Title: Expanded Hearts
Series: Heartland #2
Author: Logan Meredith
Genre: Gay Erotic Romance
Length: Novel (224pgs)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (August 12, 2016)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥ 3 Hearts
Blurb: Psychologist Victor Mascari and his partner, spa-owner Derek Jameson, have been together eight years, but their relationship is still evolving. Derek distrusts monogamy because of his parents’ messy divorce, but as marriage equality advances, Victor’s doubts about their open relationship are growing. He doesn’t necessarily want a legal union, but he’s increasingly concerned about how others view them.
When Victor comes home to find Derek with another new conquest, he’s annoyed… at first. As he gets to know Antonio, Victor discovers the young man is intelligent, self-assured, and charming. This time, it’s Victor who is intrigued by someone else and Derek who thinks Victor’s interest is crossing the lines they’ve agreed on. If Victor wants to keep Derek, he’ll have to let Antonio go.
But Antonio is in real trouble and has nowhere to turn. Victor and Derek take him in, and it soon becomes clear how well he fits into their lives and how strong the bonds between all of them are growing. A committed relationship between three men—all very different in age and background—is enough of a challenge, and then the horrifying secrets of Antonio’s abusive past emerge.
ISBN: 978-1-63477-537-3
Product Link: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/expanded-hearts-by-logan-meredith-7351-b
Reviewer: Lisa
Review: This story is part of a series but can be read as a stand-alone.
This story was very hard for me to give a rating too. The story itself was pretty good, but one of my pet peeves is cheating, I can’t stand stories with open relationships. To me they take away from the story itself and comes off very much like porn. Now with this it was a bit different, there was an actual story involved in it. My problem was still the cheating and open relationship though.
Victor and Derek have been together for about eight years and you can feel the love each man has for the other. Derek however doesn’t believe in monogamy so they have an open relationship. Victor is having doubts lately and does not want to continue with that route, so to speak. That comes to head the moment Derek brings Antonio home with him. Victor is drawn to the man and seems to be at a loss. Especially when Derek has issues with Victors increasing desires for the man. However it would seem that Antonio has secrets of his own.
Antonio has not had a great life. Once used as a drug mule, abused when he does something wrong has him taking off. At the age of fifteen, Peter saw something in him and made him his. Now that Peter is in prison, Antonio is left once again on his own. That is until Victor and Derek rescue him. However Peter is causing problems for Victor and accusing him of things that he has not done.
The plot is pretty much out there, straightforward with no twists to it. However you can see the underlining threat coming at these men from different directions and it takes them all to overcome their problems. Now this book was written quite a bit better than the first one. It is a very good story if you’re into ménage, open relationships and, in my mind, cheating, mix in some danger and you have a story you can’t forget.
Logan has taken three guys, their problems and somehow made it into a pretty damn good story. I was surprise to say the least, and I absolutely loved the ending. I liked the danger that the men were in and how they got out of it. However I couldn’t get past the need for multiple men and even bringing a third into their relationship. Now I did love Antonio quite a bit, in fact I probably like him more than the other two. I think the fact that Derek was the one who wanted the open relationship, then bitched about Victor taking a liking to the man and that drove me nuts. It just proved to me that I need to stay away from books like this.
I am afraid that this book was definitely not for me.