Book Review: Three: A Family Affair by Michelle Devon

Blurb:

When Brad has to go away for business, he asks Paul--the man he trusts most in the world, his best friend--to keep his wife, Jolie, busy, and to look after her while he's gone. But when Brad's job puts him on the road more than he is home, Paul and Jolie's easy camaraderie becomes tinged with desire and lust, at least on Paul's part.

Paul confesses his feelings for Jolie, fully expecting Brad's wrath, and he isn't disappointed when Brad doesn't take the hastily-share revelation well.  Brad, however, once the shock wears off, has other ideas for Paul and Jolie, assuming the two people he loves most in the world agree.

If he applies a little lustful logic, will Brad's idea save their marriage? Will it save Paul and Jolie's friendship? Will these feelings between them all rip this once peaceful and loving family apart? Does Jolie even feel the same?

So many questions and  potential pitfalls that put more than a decade of friendship, a year of marriage and a family relationship all on the line. The answers can all be found in THREE: A Family Affair.


Review:

Three: A Family Affair by Michelle Devon is the start of a series exploring a poly-amorous relationship between a woman and two brothers.  The novella is a contemporary romance with erotic content, but the relationship between the three main characters remains the center of the story.  Sex accentuates rather than overtakes the central themes of jealousy and insecurity, love and trust.

The cover is tasteful and restrained, suggestive of sensuality, and an excellent representation of the story's contents.  As always, Farah Evers has done a beautiful job in creating attractive imagery that accurately ties into the themes of the story.  All of the THREE books have covers with a congruent appearance, which unites the entire series on a visual level.

There are three key relationships—

Joli and Brad are a happily married couple with an active and imaginative sex life. There's a fantastic bathtub mutual masturbation scene near the start of the story, which helps set the playful tone. Of course, as with any marriage, there is real life stress, some of it associated with the demands of Brad's job.  

Brad and Paul are brothers. The interaction between the brothers is close without being incestuous, and it is easy to see that the two depend on each other. Their strong bond is tested when it is revealed that Paul is in love with Joli, Brad's wife. The fallout causes a lot of angst and some funny moments, but eventually allows for growth within their relationship.

Joli dated Paul prior to her marriage to Brad. The pair shared intimacy but for the last several years have been friends. Both are extremely loyal to Brad and wouldn't do anything to hurt him. It isn't until Paul reveals his secret feelings for Joli to his brother that the door is opened to change.

The story contains light erotica scenes but as much or more attention is paid to the dynamic between the primary characters. Where another author might have reduced the complicated situation to a simple orgy, Michelle creates a highly charged and complicated emotional interaction between Brad, Paul and Joli. She provides intellectual insight into the main characters as human beings, creating gut wrenching angst, and leaving the reader caring about what will happen to them next.

I'd definitely recommend Three: A family Affair for a reader seeking an interesting and emotionally intelligent erotica story about two men and one woman who are genuine individuals.

I downloaded Three: A Family Affair from Amazon where it is available for free.

THREE: A Family Affair is free on Amazon.

Author Bio:

Michelle Devon has been writing most of her life. Before she started writing full-time, she has worked as a contract negotiator for a major international corporation, as a criminal justice victim advocate, and in non-profit executive management. She never quite could figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up, until she started writing for a living. Now, she lives to write.

Where can we find you on the web? 

Website/blog: http://michelleldevon.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/michydevon

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/343184.Michelle_Devon

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Devon/e/B001JS8Y78

Author Spotlight: Michelle Devon

Please tell us about yourself and your writing.

I’m an author by night, editor by day, and if you ask what I do for a living, I’ll tell you I’m a professional dreamer.

I write fiction—love novellas—short stories, novellas, novels, anything fiction. I tend to write in the psychological thriller genre, because I like to consider the strange and wonderful possibilities of the human mind. There is nothing more fantastical, horrific, thrilling, etc., than the things we can conjure in our thoughts. I like to dive into the deep end of the human psyche, swim around until I see what surfaces, and then write about it.

Oh, and I write erotica, because... well, because, Who doesn’t like sex? And, well, it sells. Really. If you do it right, people read it.

