Review: Here for Us by A. M. Arthur

18 March of 2017 by ButtonsMom2003

Reviewer's Ratiing: 5

5.0Overall score

What a love story!

Here for Us By A. M. Arthur

Genre: GLBTQ, MM, Menage, Contemporary Romance

Released: March 17, 2017

Publisher: Briggs-King Books

Series: Us, Book 1

Synopsis

Cris Sable doesn’t walk into popular gay bar Big Dick’s expecting to find more than a casual hookup, so he’s surprised by his instant attraction and intense chemistry with go-go dancer Jake. Jake’s sexy as hell and a firecracker in bed. The sparks between them are undeniable, and what starts as a hookup evolves into something deeper, possibly permanent—until Jake dumps Cris flat on his ass for no good reason.

Angry and confused, Cris finds comfort with his longtime friend and employer Charles “Chet” Greenwood. Cris’s emotional state stirs up Charles’s long-buried feelings for Cris. Feelings he’s denied for eight years, because Cris is his employee and therefore off limits—not to mention two decades younger than Charles. Cris admits he has feelings for Charles, too, but he’s still getting over Jake and both men agree nothing can happen between them while Charles is still Cris’s boss.

Jake Bowden knows he doesn’t have anything to offer a guy. He’s a go-go dancer with no degree and no real career aspirations. He’s also used to everyone who loves him leaving, so it makes sense to cut Cris loose before things get too serious. Cris is kind, passionate and totally deserves a guy like Charles—wealthy, owns a home, successful businessman. Jake can’t compete so why bother? They’re better off together. But when Jake has a serious personal crisis, Cris and Charles unite to pull him back together, and the three men discover it’s possible—maybe even inevitable—to fall in love with more than one person at a time.

“Here For Us” is the first in a brand-new m/m/m menage romance series that explores the March/May/September relationship of three very different men.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

What a love story!

While Here for Us is technically the beginning of a new series (Us) it is also a continuation of A. M. Arthur’s Perspectives series that has been reissued as self-published books due to the closing of Samhain.I absolutely loved the Perspectives series and couldn’t wait to read this book. A.M. Arthur knows how to put her characters through just the right amount of angst without overdoing it. This story revolves around: 1. Chet, aka Charles Greenwood, the owner of Mean Green Boys, a gay porn studio that was featured prominently in her earlier series; 2. Cris Sable friend and employee of Chet and 3. Jake Bowden a go-go dancer at Big Dick’s gay bar.

Here for Us is a story that has a lot of depth to it. The characters are complicated (in the best way for a book) and interesting. Jake is in his early twenties and trying to keep things together after losing everything dear to him. Cris has done two stints as a “model” for Mean Green Boys while building up his software design business. He took a leave of absence for personal reasons and hasn’t yet decided if he’ll return to filming. Chet is a successful, but lonely, wealthy man who is using his money and Mean Green Boys to help young gay men earn a living. He takes no profit from his pornography business and compensates his models well.

When Cris notices Jake dancing at Big Dick’s they make eye contact and a connection sizzles between them. Cris is bisexual and wants someone he can settle down with. His last relationship, with a woman, failed because, after she found out about it, she couldn’t handle his job making porn films. He wants to see if he what he feels for Jake can turn into something more than just fantastic sex.

Cris and Jake both have a lot of trust issues. Jake is afraid of being left alone again so instead of letting people get close to him only to leave he pushes them away instead. Cris needs to know that his porn work isn’t a deal breaker for any new relationship he forms.

Cris and Chet were attracted to each other when Cris modeled for Mean Green Boys but Chet wouldn’t cross that employer/employee line so nothing ever came of it until one night they took comfort with each other and now they can’t seem to go back to the way they were before.

I love how Ms. Arthur works things out so that the triad of Cris, Jake and Chet just works. While Chet wants Cris he can’t seem to help also being attracted to Jake. The three men form a relationship that strengthens each of them.

Here for Us has a non-cliffhanger, HFN (happy for now) ending but a second book, Sound of Us, will continue their journey and it’s coming out soon.

♥♥♥♥♥

O Factor: Scorcher

Perspective Series

NOTE: because the Us series has only one book at this time and is connected to the Perspectives series these links are for Perspectives.

♥ Amazon US/KU ♥ Amazon AU ♥ Amazon CA ♥ Amazon DE ♥ Amazon ES ♥ Amazon FR ♥ Amazon IT ♥ Amazon UK ♥

About Author

A. M. Arthur

A.M. Arthur was born and raised in the same kind of small town that she likes to write about, a stone’s throw from both beach resorts and generational farmland. She’s been creating stories in her head since she was a child and scribbling them down nearly as long, in a losing battle to make the fictional voices stop. She credits an early fascination with male friendships (bromance hadn’t been coined yet back then) and “The Young Riders” with her later discovery of and subsequent love affair with m/m romance stories.

An avid reader of het romance, her first foray into reading published m/m romance (slash fanfic doesn’t count) is thanks to a Dear Author review of K.A. Mitchell’s CHASING SMOKE. After devouring K.A.’s existing backlist, she dove headfirst into other authors. While she prefers contemporary, she’ll occasionally sample an historical or SFF m/m romance.

A.M. wrote her first m/m stories in the guise of Kish fanfic (the Kyle/Fish romance from cancelled soap opera “One Life to Live.” As her stories were met with more and more positive feedback, A.M. was inspired to try her hand at creating original m/m romance. And the rest is history.

When not exorcising the voices in her head, she toils away in a retail job that tests her patience and gives her lots of story fodder. She can also be found in her kitchen, pretending she’s an amateur chef and trying to not poison herself or others with her cuisine experiments.

Author Links