One Plus Two Minus One: Lust, Love, and Number Theory

by Tess Mackenzie

Beth thinks a casual encounter with a stranger at a party is a one-time thing, but he seems to have other plans.

She is a brilliant young mathematics professor, and he turns out to be one of her students. Sleeping with him is against her college's rules, and may have a grave professional cost, but Beth is attracted enough to Ethan that she simply doesn't care. She breaks the rules, and sees him again, and begins to realize that she has become too lost in her work and forgotten how wonderful such moments can be.

No-one is getting hurt, she thinks, and no harm is being done, so she sees no reason not to have her fun.

Unfortunately, Beth is also in a long-term, long-distance, very off and on relationship that suddenly turns out to be on again. Robert is moving to be near her, to live with her, and although she doesn't want to give up sex with Ethan, she owes Robert something too.

She can’t simply tell Robert they are done.

She decides to be selfish and keep everything secret. Because she wants to put herself first, and because what Robert doesn't know won't hurt him, and because by keeping secrets she may, in the end, hurt everyone less.

But mostly because she still wants Ethan, and doesn't seem to be able to make herself stop.

One Plus Two Minus One is a novel of lust and desire, of the sensuality and confusion of meeting someone new, of the chaos and harm that secrets can cause, of avoiding choices, and making choices, and of foolishly hoping things will work out for the best.

This is a work of erotica and contains some adult content.

Genres: Erotica

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 23, 2013

About the author

Hey goodreads! Um, hi. Wave.

So first, thank you to everyone for being interested enough to read this. And the stories. Really, just thank you all heaps for reading what I've written until now, and wanting to read other things, and just for everything, really. I'm really, really grateful to everyone who's interested.

And thank you also to whoever is putting books up here. That's cool, and I really appreciate it!

So what’s going on with my books is a bit weird and kind of confusing, and I just wanted to explain properly so it’s clear.

Basically, everything I write is free to read on my website, or on Wattpad, and usually on Smashwords too, including all the stories in the anthology collection books that are for sale some places.

What happens is I mostly write short stories, and as I write them I put them up those places. Then, after a while, the anthologies collect the existing stories, and bundle them into tidier ebooks and print books.

So the stories in the anthologies are the same ones as are in the individual, single ebooks, and the ebooks can be read free, all over the place, if you’d rather to that.

So this is just to say all that, so no-one doesn’t realize and feels cheated or something. And also, I hope I used enough bold!

The anthologies at the moment are...

Getting Into a Girl's Shorts: Short Sometimes-Erotic Fiction about Women With Women

It Doesn't Always Rain: A Collection of Literary Erotica

Squishy Group Hugs: Collected Smut

...and the book pages at Amazon or wherever say which stories are in where.

So basically, there's no need to pay for anything unless you want to, and there’s nothing unique in the paid books, so don’t go thinking otherwise.

Which all sounds a bit weird right? Everything's free except it isn't?

Basically, while it would be nice to sell billions of books one day, I really also just want people to read what I write, and I also don't want anyone to feel pressured to hand over money, and this is how it ended up. So all a bit Wattpad, and that way of doing things, rather than the more normal print-book kind of model. And also yes, it is basically a devious plan to, um, I don't know, win you over, I guess, and guilt you into one day eventually buying things. But really, really mild guilt, I completely promise. So don't worry if you never end up buying anything. Read all the same!

So anyway. We're all clear on how this works now? Yay!

Um, what else. So just to say this too, really clearly, so I don't accidentally offend someone or something, I WRITE EROTICA so anything near me is potentially rude. Please don't get offended and then upset and then angry. Anger is bad for you and whatnot.

Um, yeah. Sorry to shout.

And I'm not here especially often either, so just to say that in case I haven't found the inbox or something! I'll work it out.

So that's all.

Except, just, thank you for reading what I’ve written until now. It makes a big difference that people are, and I’m starting to get the hang of all this, I think! So thank you.

