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yazaleea's review
3.0
3.75 stars, LMFAO I didn’t expect to like this one, I was just reading it for Marsh, a final step before starting the Dead Draw series where he is a MC, but I think this ended up one of my favourite books from the author yet??
Secrets and regrets have kept FBI Agent Sean Hale from the only two people he ever loved, but when a serial murder brings him back to the town he left years ago, he has to face his feelings for Charlie and Trevor… and keep them safe.
This is told from all three POVs and the relationship was v sweet and hot, I liked their chemistry, I love poly, and I really enjoyed it here. It was so clear how they all equal,y cared and loved each other, the intimacy and the banter and the comfort was so nice.
The case, for ONCE, was not an overcomplicated convoluted mess, it was pretty straightforward which I appreciated, but the reveal was too underwhelming. The red herrings were great, but the actual culprit kind of came out of nowhere, the story never gave us the hints to figure it out, preferring to throw false leads instead and I thought that was a shame.
Marsh, my sweet, pathetic baby, was here too, in love with another emotionally unavailable man who had been pining for his exes for years… I am finally getting to his book now, and I am so excited I hope I won’t be disappointed.
But yes, this was a surprise, I didn’t expect to enjoy this and the relationship really worked for me, I liked all three of them. A lot of things did not make sense, like the whole reason they separated and the reason they went no contact and never cleared up the original misunderstanding, but i can’t have everything all the time :,))
Secrets and regrets have kept FBI Agent Sean Hale from the only two people he ever loved, but when a serial murder brings him back to the town he left years ago, he has to face his feelings for Charlie and Trevor… and keep them safe.
This is told from all three POVs and the relationship was v sweet and hot, I liked their chemistry, I love poly, and I really enjoyed it here. It was so clear how they all equal,y cared and loved each other, the intimacy and the banter and the comfort was so nice.
The case, for ONCE, was not an overcomplicated convoluted mess, it was pretty straightforward which I appreciated, but the reveal was too underwhelming. The red herrings were great, but the actual culprit kind of came out of nowhere, the story never gave us the hints to figure it out, preferring to throw false leads instead and I thought that was a shame.
Marsh, my sweet, pathetic baby, was here too, in love with another emotionally unavailable man who had been pining for his exes for years… I am finally getting to his book now, and I am so excited I hope I won’t be disappointed.
But yes, this was a surprise, I didn’t expect to enjoy this and the relationship really worked for me, I liked all three of them. A lot of things did not make sense, like the whole reason they separated and the reason they went no contact and never cleared up the original misunderstanding, but i can’t have everything all the time :,))
t4m4r4p's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
jennifox's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
genesisrruell's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Loved the characters and the storyline
bee_thebibliophile's review
4.0
What We May Be was my first read by Layla Reyne and it won’t be my last. Sean, Trevor and Charlie have a lot of history, but haven’t been all together for years. But crimes and murders bring them back together in their small beach town to solve the mysteries and figure out how to be together.
Sean disappeared years ago with no explanation and established himself as an FBI agent doing overseas missions, but he’s hiding something from Trevor and Charlie - the real reason he left and why he stayed away. Charlie is a deputy with the local police department - she’s ruthless, smart and great at her job but she’s also interested in moving up to the FBI after her father and brother are killed in the line of duty. Trevor is an English Literature professor at the local university who has been denied tenure so is planning to move on and he’s divorced. The three of them were in a relationship together in college but on the day Sean and Charlie graduated from police academy, everything changed, pulling them apart and making things complicated between Charlie and Trevor who were left behind.
The three of them work really well when they’re all together and each of the individual relationships between them (Sean/Trevor, Sean/Charlie, Charlie/Trevor) are so unique and I loved how fleshed out they were. Even though it had been years since they’d been together, their knowledge of each other and their true understanding of their motivations and needs really helped progress the story. I would have liked to see more of their relationship and less of the mystery, but that’s just me - always wanting more romance!
I feel like the romance story line kind of took a backseat to the mystery - I was so much more interested in solving the mystery and putting together the clues than I was with their relationship about halfway through the story. There were multiple mysteries to solve at the same time and piecing together all of the different clues and layers for each of them - trying to put it all together definitely keeps you on your toes. So many twists and turns...just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, there’s more!
Overall, I think this was a really good read. Sean, Trevor and Charlie together were a force to be reckoned with and the mystery kept me on my toes! Now keeping my fingers crossed for Marsh to find his HEA next.
