Publication Date: September 1st 2015 by Signet
About the book:
The first in a new series from the “wicked-hot”* author of Hard Time and Give It All
explores the fantasies of a daring married couple—and those of a
stranger invited to play along in their scandalous little games… When
he’s working, Mike Heyer is all business—every inch the alpha male,
with the hard, capable body to back up his persona. But at home he can
be a different man entirely, harboring appetites only his wife gets to
glimpse…
When Samira first learned of her husband’s fantasies,
she was reluctant, even alarmed. But after witnessing the way they set
him on fire, she yielded, and happily indulged. As their games have
intensified, so has the rush. And now so has the risk—they’re poised to
take Mike’s indecent desires to the next level, by opening their bed to a
sexy, brazen stranger. A man seeming custom-made to grant every last
one of Mike and Samira’s sinful wishes.
Welcoming someone new
into their lives was always a dangerous proposition, but the couple
imagined if anything was at stake, it was their privacy…not their
hearts.
My
Thoughts:
Cara Mckenna’s writing is beautiful, sensual, and thought
provoking. She somehow peels back the layers of a person’s psyche and delves
straight into what motivates needs and desires.
I’m not into multiples in a relationship. I’m not a fan of reading about
ménages, and certainly not more than two in a marriage, so when I read the
synopsis of Crosstown Crush I didn’t
think this story would be for me. BUT I do adore Ms. McKenna’s writing and I
thought if anyone could make me understand and get on board with this kind of
unconventional romance it would be her.
While I do think I get some of the needs and kink Mike, Samira, and Bern
got into, I can’t say I was won over.
But hey, that’s me. If you can
enjoy a ménage and like exploring the many facets of this type of kink, this story will exceed your expectations.
I’d never known what cuckolding meant before I read this
story, and I still don’t get the appeal.
For some men the thought of catching their wife with another man gets
them incredibly hot. The humiliation of
not measuring up to her lover, the jealousy of another man satisfying her
better than he could, and then recapturing and reclaiming their wife after turns
their crank. Mike and Samira, or Sam, have been married for three years and
have been play acting out this scenario, but Sam gets the idea of introducing a
real man into their play. This is where
Bern comes in. He’s turned on by the
thought of someone watching while he has sex.
The fact that Sam’s husband would be the voyeur is a bit of an unsettling
idea at first, but it thrills him as well.
To me this is a case of “be careful what you wish for”:
Deep in his heart he
feared their charade would become reality—she really would favor some stranger
over Mike and he’d lose her. He’d lose, and it wouldn’t be the actions of the
cruel, heartless women she pretended to be for him. He’d lose her to a man she
liked more, and it’d be Mike who’d shoved her into his arms.
Ya think?!
The reason I don’t really care for multiples in a
relationship is because I’ll never believe that it could work long term. I feel that there will always be two out of
the three that will be into each other just a little more, and how can the
third be happy about that? I know I wouldn’t want to come second in someone’s
affections, so this just doesn’t appeal to me.
I think Mike and Sam were fools to think that Sam wouldn’t get her heart
attached to Bern.
“My kink is about
sex. Sex isn’t sacred to me, apparently. But feelings are.”
“He can touch my body
but not my heart? Is that it?” Mike nodded once. Sam heaved a sad breath.
“Wish I could separate
the two as tidily as you can.”
Sam was attracted to Bern initially, she picked him, and it’s just near impossible for a woman not to become
emotionally involved with someone she’s sleeping with! This is my opinion. I’m sure some would disagree. And here’s where I started to dislike Sam,
because they were role playing, just the two of them, but she’s the one who
wanted to introduce an actual man into their lives, because the thought of
sleeping with another man excited her,
but this is somehow only Mike’s gift? Yes, I’ll admit she did it for Mike as well,
to get him hot and bothered like nothing else, but still. I didn’t have much respect for Mike, either. I
just kept thinking: What kind of moron would share his wife with another man
and think she wouldn’t have feelings for him?
“I don’t know yet. I
just don’t know. Can you really promise that you won’t…fall in love with this
guy?”
She frowned, said
nothing for a long breath, then broke his heart. “No, I can’t promise that.”
Also, I guess this felt more like a romance between Bern and
Sam. Maybe because I witnessing their
feelings slowly develop whereas Mike and Sam’s relationship was already
established and I never saw them fall for each other. We’re introduced to them
as a couple when Sam’s playing out a role tailored for Mike’s kink. I did feel
somewhat bad for Mike in the end. I felt
bad for Bern, too. I didn’t feel bad for Samira one bit.
I just didn’t see this ending well in the long run. HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILER: I think two will end up
shoving one out of their arrangement, or everyone will go their separate ways not
able to repair the emotional wreckage. So
while this story leaves off on a happy for now, END OF SPOILER I just didn’t
buy it.