Reviews

[Robert Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tess MacKenzie likes to be known as Tess. I have previously reviewed several of her stories and books. Tess writes erotica. Consequently, there is lots of interesting sex in this book. But there is already an enormous amount of erotica on the web, so what is the big deal?

What makes Tess special is her characters. She has a special gift for digging deeply into relationships, exposing the complexities, the ambiguities, the ambivalences, the confusion, the worry, the insecurities, the obsession, the need, the bump and grind of emotions in conflict. Her dialogue is sparse and never fails to ring true. It’s the way real people talk when they are grappling with how to move in a new relationship, or how to break off an old relationship that is no longer working. And the thought bubbles are dead on. Uncertainty is the lingua franca of all new relationships, and Tess captures that in a way that few writers, in any genre, are able to do.

Beth and Ethan and Robert are working through their lives, just as we all do. Their story is both unique and familiar. You will be swept up in their highly charged emotional world. Tess can do that to you.

Read this for the complicated love story, not for the sex. Read this (or any Tess, for that matter) for the joy of her dialogue, which more times than not brings a smile to my face. Read this for the humor that Tess injects when least expected. Think of the sex as the cherry on top, a nice touch, but not the essence of what Tess is about. Although Tess is modest to a fault (see her blog), I hope Tess would not disagree with my observation that she is a very special writer.

[Linda Lorentz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have already picked out at least another 2-3 books by this author that I plan to read. That is probably the best recommendation I can give any author. I enjoyed the unique and creative storyline in this book and the character development. I was glad that the story ended on a happy note for our sexy math professor as things were certainly in turmoil l there for a while. Enjoy

[Susan Mandel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book resonated....I felt her pain and cheered when she persevered. Highly recommend.....

[Gleeden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tess Mackenzie describes herself on her own website as a writer of smut. I thought that meant something like porn, but the urban dictionary defines it as "Highly developed stories with love lines and other things that appeal to women that also include alot of sexually explicit scenes. Can be in comic form, or in written form (as in romance books)", and an alternate description is "A writting style that is sexually explicit and generally associated with females.". This book definitely meets both descriptions. The character of Beth, a "maths" professor starts out as a horny female interested in a quickie, but then evolves in a sometimes foul-mouthed professor who continues the sexual relationship with her quickie-partner (Josh) even though he is a university student. Then she discovers that he is actually in one of her classes, but she does not "see" him there because he is not an A-plus student and therefore not of interest to her as a student: just fodder to be transformed into potential high school teachers. When she takes him home he looks around and shows him a picture of Ulam's spiral: first time that I had to look up a scientific term in a "smut" novel. The poker game later on defines her mathemetical abilities even further. On the other side in her personal life she has been dominated by her long distance partner and now starts making personal choices. Read the book if you want to find out how it all works out. And you can read it free online if you google "Literotica TessMackenxie". I actually got this book as a freebie on Amazon.

[K.T. McColl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most enjoyable part of this book, aside from the creative and numerous sexual episodes, is the tone of it -- refreshing and light. Tess Mackenzie certainly manages to capture the energy and befuddlement of a new, highly physical romance. While Beth does become a less sympathetic character towards the end (she could have been less of a psycho), One Plus Two Minus One is an enjoyable read.
3.5 (rounded up to 4)

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off good but in the end fell flat for me. The story seemed to drag out and Beth's level of bicheness was crazy. The way that she treated Robert made her unlikable.

The over all flow of the story was good and kept me entertained. I am rather fond of the hero so its unfortunate that I couldn't give the story a higher rating.

[Lorena Tucholke · Rating 4 out of 5]

muy buen libro.... fue novedoso ver a una académica maldecir tanto... ajajaja

[Coribooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book till near the end and then it just got strange. Beth was a right bitch and Robert was so wimpy and wet. Just didn't like that take. Then it ended so quick. Such a shame.