Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: Extra Whip

SERIES: Bold Brew Book #8

AUTHOR: L.A. Witt

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 485 pages

RELEASE DATE: April 13, 2021

BLURB: 

Will and Aaron Taylor have a perfectly imperfect marriage. For twenty years, even when their desires haven’t quite matched, they’ve always found ways to adapt…until now. When Aaron’s needs push past his Dom’s limits, their best hope for compromise is finding a unicorn—a third person who checks both men’s boxes.

After his estranged father wills him a house he doesn’t want in a town he doesn’t know, Kelly Griffith is itching to find his place in this unfamiliar new world. When he finds an ad from a couple looking for a sub like him, he jumps at the opportunity. A chance to be what someone needs and wants instead of being a perpetual disappointment? Yes, please.

The chemistry sizzles from the get-go. Will and Aaron insist they don’t want to be poly, and Kelly doesn’t want to be anyone’s third wheel, but playing together? Any time, any place. All they have to do is keep emotions from joining the party as the trust and intimacy deepen between them.

But by the time they realize they’re in over their heads, hitting the brakes is no longer as simple as using a safe word.

Extra Whip is a Venti-sized (140,000-word) stand-alone novel in the Bold Brew shared universe centered around an inclusive coffee shop set in a fictional small city. Each steaming hot coffee shop romance can be enjoyed alone, but collect all ten for the most fun! This menage romance contains a happily married couple in their 40s, a sassy 30-something submissive, lots of fluffy steam, and a guaranteed happy ending!

REVIEW: 

L.A. Witt’s Extra Whip is Book 8 in the ten book multi-author Bold Brew series.  If you’ve read the prior books in the series, you know by now that the common denominator in this series is the inclusive, kink-friendly coffee shop, Bold Brew, which is located in the fictional small-town of Laurelsburg.  All of the romances in these books feature kink to varying degrees.

Extra Whip is definitely “extra” in many ways.  

First, it is long … 485 pages. So you are going to need to settle in to read this one.  

Second, it is probably the most kink-heavy of the Bold Brew stories so far and may have aspects not palatable to some readers.  It heavily includes D/s as well as BDSM (mostly restraints and impact play) as part of a menage M/M/M relationship.  This is an established (20+ years) married couple, Will and Aaron, that brings in a third, Kelly, so the story is premised on sharing.  Again, not everyone’s cup of tea, or Bold Brew coffee as it were.

Third, there is a lot of sex.  Like really, a lot.  So if you don’t like the type of kink involved here, it will be hard to avoid it or read around it.  If you just prefer your books light on sex, this one is not for you.

Fourth, there is an enormous amount of extra detail throughout the story, as well as some elaborate, extraneous social commentary on, for example, the criminal justice system, prison reform, rehabilitation of drug addicts, etc., that just did not work in the context of the story.  The only reason why my rating here is not 5 Hearts is because of all the extra words and detail and extraneous thoughts and commentary.  

On the latter point, the commentary, my objection is in no way based on the content per se or whether I agree or disagree with Ms. Witt’s views.  It was just too much and simply didn’t make sense in this story.  

On the former point, all the extra words and detail bogged down the narrative in places.  The author could have shaved a good 100 pages off this book and not lost anything by doing so.  In actuality, I think it would have taken an already terrific story and made it even better.  Friedrich Nietzsche said (hey, indulge me because it’s not often I get to cite him in a book review 😉), “It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.”  That didn’t seem to be Ms. Witt’s goal.  She erred in the other direction, saying in a whole book what could be said in, well, not ten sentences, but a heck of a lot less than 485 pages.

If you’ve read all of this and think I didn’t like Extra Whip, let me disabuse you of that notion.  There is one last “extra” to this book (you know I had to save the best for last 😁).  It’s also the most important one:  Ms. Witt has provided us with an extra special romance. 

Will, Aaron and Kelly are such interesting characters and the story develops them individually with a lot of depth.  The relationship between Will and Aaron is a beautiful thing to behold. I wasn’t sure I could accept the introduction of a third into such a close, stable relationship, especially with the sharing beyond the scenes. I expected it to feel inherently wrong. MMM or ménage only makes sense to me if it makes sense.  Meaning, I need to understand the reason for the MMM relationship.  How does it work, are they equal members of the triad, why do they need three?  What Ms. Witt does an excellent job of here is not so much explaining why, although she does that, but more importantly, she gets us to understand it.

I understood exactly why this committed couple introduced a third and agreed to share.  It was clear what was missing and how Kelly filled that gap to make the relationship stronger.  Ms. Witt made clear what Will and Aaron got from Kelly and how the infusion of a new person helped stabilize all three of them.  I also knew why Kelly needed Will and Aaron and saw all the positives he brought to the table that would have been squandered, to all of their detriment, if Kelly were shut out.  It was clear how the puzzle pieces click into place, and I just got it.  

This is a challenging scenario because there are a number of aspects working here that might put a reader off.  However, Ms. Witt brought this story to life, engaging and immersing me in it despite the length and excess detail, despite the slow pacing.  In fact, if Ms. Witt had included additional scenes with these three men at the end, it would have been very welcome. 

Oh, did I mention that the chemistry between them is off the charts and the sex scenes are smoking hot?  The story includes detailed and prevalent sex scenes.  However, it didn’t bother me at all because, well, they’re ridiculously hot.  But also they actually serve a purpose in the storyline.  Ms. Witt didn’t throw in gratuitous or arbitrary sex scenes just to titillate.  Their inclusion added to the development of the relationship between the three men in a meaningful way.

I definitely recommend Extra Whip.  It may actually be my favorite of the series (or at least a tie with Erin McLellan’s Perfect Matcha, which you can see my thoughts on here).  By the time this story ended, I was already invested in Max and Tom’s story which will be showcased in the next book in the series, Cinnamon Roll.  Definitely read this one, even just as a stand-alone.  It’s worth the investment of time for the enjoyment you’ll get out of it.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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