Rhett Solomon and Ethan Mallory have been together for ten years and much like in many relationships, the baggage has built up to the point where they were seriously thinking of ending it. They've grown apart, started wanting different things, sniping and yelling at each other so the decision to end it was staring them in the face. Unfortunately, they can't afford to sell the home they have together, and neither can afford the mortgage alone, so they're stuck as roommates. With them both in a hurry to pay down the mortgage as much as possible they advertise to rent the third bedroom out. The guy answering their ad was Kieran Frost, twenty-five and a bartender at a dance club in Seattle. He's recently moved to the area after his relationship ended and he wants nothing to do with starting anything serious. I was all prepared to not like Kieran. I had already pictured him as some slutty guy who would play these guys off of each other and create jealousy, when in fact, he isn't a jerk at all. So, Rhett and Ethan are bouncing around the question..."what do you do when your long-term relationship is over, but it hasn't really ended because you're still faced with each other day in and day out?" The addition of a third person into this household gives Rhett and Ethan breathing space from each other which, in turn, allows them to relive memories both good and bad. To remember all the things that they had almost forgotten about each other and why they fell in love. It's not all serious relationship drama in this story though. It came as no surprise that something was going to have to give, and Rhett and Ethan were going to have to get to the bottom of all their original issues and put everything on the table. I felt sorry for Kieran being caught in the middle. I really liked this book...of course I love L.A. Witt so I like almost anything she would write. This story will make you stop and think about what the really important things are in a relationship and the obvious two... love, and honest communication of both the bad and the good. Now I have to find Kieran's story. ( )

First, this is a "couple separated, using a third to feel better" story. There are some lessons here for the attentive, about respect and particularly about pushing for communication. Being a third is its own set of challenges, including demanding respect and consideration. I think the author handled the dynamics well. That's why I wanted to enjoy this more than I did.

I finished it because it entertained me enough. Central is Rhett's difficulties with communication, an aspect of successful relationships no matter what the configuration. Ethan and particularly Kieran had all my sympathy, as I'm sure the author intended. The plot was great, the tensions came through clearly. However, Rhett's inner dialogue is written as telling, telling, telling far more than we see him act out. Showing is, or can be, more subtle. It assumes the reader is paying attention, and that's a compliment. There are also two chapters that start by restating what the previous chapter ended with - an editing error, I assume.

I did like the evolutions in their sex scenes, and I did like how the story ended. That last bit's important. :) ( )

Nothing is happening here ... except sex. ( )

After being in a relationship for a decade, Ethan and Rhett are over. But there's a slight complication: they can't sell the house they purchased together until they pay down the mortgage a bit. So they're stuck living together even though they're no longer involved. But to speed up the process of paying the mortgage, they agree to rent out a room, and they're surprised (and feel quite lucky) to get someone like Kieran as the renter. Kieran is a bartender at one of the hottest bars in town, and it isn't long before both Ethan and Rhett move in. Neither Ethan nor Rhett can fault the other, and Kieran doesn't seem bothered to be spending time with each of them. And then Ethan announces that he's interviewing for a job back home in Toronto, and the delicate balance that has built in the house just might topple over.

This was definitely a unique story--I don't read many where the relationship is over before the book even starts. But despite not actually seeing the breakup on the page, readers should have no trouble picking up the emotions, the angst, and the complications that exist between these two. And, thankfully, it's not exactly a predictable story, either. I found myself wanting to yell at the characters several times--especially Rhett--but they were all absolutely endearing at the same time. If you like your romance stories with a little more than the average complexity (with full knowledge that it also equates to some extra steaminess), this one is definitely for you. ( )

SPOILERS!

This book surprised me, because I was expecting a regular this-is-how-you-make-a-threesome-work book. This is not what this book is about at all.

Ethan and Rhett have been together for ten years before calling it quits. Throughout most of the book we are not told anything about why they've broken up, only that they've had a rough couple of years and that they've drifted apart so much during those years that now they can't stand to be in the same room without bickering.
So, since they have no other option than to live in the same house until they manage to pay their mortgage off, they get a roommate - Kieran - to hopefully speed things up a bit with the extra cash. Both Ethan and Rhett set their sights on Kieran, and Kieran sets his sights on both of them. At first, Kieran has sex with each of them separately. The book is in Rhett's POV only, so we see him struggle to lie to himself - he isn't jealous, he doesn't care about Ethan anymore etc etc - and we get more of the same when all three of them have sex together. Until about 75% mark, the story is a series of ridiculously hot but increasingly repetitive sex scenes with brief interludes of three guys not talking to each other and Rhett's inner angst. And then Ethan and Rhett finally friggin' talk to each other it turned out they ended breaking up after ten years because of - surprise, surprise - their lack of communication.

So, to sum it up, I didn't like this book
- because I was assuming all three of them will end up together romantically, it bothered me how focused on each other Ethan and Rhett were
- because I only saw Ethan and Rhett after they've already broken up, I wasn't really invested in them getting back together
- the not talking thing was driving me mad
- when I finally got the explanation for how they ended breaking up I was a bit underwhelmed because of all of the above

But on the positive side:
- despite my rant, I liked that the book went in a direction I wasn't expecting at all
- the sex scenes, though they did threaten to bore me, were seriously smokin' hot
- there's a prequel story about how Ethan and Rhett first met and fell in love. I'd rather it was included as part of this book, but the important thing is that it exists! ( )