The Choice, Alice Ward

Life and love don't always play out the way you expect or even want.  It's the choices we make that determines the path we follow.  Journey's current path is tiring, long, a little lonely, but a lot happy.  She has the love of the senior citizens she works with and her Down Syndrome sister, Jasmine.  Sure, she could use some lovin', but she's a bit too busy to invest time and effort into a relationship.  Until she meets two very different men who offer her intriguing, exciting, and sensual adventure and experiences.  So maybe she can indulge for a little while.  A little indulgence never hurt anyone, right?

Grant is dark, brooding, formidable, and controlled.  His life hasn't been one filled with roses and sunshine.  He's made his life and his money and is satisfied with where everything is headed.  And then he interrupts one of his building managers berating and verbally abusing one of the loveliest creatures he's ever seen.  She and her sister fascinate him, draw him in, and give him a taste of things missing from his life.

Nash is the life of the party.  He has southern charm in spades and is captivated by an electric blue set of legs chasing after a purse snatcher.  With one meeting he's hooked.  He'd like nothing better than to get to know the spitfire both in and out of the sheets.

There is an vivid draw between Journey and each of these men.  But I have to say that the outcome was a bit expected.  Meaning I could definitely predict who she'd end up with because it's the same in any manga and anime I've ever seen.  The predictability of the who didn't actually bother me, though, because the whole story was written so well.  The chemistry between each pair was palpable and intense.  While I was secretly rooting for one guy I was then drawn in by the other and hoped I'd be wrong.  But since I was a fan of both guys I wasn't disappointed when I predicted correctly.

While sharing sex with more than one person, whether at a time or at the same time, seems great in my fantasyland, the reality for me is that I'm just not made like that.  So usually I have trouble reading romances with extra company in bed, but this was done well with Journey getting to know Grant and Nash but not always at the same time.  In fact, the threesome parts didn't happen until closer to the end so we got to see her developing a relationship with the men as individuals.  It ultimately made the reveal more devastating to her, but what it allowed everyone to do was develop something individual, unique, and it created a foundation for the three of them that allowed for the ending to work so well.  The sex was intimate when one-on-one and then when it was all three it was deeper and freeing for Journey.

The drama was absolutely unexpected.  I knew there would be a money misunderstanding or an eavesdropping situation but what I was surprised by is what Journey found when she got home after the mostly-expected catalyst of the relationship-ending discovery was made.  I don't think I could have anticipated what happened when she got back to her apartment.  High drama to say the least!

After that played out, though, watching Grant through Nash's descriptions and when they found her months later...happily awkward, surprising, sappy, and a whole lot tender.  I really enjoyed the reunion between all of them.  The very ending with the extremely truncated Nash bit was happy and full-circle for him.  Let's hope for a bonus chapter or story, yeah?

The book was surprising in many ways, a pleasant surprise.  Journey, Grant, and Nash together were hot, yes, but the affection between all of them was the best part.  There was exploration, self-acceptance, growth, passion, and a whole lot of love.

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