Review of Playing the Game by M.Q. Barber

Playing the Game by M.Q. Barber

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Now THAT is how you write a menage!

The MFM is one of my favorite erotica subjects to read; throw in a little BDSM and a bit (or a lot) of MM play and you have the recipe for a potentially great read. And while the last few ménages I've read have been good reads, Ms. Barber combined all of my favorite ingredients and produced a stellar read, at least for me it was.

I did not connect with the characters in Playing the Game, I fell in love with them. Henry, our professorial dominant, is not described as having the physically overwhelming presence of the alpha males I've come to associate with a Dom, yet I found him to be just as affecting and maybe even more so as he uses his voice, experience, and commanding presence to dominate his partners; do not interpret my use of the term professorial to mean that Henry is lacking physically because the man is clearly hot, it is used rather to illustrate his personality. Then we have the delightfully entertaining Jay, a compulsive flirt that every girl should be lucky enough have in her life if only the world were truly fair (thank goodness we have books to rectify that). Finally, we have Alice ... Alice you lucky, lucky girl.

These characters came to life for me and I was so invested in their relationship and interactions that I was suddenly at the end of the book and, BAM, it was over. And this is my only complaint about Playing the Game. There was no winding down of the story, no indication that the end was near, but rather I turned the page expecting the start of a new chapter and instead found that the book had ended and done so rather abruptly. Had I not picked this book up in order to read & review its sequel, I would have been quite upset as there is no indication that there is more to this trio's story. Would this have changed my rating? Probably not, as Playing the Game has been added to my reread list ... the characters are wonderfully written, the book is mesmerizing, and the sex is HAWT!

This is a VERY well written ménage and I am looking forward to the sequel, as well as reading more by this author. Thank you Ms. Barber for writing a book that I can add to my "go to" list when I need a ménage read.



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