Rating: 4.5 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Riley Sinclair likes control and order and has worked hard to arrange his life just the way he likes it. He loves his family and inner circle, has assembled an amazing team working for him at the police precinct, and keeps his sexual relationships casual. So when a woman walks into his office at work and says she is his biological sister, the only thing Riley wants is to send her on her way. He has no interest in the family that gave him away; his loves his parents and his brothers and doesn’t need or want a new sibling. And while Riley isn’t thrilled that one of his detectives, Gideon Clark, was there to see the whole encounter, Riley can grudgingly admit that having Gideon’s support helped with the shock of the announcement. He can also even more grudgingly admit that he has wanted Gideon for a long time.
Dawson Sheppard feels terrible for his best friend, Sadie, when he learns about how her brother treated her. And after the two of them spend the night drinking away their sorrows, Dawson decides to confront Riley and let him know just what he thinks of him. What he doesn’t expect (after puking in the bushes of the police station) is to meet both Riley and Gideon and realize just how attractive he finds both men. So much so that the sexual tension between all three of them is off the charts.
For Riley, Gideon, and Dawson, getting together is a supremely bad idea. Riley is Gideon’s boss and if anyone found out they were sleeping together, they could both lose their jobs. Gideon is just coming off a divorce and still figuring out the next steps for his life, including adjusting to only being only with his young son part time. And Dawson knows Sadie will be incredibly hurt if she learns that while Riley wants nothing to do with her, he is falling for Dawson. But despite knowing what is at risk, the men find a connection they can’t avoid. As Riley, Dawson, and Gideon spend more time together, the sexual draw toward one another becomes a real emotional bond, one none of them can imagine breaking. But with their secrets in danger of being revealed, the men have to figure out their next steps before it all falls apart.
More Than Need by Aurora Crane is the first book in the author’s new Better in Threes series. The story takes place in the larger Chain Reaction universe, but I think you can read this as a standalone if you don’t mind potentially missing some side character crossovers (fans of the author will likely recognize Riley as Payton’s older brother and Sebastian’s best friend from the Chain Reaction series). Crane has such a way with polyamory stories and this one is no exception. Each of these characters is well crafted and distinct, and it is clear what is drawing them together and why things work between them. This is a high heat story and there is a really intense dynamic between the men, including a little bossy dominance on Riley’s part. But there is also rich character development and an engaging storyline that rounds it all out.
The relationship comes together fairly quickly and easily, the men mostly ignoring the future challenges in favor of giving in to their attraction to one another. But there are three main conflicts that develop over the course of the story: Gideon adjusting to his post-divorce life, Riley and Gideon being boss/employee, and Dawson being Riley’s bio-sister’s best friend and sneaking around behind her back. When the book starts, Gideon is still unsettled after his divorce and figuring out how to be a father to his young son when he doesn’t see him every day. Gideon has a difficult schedule with his job, which means he can’t keep Hudson with him as much as he would like. On top of that, his ex-wife, Lucia, is dating someone new and Gideon is struggling with the idea that Ned may ultimately be a father figure to Hudson, even potentially spending more time with him than Gideon. I appreciated that Gideon and Lucia have a lovely relationship and still care deeply about one another. Gideon’s pain over the lack of time he has with his son is so relatable, even as he knows that Hudson is in good hands. It really adds an interesting dimension to the story and gives some nice focus for Gideon as a character, as he isn’t directly involved in the Riley-Sadie-Dawson triangle, other than trying to support his men.
For years Riley has been interested in Gideon, but Gideon was married and so Riley keep his distance. And now they work together and Gideon is off limits. But the attraction hasn’t gone away and it is clear that Gideon shares it and the guys can’t stop themselves from getting together despite the risks. It’s sort of a joke just how bad these guys are at keeping this secret (they can’t stop having sex in Riley’s office, for one thing). And an awful lot of people know about them. So while both men are clearly prioritizing one another over their jobs, I did wonder a bit why Riley didn’t have a better plan than just “hope no one finds out” once the guys got serious. It just seemed somewhat out of character for him. But there is a nice friends-to-lovers dynamic between them and I loved how the playful Gideon helps to soften some of Riley’s rougher edges. The resolution to this conflict comes a little late in the story without quite as much development as I would have liked, but things do come together well and in a way that makes sense for these characters.
The final conflict is the intertwined relationship between Riley, Sadie, and Dawson. Riley wants nothing to do with Sadie, nothing to do with a new sister who shows up in his life out of nowhere claiming to be his family. Riley has a family already and the shock of this new person coming into his life is clearly extremely painful for him. Yes, he isn’t the nicest to her, but Crane does such a wonderful job really showing us Riley’s feelings. He has always felt abandoned by his bio family and as if he had to prove himself to his adopted one. As a child, he feared failing to be “good enough” would have the Sinclairs deciding they didn’t want him either. (Of course, the reality is that this is his own insecurity; the Sinclairs are lovely and think of all their children as equally part of their family.) So there are clearly old wounds there that have never healed and Riley is not in an emotional place to consider Sadie in his life, even though she only recently even learned about his existence. Dawson falling for Riley is a huge betrayal for Sadie, given how hurt she is that Riley doesn’t want to see her — but now Riley is fucking her best friend. Dawson really struggles given the love and affection he has for both Riley and Sadie and it is like this ticking clock for him, knowing it is all eventually going to explode one way or another.
This is a long story at over 350 pages, but it really flew by for me. The characters are well developed and the conflicts are interesting and really showcase each of these men and their personalities well. I enjoyed being back in this world and am excited about the start of a new series.
