Book Details:
Book Title: Phoenix Rising (An M/M/M Romance)
Author and Publisher: Valerie Ullmer
Cover Artist: Valerie Ullmer
Release Date: August 6, 2024
Genre: Contemporary M/M/M Romance
Tropes: Best friends to lovers, bisexual awakening, best friends in love with the same man, and hot sexy times
Themes: Moving past childhood trauma
Length: 57 000 words/ 209 pages
Heat Rating: 5 flames
It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.
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Phoenix Aalto had everything he wanted in life.His own bakery, close friends, and his plants.
There was nothing more he could ask for after escaping the life his father wanted for him.
Or that’s the lie he told himself each time the two men of his dreams walked into his bakery, looking every bit a happy couple. He wasn’t delusional enough to believe it was more than a one-sided attraction, but it didn’t stop him from daydreaming of something more.
Luka Kavka lived with his best friend, and they ran a successful landscaping business together. He’d come out during college, but like his friend, no one lasted more than a date.
But a routine meeting in an out of way bakery with a real estate developer changed his fate.
Burton Horváth loved life. Working with his best friend while living with him was everything he thought needed.When he spotted Phoenix behind the counter, everything he knew about his life changed. The younger man wasn’t his first crush on a man. If he were honest with himself, that honor would go to Luka. But he was the one who shook up his viewpoint at thirty-one years old and made him want a change.
Luka and Burton agreed they would ease into letting Phoenix know they were interested, which included months of daily visits. But change for all three men came when Luka charged in, giving Luka and Burton the opening they needed.
But as they navigate their newfound relationship, will the obstacles from Phoenix’s father allow them to find their happiness?
Available in #KindleUnlimited
Get it together, Phoenix!
“Don’t touch him.”
My mouth dropped open as breathing became difficult. A shiver of pleasure fluttered over my body at the sound of his deep, commanding voice.
A scant ‘sorry’ was all I heard, since I couldn’t take my eyes off the giant of a man, even when I noted movement in my peripheral and the sound of my poor, old-fashioned shopkeeper’s bell being abused.
“Woo! That was one of the… nope, the hottest thing I’ve witnessed in ages. For a second there, I wondered if you were going to rip his arms off, big guy, all because he dared to grab our Phoenix here,” Arthur said as he fanned himself.
“It’s Luka.”
There was a pulse of desire in my lower stomach, and I stifled a gasp when my cock swelled underneath my jeans. Grateful I had the area covered with an apron.
I wanted to join my friend in fanning myself because the temperature climbed in the minute since Luka stepped in to help me.
“And I’m Burton. It’s nice to meet you, Phoenix.” The blond adonis held out his hand.
Reason fled as the eagerness of the situation presented to me overrode self-preservation. I placed my hand in Burton’s stronger, calloused one and sucked on my bottom lip as the tingle from his touch radiated up my arm and spread throughout. Images of me splayed out on a bed as Burton teased me with his warm hands while Luka’s voice washed over me until I erupted in an intense... Fuck!
Okay! Not nice to fantasize about two men who were a couple standing right in front of me.
“It’s also nice to meet you, Burton. Luka.”
“I’ve never seen you blush that shade of peach before, honey. I’m gonna call Jude and tell him.”
Leave it up to my best friend to embarrass me.
“It’s lovely,” Luka said as he ran the back of his finger down my cheek before he cupped my face.
In that moment, I considered the possibility of my entire body igniting into flames, all from Luka’s tiny gesture that, for the first time in my life, didn’t make me recoil. In a weak moment, I wanted to know the touch of the man cupping my cheek and burrowed into his hand.
Then I remembered he wasn’t available and leaned away.
“Sorry, I should’ve asked you before I touched you,” Luka said.
I shook my head back and forth before I found the words, “No, it’s okay. You can. I’m not used to it.”
“What about me? Can I touch you?” Burton asked.
My eyes widened, and I nodded, staring at the bewitching man, who was even more stunning up close. “If… if you want to?”
Arthur chuckled. “Give it up for Phoenix, ladies and gentlemen. He attracts two specimens of male perfection without a clue they’re flirting with him.”
He mumbled as he moved around the counter to clean the tables, leaving me alone with the two gorgeous men. Or at least I believed no one was around. There was no dragging my attention away from them.
“Uh…” I sounded daft as I looked back and forth between the two, confusion swamping me because I was a mess; the decorated apron with green vines and leaves along with depictions of pastries and the logo of my shop, Phoenix Rising, had chocolate stains and other food items I couldn’t identify. My hair stood up in all directions, and I’m pretty sure my fingers were sticky with frosting.
As my synapses fired back up, I swallowed around the dryness in my throat and said, “Just ignore him. He’s still in the honeymoon phase, despite being married for years, and sees romance everywhere.”
Until this conversation, I hadn’t spoken more than a word or two to either of these men. But now they were in front of me, both holding expressions of faint amusement as they stared at me, and I felt faint. And in order to cover my ineptitude in social situations, out came the verbal onslaught.
“Is it hot in here? It’s hot, right? I mean… um, what were we talking about? Oh, right? My deluded best friend thinks, well, stupid things that are out of the realm of possibility because whatever he’s imagining doesn’t happen in real life and as far as I can tell, I’m awake and working. Are you two together? Shit, I did not mean for that to escape my mouth because nosy much, Phoenix? It’s not my business. Over the past several months, I couldn’t miss observing that you two make an exquisite couple. And on that note, I’ll stop talking now,” ending on a groan.
Burton glanced at Luka, who kept his eyes on me the entire time, and beamed at the taller man.
4 out of 5 (very good)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
For the most part, I liked this book. It's a bit different to the usual adding a third trope, and I do like a difference.
Luka and Burton live together, but at the beginning of this book, they are NOT a couple. Phoenix thinks they are. They both want Phoenix in their lives, but they also want each other.
Mostly, it's three guys getting down and dirty, There is much, MUCH smexy times. I'm usually one to say I like my books on the smexy side, but I also like some story with my smex. And apart from these three getting together, the only real plot line is Phoenix's father and him getting his comeuppance. It was a bit too much smexy times, if I'm totally honest.
Some minor editing niggles: misplaced names was the biggest for me.
Did I love it? No. But I did enjoy it, and it's the first I've read of this author. I'd like to jump into their world.
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. *
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Valerie writes romances.
Valerie resides in Denver, Colorado with her husband. While she had been interested in writing a romance novel for years, it wasn’t until she wrote her first book that she really became hooked, and now she can’t stop. She has notebooks full of ideas, and she plans to write most of them in the years to come.
When she’s not writing or learning about the craft of writing, she can be found surfing the internet way too much, watching Investigation Discovery and thinking that her neighbors are up to no good, and finding new ways to get her husband to laugh.
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