Customer Reviews

Table for Three (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Reviewed at: [...]

Reviewed by: Dawne

Cass Abernathy is heading into middle age, divorced recently from an abusive spouse and she has no self-esteem. She feels unattractive, has the normal negative appearance view of herself and is not looking for love when she moves to a small town after inheriting a ramshackle of a house from an uncle she never knew about. Tossed between foster homes throughout her life, all Cass ever wanted was a place to call home.

Twins brothers Matt and David Carlisle have a special connection and both feel an effect from Cass. She is the woman they want...to share. She is the woman they've been waiting for. But Cass seems quite skittish, withdrawn and not interested.

Her uncle's attorney, Oliver, is making Cass leery and she tries to pull away from him as the story evolves. His presence, constant attention and words to detour her from the brothers really bothers Cass.

Cass is very interested because the brothers bring out a person she never knew she was or could be. The brothers court her. Cass' past fears cause the brothers to work a little harder than they had hoped to win her love and heart. Cass' inheritance bring to light a nice scandalous and riveting storyline problem. This little dilemma adds quite a snafu to the storyline. Martine adds the perfect amount of suspense and perplexity to the plot when she wrote these scenes.

The novel is erotic and Martine fulfills the definition with an abundance of menage scenes with Cass and the twins as well as personal time with each brother. The scenes were beautifully written, very descriptive and left little to the imagination. Martine's writing style is superb and she makes the characters likable so you're rooting for their love.

I highly recommend this book. Martine has definitely won over a new fan with me. Her dialogue made me feel compassion for Cass, at a few points I was almost yelling at Cass to watch out for Oliver and I was seconds from breaking into a sexual sweat with the scenes she created with Cass, Matt and David. I won't spoil the ending, just be forewarned, you will fall in love with this story.

Part of a series? Certainly has a sequel, Catch Her When She Falls [Sequel to Table for Three] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour).

Plot:

Cassie has spent all her 43 years feeling unloved and unlovable. Just as her abusive marriage finally ends, an inheritance from a unknown uncle sends her to a small town in Oregon and Matt and David, two brothers who want to give her everything she's missed. To get their HEA they will need to overcome her past, an infatuated attorney and his vengeful receptionist.

Comments:

- A satisfyingly long book (4173 kindle locations). Plenty of erotic sex but also lots of plot, action, suspense, angst, romance.

- Cassie is around 10 years older than the men. But, because they have all had previous m/f marriages (that ended in divorce), the May-December aspects aren't hard to swallow. They have all lived their lives the way society insisted, but now they can follow their own dreams.

- Sex is m/f/m and m/f, very loving and caring, with the aim of a committed m/f/m relationship. However, this is storybook stuff. Cassie's life with her ex-husband was abusive, and included rape (even if that's not specifically stated). She was forced and he enjoyed causing her pain. Descriptions are relatively explicit. But within days of meeting Matt and David, Cassie is happily, comfortably, lovingly enjoying sex with them. It isn't out of the realms of possibilities, I can believe she would overcome her past with these two gorgeous men, but there are some realism issues.

- The inner monologues were clunky - while attempting to "explain" Cassie's decisions, they came out stilted and forced. Not necessary most of the time.

- Some annoying editing issues; not a lot, but enough to occasionally distract and wish the proofreaders had done a slightly better job.

- Not all plot threads are tied - in particular, there is the ex-husband and Serena. This seems to be addressed in "Catch her when she falls" but leaves "Table for Three" slightly unsatisfactory. Also, what about Gus' attic, and the letter Oliver gave her when she first came into town? And the divorces of the boys is never really gone into. Disappointingly lost threads.

Opinion:

This is a good book. The sex is certainly hot, but the author left the plot somewhat unfulfilling. The book wants to be more, it wants to give Cassie a history and a sense of belonging. It wants them to have a HEA. But for some reason Martine left too much unsaid. And it isn't like she couldn't have. It is a long book, plenty of plot space around the sex. But it leaves you wondering.

EDIT:

Today (13/10/11) I received an email from Amazon advising a new version of this book has been released because "The version you received had Typos that have been corrected." I can receive the new version (apparently) free of charge by simply responding to the email. Well done Amazon, and well done Ms Martine! It really is nice to see authors care about their product and make moves to address such things when they're pointed out.

Now, does this change my review? The original typos were not significant enough to overly affect my enjoyment (they were noticeable, irritating, but not overwhelming). My issues with the book were to do with partial plot threads and clunky dialogue. Fixing a spelling error will not change this. It would take a re-write.

