Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Four Letter Word
SERIES: Love Logic
AUTHOR: K.M. Neuhold
NARRATOR: Zachary Zaba
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 8 hours and 48 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 8, 2020
BLURB:
Relationships are hard enough between two people. Can the four of us make it work? Or is love nothing more than a four letter word?
Polyamory. The first time Riot says the word, it feels like everything slots into place. Maybe I’m not greedy for loving both of my best friends at once.
For most of my life I didn’t think I could ever have the kind of love I’ve been dreaming of, but somehow a sexy bartender with a major sweet tooth is making it all seem possible.
Maybe Riot is right, our capacity for love is bigger than most people let themselves see. But will Leo and Hudson feel the same? Will they be willing to try to build this beautiful, complicated life with me?
If I can keep them from ripping each other’s heads off that is.
This is book two in the Love Logic series and can be heard as a stand-alone. This is a MMMM story full of love and heat.
REVIEW:
Bishop has a problem. Well, he’s had it for a while. He’s in love with his two best friends. One of them, Leo has moved to New York, but is coming back. One of them, Hudson, is kind of his friend with benefits. He’s been in love with him forever, but he doesn’t want to lose the friendship so he pretends he’s ok with this casual arrangement. But he’s getting tired of watching Hudson pick up other guys and leave him behind too. One Friday night he’s feeling particularly unhappy about it and he leaves with Riot, the bartender who’s been flirting with him. They have a good time, but Bishop leaves in the middle of the night in a bit of a rush after telling Riot he’s got enough on his plate being in love with his two best friends already
Hudson is none too happy about this turn of events. And when Bishop tells him they should cool the hooking up, Hudson’s really not happy – because of course he’s hiding his feelings too. When Bishop and Riot get closer, Riot floats the concept of polyamory with him. Riot explains his own polyamorous nature and suddenly things click for Bishop about why he can be in love with his two best friends.
Enter Bishop’s other best friend. Leo is returning to California after being away in New York for years. He has been lonely – and he has feeling for Bishop that he’s tired of pretending aren’t there too. So he returns home and crashes with Bishop at his apartment until he finds something else. He’s a lawyer with a good job, but he is in no hurry to leave Bishop. There’s just one little problem. Leo and Hudson have not spoken since senior year of high school. Bishop doesn’t know what the fight is about, but it was bad and he is kind of tired of being in the middle of it.
Hudson is starting to really get put out by Bishop’s relationship with Riot, but then one night Hudson comes to the bar alone, intent to tell off Riot, when suddenly he recognized Riot. And not from his bartending job. Hudson then develops a friendship with Riot, although he feels a little weird about it since Riot is dating Bishop. Riot tells him he should just be upfront with Bishop and if they are all cool with it, then they can work it out.
Meanwhile, Bishop tells Leo he is polyamorous and he’s seeing both Hudson and Riot. Leo is a bit surprised, but he realizes if he ever wants to have anything with Bishop, he’s got to be up front about it. So he makes his move and Bishop is stunned. He had no idea that Leo returned his feeling from their teenage years. So now we have 4 guys – 3 of whom get along. But the wildcard is the Leo and Hudson feud. When we finally get the anser to what Hudson did and why Leo is so mad, it begins to make more sense.
Leo and Hudson have a ways to go before they can be friends again. Bishop really wants them to get along. Riot is happy to have found some like minded men and he’s doing his best to help everyone get what they want. There are some family dramas as well and Riot is a calming and encouraging influence on the three friends. But what is the next step for the four of them? Can they make it work? Together?
I did like the story of Riot, Bishop, Leo and Hudson quite a bit. However, this is a case where I just really didn’t like the narration. The narrator’s voices were hard to distinguish so I couldn’t always tell who was speaking. The volume was also very soft and he spoke very quickly. In fact, I had to slow down the narration in the audible app in order to understand the narration and had to go back and rewind frequently. This very much detracted from the story for me and threw me out of it constantly. I really enjoy this writer’s storytelling and I think I’m going to try reading this book for myself. I like the growth the guys showed during the story and how they all came together and supported one another. The story is definitely a 4, but I just can’t recommend the audio book based on the narration that detracted from it.
RATING: 
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