Reviewed by Donna

 

TITLE: Threesome: Him, Him, and Me

AUTHOR: Anthology (Authors listed below)

PUBLISHER: Lethe Press

LENGTH: 210 Pages

RELEASE DATE: March 3, 2016

BLURB:

Few sexual fantasies are as potent or lasting as the threesome as an adolescent, the first time you saw a hot couple walking hand in hand and you wanted to follow them back home and into their bed, as an adult when you discover that your partner has been fantasizing also about the bartender at your favorite club. 1+1+1 = sensual delight! Editor Matthew Bright, no stranger to threesomes himself, has invited twelve authors to write stories that range from the sweet and romantic to erotic and playful and even a bit depraved.

 

REVIEW:

Call for Submission – N.S. Beranek – 3.5 Hearts

This was an interesting start to the anthology, which showed me that I was maybe going to get more than the “typical” ménage story in this book.

In Call for Submission, the need for one of the MCs to submit a threesome story for an anthology leads to this established couple discussing spicing up their love life.

The author quickly established just how the pair’s relationship worked, so as a reader I wasn’t left feeling clueless, as can often be a problem with stories of this length. Pretty much from the get go I was feeling very uncertain about this couple bringing in a third person, so the author obviously did a great job of conveying the characters uncertainties. I liked that they actually spoke, negotiated, and then decided together.

 

Time to Dance – Matthew Bright – 5 Hearts

This is the kind of story that I usually enjoy reading, so I guess it’s no surprise that it was my favourite of the anthology. I think it takes a lot of skill for an author to make me believe that teenagers could possibly find a HEA so young, so to manage it in such a short story is brilliant writing.

Time to Dance is the story of a teenage threesome, their elaborate plan to thwart their homophobic headmaster, and the backstory of how they came to be together.

I’ll admit that the back and forth did lose me slightly once or twice but I loved this story so much that I didn’t even care. Somehow the author managed to write a story that was both innocent and erotic at the same time, which left me totally impressed and in a very happy place.

 

Share & Share Alike – Evey Brett – 3.5 Hearts

I liked the idea of this story, perhaps more than the final product.

Avery and Jeremy are a couple in love, but Jeremy has never stopped searching for his missing first love, Joaquin. When Joaquin calls out of the blue, after years of no contact, Jeremy brings the other man into their home to recover.

There’s no denying that this is a well written story, but unfortunately I just couldn’t like either Joaquin or Jeremy. Perhaps if the story had been told from Jeremy’s POV or multiple POVs I would have felt differently, however as it was I was left pitying Avery and disliking the other two. I always figure that a two person relationship is hard enough, so a lasting threesome would take a lot of honesty and trust. But Jeremy and Joaquin played poor Avery, manipulating him into the relationship they wanted without seeming to consider his feelings.

 

The Big Match – Lawrence Jackson – 4 Hearts

This one actually surprised me. The whole story is told in emails, sent back and forth as two men and their wives make plans for a weekend where the boys can get together for a night spent on the couch watching football, and the girls can get together to have their own fun.

I’ve read a few short stories told in this format (or something similar) before and usually they end up annoying me more than they entertain. But this story was very well done. It was fun, amusing and certainly different, and the unexpected twist at the end left me chuckling. It was probably more a snippet than an actual story, but as an addition to the anthology if was nice to have something completely unique.

 

Dr. Dave – Dale Chase – 4.5 Hearts

I usually like a happy ending, even in my smut, so had I known how this little story would play out before going in, I may have been hesitant. But while the threesome might not have worked out so well for these men, the story definitely worked for me.

The established couple in this story have an open relationship that works well for them. They live together, are committed to each other, but each has a boyfriend who they see for date nights (sex nights) every Friday. They like to share the details of these secondary relationships with each other but they’ve never actually had sex with another man together. When their dentist suggests a threesome with him, they are happy to agree, figuring that it’s not all that different to what they already do.

Dale Chase is a clever author who managed to make his story stand out in a collection of twelve similar storylines. I think that I appreciated this story more because the sexcapades don’t go to plan.

 

Fancy Dress – Chris Colby – 4.5 Hearts

Fancy Dress is the story of three college flat mates who have vaguely referenced attractions to each other, and which remain unacknowledged until one Halloween night…

Ok, and well there isn’t really much more that can be said about this story. It’s pretty much one big smutty sex scene that sees all three roomies get off in the kitchen. I tend to like more story than smut, so kudos to the author for making me love it. I can only assume that it was the author’s skill that carried it off, but to be honest I was too wrapped up in reading the lascivious on page action to pay that much attention to the writing!

