Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Trouble Comes in Threes
AUTHOR: M.A. Church
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 234 Pages
BLURB:
A snowstorm in the South—on New Year’s Eve—is a perfect recipe for a catastrophe. After two soul-crushing bad breaks, Kirk’s waiting for disaster number three to strike when, naturally, two stray cats arrive on his doorstep during the storm and decide to make themselves at home. Tenderhearted Kirk lets them stay even though there’s something decidedly odd about his overly friendly felines.
Out of the punishing weather and full of tuna, Dolf and Tal are happy to be snug in Kirk’s house. But then their human goes outside for firewood and suffers a nasty fall that leaves him unconscious. Now the two cats have no choice but to reveal themselves.
Kirk wakes up to find the two kitties are actually Dolf and Tal. They’re cat shifters—and his destined mates. Being part of a feline threesome is enough for Kirk to grapple with, but soon he learns they come from a clowder that doesn’t believe humans and shifters should mix. Kirk knew those two cats would be trouble. Little does he know the real trouble lies ahead.
REVIEW:
Dolf and Tal, two happily mated cat shifters, recognize Kirk Wells as a third mate from the moment they scent him shopping in a hardware store. The fact that he’s their third isn’t a problem, the fact that he’s a human…well that’s not so easy. While the two men don’t have an issue with a human mate, they know that convincing the rest of their clowder to accept Kirk isn’t going to be a smooth ride. Oh and there’s also the small matter of showing Kirk that shifters exist and persuading him to commit to a relationship with not one but two men who turn into cats.
This book had a lot going on that I really enjoyed. Firstly, I’m usually prepared to crawl across hot coals to read a new ménage and I particularly liked the dynamics of this one. Knowing the main characters were going to be comprised of two shifters and a human I just assumed that we’d have two alpha-ish, buff shifters and a rather waifish “save me from my terrible life” human who needed to be rescued and looked after. Well, ass-u-me right! My first surprise was Kirk. Kirk may not be going through the happiest phase of his life when he meets Dolf and Tal but he hardly needs rescuing and there’s definitely nothing waifish about him. In fact, sitting here thinking back on it, Kirk may be one of the best written characters I’ve read in a long time. What is so amazing about Kirk, you may ask? Well nothing at all actually. He’s a forty-year-old mechanic with a struggling business. He doesn’t have a perfect body or a perfect face but he does have some grey in his hair. He’s no “alpha top” or “power bottom”, he’s happy to just go with the flow when it comes to the bedroom, although he does like it a bit rough. He also steers clear of the TSTL label. When an unknown shifter starts targeting him he doesn’t wander off into a creepy forest all alone to investigate a noise at midnight. Nope, he agrees that he needs some shifter protection. As far as I can recall there is not one cliché that could be attached to this man and that’s what makes him my favourite character.
Dolf and Tal were both interesting characters too. Dolf was a future alpha but he was no bossy asshole and while he didn’t get any sexual pleasure from being on the receiving end of anal sex he was still willing to give it up for his men if they wanted it. Tal was a fun loving omega, but again, no clichés here (aside from the fact that both shifters were apparently drool worthy which I’m obviously not going to complain about). Together, the three men slotted into a ménage seamlessly with no awkward jealousy and no one feeling left out in any way.
The sex in the book is all kinds of hot, especially when the three mates are first claiming each other and sexual gymnastics ensue as they’re required (it’s a mating thing) to each have a turn…doing the claiming, I guess is one way to put it. For my preferences there’s a bit too much sex, but that’s one of those things that comes down to what each reader prefers and I guess what you’re also in the mood for. I will say that the amount of sex wasn’t a detriment to the storyline.
I’m hoping we get some sequels to this book. There are plenty more interesting cat shifters who are introduced in this story that are obviously just begging to have their own tale told.
RATING: 
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Thank you for a great review!
~M