I know this comes off as a really negative review, and
really, I have no idea how to rate this (see below). The story did disturb and upset me, but it stayed
with me, made me think, made me feel. And mother
of all things holy, this story flipping HOT!!! Hot does not cover it, trust
me. We’re talking molten-lava-hot, pulse-pounding, writhing,
get-a-warm-willing-body-now-HOT!! So if you can separate yourself from the
situation (which I obviously can’t) and sit back and enjoy an emotionally charged,
intensely erotic story, Crosstown Crush
is for you.
Sex: 5 Suns
Writing: 5 Suns
Emotional Impact: 5 Suns
Bern: 4 Suns
Mike: 2 Suns
Samira: 1 Sun
Excerpt:
She
headed for the bustling bar, and oh fuck, there he was.
Bern.
He’d told
her what he’d be wearing, but it was his fac
e she
recognized. Funny how accurate her mental picture had been, based on only that
one snapshot. She slowed to a halt, her stomach plummeting to her feet, the
room feeling like an elevator with a snapped cable.
Be
cool, kid. You’re a shameless slut tonight, and don’t you forget it.
She blew
out a tense breath and kept on walking.
Bern’s
picture had attracted her, but he was so much . . . more, in three dimensions. Even seated on a stool, she could
tell he was big. Big and substantial, with long legs and a strong, handsome
profile. His hair was as messy as in the photo, tucked behind his ears, black
in the low light of the bar. That picture must have been taken at the height of
summer, as his complexion was fairer than she’d expected. A modest beard
covered his jaw, neither wild nor fussy. He looked rugged and capable, as
though he’d just come from the woods, doing something obscenely manly. Or that
was what Sam’s libido decided.
She
swallowed, throat feeling thick. He was as sexy as any guy she’d covertly
checked out during the girls-only cocktail dates, casting her fake flings.
Sexier. A pang of pleasurable guilt warmed her skin.
Sexy and
punctual.
Move
aside, Nick.
Bern
turned as she approached, and she thrilled at the recognition that flashed
across his face. His smile was the perfect mix of mischief and shyness, so
exactly what she felt, herself.
There
were no free stools, giving Bern a chance to bank some chivalry points and kick
off his role as smooth-talking, seductive stranger. He stood as she reached the
bar. Sam kept her attention on the taps as though she were deliberating.
“Here,”
he said, patting the stool.
“Are you
sure?”
“Please.”
He grabbed his half-drunk glass of beer and stepped back so she could have a
seat. She sat with her back to the bar, crossing her legs. Just as her single
self might’ve done if a handsome, actual stranger approached her, she kept her
purse in her lap to camouflage any unflattering business her snug jeans might
be doing to her belly. Huh. Twenty-five again, indeed.
She hadn’t felt this self-conscious in years.
“Thanks.”
“Sure.”
Oh, he was tall. Taller than her husband, perhaps six two to Mike’s five eleven,
meeting one point of his criteria. As promised, he wore a plain gray T-shirt,
and beneath it she could make out the contours of his chest and shoulders, trim
and powerful as his bare arms. She liked the soft-looking hair there, the
shapes of the fingers wrapped around his glass.
I
could totally bang this guy if I wanted. Crazy. And did she want that? For herself, as much as for
Mike . . . ?
“Can I
buy you a drink?” he asked.
“Sure.
Cabernet, please.”
He came
close, leaning between her and the next seat to get the bartender’s attention.
She studied the silver streaked at his temples and peppering his facial hair
and nearly swooned right off her perch. His eyes were blue, but not bright like
Mike’s. More a stormy sea than a summer sky. Breathing him in, she found no
cologne, just the faint but distinct smell of a new man, a scent you couldn’t
buy at Sephora. He ordered her wine and told the bartender to add it to his tab,
his voice twice as rich and deep and thrilling as it had been on the phone.
For a
split second Sam felt busted, realizing Mike was watching her checking Bern
out. But busted
was the name of the game.
Bern
passed her a dangerously large glass of red and stepped back, tucking a thumb
in his front pocket and sipping his beer. His thigh was only a couple inches
from her crossed knees, and she wondered how warm he’d feel through their two
pairs of jeans.
“On your
own tonight?” he asked.
She
nodded. “You, too?”
“Yeah. My
name’s Bern.” He freed his hand to shake hers. And what a shake—firm and warm
and solid. She wished Mike could have felt it, too. Meet the
man I might just want to fuck while you watch.
Connect with Cara McKenna:
The lovely people of Signet have kindly provided a Paperback Copy of Crosstown Crush by Cara McKenna to one Waves of Fiction follower. The giveaway is restricted to US & CA residents only. Fill out the rafflecopter below for a chance to win. Good luck!