Sean disappeared years ago with no explanation and established himself as an FBI agent doing overseas missions, but he’s hiding something from Trevor and Charlie - the real reason he left and why he stayed away. Charlie is a deputy with the local police department - she’s ruthless, smart and great at her job but she’s also interested in moving up to the FBI after her father and brother are killed in the line of duty. Trevor is an English Literature professor at the local university who has been denied tenure so is planning to move on and he’s divorced. The three of them were in a relationship together in college but on the day Sean and Charlie graduated from police academy, everything changed, pulling them apart and making things complicated between Charlie and Trevor who were left behind.
The three of them work really well when they’re all together and each of the individual relationships between them (Sean/Trevor, Sean/Charlie, Charlie/Trevor) are so unique and I loved how fleshed out they were. Even though it had been years since they’d been together, their knowledge of each other and their true understanding of their motivations and needs really helped progress the story. I would have liked to see more of their relationship and less of the mystery, but that’s just me - always wanting more romance!
I feel like the romance story line kind of took a backseat to the mystery - I was so much more interested in solving the mystery and putting together the clues than I was with their relationship about halfway through the story. There were multiple mysteries to solve at the same time and piecing together all of the different clues and layers for each of them - trying to put it all together definitely keeps you on your toes. So many twists and turns...just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, there’s more!
Overall, I think this was a really good read. Sean, Trevor and Charlie together were a force to be reckoned with and the mystery kept me on my toes! Now keeping my fingers crossed for Marsh to find his HEA next.
theeclecticreview's review
4.0
I've read many second chance romances and was impressed with this engrossing murder case intertwined with the protagonists.
FBI Agent Sean Hale is back in Hanover, North Carolina after a decade. The town he left because of loyalty and obligation. The town he left with so much regret and heartache for the loss of the two people he left behind. Now he's back to solve a murder connected to those two people he betrayed so long ago. Will they accept his apology and give him a second chance?
Professor Trevor Caldwell and Deputy Chief Charlotte "Charlie" are best friends and family. When Sean left them on that fateful night when all hell broke loose, they felt aimless and incomplete without him. So they tried to get on with their lives to no avail. Now Sean has returned and tensions are high. First, they have to solve a serial murder case that is eerily connected with that night ten years ago. The night Charlie was attacked, the night Charlie's mother died, the night Sean left them. Secondly, they have to address the elephant in the room and open up about the past. Will they be able to forgive Sean and heal together?
Sean, Trevor, and Charlie have a unique and loving relationship that only works when all three are together. Trevor and Charlie could not be a couple without their missing link, Sean, so they settled for best friends. Trevor's concern and protectiveness for Charlie are understandable when Sean comes back, but Trevor is just as hurt which he displays in anger toward Sean. Charlie has lost a lot of family and with Sean's return, he has brought back heartache and perhaps some semblance of hope. The chemistry between all of them is still there as the three finally tell the truth about everything that happened that heartbreaking night and make a promise to fight for what they may be.
In the meantime, they work together to find a serial killer who is murdering seemingly random people until the victims connect to Charlie's family. The twists and turns in the murder mystery are frustrating and surprising as the reader is dragged into a killer's Shakespearean obsession to get revenge for betrayals, deceptions, and infidelities from the past.
I recommend this intriguing and startling romantic suspense involving a delusional killer and three lovers determined to protect and fight for each other and finally have a happily ever after.
Thank you to Ms. Reyne for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.
FBI Agent Sean Hale is back in Hanover, North Carolina after a decade. The town he left because of loyalty and obligation. The town he left with so much regret and heartache for the loss of the two people he left behind. Now he's back to solve a murder connected to those two people he betrayed so long ago. Will they accept his apology and give him a second chance?
Professor Trevor Caldwell and Deputy Chief Charlotte "Charlie" are best friends and family. When Sean left them on that fateful night when all hell broke loose, they felt aimless and incomplete without him. So they tried to get on with their lives to no avail. Now Sean has returned and tensions are high. First, they have to solve a serial murder case that is eerily connected with that night ten years ago. The night Charlie was attacked, the night Charlie's mother died, the night Sean left them. Secondly, they have to address the elephant in the room and open up about the past. Will they be able to forgive Sean and heal together?
Sean, Trevor, and Charlie have a unique and loving relationship that only works when all three are together. Trevor and Charlie could not be a couple without their missing link, Sean, so they settled for best friends. Trevor's concern and protectiveness for Charlie are understandable when Sean comes back, but Trevor is just as hurt which he displays in anger toward Sean. Charlie has lost a lot of family and with Sean's return, he has brought back heartache and perhaps some semblance of hope. The chemistry between all of them is still there as the three finally tell the truth about everything that happened that heartbreaking night and make a promise to fight for what they may be.