What does your writing space look like?

I sit in my recliner, with my turbo-charged laptop on a rolling laptop tray, smack in the middle of the living room chaos. I love it. Most of the time, my dog is at my feet and my bird is beside me. When things get chaotic, I have my headphones on to tune the rest of the world out. When I’m sick, I roll the laptop into the bedroom. I’ve become quite good at typo-ing sideways.

How long have you been writing?

All my life. When I was three years old, my parents owned fast-food restaurants, and I would take their order pads and draw stories on them, then staple them together to make books—self-publishing before it was popular! I was first published in junior high school in Stone Soup, then in the school newspaper—an article about bubble gum under students’ desks, a pandemic! I was first professionally published in 2006, and I haven’t looked back since.

How do you come up with your book titles?

A lot of the time, I don’t. Once in a while, I’ll have a fantastic title, but absolutely no plot for it. I’ll keep it in my head for days, weeks, months, years—then finally, one day, it’ll come to me. Yes! Most of the time, though, I do struggle with titles. Not my strong point at all.

How do you name your characters?

Yeah—unless a main character jumps up and just tells me their name, I let my family pick character names.

Do you write with music going in the background? What are some of your favorite types/bands?

Usually, no. When I’m really in the flow, I’m oblivious to anything and anyone around me. Music distracts me, because I love music almost as much as writing, so I tend to want to sing along, watch the video of it, listen to the melody. To me, listening to music isn’t a passive activity at all. Plus, I have a tendency to type the lyrics intermixed in my writing when I have songs playing. As for type of music or bands, it’s a pretty eclectic sampling for me. I love folk music, James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkle, Jim Croce; I like classic rock and ‘80s music. Bon Jovi is one I’ve enjoyed a lot over the years and have gotten to see in concert recently—great show! Skid Row, Barry Manillow, Green Day, and of course, Eagles—I love Eagles—they are, like, the Best. Band. EVER.

Name one person, living or dead, you'd most like to meet.

God, if he exists.

What is your favorite book genre? Who are your favorite authors?

Psychological suspense without horror. I can’t do horror. I’ve enjoyed King and Koontz, absolutely love Crichton, Cody McFadyen. I enjoy Robert Fulghum when I want some nonfiction; he has a way of telling a story that just works for me.

Tell us something strange or interesting about yourself.

I have almost died three times, as in, by all statistics, I should have been dead-and yet, here I am. Even though I’m currently diagnosed with a terminal illness, I find myself almost believing that I’m invincible. I have beaten every one of the odds out there for me statistically, so my doctors are quite unsure of what to do with me, since no one like me really exists. When I said I wanted to be published in books, I didn’t mean as an oddity in a medical journal!

Quick quiz:

Favorite food? Chips & salsa

Favorite color? Deep, dark purple or black

Favorite animal? Dogs. No, birds. No, dogs. No, wait…

Biggest pet peeve? Bad grammar and bad tone.

Dream car: 1958 Corvette Stingray, hard-top convertible, powder blue and white. Oh, yes.

Oh, yes

Blurb:

When Brad has to go away for business, he asks Paul--the man he trusts most in the world, his best friend--to keep his wife, Jolie, busy, and to look after her while he's gone. But when Brad's job puts him on the road more than he is home, Paul and Jolie's easy camaraderie becomes tinged with desire and lust, at least on Paul's part.

Paul confesses his feelings for Jolie, fully expecting Brad's wrath, and he isn't disappointed when Brad doesn't take the hastily-share revelation well.  Brad, however, once the shock wears off, has other ideas for Paul and Jolie, assuming the two people he loves most in the world agree.

If he applies a little lustful logic, will Brad's idea save their marriage? Will it save Paul and Jolie's friendship? Will these feelings between them all rip this once peaceful and loving family apart? Does Jolie even feel the same?

So many questions and  potential pitfalls that put more than a decade of friendship, a year of marriage and a family relationship all on the line. The answers can all be found in THREE: A Family Affair.

THREE: A Family Affair is free on Amazon.

