Review: Bonded by Love Series 1 - 3 by Gabbi Grey
- Debbie
- 6 hours ago
- 9 min read
The books should be read in order.
Books 1 & 2 are the same throuple (MMF) while book 3 is a new triad (MMM).
Book 3 can be read as a standalone.
Overall Heat Rating for the series: 5 flames
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
@AuthorGabbiGrey @gaybookpromotions @debbiereadsbooks
@AuthorGabbiGrey @gaybookpromotions @debbiereadsbook
Book Details:
BOOK 1
Book Title: Caressa’s Homecoming
Cover Artist: Diana Carlisle
Length: 280 pages
Release Date: January 22, 2024
Pairing: MMF
Tense/POV: first person/past tense/alternating POV
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Menage
Tropes: Friends to lovers
Themes: Coming out, bisexual awakening
Nurse Caressa Klein returns home to a quieter life in Vancouver, Canada, after five grueling years of working with patients in Africa. She’s ready to settle back into her relationship with her two best friends.
Engineer Michael Dubois has been in love with his best friend since the day she announced her departure overseas. He’s glad she’s back—now he wants to hold on to her forever.
Actor Cole Hamilton is also in love with his best friend. Or rather, both of them. They supported each other through harrowing childhoods. Cole wants to bring Caressa and Michael into his life and, more importantly, into his bed.
Can they move from friends to a throuple, or is their relationship destined to fail?
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4 out of 5 (Great)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian
This is a spin-off of the Love In Mission City series, but it's not necessary to read those books before this one. I've only read 3, I think.
Caressa returns home after 5 years away. Her 2 best friends are keen for her to stay. Michael and Cole have loved Caressa and each other for a long time, but it takes Caressa leaving for either of them to realise how much. Can they move from friends to lovers, or will it all end in tears?
I liked this, a lot. I enjoyed the books I read of the Mission City series too.
My only complaint, I suppose is the right word to use, is that Caressa jumps into Michael's bed so bloody fast after coming home! I would have liked a more emotional connection . . .but then again, these guys have been friends for so long, that connection has already been established . . . but it felt, to me, a little quick.
I did like that they were conscious of Cole and how he might react, and I was pleasantly surprised by his reaction. But then again! He has lusted over them both for a long time, and now his dreams are coming closer together. I liked that Cole had a secret from his long term friends, and I look forward to that being fully explored!
All three get a say, 1st person, past tense.
Steam level is quite high, but I found the angst fairly low, which felt a bit weird, but like I said, these guys have been through a lot since their childhood together. Each childhood was difficult, for very different reasons, and the angst about THAT subject was quite high, but not between Caressa, Michael or Cole.
Ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I get to read Cole's Reckoning next.
4 great stars
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Book Details:
Book Title: Cole’s Reckoning
Cover Artist: Diana Carlisle
Length: 312 pages
Release Date: July 15, 2024
Pairing: MMF
Tense/POV: first person past tense alternating POV
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Menage
Tropes: Friends to lovers
Themes: Coming out, bisexual awakening
Book 1 should be read first.
Actor Cole Hamilton has finally convinced the two people he loves most in the world, Caressa Klein and Michael Dubois, to move in, join him in a throuple relationship, and set his bed on fire. But he fears his secrets—his real self—will drive them away.
Michael is stressed by his latest engineering project, but his two best friends turned hot lovers worry him more. Cole is too reckless, and Caressa keeps him guessing.
Caressa adores her two sexy men, but her past and tragedies in her nursing profession haunt her.
Can their love and friendship survive secrecy and the reopening of old wounds?
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4 out of 5 (Great)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian
This is book2 in the Bonded by Love series, and you really do need to read book 1, Caressa's Homecoming, to get the full enjoyment of this one. You need to know how they all came together to be at Cole's. I enjoyed that book.
I enjoyed this book too, but I have feelings about this book (they are pesky, those darn book feelings!) and I'm not sure I can get them all out.
I was expecting some more of a certain sort of smexy time, given Caressa's discovery at the end of the last book, and we don't get any, none at all! Mind you, Cole's is laid up for most of the book, given his leg injury in the last book and what happens here, but still. So, I'm a bit miffed about that!
Also, I felt the epilogue was a little flat. Given what happened to Caressa that caused her to run away for 5 years, then the revelation of that fact, I thought she'd be a little more angsty about it!
Again, though, I'm not feeling the EMOTIONAL connection very much with these three, and I do feel (I told you, pesky book feelings!) there should be another book to tie some things up in a nice fat bow.
But I get to read Donovan next, and I look forward to getting into his certain sort of smexy time head.
4 good stars
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Book Details:
Book Title: Donovan’s Men
Cover Artist: Lisa Dawn McDonald
Length: 312 pages
Release Date: August 3, 2026
Pairing: MMM
Tense/POV: first person past tense alternating POV.