In the meantime, they work together to find a serial killer who is murdering seemingly random people until the victims connect to Charlie's family. The twists and turns in the murder mystery are frustrating and surprising as the reader is dragged into a killer's Shakespearean obsession to get revenge for betrayals, deceptions, and infidelities from the past.
I recommend this intriguing and startling romantic suspense involving a delusional killer and three lovers determined to protect and fight for each other and finally have a happily ever after.
Thank you to Ms. Reyne for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.
heabooknerd's review
2.0
I have such mixed feelings about WHAT WE MAY BE and ultimately it felt too uneven and too many things didn't make sense. On a positive note, the writing was very easy to read and I liked Sean, Trevor, and Charlie as individual characters. They each bring a little something different to the relationship and they were each fairly distinctive characters. However, their romance was definitely second tier to the murder mystery and left the overall pacing of the book feeling off. Things start off with a steamy reconnection between all three and then nothing else happens between them until almost 40%, not even a kiss. And most of their respective POV chapters aren't really even focused on their attraction or their longing for each other. After 40% the relationship has a few token moments but again, those moments get pretty overwhelmed by new clues or developments in the case.
A large factor in my lower rating is that there were too many things that didn't make any sense, especially in regards to how their initial breakup happened 10 years prior. Why would Sean give his new police badge, the necklace Charlie gifted him, and his engagement ring to a third party (trying not to spoil things) just because he had to rush out of town? And I'm supposed to believe that these three deeply passionate and in love people never tried to fight for each other? That hotheaded Trevor never decided to call and confront Sean about his supposed abandonment. Yeah no, Trevor would definitely not pass up a moment to yell at Sean for being stupid, if not for himself, then certainly for Charlie's sake.
Additionally, everyone talks about how Charlie is this great detective but she hardly does any police work, Sean (who's not even there in an official capacity) takes over most of her suspect interviews and Trevor (who isn't even a cop) is the one who figures out most of the clues and connections left by the killer. And the thing that really blew my mind, Sean's FBI friend Marsh illegally hacks into a suspect's phone records while in the police station, with the full knowledge of several cops including Charlie who is the Deputy Chef and no one seems to think for a second this is a bad idea?? The only reason they have to arrest this suspect is a single piece of evidence they found after being granted a search warrant that is based on illegally obtained information. I don't usually nitpick police procedure in romance books but this was so blatantly illegal and incorrect that I just couldn't get past it.
Throw in some unnecessary angst with Trevor's ex-wife who hates Charlie, an unusually large secondary cast that are too interconnected, a secret about Charlie's mother that a surprising number of people seem to know about, and the last 10% that rushes through like four different possible suspects and WHAT WE MAY BE just didn't work for me. I probably should have DNFed earlier on but I wanted to know who the killer was so here we are.
Content Warning: book starts with a funeral for Charlie's father and brother; Sean's adoptive father is dying of cancer; reference to a side character's overdose and possible attempted suicide; frequent references to Charlie's mother's death years prior
A large factor in my lower rating is that there were too many things that didn't make any sense, especially in regards to how their initial breakup happened 10 years prior. Why would Sean give his new police badge, the necklace Charlie gifted him, and his engagement ring to a third party (trying not to spoil things) just because he had to rush out of town? And I'm supposed to believe that these three deeply passionate and in love people never tried to fight for each other? That hotheaded Trevor never decided to call and confront Sean about his supposed abandonment. Yeah no, Trevor would definitely not pass up a moment to yell at Sean for being stupid, if not for himself, then certainly for Charlie's sake.
Additionally, everyone talks about how Charlie is this great detective but she hardly does any police work, Sean (who's not even there in an official capacity) takes over most of her suspect interviews and Trevor (who isn't even a cop) is the one who figures out most of the clues and connections left by the killer. And the thing that really blew my mind, Sean's FBI friend Marsh illegally hacks into a suspect's phone records while in the police station, with the full knowledge of several cops including Charlie who is the Deputy Chef and no one seems to think for a second this is a bad idea?? The only reason they have to arrest this suspect is a single piece of evidence they found after being granted a search warrant that is based on illegally obtained information. I don't usually nitpick police procedure in romance books but this was so blatantly illegal and incorrect that I just couldn't get past it.
Throw in some unnecessary angst with Trevor's ex-wife who hates Charlie, an unusually large secondary cast that are too interconnected, a secret about Charlie's mother that a surprising number of people seem to know about, and the last 10% that rushes through like four different possible suspects and WHAT WE MAY BE just didn't work for me. I probably should have DNFed earlier on but I wanted to know who the killer was so here we are.
Content Warning: book starts with a funeral for Charlie's father and brother; Sean's adoptive father is dying of cancer; reference to a side character's overdose and possible attempted suicide; frequent references to Charlie's mother's death years prior
1bookobsessionconfessions's review
4.0
4.25 STARS
I love that this book featured a poly relationship and also had a murder mystery and suspense happening.