Author Bio:

Michelle Devon has been writing most of her life. Before she started writing full-time, she has worked as a contract negotiator for a major international corporation, as a criminal justice victim advocate, and in non-profit executive management. She never quite could figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up, until she started writing for a living. Now, she lives to write.

Where can we find you on the web? 

Website/blog: http://michelleldevon.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/michydevon

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/343184.Michelle_Devon

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Devon/e/B001JS8Y78

Check back later today for my review of Three: A Family Affair.

Guest Blogger: The Infamous Michy Masturbation Blog

Sex for one. Jacking off. Jilling off. Spank the monkey. Play the skin flute. Play with yourself. Beat off. Brushing the beaver. Choke your chicken. Burping the worm. Batting practice. Shifting gears. Shine your pole. Teasing the kitty. Unwrapping the pepperoni. Jerk off. Jerk the gherkin. Walk the dog. Whack off. Wax your willy.

Masturbation.

 Well, if you want more words for it, slang, you can go to Masturbation Cafe and read a list of them. (slightly NSFW) I was surprised and rolling on the floor reading some of the slang used for masturbation and much of it I already had heard. I think, honestly, you can call masturbation anything you want to call it, as long as you use that voice and look down at your crotch and wiggle your eyebrows when you say it. Unless you’re a woman, then you have to blush and giggle after you say it.

It’s some kind of unwritten law or code or something.

“So what IS masturbation?” many of you might ask. As if you don’t know.

I grew up listening to this line in junior high that said there were two types of people in the world: Those who masturbate and those who lie.

I personally fall into the first category.

Yes, you read it here first. The writer whom everyone knows and loves or loves to hate actually has masturbated, at least once in my life. (No, I’m not available for personal ‘book signings,’ [wink-wink, waggle-waggle] if you know what I mean, so don’t ask. [see, told you all you had to do was use 'that voice' and you could call it whatever you wanted.])

Tell, me, honestly, who doesn’t or at least hasn’t masturbated, ever?


EVERYONE has at one time or another. Okay, so some of you weren’t as successful at it as others. Maybe you didn’t ‘get off’. Yes, there are almost as many words for orgasm as there are for masturbation itself, but hey, that’s a totally different blog post (hummmm, making a mental note.)

I mean, come on, if you can’t please yourself, how the heck do you expect to ever please a partner or teach them how to please you? And don’t give me that line about how, “I have a great [insert girlfriend/boyfriend, husband/wife, SO here], so I don’t need to jack off.” Okay, fine. I have an amazing man in my life and have the best sex I’ve ever known, and I do mean EVER, and yet, *BOB and I still occasionally meet for an impromptu rendezvous. We eat, we drink, we breathe, we piss, we crap, and yes, we masturbate… it’s part of the circle of life or something. Of course, if all we do is masturbate, then we don’t have to worry about completing the circle of life or anything, I’m thinking – or rather, maybe I’m trying not to think about that.

(BOB: An acronym that stands for Battery Operated Boyfriend. My apologies to anyone out there named Robert. :: shudders :: Oh, shoot. My dad’s name is Robert. I can’t believe my father made his way into a masturbation blog.)

WAYS TO MASTURBATE

To top it all off, there are as many ways to masturbate as there are terms for masturbation, and then some. You can use your hands. You can use toys, vibrators, dildos, and the like. You can rub off on things. If you’re like one of my exes, you can use fruit (something about watermelon growing on a vine, hot summer day, 14 years old… [shrug] I didn’t ask for details, but he became known as the Fruit Fucker for a couple years in junior high. How’s THAT for a nickname? That nickname might have a completely different connotation today than it did back in the 70s.)
Hey, you can even, yes, ladies and gentlemen, buy blowup sex dolls if ‘doing’ yourself just doesn’t cut it.

SEX TOYS

Speaking of ‘cutting it’ (keep reading, you’ll see): Have any of you ever gone to buy a blow up sex doll? I haven’t, honestly. But I have a friend who did. He doesn’t really like to talk about the experience much. Apparently, it’s a very traumatic memory for him, but I did do a bit of research, and do you know why you will see real photos of dildos on sites that sell sex toys, but you will only see the box of the blow up sex dolls, not the actual product?

