Downtown Devil by Cara McKenna
Released: June 21, 2016
Erotic M/M/F
Signet

Reviewed by Mandi

Favorite Quote: This sex had been so much. Dirty and hot, a little kinky, a little cocky, but joyous as well. Everything at once. Irreplaceable.

This M/M/F menage worked really well for me – it’s really hot, and I loved all three characters.

Clare is just turning thirty and on the edge of something really good in her life. During the day she works for a call center, taking complaint after complaint for an online retailer. But her true passion is photography and after much  hard work and a little brown-nosing, she finally has the chance for her own show in a few months. She has decided to call the show, “So, What Are You?” since she is asked that all the time. Clare’s appearance often prompts people to ask her this:

Her appearance tended to stump people. She was tall, slim save for a little extra through her butt and thighs, with fair skin and dark freckles and windburned cheeks from her dad’s Scotch-Irish roots, and a strong jaw and nose and lips, and a great burst of tight curls, courtesy of her African-American mom. Her hair was brass blond, lightest at the temples, and her eyes were nearly black. It was as if her features had each been forced to side with one parent, and they hadn’t bothered consulting with one another.

When she has time off, she always has her eye out for people who also might be asked this question a lot. One day at her local coffee shop she sees the most gorgeous, striking, sexy man she has laid eyes on. Mica’s father was black and his mother was Malaysian,…

He was at least half-Asian, Clare imagined, judging by his eyes and cheekbones, though his skin was fairly dark and his hair was a bundle of fat brown dreadlocks corralled into a spiky bun high at the back of his head. Black and Asian, she guessed, or maybe Pacific Islander? She couldn’t quite guess, and that excited her.

Clare feels intimidated to talk to such a hot guy, but she knows if she could photograph him for her project, he would be perfect. She tentatively asks him, and he agrees to meet up with her. Mica is from Los Angeles, and only in Pittsburgh for the summer. He is shacking up with his best friend, Vaughn for the summer for a change of scenery. Mica was abandoned by his parents at a very young age and then abused by foster parents. While he is a successful adult, he doesn’t have the best social skills. He met Vaughn at a camp for struggling kids years ago and they formed a very close bond.

Mica invites Clare to go with himself and Vaughn to a housewarming party for a friend of theirs. Clare grabs her photography equipment, and off she goes. She is extremely attracted to Mica, so after getting her pictures, the flirtation starts. up. Mica loves sex and is very honest, open, and blunt about it. Nothing phases him and nothing embarrasses him. This turns on Clare a lot.

 As her body stilled, he drew back, sat up on his heels. She stared at him, obliteration no doubt written all over her face. “Holy shit.”

He broke into a smile, and wiped his lips and chin on the back of his hand. “That’s what I like to hear.”

“You are . . . You are insanely good at that. You must really like doing it.”

“I like sex,” he said simply. “I’ll do anything.”

While watching a movie with Mica and Vaughn on the couch one night, fondling starts to happen and Mica suggests that Vaughn might want to join them in the bedroom. Clare finds Vaughn to be quiet and kind of shy and is really surprised when Vaughn agrees. She is definitely attracted to Vaughn as well. Vaughn in an EMT who grew up a little poor but with a good family.

Vaughn was handsome—not freakish, traffic-stopping, model handsome like Mica, but a more ordinary persuasion of goodlooking. About six feet tall, very dark skin, short hair, with a nice, solid shape to him behind his fitted tee and jeans. And very white teeth, she noted. Gorgeous smile, this guy had.

He is close with his dad and although Mica is his best friend, hates that Mica doesn’t always treat his girlfriends great. Mica always respects his dates, but he leaves without saying anything in the morning. Or he forgets he made a date. He lacks the social skills to keep a long-term girlfriend – and it drives Vaughn crazy. When the three of them start something, Vaughn is the one in the morning apologizing to Clare because Mica has already left for the day. Or in the evening when Mica forgets they had something planned.

And let’s get to that M/M part of the M/M/F menage. Years ago when Vaughn and Mica would camp and climb together, Mica admitted he was bisexual. He also made a move on Vaughn, and even to Vaughn’s astonishment, he let him. They never had actual intercourse, but Mica gave Vaughn oral. More than once – and Vaughn liked it. He is embarrassed by it though and it confuses him, but it turns him on. Vaughn didn’t want to have a physical relationship with Mica this summer, but now with Clare enticing him to bed, it’s inevitable. This pleases Clare very well too.

The three of them explore pretty much every combination there is to explore in a menage. It’s done well – Clare is VERY into both Mica and Vaughan and she likes the two of them together and just watch as well. At first it is Mica who steals the show for her – he is passionate and dirty and pushes her boundaries. But he is in it just for the sex. He never promises her a future past this summer, something she is aware of, but still it’s hard to separate “just sex” from the growing feelings she has for him. But Vaughn comes in quietly. Respectfully. While he isn’t as showy and demanding as Mica, he is just as passionate about Clare. He is the one that fixes her coffee and breakfast in the morning. He is the one that comes over with pizza when she has had a bad day. He also blows her mind in bed, but in a different way than Mica.

There is a HEA at the end and it’s solid. I highly recommend this for erotic fans out there.

Grade: B+

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