Liquid Silver Books, $5.75, ISBN 978-1-59578-648-7
Contemporary Erotica, 2009
Violet Summers’s Something to Talk About follows a pretty familiar formula for a ménage à trois romance. Two guys who are already sharing a bed letting a woman join them, and since this story is set in Louisville, it’s yee-haw hee-haw all the way to the grand finish. This kind of story is normally something I do not voluntarily pick up to read. But this is a story by Violet Summers we are talking about here, and she writes the hot stuff like nobody else, so here I am, reading this story. I’m only human, after all.
Miranda Lee Jenkins – Randi Lee to you – catches her boyfriend getting cozy with some hussy when she makes an emergency stop at the Lone Dog Saloon to use the toilet. Enraged, she takes her Louisville Slugger to Billy’s 4×4 – the one she paid for – before using a knife provided by one of the folks who have gathered to watch to slash the wheels. It is probably a good thing that the local Sheriff, Jon Denton, has a soft spot for her or she’d be in bigger trouble with the law than she already is.
Jon is involved with Wyatt, a local who knew Randi from way back. But from the moment Jon first sees Randi, he’s all about getting her into his bed. Wyatt doesn’t mind, because the two men apparently have this wonderful fantasy between them that they will one day find a woman that the two of them will love. As for Randi, she’s not complaining one bit. A cop and a sheriff all for herself? Yummy. The fact that those two men will put on a show for her in that very bed? Even more yummy. But still…
“You’re kidding, right?” she finally squeaked. She moved to the bar and quickly poured and downed another shot, coughing a little at the burn. “You honestly expect me to believe that the two hottest guys in town,” she flapped her hand at Jon who’d smiled and moved closer, “who happen to be gay,” she shot a poisonous glare at both of them, “have been waitin’ around for a little triple play with me?”
When Randi puts it that way, the whole thing does sound ridiculous, doesn’t it?
Violet Summers puts plenty of effort in setting up the threesome arrangement in a plausible manner and I really appreciate that. Ms Summers attempts to show me the emotional interplay between the three characters before having them share a bed, and it actually takes some effort on the two men’s part to assure Randi that they are not merely playing with her.
Unfortunately, the love scenes show up very late in the story, and before I know it, the story is over! At the risk of coming off like a depraved pervert in need of a life, I really must ask why I can’t have another two dozen or so pages of hot scenes to cement the deal among the three characters. I mean, come on, I’m reading this baby for the hot stuff as well as the story, so let’s not be stingy with the hot stuff, shall we?
Something to Talk About is a pleasant and readable story that tries to make an effort to be a little bit more than a typical ménage à trois story. But it could use a lot more spicy condiments to improve its flavor, though.