It’s quite simple. These dolls look ridiculous. No one would buy them if they blew them up.

Here, let me show you.

This is Stephanie Swift.

She’s very pleased to meet you, can’t you tell? Yes, her vagina was so eager to meet you that it’s on the outside of her body now.

Isn’t she purty? She apparently has a hand, vagina, mouth, and anus all ready for you, big boy. Don’t you just feel all shifty and turned on looking at that lump of fake flesh?

Now, my ‘friend’ who actually used one said to pay particular attention to the plastic lines on her legs. Apparently, those things scratch and cut the tender flesh of the penis. Watch out guys. I told you, he said it was a traumatic experience. Last I heard, it resulted in the death of Ms. Swift, but the authorities still haven’t been able to find the body.

As a man in a forum talking about blow up sex dolls said in one of the posts, taken out of context here and not given proper attribution:

“
 I can’t help but laugh when I think of it though, I would just feel so fucking ridiculous climbing on top of some plastic to stick my cock in it…

 ”

 Yet men screw plastic women every day, just most of them don’t have air pressure relief valves or are bought at the local adult bookstore (I said ‘most’.). They are bought, believe me, but in a more metaphorical sense and less literal one. I know a few women who could probably benefit from a pressure relief valve. Their husbands would likely appreciate it too. (I’m gonna have to digress on that one.)

But if that’s not degrading and demoralizing enough, you don’t have to stick with the human species at all. You can have a space fantasy adventure and make love to this hot little number.

Did you know her mouth buzzes and bleeps? See guys, it’s not only earth women who won’t shut up during sex. Now the aliens want to talk about their feelings too, bleep bleep, buzz, buzz. (Although, the buzzing might feel pretty good, but I digress. Yes, even in a sex blog, I can digress with the best.)

Now, as if that isn’t enough, let me bring you back to our home planet, and offer you gentlemen another masturbatory alternative. If plastic and alien chicks don’t fit your dick (see how that rhymes? I am a poet, after all), why not slam a sheep or two, or a pig, perhaps a cow? No, you pervert, don’t go get your car keys to drive to Uncle Frank’s farm, you sick, sick boy. I’m talking about blow up dolls here. 



You think I’m joking don’t you?

 

 I’m not.

 

So if plastic women aren’t enough, have a plastic animal or two. If you thought you felt ridiculous mounting a piece of blow up plastic, imagine sticking your most valuable player into the rear end of one of these plastic toys and then hearing, “Moooooo….”

Yes, Mooooo…. the cow has real, live Mooing action, so says the box.

Are you hard yet? All hot and bothered?

How about you women? Any of this requiring you to rush to the bedroom?

I wanna know how the heck you explain a plastic cow in your living room with a realistic detachable vagina?

Can ya milk that thing? :: shudders :: Or maybe that should be: :: udders ::

WOMEN, TOYS, FLASHLIGHTS AND BEER

There are tons and tons of toys on the market for women to masturbate with. That’s likely because they are sold as items that can be used by couples, marital aides some places call them–like a sex toy can save a marriage, ’cause we all know that sex is all marriage is ever about anyway, right? Yeah, right. Sure, though, many couples do like to introduce a little toy play into the relationship from time to time to spice things up. Healthy. Realistic. Normal.

Seriously.

Yet, for the most part, female toys are mostly somewhat penile shaped, and they either rotate or vibrate or you have to manipulate them manually. Battery operated ones, plug into the wall ones, and those that are cleverly sold in department stores as ‘personal massagers’ for your back and neck.
Yeah, right lady, we all know you really use that thing on your neck.

There are toys, dildos, playthings, mechanical devices and simulators that range anywhere from 10 bucks all the way up to the showboat of all female masturbatory devices, the Sybian, which can range anywhere from $1500 – 3500 bucks, depending on options. (www.sybian.com)

This nifty little masturbatory device is said to be the best of the best in female masturbatory experience, and it must be true, because it’s been on the Howard Stern Show. That man NEVER lies, does he?