Genres: Contemporary Romance, BDSM, Menage
Tropes: Forbidden love
It is a standalone story, but best read as book 3
It does not end on a cliffhanger
Police Officer Tyson McGillvary, newly divorced, is not looking for love—with anyone.
Psychologist Hamish McAllister helps patients deal with workplace violence. He’s never been in a relationship—with anyone.
Stunt coordinator Donovan Riggs, working in Vancouver, Canada, on a popular television show, isn’t looking for permanent. He enjoys relationships—with everyone.
When a tragedy thrusts all three men together, the attraction is instantaneous. While professional ethics keep Tyson and Hamish at a distance, Donovan connives to bring both men to his bed—together. As he loses his heart, can he convince them to break the rules, or at the end of the day, will they all go their separate ways?
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Donovan
“Is that toxic sludge?” Cole looked dubious.
I gave them my patented mock glare, mildly offended he would say that while drinking bitter, black coffee. “How you two stay healthy drinking that shit is beyond me. This is a spinach protein shake with probiotics and—”
“I’ll have you know this isn’t shit.” Cole held up what I knew to be his standard coffee. Then he pointed to what I safely assumed was Julie’s typical sugar caffeine bomb. “That’s shit.”
She nudged him.
I snickered. I loved the banter between these two. Their ease with each other meant that when I worked them hard, they could take it and dish it back. As stunt coordinator for the show, I worked intimately with them, honing their fighting skills and teaching them how to give the best shot while performing some pretty neat maneuvers. We used professional stunt doubles for the toughest stuff, but Julie and Cole insisted on doing as much as they could themselves.
Cole and I had come up through theater school together, but while I’d pivoted to stunts, he’d taken the acting track. As a tall, gorgeous man with midnight-black hair that brushed his shoulders and dark-blue eyes that smoldered, he had women—and men—fawning all over him.
Julie, while a foot shorter, held her own. Her long white-blonde hair was her signature trait while her jade-green eyes spoke of mystery and intrigue. The former gymnast cut quite a wallop in a tiny package.
After taking a sip, Cole turned to me. “Hey, and what was with kissing Michael?” Cole tried to replicate my mock glare but failed miserably. He was clearly more curious than annoyed about why I’d kissed his amour at the gala on Saturday night.
“Just a peck.” I ribbed him. “Don’t worry, I’m not poaching.” Cole’d been busy with his girlfriend, Caressa. Their attendance at the gala had tongues wagging in Vancouver—and around the world—if the entertainment shows were any indication. Cole was one of the sexiest actors on the planet, and his being taken caused ripples.
I’d happily brought along the third member of their triad. Michael was pretty new to the whole bisexual thing, as well as the ménage thing, but Cole had wanted him there to see things were on the up and up. And not to let the man feel left out. Michael and I had gone…well, not on a date. More as friends and supporters of Cole as well as Julie and actor Elouise Hynes.
Julie watched Cole intently. “Are you planning to come out as a threesome? You know how insane that thought is, right?”
I eagerly awaited his answer as, in my peripheral vision, I caught sight of our caterer and first aid attendant, Meggibeth, approaching us. Cole held up his cup in salute—obviously to thank her for the great coffee.
In that instant, I realized she’d pulled a gun from her pocket.
Several things happened simultaneously.
Cole dropped his coffee. The cup hit the ground, and the brown liquid spilled onto the roadway where we stood.
I dropped my spinach shake, and the bottle bounced but didn’t break.
Meggibeth pulled the trigger.
4 out of 5 (Great)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian
This is the third book in the Bonded By Love trilogy, but it can be read as a stand-alone. I do, however, recommend you read books 1, Caressa's Homecoming, and book 2, Cole's Reckoning, before this one. It will give you a better picture of Cole and Donovan's friendship and just how far they will go for each other.
After Donovan is injured when Cole is shot, he comes into contact with Tyson, a detective and Hamish, a psychologist. Boundaries are hard for Tyson and Hamish, but Donovan keeps pushing. When both Tyson and Hamish face disciplinary action for being with Donovan, will they see it out, or let each other go?
What I liked about this one was the slow burn. Yes, Donovan wanted things to move much faster, but professional boundaries were adhered to. Nothing happened between Donovan and Tyson, or Donovan and Hamish, until AFTER their relationship was disclosed. Tyson and Hamish were a different kettle of fish!
I liked that there was a clear difference in their leanings: Donovan is a Dom, Hamish a sub and Tyson a switch. I liked that both Hamish and Tyson were willing to explore the BDSM scene but only with all three of them present, and that Donovan would walk away from the lifestyle entirely if neither of them wanted it.
I was expecting more of the BDSM smexy stuff, given how Donovan comes across in the other two books, but it is limited to one scene in Cole's basement. There are plenty other smexy times though, once they are all in.
I was, again, feeling I missed some emotional connection. All three men have some baggage, but there was no clue as to them until the point when it was decided to talk about them, and I'm still not fully sure I understood it all.
Still, I enjoyed all three books, and do recommend them.
4 stars for this book and 4 across the whole trilogy.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
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USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.
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