“Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.” — Oscar Wilde
You kind of know what you’re going to get when you read a book by Sean Michael. Sex. Lots of it. Well written sex, not just cheesy come-ons and up against the wall fucks. Though there were a few of those, they were well written. When I first started reading M/M, I wanted to learn all there was to know about gay sex. Books by authors like Sean were what I wanted to read. Then I got bored. I could only read the sex so much without wanting it to involve more. I wanted feelings, character backgrounds, dates, relationships. Plots.
Pour Me a Triple had no discernable plot. There were often paragraphs in between the sex scenes, but they were there strictly for the purpose of directing the mind to why the next sex scene was going to happen. Or how, or where. No actual story involved. This is the kind of book that people who don’t read M/M romance think we read. They think it’s all sex, all the time. Pour Me A Triple would not go very far in changing their minds.
In a nutshell, Bay is a bartender at The Bending Willow (creative name BTW), a BDSM bar. He has casually been looking for a Dom since he started working there, but an opportunity hasn’t presented itself. Jai moves into an apartment across the street and can tell by the clientele that it is a gay bar. How he doesn’t notice all the leather and leashes is beyond me. He wanders in one evening looking for a way to pass the night. Bay and Jai are immediately drawn together. The attraction is that mythological instant chemistry, complete with sparks. Though Jai knows nothing about the BDSM lifestyle to which Bay aspires, they wind up together anyway.
As soon as Jai entered the bar for the first time, Bay wasn’t the only one to sit up and take notice. Master Storm did also. He had been watching Bay for a while, but approaching him hadn’t felt right. Suddenly, now that they are a couple, Bay and Jai are much more attractive to Master Storm. Evidently he wants bookends.
They proceed to do BDSM training for Dummies, and Jai is immediately into it as much as Bay and Master Storm. It just wasn’t plausible for me. Jai had never felt leanings toward, nor did he have any knowledge of, BDSM relationships. A week later he is involved in a ménage BDSM relationship, being told when to come, and accepting and doling out spankings.
The Three Stars break down is, one for plot and four for steam. Sean Michael wrote a hell of a lot of sex scenes for this book. It is BDSM-lite, nothing approaching hardcore. This book would have benefited from a little less sex and a little more plot. A little less insta-love and a little more character development. For what it was, it was okay. It just wasn’t for me. Sean Michael has written some excellent books which include real, in-depth character studies and exciting plot lines. I think I’ll stick with them in the future.
You can buy Pour Me a Triple here:
I love triads, they are much more stable than four-somes and last much longer. In fact, I know of 2 triads that have lasted over ten years and are still going strong. I am curious to read this book, but wary that it may not be what I’d hoped. I love a good plot with sex interspersed. Maybe I could just use this as a “how to” guide to triad sex!? LOL!