Luscious Beginnings (Love in Luscious, Kansas #1) by Mia Ashlinn (3 Stars)

Luscious Beginnings [Love in Luscious, Kansas 1] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting ManLove) - Mia Ashlinn

Three sexy men, best friends and sometimes more, must decide if they can take their relationship to the highest level.

 

Sam Carrington, Brett Monroe and Ethan Bartlett have been best friends forever. One day, for no apparent reason, Sam disappears without trace. Ethan and Brett would do anything to find Sam, fix the problem, and get their friendship back on track. If that friendship turns into something more, well then life will be even that much better. However, after finding Sam, the guys realize that the issues they need to address before getting their happy ending are much deeper than they realized. Fortunately, they are surrounded by a lot of friends and nosy neighbors that want to see the three of them get together.

 

The author did a nice job making sure each of the characters gave us his perspective. All of the characters were unique and felt different. I really liked that they had some lengthy scenes at the beginning of the story from their viewpoints. I thought it really helped as the story moved forward, and the changes took place more quickly. Ethan is the bad boy who appears to in control of everything, but he’s really just a sweet and sensitive guy. Sam is a nice guy who is very confused about what he wants in life. Brett is the strongest of the three and isn’t afraid to go for what he really wants. Their friend Brooklyn is a physic who continues to encourage them to move forward with their relationship based on her visions. Other friends and family make appearances to also encourage the three men to admit to their feelings. Watching them work through their emotional issues while living their lives in towns like Serenity and Luscious was nice, and the banter between the characters was fun. I also liked that the few sex scenes were very instrumental to the plot.

 

My only issue was that I found the writing style to be somewhat confusing. Since all of the characters were keeping their real feelings hidden for most of the book and not really explaining themselves even during their inner monologues, I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening. It was almost written as a mystery novel with the motives behind their behavior hidden until later in the story.

 

Readers of Mia Ashlinn’s earlier works will recognize some of the characters making enjoyable guest appearances, but those new to her writing can read this as a stand-alone. There is a lovely happy ending along with a nice epilogue, and the promise of the next book in the series, “Their Luscious Dream”, taking this relationship one step further. This was a sexy love story with some real angst where I found myself rooting for these friends to find true happiness.

 

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Copy provided by author/publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Source: http://kindleromancereviews.com/2014/05/09/luscious-beginnings-love-in-luscious-kansas-1-by-mia-ashlinn-3-stars