Title: Rough, Raw and Ready
Author: Lorelei James
Genre: contemporary western romance
Series: Rough Riders, book 5
Source: Kindle
Read on: August 19, 2012

Synopsis via goodreads:

Chassie West Glanzer hasn’t been a stranger to drama and tragedy. A year of wedded bliss to sexy-as-sin cowboy Trevor Glanzer has brought her the happiness and contentment she never thought she’d find, and mellowed Trevor’s rodeo wanderlust. Then Trevor’s old roping partner ambles up the driveway—and Chassie’s life changes drastically. Trevor never expected to see Edgard Mancuso again, after it became clear he couldn’t be the man Edgard needed. Now Edgard is back from Brazil to sort out their tangled past, and Trevor is plagued with feelings he thought he’d buried over three years ago. Although Trevor is hat-over-bootheels in love with his sweet, feisty wife, the sense his life is missing a piece has always gnawed at him. Chassie’s shock that Edgard and Trevor were once lovers turns to fear of losing her husband. Or worse, fear that Trevor will stay with her only out of a sense of duty. Yet as the three of them spend time together, the sins of the past blur and fade, leaving raw emotion—and unbridled passion. Passion that could heal…or cause irreparable damage to their future.

I was excited to get to this book. I think this was the Rough Riders book that I first heard about, and since I’ve loved M/M/F stories for years, I knew I’d love it. I was not disappointed, and though it doesn’t appear any other books in this series deal with similar dynamics, I loved the fact that Ms. James went down that road.

I’d always liked Trevor as a character in the previous books, even if I did mock him for having a penis ready, willing and able to serve any woman on a whim. The emotional drama between himself and Edgard was hinted at in the first book, so this story brings that arc to a close.

Chassie was a great match for him. I am a sucker for a plain Jane heroine with a big heart. She was empathetic and kind, and a little overwhelmed that this hot cowboy had chosen her of all people. When Edgard Mancuso, Trevor’s old roping partner, shows up at the ranch, it’s Chassie who makes him feel welcome. Trevor’s all torn up about what Edgard’s presence means and what it will do to Chassie if she finds out about his past, so he avoids spending time alone with his former lover, so it’s Chassie who befriends Edgard.

Then, of course, the inevitable happens and Chassie catches Trevor and Edgard in a compromising position. She freaks out, but in the end, of course, she decides that she needs to do whatever she can to make her husband happy.

I appreciated the fact that Ms. James didn’t sugar-coat the triad here. Nobody’s quite sure it’s a good idea, but since Trevor and Chassie and Edgard are such nice people, none of them want to hurt the others. The scenes between the three of them start out tentatively, but then passion erupts, as it always does. There’s more to a relationship than just sex, though, and the three of them spend enough time talking for my liking. None of the relationships in the book got short shrift, and they were each different. Trevor and Edgard are very different men, and the relationships each have with Chassie are different from the one they have with each other.

As ever in a Lorelei James book, there’s other stuff going on. We get more McKay family drama, and I particularly loved what she did with Colt McKay, whose book is next on the list. There’s also drama in the Glanzer family, and I loved the contrast between the warm and loving McKays and the bitter, awful Glanzers. I also loved the fact that the McKays aren’t treated here as the best things since sliced bread. There are people that think they can be bastards, and I liked that some of that got voiced.

So far, this is my favorite offering in the series. I have a lot more of these books to read, and even though I know none of them will bring me hot M/M/F goodness, I look forward to more emotional drama and fun family dynamics to come.

Grade: B+

Up next: A favorite author uses a trope I generally hate in a way that mostly works for me.