can’t believe her luck now that she is with the two men who mean everything to her. She is all too aware of both Liam’s and Hunter’s issues though, and being the one in the middle, trying to hold it all together is emotionally draining.

Now that Hunter is about to receive his new posting it is time for this triad to put action to their words. Is Hunter really comfortable with having his two lovers close to his work environment and are Liam and Kat really prepared to leave their familiar surroundings behind in order to be with the man they have chosen as the one who completes them?  

I read ‘Ménage on 34^th Street’ in December and wrote the following words in my review:

“...by the time the story ends you know that these three people will be in a relationship that requires work and compromise on all sides, that things won’t always be easy or smooth for them...”

I also stated that I was delighted to see that a sequel was forthcoming and that I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next to these characters.

I was right on both fronts. This story deals with all the issues connected to making a triad work. Traditional relationships can be tricky at times. Throwing a third person into the equation, with their own ego, history, and hang-ups, creates a whole host of extra potential pitfalls. All three characters involved have their own doubts and insecurities. And because all of them deal differently it causes tension. Liam’s reluctance to share what bothers him until he thinks he’s found the perfect solution drives both Hunter and Katrina crazy. Hunter’s need to keep his emotional life completely disconnected from his professional one, creates frustration for all three of them. Katrina is, at times, stuck in the middle; trying to read both her men and defuse situations before they become too big.

The road Kat, Liam and Hunter need to travel to come to a place where their future seems secure is hard and at times filled with fear and confusion. It is the way in which they confront their problems and refuse to stop talking to each other that sees them through and made this book such a very satisfying read.

“This is where my military training is going to serve us (...). If I didn’t learn anything else, I learned how to move beyond being part of a whole, to seeing the whole as an entity bigger than its pieces. The three of us, we’re bigger together than as individuals. We’re bound together and we’re not coming apart now.” – Hunter.

As they go along Liam, Kat and Hunter learn to trust each other as well as themselves. They discover that while they may each have their own hang-ups and insecurities, they are in complete agreement when it comes to their need to be and stay together and that it is those differences between them that make them so much stronger together.

“They were three separate people even when they were together, and being individuals meant they had different relationships with one another. Those one-on-one relationships made them a stronger whole.”

And it was that focus on the intricacies of the developing relationship that made this book so much more than ‘just’ another hot and fascinating read. Having said that, the story was most definitely hot and fascinating, especially Hunter’s slow but oh so sensual acceptance of his need for Liam.

This story ends in a most satisfying way. It was both the happy ending I was hoping for and completely credible. Of course that does leave me with one issue; it is quite possible that this is the last time I get to read Liam, Kat and Hunter and that idea makes me a little bit sad.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.