Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: By Design
SERIES: Southern Cats #1
AUTHOR: B.A. Tortuga
PUBLISHER: Changeling Press
LENGTH: 118 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 24, 2017
BLURB:
When Robin heads to North Carolina with his boss to help design and build a new conference center, he has a bunch of surprises in store for him. The building site is in the middle of nowhere, his boss is being weirder than usual, and he meets not one, but two of the hottest men he’s ever seen in his life. If he can just get his boss Terry to leave him alone with them, Robin knows Casey and Travis could rock his world.
Casey and Travis might play, but they’ve never thought of mating with a third man. Their immediate need for Robin is something they don’t question, though. What they do want to know is how Robin can possibly be unaware he’s a cat shifter. Can they help Robin find the other half of himself and convince him he’s what’s missing in their relationship at the same time?
Publisher’s Note: The novel By Design by BA Tortuga was available briefly from another house.
REVIEW:
Walking into what looks to be a fairly seedy bar with his boss, Robin has just two wishes, one: he’d like a bacon guac burger and two: he really like to not get singled out as gay and beaten. Catching the eye of two drop dead gorgeous, yet rough around the edges, guys wasn’t anywhere on his radar, let alone part of the plan. Casey and Travis have been together their entire lives and are quite happy in their mating but when they go out for a bite to eat and instead find an attractive stranger they’d both like to sink their teeth into, the decision to take him home is a no brainer. The overwhelming attraction and instant connection the men all feel for one another is a pretty good indicator that they’re all mates but there’s one problem: adopted at the age of two, Robin has no idea of his true heritage and if Casey and Travis want to keep them, they’re going to have to let the cat out of the bag.
Its always a pleasure to read a well written ménage; having it feature a trio of sexy shifters was just a plus. 😀 I liked this one a lot; all of the characters had distinct personalities that nevertheless complimented each other nicely. Casey and Travis had this whole Alpha vibe going on but there was a lot of give and take in their relationship, which was nice to see. When Robin was added, it actually felt like their pairing was complete instead of a couple that just added one extra. All three men just worked for me from their professions to their interactions in and out of the bedroom. There was also a nice bit of variety on that front, which was also great.
I liked the story set up in general; the idea that Robin didn’t know what he was and the reasoning behind it worked for me while the fact that he didn’t have an easy time of it made the situation more believable. I had Terry figured out, both in what he was and his reasons for acting so odd, but that didn’t make his behavior any less amusing to me. Overall I thought this was a good start to a new series; there were a nice variety of shifters introduced so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in future books. If you enjoy ménage books that are a little on the wilder side of things, you might want to check this one out.
RATING: 
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