It made the story even more than just about the romance and sex.
I liked the combination a lot. I love hot and sexy, no complaints there.
I wasn’t expecting the mystery to play such a big part so it was a nice surprise.
I like all the characters both primary and secondary.
The emotions are there with the characters, the chemistry definitely is, too.
There’s some very hot scenes, I thought they were steamy, sexy and emotional.
I will say that the sex is not the major focus of the story though.
The emotional damage from the past is. The current mixed feelings the characters are having is.
And there’s a serial killer that’s tightly connected to the characters. This plays a big part in the story.
At one point I thought I guessed the killer, I was bummed thinking I would now be bored with the story.I was also wrong! Then, I thought I knew who it was again… you guessed it! I was wrong again.
I was on the edge of my seat until the reveal.
The mystery was very entertaining and I like how it played out.
The romance was a little lacking in enough of a -show me way- but,the emotional was there. And it was hot and spicy.
I enjoyed the story really well overall.
I love that this book featured a poly relationship and also had a murder mystery and suspense happening.
It made the story even more than just about the romance and sex.
I liked the combination a lot. I love hot and sexy, no complaints there.
I wasn’t expecting the mystery to play such a big part so it was a nice surprise.
I like all the characters both primary and secondary.
The emotions are there with the characters, the chemistry definitely is, too.
There’s some very hot scenes, I thought they were steamy, sexy and emotional.
I will say that the sex is not the major focus of the story though.
The emotional damage from the past is. The current mixed feelings the characters are having is.
And there’s a serial killer that’s tightly connected to the characters. This plays a big part in the story.
At one point I thought I guessed the killer, I was bummed thinking I would now be bored with the story.I was also wrong! Then, I thought I knew who it was again… you guessed it! I was wrong again.
I was on the edge of my seat until the reveal.
The mystery was very entertaining and I like how it played out.
The romance was a little lacking in enough of a -show me way- but,the emotional was there. And it was hot and spicy.
I enjoyed the story really well overall.
kaydanielsromance's review
5.0
I love cross-genre reading, especially cross-genre reading that is done well. What We May Be is a crime mystery, MMF romance that kept me on the edge of my seat and completely blew my mind on the twist of an ending. A total, "I did not see that coming", flew out of my mouth which makes the best mystery books. Add in the sensual side of this already great plot and I was a total goner.
Trevor, Sean, and Charlotte live in a small, university town and while they all fell in love with one another back in college, Sean left shortly after devastating the other two. Trevor and Charlie remained best friends, but never took their relationship to the love affair it was without Sean in the mix. Sean now returns after a decade gone to consult on a current murder case, but he only plans to stay in town for as long as the case takes. Trevor and Charlie are willing to have his help as long as it takes to catch the killer, but they can't take the hurt of him leaving again. Lines are drawn, but slowly erased as things heat up both in the case and the past is revealed, but could it be too late to save what they could have had?
Every layer unfolds in the best thriller kind of way. Solving the case takes everyone's talents and with a killer on the loose no one appears to be safe. I loved all the twisty bends and details added to make this suspenseful and emotional all at the same time.
Waaaaaay back in the day I was a mystery fanatic and this brought me back to a time when I devoured that genre, but those didn't contain the romance aspect I am addicted to now. What We May Be contained both of those ingredients along with lots of tropes I really love in the reading world. This book is an excellent read, especially if you love reading thrilling books with spicy love scenes splashed in every so often.
Trevor, Sean, and Charlotte live in a small, university town and while they all fell in love with one another back in college, Sean left shortly after devastating the other two. Trevor and Charlie remained best friends, but never took their relationship to the love affair it was without Sean in the mix. Sean now returns after a decade gone to consult on a current murder case, but he only plans to stay in town for as long as the case takes. Trevor and Charlie are willing to have his help as long as it takes to catch the killer, but they can't take the hurt of him leaving again. Lines are drawn, but slowly erased as things heat up both in the case and the past is revealed, but could it be too late to save what they could have had?
Every layer unfolds in the best thriller kind of way. Solving the case takes everyone's talents and with a killer on the loose no one appears to be safe. I loved all the twisty bends and details added to make this suspenseful and emotional all at the same time.
Waaaaaay back in the day I was a mystery fanatic and this brought me back to a time when I devoured that genre, but those didn't contain the romance aspect I am addicted to now. What We May Be contained both of those ingredients along with lots of tropes I really love in the reading world. This book is an excellent read, especially if you love reading thrilling books with spicy love scenes splashed in every so often.