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Opal Carew slaps together beaucoup ménages à trois and an incidental plot to create second chance romance Stroke of Luck. An enthusiastic reader of polyamorous relationships, I was disappointed by Carew’s lack of imagination in and out of the bedroom, by the male protagonists – a predator and his accomplice – and the milquetoast heroine.
On the evening before her swanky Las Vegas wedding, April Smith catches her rich and powerful fiancé in flagrante delicto and breaks their engagement. Her ex, Maurice, a villain of the mustache-twirling variety, immediately sticks April with an exorbitant hotel bill, terminates her job working with his company, and influences the bank to call in the loan on her townhouse. He also enlists the help of hotel staff in collecting items that he has gifted to her, such as luggage, designer clothes (including panties), and jewelry. Luckily, April runs into her college ex-boyfriend, Quinn, whose heart she broke, but who still cares for her. Luckily, Quinn is a wealthy tech bazillionaire. He gives April a place to stay in Vegas, helps her to overcome her short-lived destitution, and buys her new panties. Intent on settling her debts, April offers to reimburse Quinn, but he refuses her money. So, Quinn and April, who are still hot for each other, agree on a repayment plan in which April must do everything that Quinn wants for one month. This includes threesomes with Quinn and his best friend and wealthy tech business partner, Austin. April’s love for Quinn resurfaces while she also develops feelings for Austin. Polyamory ensues!
Stroke of Luck contains just enough story to kill time between sex fests, which are somewhat titillating, but ultimately repetitive. The love story between April and Quinn and Austin is barely believable. Had the third-person PoV not changed as frequently and had the protagonists possessed more depth of emotion, then a more heartfelt romance could have emerged.
Carew’s lovers are neither endearing, nor particularly sympathetic. Twenty-something April is an emotionally vulnerable character whose melodramatic backstory explains some of her co-dependent decisions, but not enough for her to be totally likable. Her constant ‘deer caught in headlights’ reactions play into a sexualized innocence that is uncomfortable to read. Bossy alpha Quinn is determined to resist falling for April, but he is even more determined to satisfy his unfulfilled lust for her. His harsh demeanor and guarded personality do not belie an honorable man with a heart of gold. Austin is the ‘good cop’ to Quinn’s ‘bad cop.’ He is gentle and kind in a way that almost seems too good to be true, and is railroaded by Quinn into honoring April and Quinn’s group sex agreement. Since Austin is a good sport, he takes one for the team (*eye roll*).
I rolled the dice on Opal Carew’s Stroke of Luck and lost. But, if you are in the mood for M/F/M sex without the distraction of an engaging plot, then maybe give this novel a read.
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Grade: D
Book Type: Erotic Romance
Sensuality: Burning
Review Date: 03/12/20
Publication Date: 12/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
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Ahh, for a well-balanced ménage. I’m going to read DDD’s rec below.
Yes, good plan!
Thanks for the fun review, Liz. Oh, dear. It sounds like this story just barely holds together.
Ménages are tricky to pull off, so I’ll give the author props for that. Each person you add to a relationship and/or sex scene increases the level of unwieldiness. One of the challenges of writing a threesome (or moresome!) is making sure none of the characters get left out during the scene or just sort of disappear. Everyone has to stay engaged, even if it’s just a line here or there about a third character’s reaction to the other two.
As for the repetitiveness, that sounds like a honking big problem for an erotic work. The characters certainly don’t have to be kinky or swinging from the chandeliers to maintain the reader’s interest, but there should be some variety. For my own erotic writing, I stick to a rule of not using the same position twice in a row. In other words, if the characters did missionary position in one scene, they aren’t allowed to do it in the next scene. Not saying they can’t ever repeat positions, but they’re not doing them twice in a row unless there’s a compelling narrative reason for it.
Liz, since you’re “an enthusiastic reader of polyamorous relationships,” have you checked out Carina Press’s “ménage” category? It’s under the tab “Niches.” Also, on their “Coming Soon” page, I noticed they have an MMF by Sidney Bell called This is Not the End. It is coming in January 2021.
Finally, just for clarification, is Stroke of Luck MMF or MFM? I.e. Do the men have action with each other or just the heroine? I ask because I read a review on Amazon that mentions it is MMF, and the distinction between MMF and MFM is important to a lot of erotica readers.
For the uninitiated, MFM means the men do not touch each other- except maybe peripherally- during sexy times. MMF means everyone has sex with everyone in the group. Just wanted to throw that out there for labeling purposes.
Well, if it’s M/M/F we’re looking for. FULL MOUNTIE by Ainsley Booth & Sadie Haller is sooo good. A woman starts dating two different men, unaware that they have a romantic history. She’s intrigued when she discovers the truth. Excellent bi and poly representation and smoking hot sexytimes. It was published in 2017, but I only read it this year—and it’s one of my favorite books of the year.
I read MMF & MFM, so I appreciate these book recs, too! Thanks, again.
Thanks for your thoughtful response, as always! The pairing is M/F/M. The male best friends do not engage sexually with each other.
You are welcome! One of the many things I love about Carina Press is their willingness to take chances with unconventional pairings and multiples as well as romance genre mash-ups.
Thanks for clarifying. I think whoever left a note on Amazon calling this book an MMF was probably confused. That’s why I wanted to check.
No problem. I appreciate your attention to detail & clarity.
Agreed. Carina Press is one of my faves for that very reason.
Oh! Another rec I’ve heard of but haven’t read yet: are you familiar with Vanessa Vale’s ménage books? A lot of them are historical westerns.
In the spirit director Jean-Luc Goddard, who once said the best way to criticize a bad film is to make a better one, I’d like to recommend two M/F/M erotic romances that I thought were well-written and had some emotional development outside of sexy-three-way times: Lauren Blakely’s ONE NIGHT ONLY and ONE EXQUISITE TOUCH. The first features the bodyguard-client trope, the second includes antagonists-to-lovers. The heroines of the two books are sisters and both are successful businesswomen. I recommend both books as good, hot reads.
Sounds good! Thanks for the book recs!