3 by Jacob Z. Flores

[reviews_and_ramblings]

The first thing I noticed of this book was how sexy the cover was. When I was browsing the author’s website, I read how the author’s mother was reading this novel (in print) in a doctor’s waiting room, and some other lady commented on the cover and she proudly said it was her son’s novel. I thought that was sweet but I also thought how daring! With that very sexy, and very male on male cover. Good for her and good for her son to have such a mother. In any case I had the feeling this novel was pushing the boundaries of erotica, and that was a wrong impression. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there is sex in the story, and it’s a ménages a trois, already a daring subject per se, but sincerely the erotica part of the story is not the main purpose of the novel.

We have three men, long term couple Justin and Spencer, and third man Dutch. Already like that it doesn’t sound good for Dutch, moreover if you considered that Justin was cheating on Spencer; and even if, in the end, he broke with Dutch to be faithful to Spencer, considering the fact that Spencer is HIV positive since his previous boyfriend cheated on him, it doesn’t look good for Justin. The fact is that, for how much I wanted to hate Justin, or Dutch, or even Spencer, I didn’t find a good reason for doing so. And truth be told, while Justin is the cheating man, I found that also Spencer had his own faults, above all not being able to be totally open with Justin, he still maintain a layer of protection around his heart. Dutch on the other hand is totally bared, at the third bad breakup, and not able to bear one more. If I have to be sincere, of all of them, I have probably a soft spot for Dutch, he seemed to be the more fragile.

The narrative style is quite complex, alternating chapters of flashbacks and present day, and basically they are two novel in one: how Spencer and Justin met, and what happened after the initially happily ever after (that in the end was not so “happily”). What I liked is that, indeed, it described something real, ordinary: it’s not that Spencer and Justin not love each other anymore, but they need to learn how to live together, matching needs and desires, career and relationship.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3286

Amazon: 3
Amazon Kindle: 3
Paperback: 340 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (October 15, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613727739
ISBN-13: 978-1613727737

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading+list&view=elisa.rolle