Sandy M’s review of Retreat From Love (Brothers in Arms, Book 5) by Samantha Kane
Historical Erotic Romance released by Ellora’s Cave 21 May 09
Samantha Kane is a new author for me, having read only one or two of her books so far. The only other book in this series I’ve read and reviewed is At Love’s Command, which I loved. Ms. Kane is one of very few authors who writes a great ménage that I end up liking. And while I enjoyed most of the love scenes in this book, there’s a couple that didn’t work for me, but mostly it’s the emotion that I got in ALC that this story lacked.
The three characters in this book are tied together by Bertie, former Duke of Ashland and former fiance of the heroine, Anne. Freddy is Bertie’s younger brother and the current Duke. Brett served in the war with Bertie and they were the best of friends. Anne and Freddy became friends when they were quite young, but because Freddy’s mother always whisked him off to England for some unknown reason, they didn’t spend a lot of time together and even less time as they grew older. Brett has loved Anne for years now, having fallen for her through her letters to Bertie during their military service. Freddy has been Brett’s constant companion during his convalescence since he returned from the war, loves him wholeheartedly, but Brett refuses to act such on emotion due to Freddy’s age.
I really liked all three of these characters. Anne’s reputation has been ruined — she likes sex and now goes for it when she can — she knows what she wants and doesn’t take guff from anyone. Freddy is the tender one of the three, he loves both Anne and Brett and wants to give them everything. Brett is the oldest and has a hard time accepting anything that would be good for himself, he carries around such guilt. He’s, of course, the longest holdout in this threesome until he finally works everything else out in his head to the ultimate conclusion that he does deserve happiness.
Since they want each other to be happy, Freddy and Brett have the idea they will fix Anne up with the other, so they work at cross purposes for a bit, but when Anne decides she wants them both, they don’t have a chance, though they keep trying to marry her off to the other man, which means then that the one left will have to move on. Before too long, however, they have come together and the love and sex is unbelievable and just so-so for me depending on where I was in the book.
There’s a daydream sequence that each of the characters go through, the next one picking up where the previous left off to continue the sexual fantasy they all have about each other. This just didn’t work for me. It went on way too long and I’d rather have had them all together actually doing these things to each other instead of them imagining it all. There is another scene involving a piano that seemed rather silly to me, Freddy’s idea of making music with sex. The intensity that’s always in Ms. Kane’s love scenes was there, but I just kept thinking how uncomfortable that has to be, whether they’re all hot and bothered or not.
There are some terrific scenes between Freddy and Brett late in the book once Brett allows himself to love and have Freddy. And this is why I like Ms. Kane’s writing. The emotion in these scenes are simply wonderful. And that’s why I usually don’t like m/m scenes and/or storylines, the author just doesn’t give me enough emotion. This author, however, has a way with them. In fact, I felt more emotion in those particular scenes than most of the other scenes involving Anne. They’re that well done. And I was a little sad those other scenes didn’t quite measure up to Ms. Kane’s usual fare for me.
Each of these three people come into their own by the end of the book and that makes their relationship that much sweeter when all is said and done. There’s plenty of last-minute problems and issues that come up to perhaps eternally mar their happiness, but once they’ve discovered their love for one another, they let nothing stand in their way. A satisfying read with a couple of issues for me, but still a great job by Ms. Kane
Grade: B-
Summary:
Read Shannon C’s review here.
A man with everything except his heart’s desire.
Frederick Thorne, Duke of Ashland, has been in love with Brett Haversham for years. If the only way to have him is to give him what he wants Freddy will share him, in bed and out, with the woman Brett loves. The woman who was Freddy’s first love.
A man sacrificing everything for the past.
Brett Haversham is in love with two people he’s sworn never to touch. But his desires prove to be stronger than his resolve when they both set out to seduce him—together. The incredible sex they share overwhelms him.
A woman with nothing left to lose.
Anne Goode lost her fiancé Bertie in the war. Now his younger brother Freddy is back, all grown up into the handsome and powerful duke. And he’s brought Bertie’s best friend Brett with him. Lonely and already ruined, Anne can’t resist taking both of them as her lovers. Is the uncontrollable desire between the three enough to heal the wounds of the past and overcome the problems of the present? They must accept love rather than retreat from it.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
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