Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: ILYBSM

AUTHOR:  Leslie McAdam, J.E. Birk, Rachel Ember

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  360 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 10, 2022

BLURB:

Everyone has secrets. I’ve kept some big ones from my two best friends, and I know they’ve got a few of their own. After all, Embry and Adam never told me why they stopped talking to each other the night we graduated college. For my part, I’ve never told them that I’m bi—or that I’ve been in love with both of them for years. I’m also definitely not telling them I’ve mismanaged my family’s tree farm so badly that it’s about to go out of business right before Christmas.

But when I crash off a ladder hanging up holiday lights and break my wrist, they come running like Santa’s elves. They’re both very grumpy about seeing each other again, but I can’t be sorry to finally have an excuse to get them in the same place. Wait until they find out we’re all sleeping in one bed…

At least their feud is put on hold when they discover what a mess I’ve made of my business. Soon the three of us are scrambling to pull off a Christmas miracle and save the farm. And maybe it’s the magic of the holidays, but a whole lot of feelings and long-buried truths are coming to the surface—and our friendship is starting to become something much bigger.

Will we survive the season? Or are all my dreams about to be crushed this Christmas?

ILYBSM is a sweet and steamy contemporary holiday m/m/m polyamorous romance about three former best friends. It stars Jeb, a sweetly oblivious farmer who’s the hottest mess to ever grow trees in Vermont; Embry, a mechanic who can fix any engine but not a relationship; and Adam, a graphic designer and organizational whiz who irons his sheets. It features truths that slip out thanks to homemade eggnog, a demon goat who looks fabulous in a Santa hat, and an unconventional happy ever after.

REVIEW:

OMG, I love this book so much.  Acronyms are a thing apparently… and the title of this heartwarming, unconventional best friends-to-lovers, MMM holiday romance is the best one.  ILYBSM is clever and insightful, sexy and sweet.  But most importantly, it’s completely absorbing.  From the first page, I was all in with Adam, Jeb and Embry. The book isn’t perfect, but it’s perfectly enjoyable, and is a book I would easily reread, just because.

Indulge in this quirky, unusual polyamorous love story set in an even more fantastical world.  No, there’s no fantasy element involved, but there might as well have been.  What are the chances that in a town the size of a postage stamp in the middle of nowhere Vermont, the neighboring farm is owned by a throuple? or that these three, highly intelligent BFFs since college are so completely oblivious to not realize they’ve been in love with each other for-ev-er …?  Some factual inconsistencies and overall factual conveniences that resolve things a bit too easily present themselves throughout the story, but really, who cares? This low angst, easy read pulls you in from the beginning, and who wouldn’t want to be regaled with three men realizing they are in love during the holiday season on a Christmas tree farm?

Admittedly, I was a bit slow on the uptake with the character names.  In retrospect, I’m SMH at myself, like, duh 😬 … Embry felt like my kindred spirit, constantly trying to grasp at something familiar, but just out of reach.  However, I didn’t want to stop long enough to figure it out, LOL 🤣, and that is a testament to the lure of the story.

YOLO is clearly the motto of this author trio, BFFs themselves. They tried something new and different and embraced everything that gave them joy in doing so.  That joy resonates in ILYBSM.  It’s infectious and uplifting.  In the authors’ note, McAdam, Birk, and Ember comment on filling the book with everything they love, and the writing process that ensued was as easy and fluid as the content. I can attest that ILYBSM reads and feels just as the authors’ intended – fulfilling, happy, and ultimately filled with warmth and happiness.  The purity of the emotions in ILYBSM is as unusual as the premise.  I will happily forgive some of the ridiculous plot points – you know, like the townsfolk being comprised of either polyamorous relationships or firefighters, or firefighters in polyamorous relationships … oh wait, that’s the next book featuring Doug, Zeke, and a new character, Max.

ILYBSM showcases seamless writing that reads as if one author wrote it, not three.  Once you pick up on the naming convention, which author writes which character is self-evident.  I will say that even not realizing the naming convention, McAdam’s writing has a subtle distinction to it (and her amusing penchant for facetiously calling people “f*cker”) that tagged Adam as her guy. The Julian Hill references helped too. Easter eggs are fun little gems, and we get more cross-references to the authors’ other works than just Julian Hill – like the reference to Cyril Landry in Rachel Ember’s Wonderland.

I highly recommend this sweet, funny love story of three oblivious best friends pulling their heads out of their ass8s and finally acknowledging the deep connection and polyamorous relationship they desire and deserve.  Negotiating their way to that point is not smooth and sometimes frustrating, but TBH, it’s worth every silly, confounding second of the journey.  IMO, ILYBSM is Gr8, LOL funny, and overarchingly sweet and sexy – a holiday story you should read ASAP rather than deal with the guaranteed FOMO you’ll experience later. 

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon