Dark Horse Bundle by Kate Sherwood

Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse Bundle CoverTitle: Dark Horse Bundle

Series: Dark Horse Series 01 – 03

Author: Kate Sherwood

Genre: Contemporary, Ménage

Length: Bundle (835 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (24th  June 2016)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥ 3 Hearts

Blurb: Dan Wheeler thought he’d found lasting love and stability, but when it’s all taken away, can he take a chance on something new? In Dark Horse, Dan meets Evan Kaminski and Jeff Stevens while selling a horse and finds himself drawn to the pair of lovers.  In Out of the Darkness, Dan is building a new life for himself in California with Evan and Jeff, but can the three of them find balance in their tumultuous relationship? In Of Dark and Bright, Dan, Evan and Jeff have found their happily-ever-after – mostly – but when Dan’s long-lost sister shows up on their doorstep, the pressure may crack their foundations.

ISBN: 978-1-63477-614-1

Product Link: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/dark-horse-bundle-by-kate-sherwood-7183-b

Reviewer: Prime

Review: Ok, you can tell by the rating that I was not particularly a fan of this series, although I enjoyed it enough to finish it, I couldn’t keep my mind off of all the questions and frustrations I felt while reading. This was one of those books where I check up other reviews before investing to read the whole bundle and felt safe after reading all good reviews. Yet, once I started reading I could not work out for the life of me if I was reading the same book to everyone else. I just didn’t get it.

The series follows Dan Wheeler and for the most part it is his narration that is given throughout the series. These three books are the main books in the series, but there are also a number of shorter stories (which I have not read since they were not part of this bundle). Dan is a Texas guy and horse trainer, with a bit of a past after a troubled childhood. His personal life is a bit of a mess after his boyfriend, Justin, had a riding accident the year before. But things are coming to a head and after meeting Evan – a young billionaire in control of his family’s company and fortune – and Jeff, Evan’s long time lover and horse trainer for the family’s stock. I’m not really sure what more to say about the books. The blurbs are pretty straight forward and tell you all the vital info, but the stories are quite enjoyable being what they are.

But I over think shit and then things started to piss me off. First off, like me some people may have to adjust to the fact that the story is written in present tense, third person. I’m not a big fan of this format in the first place, but I got over my reservations. Additionally, I found it hard to feel any passion between the characters. With a ménage you expect smoking hot sex scenes and there were none to be had. It felt like everything was glossed over and that frustrated me. I saw hints of burning passion and desire but I was just not feeling it. I think part of it was that the pace of the first book was rather slow and Dan seemed to be going nowhere fast when it came getting over his demons and moving on with Evan and Jeff.

Those are just story/editing issues I felt and for the most part they are the type of things I would normally ignore, but then we come to my biggest issue, with the relationship between the characters. It’s not that I dislike it because I want all hearts and roses. It’s more that even after 3 books I still don’t get the guys and their relationship – its complex and not in a good way, at least for me. So with the guys, I understand that Evan and Jeff, although they were together, they were not in an exclusive relationship. Evan is bisexual and wants to sleep with women. The question that Dan also asks but is never answered, if this was the case why didn’t the guys choose a female third? Which leads me to what annoyed me the most, I want to know if the three of them are truly in an exclusive relationship because this was not addressed either. That in turn annoyed me because Evan was possessive about Dan even towards Jeff. I think that is what bugged me the most.

Overall, this is an enjoyable read for the most part if you take it on face value. However, I think this series is more for those that like angst-ridden romance that is light on the sex scenes.