I’m usually not a fan of threesome romance novels, but in this case, I decided to make an exception since St. Martin’s Press contacted me directly and I love the cover (thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!). Addiction is a naughty novel by American romance author Calista Fox. It is, in fact, the fifth instalment of her Bayfront Billionaires series. I haven’t read any of the other ones, and it didn’t bother me at all. I do know that they are probably connected since Fox does allude to how the other relationships around this main character came to be. But the others weren’t necessary to understand this one. If I’d read the previous books, I probably would have appreciated these little glimpses into how their relationships and lives were progressing. But, back to number 5 in the series! Let’s start with the blurb:
Liv Tyner has an ultra-sexy one she’s been keeping all to herself. A sinfully delicious, forbidden secret that has inspired endless fantasy material late into her lonely nights. But when that secret is suddenly staring her in the face—in the form of two fantastically built and wildly successful men—not only does Liv have trouble keeping her one-time-only love triangle under wraps, she also longs for a repeat performance.
Step-brothers Nate Dalton and Tristan Reeves have built a global communications empire that laid the groundwork for their ten-year homecoming to Bayfront. But more important than success is winning the love of the one woman neither has gotten off his mind or out of his system no matter how much time and distance spans between them—sensational and highly addictive Liv Tyner!
As a slow seduction begins and all their juicy secrets are revealed, can these star-crossed lovers find themselves in the right place, at the right time, to make a more permanent love connection?
All in all, I didn’t mind the whole threesome thing too much. Fox goes about writing this like it’s normal and doesn’t get hung up on the expected problems of a threesome (especially when there’s family involved). Both the brothers know that they want Liv, and they also know that they want to share her. There is never any question of Liv choosing one or the other. When it comes to their time spent in bed, the three of them slept together a long time ago, and it is understood that the men enjoyed watching while their brother had his way with Liv. But it is clear that the brothers are not attracted to each other, they just like teaming up when it comes to giving pleasure to Liv. I am not at all sure if that is how it would be in real life, I don’t see something like this happening without the smallest bit of jealousy or friction. But you know, that’s me. Maybe I’m too naive or innocent in that regard.
Now, let’s look at the characters themselves. Tristan and Nate were described as the typical, successful, hot guys. They didn’t have a lot of personality, in my opinion, even though their nerdy (and, in my opinion, much more interesting) nerdy childhood is referred to but they have now turned into almost typical rich boys who are being good to make up for a difficult past. Of course, in such a short story, there wasn’t much time for anything else. What bothered me about them, is that they felt like they needed to become better to be able to be worthy of Liv. They were a little awkward as teenagers and so they didn’t deserve one of the hottest chicks in school? And now that they’ve become rich and buffed up, all of a sudden they do? Now, I did like how Liv handled this. They had always been friends, and for her, it wasn’t necessary for them to change their appearance and become rich – I did appreciate that about her. Besides that, she seemed to be perfect: an actress, now starting her singing career with amazing friends and making more money than she needed. She has the perfect personality and looks and is charming on top of it all (according to how she’s described). I felt like she was almost a little boring since everything about her was so perfect.
I thought the story was rather short, and I do feel like Fox could have dragged more pages out of it. Basically, the boys are back in town, they immediately sex Liv up. She struggles because she is attracted to them, but she wants to put her career first (and might move because of it). They are willing to throw their lives around to accommodate her, just as she was doing as well (which is revealed after a bit of miscommunication). Not too many cliches and not a lot of avoidable mistakes that could have made life easier on all of them. All in all, I don’t regret reading it. I want to say I loved it or even liked it, but I can’t. I didn’t hate it either! It was okay.
Who agrees or disagrees with me? I’d love to find out in the comments!
Happy reading,
Loes M.