 

The Guards of Governor’s Square – Shane Allison – 3 Hearts

This was another story that wasn’t much more than one sex scene, but in contrast to the previous story, this one didn’t really work for me. I didn’t check the separate page counts but this story seemed to be the shortest in the anthology.

I’m all for dubious consent, in fact, that was my favourite part of this tale, but the set up didn’t really make sense to me. It was wonderfully, smuttily, porn-like – the idea of the two security guards “dealing with” a hot young offender – but I just wasn’t feeling it. I think my problem was with the description of one of the guards. I’m all for characters not having perfect looks, actually I prefer it that way, but this guy was written as being repulsive, both physically and personality wise. I just kept picturing this gross figure participating in the sex, and I couldn’t enjoy it.

 

Spring on Scrabble Creek – Jeff Mann – 4 Hearts

This was the first paranormal offering of the anthology and I think if any story in here needed to be longer then it was this one.

Vampire Derek and his human lover, Matt, are celebrating Matt’s forty sixth birthday. And Derek has found the perfect present – a naked young man, bound, gagged and ready for whatever the two lovers can dish out.

Well, what is an anthology without some BDSM? Incomplete, that’s what. Not that there’s anything heavy about what happens here, but I do like to read a good spanking every now and again.

While the story was complete enough as it was, I felt that could easily have been expanded upon to create a much longer, more detailed story. The characters, all three of them, were certainly fascinating and I would have been interested to see how Derek and Matt would help Timmy turn his life around. The extra paranormal element of the ghosts just added another layer of supernatural.

 

Vanilla – Nathan Burgoine – 5 Hearts

My other favourite story of the anthology. Man, I just plain loved this one!

Avery is a little bit magical, and he’s just inherited his grandmother’s fine chocolate shop upon the much beloved woman’s death. From the moment he reopens the business he is inundated with customers, but the delivery guy and another local business owner are the two who really hold his attention. Pete and Vic are both gorgeous, but are they even gay? And just because they might be gay they aren’t necessarily interested in Avery. How’s a guy to figure it all out? Well, with some bespelled aphrodisiac chocolates, of course!

Considering the brevity of all of these stories, this author managed to make Vanilla seem much longer. I didn’t feel as though I missed out on anything. I felt that I had a decent grasp of who these men were, and I actually cared about what happened to them. This was one of those short stories that I needed to have a happy ending because it was more than just erotica, the author gave it a touch of romance. And honestly, who doesn’t love chocolate…and when it’s combined with some scorching chemistry…

 

Invasion – Rob Rosen – 4.5 Hearts

If I see Rob Rosen’s name on something I go in with high expectations. His contribution to this anthology didn’t disappoint.

DOUBLE. DICKED. ALIENS.

*Drop microphone. Bow to author. Exit stage*

 

Sea Glass – Robert Russin – 4.5 Hearts

This story was just…different…weird…random…unique…singular…there are so many words that I could come up with. But lets just go with fucking special.

Our main character is – I don’t even quite know what…some kind of Grimm Brothers’ version of a merman?? – who rips himself out of his skin and washes ashore to be happily, yet rather violently, fucked (there’s really no other word for it) by two men who are staying at a beach house. There’s drinking piss and asphyxiation going on, meanwhile the story is written in such a beautiful and poetic fashion that the contrast just confuses your brain. The emotions that the author managed to put down on the pages damn near broke my heart, at the same time the unnamed main character is being roughly taken on the ground while wielding some distinctly inhuman genitals.

Whatever the hell I just read, this author sure wields some interesting talent.

 

Strawberries – Jerry L. Wheeler – 4.5 Hearts

I think maybe this author just won the WTF award for this anthology. I’m pretty sure this story was stuck at the end because my mind would be refusing to read on in fear of what else we might discover lurking in these pages. Did I drop that mic for the double dicked aliens? Can I have it back, because I need something that I can throw at these guys as I run the hell away.

Strawberries gives us the story of Farmer Howie and Kyle, the rather unscrupulous man who wants to buy up Howie’s farmland. Unfortunately for Kyle, as Howie warns him, that land is blessed. And one should never mess with blessed land.

I was impressed by the inventiveness of this story, even while it creeped me out. Seriously. It was like something out of a messed up horror movie. The required threesome scene was both erotic and gag worthy. I wasn’t certain if I should feel horny or nauseous. And I loved it.

 

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Lethe Press