Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: Mountain Topped

AUTHOR: K.M. Neuhold and Mia Monroe

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH:  221 pages

RELEASE DATE:  January 7, 2022

BLURB: 

Can a fantasy about being shared turn into something more? Bowen’s about to find out when he gets Mountain topped.

Is there a bigger gay cliché than falling in love with your straight best friend? Oh, I know; a random hookup with a dude from the gym.

I didn’t think I’d ever manage to fall for anyone other than the unattainable Hawthorne, but the more time I spend with Aldis the more I… like him.

As for my straight best friend… do straight guys usually stare so much when you’re wearing gray sweatpants?

I never thought the drunken admission of my deepest fantasy would lead to the three of us hooking up and Hawthorne looking at me like that. Now my best friend and my hookup-turned-more are bonding over their shared love of mountain climbing, the three of us are, ahem, exploring, and I’m hoping this is more than just a messy fling.

REVIEW: 

Mountain Topped brings together two of my favorite authors, K.M. Neuhold and Mia Monroe, for a spicy M/M/M romance. They collaborate here to bring us the story of two life-long best friends, Bowen and Hawthorne, and Aldis, the hook-up turned catalyst for bringing them together.  Mountain Topped centers on the self-discovery and emotional journeys of these three men as they move towards acceptance of their identities, needs, and desires, as well as recognition that those things are very different from what they envisioned for themselves.  There’s no plot per se, nor are there any other characters or interactions. Their relationship develops in a bubble without any real-world intrusion.  

M/M/M is a tricky genre because it requires that the author(s) create three endearing men who can plausibly anchor authentic individual M/M relationships within the triad, which has its own dynamic. There are many moving parts (double entendre intended), and it can devolve into a crass sexfest if not executed well.  Here, because of the tight focus on Bowen, Thorne and Aldis to the exclusion of almost everything else, that risk is heightened.

But never fear, because we’ve got two highly skilled authors here.  Ms. Neuhold and Ms. Monroe know what they’re doing (they’ve each written their own M/M/M romances before), and they do it very well.  They both excel at bringing colorful, charismatic, flawed, but ultimately loveable characters to life and then developing an emotionally complex relationship around them.  In Mountain Topped, they achieve a delicate, nuanced balance that enables us to connect with these three men and understand the relationships between them.  The story’s fabric is made from the characters and all the little ways these men learn about themselves and work together with open-mindedness, communication, and patience.  

With regard to those characters, Ms. Neuhold and Ms. Monroe hit it out of the park.  You can’t help but love Aldis in all his benevolent pushiness, especially his generosity of spirit.  All he wants is for Bowen and Thorne to be happy.  Even if that happiness can only be achieved with them as a couple, without Aldis, it doesn’t deter Aldis from facilitating the best friends getting out of their own way.  Bowen is so open and kind, desperately in love with his BFF Thorne, but wanting to find happiness without losing him and wanting to be available to a new relationship with Aldis without hurting him.  Thorne has arguably the most to deal with here.  He’s 40 and just experiencing a bisexual awakening on the heels of the one-two punch of breaking up with his longtime girlfriend and then walking in on Bowen and Aldis going at it hard and heavy.  He is confused and overwhelmed but willing to sort through his feelings with the support of Bowen and Aldis rather than run away.

Ms. Neuhold and Ms. Monroe meld their distinct styles seamlessly to tell Bowen, Thorne, and Aldis’ love story. It makes for fluid, effortless reading of a well-written, thoughtful, cohesive story. The authors have joked that they feel like they share a brain.  Upon reading Mountain Topped, I’d have to agree.

There is a downside, though. The blending is so successful that it’s hard to discern Ms. Neuhold and Ms. Monroe’s individual voices.  At least for me, that uniqueness is part of the draw towards their writing.  For example, Ms. Monroe has a direct, often short cadence to her characters’ speech, especially in her dialogue. Yet, I only saw glimpses of it in Mountain Topped.  As for Ms. Neuhold, her books generally contain playfulness, including irreverent antics, witty, often silly, banter and teasing.  I didn’t feel that fun playfulness here, though, and while there’s humor, it’s nowhere near the level of what we typically get from her.  

The most noticeable element missing, though, is the feeling of “found family” that is pervasive throughout their respective works. In their other series, we get a network of men, connected by blood, friendship, jobs, and circumstance, that bond to create a cohesive support unit and provide the comforting feeling of home for each other.  In Mountain Topped, though, the only “found family” is the family these three men create with each other.  It’s beautiful for sure, but it’s not the “platonic” found family we’re used to seeing in, for example, the Tattoos & Temptations’ Black Heart and Dulce Santo men, or the Four Bears Construction guys, and their partners, coworkers, and friends.  

All is not lost though, as Mountain Topped retains some of the very best aspects of these authors’ writing styles.  For example, we see their ever-present positive messaging around acceptance of sexualities and relationships that society considers atypical.  We also get their on-point delivery of sweetness, love, and affection between the leading men, with plenty of hot-like-fire sex scenes, dripping with sensuality, dirty talk, and lots of emotion and impact.  

Overall, I think the best way to describe Mountain Topped is that it’s a different, even unexpected, story from these authors, but it’s just as impactful and enjoyable as the stories we’re familiar with.  While packaged differently, Ms. Neuhold and Ms. Monroe nevertheless deliver a frisky, fulfilling, heartwarming story with a solid HEA for our three men.  It’s easy to appreciate the beauty of the story and the skill of both authors in creating it.  I happily recommend Mountain Topped.  Enjoy.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

Amazon