Reviewed by True
TITLE: One and Only
AUTHOR: Leigh Jarrett
PUBLISHER: Steambath Press
LENGTH: 124 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2023
BLURB:
Jacob did a stupid thing back in university. He fell in love. Now, sixteen years later, he runs into the man that has plagued his dreams. Jacob’s love is still strong for him.
Can he walk away? His life is so different now. He’s not the naïve guy he was in university. He’s spent the past sixteen years sleeping with every man that crosses his path.
Ethan ran away when things got too serious in university. A straight guy wasn’t supposed to have those feelings for another guy. Sixteen years later, he might be proven wrong.
A failed marriage amongst his baggage. Ethan isn’t sure if he wants to add more instability to his children’s lives. Is getting back what he’s lost worth putting his heart on the line?
If love grows between them, how much love will they have to spare? Their relationship is tested when Leo is brought into the mix. Leo is a playboy that has been in polyamorous relationships before but never when he’s been in love with both men.
MMM Erotic(a) Romance, Explicit Sex, Second Chance, Fast & Slow Burn, Playboys, Found Family, Menage, Polyamory, Open Relationship
REVIEW:
Ethan and Jacob live in the same house during their university years. They had sex, a lot, secretly, Ethan is straight and Jacob fell in love with him. When the university was over, out of nowhere Ethan left Jacob behind. That was sixteen years ago.
Jacob was devastated and never found in a guy what he felt with Ethan. So he had sex with men, a lot, with a lot of men. Never invested anything with them, it was only bodily pleasure. His heart couldn’t forget Ethan.
Now, suddenly after sixteen years, Ethan is back, divorced with two kids.
When they meet again it was electrifying, in no time they ended up in the bedroom.
There’s even hope for a future together, well, not completely together, because Jacob is not a monogamous man. He needs more, and Ethan doesn’t know how to deal with it. He wants to try.
Jacob promised Ethan a dry spell for a few weeks with other men, so they can settle and Ethan can decide if he can handle Jacob with others. So, in an open relationship, Ethan spread his wings too.
I always say a polyamorous story is tricky to write, I love poly stories, but I as a reader want to feel it, it has to be convincing, honest, and with some logical flow.
My thoughts about this story… Hmm, so after sixteen years apart Jacob claims he still loves Ethan, and in a nanosecond, they hop into bed, I had trouble with that. It was way too fast and not convincing. I didn’t feel it.
Above that, Jacob wanted Ethan but also not completely, he wanted an open relationship, he just needed a lot of sex and can’t commit to one person. He wanted to fly, without Ethan. And Ethan went from straight to bi to sharing without a blink. All next to his family life.
When Ethan told Jacob he wanted to date other men, it seems as if Jacob changed his opinion. So yeah, that didn’t work for me. There was talk about love, I just couldn’t feel it.
The story was way too focused on sexual acts, I hoped for more character development, it was rushed without layers. Maybe I expected too much from this short read.
What I did like were the sexual encounters, they were hot AF. Also, the laid-back attitudes were appreciated, and there was no excessive drama or problems made up.
Altogether, the intention of the story was nice but it was more an erotic read than a romance.
Two and a half up to three very small hearts for this story.
RATING: 
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