Don’t worry guys, they’ve got a Venus for you too.

I suppose that $1500 bucks for a toy so you can get off (when you can do it with your hands for free) is not that big of a price to pay for ‘safe’ sex if you don’t have a partner and want what many women call a “better than the real thing experience”.

It’s cheaper than the emotional turmoil of repeated one night stands with jerks who only want one thing. There’s no strings attached (except the one to the remote control and the one to the plug into the wall).

I don’t know. Would I like to try one? You betcha. Would I do it on live television for the Howard Stern show? Depends on how much he paid me to do it. Howard?

Would I ever buy one? Hell no. $1500 bucks for a fake penis? No, thank you.

Then again, come to think of it, I’ve spent far more money on the real, live versions attached to a real human body and found out all too quickly that there are no refunds, and that the darn things sometimes malfunction, and to make matters worse, I’ve ‘purchased’ a few that had trouble staying inside their pants when other women were around.

Guess I’m not much up on sharing my sex toys.

My point here is, except for the ‘personal massagers’, most women’s toys are pretty clearly marked as sex toys (novelty items for educational purposes only if you live in Texas – yes, Texas doesn’t allow you to sell or buy vibrating penis-like objects for use as sex toys – novelty or educational purposes ONLY. It’s actually against the law. Seriously. More on that in one of my future masturbation blogs. Yes, my masturbation blogs can and will come more than once, guaranteed.)

But men now… oh, that’s a different story. The toys sold for men are much more discreet. I mean, a woman takes a dildo out of her purse, and you are going to know it’s a dildo, right? Although, I did hear that they have vibrating lipsticks now that are a bit more discreet. (Don’t ask me how I know this, but those things don’t vibrate much at all.)

But men, in this one instance, pertaining to sex and masturbation, are actually a bit more clever than you might think. They have a product called a fleshlight, which is a take off of the the modern miraculous device called a flashlight. Aren’t flashlights cool inventions? Yes, this object is made to resemble a flashlight, only, if you screw the lid off, inside, you find an inviting, enticing, ready and willing portable vagina.

I’ve heard they now have some that actually light up too, so that your buddies don’t reach into your tackle box and say, “Hey, Jimbo, I’m gonna change the batteries in this flashlight of yours. It don’t work no more, and I can’t find the beer in the dark.”

Yep. Isn’t he in for a surprise?

If that’s not enough, there’s Vagina-in-a-Can – which is a beer (or soda for the under-21 masturbation crowd) can (a very tall one) that has a fake vagina in it.

So I’m a bit curious. It seems that the standard ‘belief’ is that men are more open and into sex than women are, yet, women’s toys mostly look like penises and you pretty much know they are to be used for sex, and men hide their shameful masturbatory experiences behind flashlights and beer cans?
Humm….. makes one think, doesn’t it?

Maybe my alcoholic ex boyfriend who always had a can of beer in his hand wasn’t really drinking as much as I thought he was? Mike, hon, was it really a Coors Light? I’m not so sure now. Hummm…. he had a lot of flashlights too.

Part Two: Why Michy Has a Bad Back… OR… Oooops, I Dropsied That

In part two of this series, you’ll learn why you have headaches, backaches, and a myriad of other problems, and what you can do to fix them, find out what the Bible really had to say about masturbation (according to some sources), and discover exactly what traumatic masturbatory syndrome (TMS), what some so self-lovingly call a medical condition, is and how it relates to you!
Disclaimer: Michy is not a certified masturbatologist; however, she has tons of personal experience and once played one on TV.

Self-Love and Self-Stuff,
Michy

PS: Now, if you’ll excuse me, BOB has been waiting patiently.

PPS: If you like sex, like reading, then why not read about sex? That is, pick up my erotic titles THREE: A Family Affair and THREE: Monogamy Multiplied. Coming this month are THREE: The Thressome and THREE: Infidelity. Stay tuned!

Be sure to check back on Tuesday to learn more about Michelle Devon and for Mrs. Snark's review of Three: A Family Affair.

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