A review by michellesantiago
Three Guilty Pleasures by Nikki Sloane

4.0

Originally posted on Undeniably Book Nerdy book blog

Trust Nikki Sloane to take me out of my reading comfort zone yet I thoroughly enjoy myself. For the longest time, I have avoided romance novels involving threesomes/ménage à trois--just plain not my cup of tea. Yet, here I am having just read Three Guilty Pleasures and absolutely enjoyed it.

If you're not familiar with Nikki Sloane's Blindfold Club series, all the books are connected stand-alones that revolve around the Blindfold Club, an exclusive high end brothel. Three Guilty Pleasures is the sixth book in the series--if you're a long-time fan of the series, you're going to get a kick of seeing quite a few of the previous couples/characters in this book as secondary characters playing significant roles. I have not read any of the other books in the series so I didn't have the connection with these characters, but I liked them for what they brought to the story.

Now, I'm not suddenly gonna go out and get my hands on all the romance novels with threesomes/ménage à trois in them--I am still quite firm on the fact that they're not my cup of tea. Three Guilty Pleasures (or maybe Ms. Sloane's novels? I may have to pick up another book in the Blindfold series to decide) was most definitely an exception.

From my previous experience (before I ultimately DNF'd the book), whenever there's some kind of threesome involved between the main couple and a third party, it more than likely evolves into some kind of emotional cheating and jealousy and the scenes are so sleazy and trashy that they make me want to take a shower after reading it. It's not a good time.

I was so sure I was going to DNF Three Guilty Pleasures for its ménage elements alone, but imagine my surprise when I was riveted to Tara and Grant's story and I couldn't put the book down. IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!! For long-time fans of the series, I guess Tara have been around for a while because she's connected to many of the other characters in previous books and Grant also appeared previously. I love Tara so much! She doesn't go shouting it from the rooftops, but she was not ashamed of who she was and what she does and what makes her feel good. Grant wasn't at her level of cool, but he was great too and together they were AMAZING, especially when they meld their talents together.

From the moment these two literally fell into each other, their chemistry was instantaneous and I was hooked. I loved the two of them together and it killed me because, unbeknownst to them, they were moving to the nail biting moment when shit will hit fan and ultimately break my babies up.

It's a given that every book in the Blindfold Club series will contain a ménage scene(s) and we get it here and we get it quite early. But, unlike my previous experiences with this dreaded trope, Ms. Sloane wrote it in to enhance the plot and/or the characters. The big scene in the end where there was a crowd of participants, we never lost sight of the main couple--despite what was happening and who was calling the shots, Tara and Grant remained at center stage and nothing felt cheap or sleazy.

My only complaint was that the ending felt rushed. I wanted an extended chapter of my babies just together and being happy. I also had questions in the end that didn't get fully answered on the page--like, what is Tara's future with the club? With Regan and Silas? Did she win Dance Dreams?

If you're a fan of the Blindfold Club series, Three Guilty Pleasures is a MUST-read! If you're new to the series like me or if you're wanting to delve into ménage, Three Guilty Pleasures is a good place to start as any. If ménage is an absolute deal breaker for you, Nikki Sloane also wrote a delicious hate-to-love NA book called Rivalry that I highly recommend!