Book Title: Phoenix Rising (An M/M/M Romance)
Author and Publisher: Valerie Ullmer
Cover Artist: Valerie Ullmer
Release Date: August 6, 2024
Genre: Contemporary M/M/M Romance
Tropes: Best friends to lovers, bisexual awakening, best friends in love with the same man, and hot sexy times
Themes: Moving past childhood trauma
Length: 57 000 words/ 209 pages
Heat Rating: 5 flames
It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Two best friends want the same man.
Will all three be able to fall in love and make their relationship work?
Blurb
Phoenix Aalto had everything he wanted in life.
His own bakery, close friends, and his plants.
There was nothing more he could ask for after escaping the life his father wanted for him.
Or that’s the lie he told himself each time the two men of his dreams walked into his bakery, looking every bit a happy couple. He wasn’t delusional enough to believe it was more than a one-sided attraction, but it didn’t stop him from daydreaming of something more.
Luka Kavka lived with his best friend, and they ran a successful landscaping business together. He’d come out during college, but like his friend, no one lasted more than a date.
But a routine meeting in an out of way bakery with a real estate developer changed his fate.
Burton Horváth loved life. Working with his best friend while living with him was everything he thought needed.
When he spotted Phoenix behind the counter, everything he knew about his life changed. The younger man wasn’t his first crush on a man. If he were honest with himself, that honor would go to Luka. But he was the one who shook up his viewpoint at thirty-one years old and made him want a change.
Luka and Burton agreed they would ease into letting Phoenix know they were interested, which included months of daily visits. But change for all three men came when Luka charged in, giving Luka and Burton the opening they needed.
But as they navigate their newfound relationship, will the obstacles from Phoenix’s father allow them to find their happiness?
“There’s your gorgeous smile, Sunshine. Are you ready for lunch?”
When he nodded, I stood and lowered him on the floor, forcing myself to let go of him as Luka led the way to the kitchen.
I was still awed to find the dazzling man in our home, winning over the dogs, and showing more of his true self with each minute that passed.
My reaction toward Phoenix’s father wasn’t as visceral as my best friend’s.
You couldn’t change the past, and I learned never to dwell on the impossible. But what I could do was to show Phoenix that caring for someone doesn’t come with consequences, limits, or rules, and with me and Luka, he’d only have to be himself.
We settled around the dining room table, and I noticed Luka made a lunch meant to impress. Brisket grilled cheese along with creamy coleslaw and roasted Brussels with cranberries.
“Oh, wow, it smells and looks delicious. But it’s a lot of food…”
“Eat what you can, Sunshine.”
“Okay,” he said as he lifted half his sandwich and took a bite.
Phoenix’s eyes closed as he took his first bite and savored the flavors. Based on his expression of pure bliss, I found myself ravenous. I scooped up a spoonful of sprouts and almost choked at the moan reverberating next to me.
“This is… wow! Luka, it’s the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”
Fucking hell!
Luka chuckled, and Phoenix froze with the sandwich near his mouth. His eyes darted toward Luka and then over to me. He shrugged and took another gigantic bite. As he chewed, he gave us a closed smile, his bright eyes shining in delight.
Another appreciative sound escaped as he tried the coleslaw, and before long, we were all eating in silence with me and Luka watching the man as he devoured every morsel on his plate.
“Dessert?” Luka asked.
“Ah, if I’d known there was dessert, I would have… nope, I still would’ve eaten it. How about later? Not that I’m inviting myself to stay longer, because I wouldn’t, that’s rude—”
“Phoenix?”
His blue eyes widened as he turned toward me. “Yes?”
“It’s too early for more, but can I press my lips to yours?”
Another addictive whine escaped his throat, and before the sound cut off, my lips touched his supple ones and it was my turn to groan, aloud. My cock swelled in my jeans and I pulled away with a gasp before I ravaged his mouth.
On second thought, I slanted my mouth and drifted closer. Maybe another small taste.
“Nope, I know that look in your eyes, B, and we can’t devour him. Yet.”
With a huff, I leaned away and smiled when Phoenix laughed and grabbed Luka, giving him a chaste kiss. The simple move caused a rumble to escape the bigger man’s throat.
A chuckle escaped before I grabbed the empty plates and headed toward the kitchen.
“Dessert is ready whenever you want,” Luka said, sounding gruff.
A chair scraped against the wood floor as Phoenix stood and said, “The least I can do is clean—”
“Nah, no worries, Petal. There isn’t much. I got it.”
Winking at the younger man, watching him blush, put a smile on my face before I disappeared through the threshold of the kitchen.
In a hurry to get back to Phoenix and Luka, I rinsed the dishes and scrubbed the pans with hurried movements. Dish duty was easy, especially when Luka had all the talent as the cook.
But as I shut off the water, I knocked over a glass I’d forgotten on the side of the sink and gasped as cold water soaked my shirt. With the last glass inside the dishwasher, I reached back and pulled my tee off, stopping by the laundry room and chucked it in the hamper.
When I walked back into the dining room, Luka laughed with heat in his eyes. I loved that look.
“Are you trying to impress him with your six-pack?”
Phoenix turned toward me and I watched his eyes widen and his mouth drop open. Rather than look away, his cheeks brightened with a peach blush as his gaze, which felt like a caress as his eyes moved over my neck, down my chest, and over my abs until he landed on my crotch and blinked. Torn between my naked skin on display and my dick trapped behind the tight denim, those blue eyes darted around, never focusing on one part of my anatomy.
Then, without looking, the younger man reached out, grabbed Luka’s tee and dragged the amused man closer.
“Yeah, I got nothing. Let’s stare at Burton. Unless…”
“Unless, what?” Luka asked.
He unclenched his hand from Luka’s shirt, but didn’t let go.
“Do you want to join him? But, if you do, take it off with excruciating slowness.”
My head dropped back, and I groaned. “And now I’m hard.”
Valerie writes romances.
Valerie resides in Denver, Colorado with her husband. While she had been interested in writing a romance novel for years, it wasn’t until she wrote her first book that she really became hooked, and now she can’t stop. She has notebooks full of ideas, and she plans to write most of them in the years to come.
When she’s not writing or learning about the craft of writing, she can be found surfing the internet way too much, watching Investigation Discovery and thinking that her neighbors are up to no good, and finding new ways to get her husband to laugh.
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