But again, thank you, Ms Martine. This reader appreciates the extra effort you took to go back and re-dress the proofreading issues.

this story gave me the warm fuzzy feelings i dont see in all erotic romance. i gave this story four stars for the good story line and red hot love scenes (that weren't sub/dom) but there was an un aswered question i had with the plot so hence the less than perfect score

I wanted to like Table for Three. Reading the blurb I thought it had many of the aspects I like in a menage. Two hot men. A woman who has found or is finding her strength. A decent villain to help bring them together.

And it did have most of this and a wealth of potential. What it lacked was a decent rhythm. from the beginning I had issues with the author's writing. Her "flow" so to speak. Or lack thereof. I was frequently thrown out of the story, as I reread passages to get the correct tone/inflection. There was nothing wrong with the grammar, it was more the difference between watching actors recite their lines verbatim with little to no inflection, and forgetting you were watching actors and becoming engrossed in the play itself. I hope that made sense to those reading this.

I've found that everyone's version of hot sex is different so I know better than to rely solely on reviews that proclaim the sex scenes to be hot. That being said, the sex was fine. Did it cause my toes to curl up around my ears, no. But it was better than many I've read and believable.

All of the above I could have excused and have in the past in other works by other authors, but what made this story a 1 instead of the 3 or 4 I thought it likely to get was the ending. It didn't have one. There were three major issues that should have been resolved and just weren't. For those who don't like spoilers I'll just say, I can't recommend this book, though I enjoyed the premise and it had potential it left me discontented.

For those who need additional justification please note that SPOILERS follow.

***********SPOILERS************

There were a number of issues in this book that needed to be resolved for the requisite HEA. The heroine's concern about entering into a polyamorous relationship? Addressed, and handled well. The issue with the heroine's inheritance? Likewise handled in an almost satisfactory manner. However the author deliberately emphasized the jealousy of one of the town's female citizens, the fear that the heroine had regarding her ex-husband finding her, and items that were stored in the attic of the heroine's inherited home that she repeatedly passed on investigating. These three issues were touched on again and again throughout this story, and nothing came of them. It was disappointing to say the least. Maddening, if we're being honest.

It is my heartfelt wish that there is, or will soon be, better works to be found by this author because with no real proof to go on, I still feel there is some very real potential in her writing. And I'd like to see it become reality.

I love a May-December erotic romance and this one had it all. The story is both hot and emotional. Good plot with a few unanswered questions. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

This is a May-December erotic romance with the heroine, Cass Abernathy, in her 40s and the twin brothers she's attracted to, Matt and David, being much younger - although it was never actually mentioned how old they are. Cass has been divorced from her abusive husband and was very grateful to start a new life when she learned that she has inherited an unknown uncle's estate in a small Oregon town. Matt and David are twin brothers that runs the only hardware store in town. Both have been married and divorced before. They would love to find a woman to love and share but are skeptical that it will ever happen. That all changed when they set eyes on Cass Abernathy.

I love May-December type of romances (after having watched my very first May-December romantic movie, 40 Carats [VHS], on the big screen many years ago and fell in love with the hero and heroine). So this story by Missy Martine was right up my alley and the author didn't disappoint.

The sex between the three of them was very hot. I like how lovingly Matt and David courted Cass and overcome her fears and low self-esteem. Of course there's always a villain and it comes in the form of her late uncle's lawyer, Oliver. Readers will find out that there is more to her inheritance than meets the eye.

I agree with reader, cathyr, that Ms Martine has left some "hanging/incomplete" parts in the story that may leave readers puzzled. The most glaring of this was on Page 172 of the print book version. I contacted Ms Martine and she graciously informed me that particular scene will be completed in her sequel, "Catch Her When She Falls." Hopefully, the other "hanging/incomplete" parts in this book will be completed in the sequel as well.

So if you like ménage M/F/M May-December romances, this book is highly recommended. I can't wait to read the sequel to this.

Cass is looking for a new life free from the fear she has felt since before her marriage ended. What Cass wasn't looking for was a new love or loves for that matter. Matt sees Cass and knows she is the one he and David are meant to have. Convincing David may be another matter all together though. Matt and David are twins that share a bond that they though would lead them to one woman however both of them married other women and did find any joy in it. Matt knows Cass is the one but not only does he need to convince David he needs to convince Cass. Cass still isn't sure if she is ready to start any thing with a man and to top it all off they are younger than her she thinks that they should have a real shot a love and family not be tied down to an older woman like herself. This is a great book about falling in love and finding that there can be a happy ending instead of pain