Building the Family

The Dancing Wolf #1

by Amy DeMeritt

A dangerously seductive and addictive lesbian romance with a fresh twist.Can one wild weekend really be more than just a fun time? Can it lead to a loving and lasting relationship?When Kayla starts college in love with one girl she’s never been able to have a relationship with, and nursing her broken heart after being dumped by her girlfriend, she lands in the lap of a beautiful girl – a girl who could either fill the void in her heart, or open her heart for a life she only briefly dreamt of as a possibility.Some say it's only possible to be in love with one person at a time, but Kayla learns the “one love” rule doesn’t apply to her.

Genres: Romance, Lesbian, Polyamory, LGBT, Lesbian Romance, Slice Of Life, Native American

419 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 15, 2017

About the author

Amy DeMeritt is an author of Sapphic romance and an occasional poet. She is a lover of the arts, coffee and tea, a day of sitting on the beach watching the waves crashing against the shore, and good books and music to get lost in. (A good thunderstorm is one of her favorite forms of music.)

Amy takes inspiration from every experience in life and gives her imagination full reign to take a small detail and expand it into an intricate tale. Weaving experience, interests, and even pushing the boundaries of personal comfort, Amy’s stories take a reader on a journey of varying emotions and the joys and trials of love, romance, and growing as an individual, all of which are embodied in an entertaining plot with complex characters.

Reviews

[Joc]

DNF at 68%. I'm done. I can't read another word of this. It started out as what seemed like a reasonable YA novel and has degenerated into nonsense. Kayla's girlfriend Sam dumps her on the day she leaves for college because she doesn't want to do a long distance relationship. Kayla goes off to college broken-hearted but determined to deal with it. She meets up with Josh, a boy from her school that she was never good friends with but they start becoming friends. Through him she meets Madison who is spontaneous, energetic and interesting. As their friendship develops they find they're really attracted to each other but decide to go slow because Kayla is Madison's first girlfriend.

After a couple of weeks their hormones get the better of them and they have sex. At a house party one evening Kayla demonstrates her dancing skills which turn Madison on even though she's dancing with someone else. After some discussion Madison lets Kayla know she's not opposed to a threesome. And it's all downhill from here. The threesome becomes a foursome then the ex is added to the mix, role-playing comes to the fore and Kayla becomes Daddy, Madison becomes Mommy, Kayla gets injured so the nurse is chucked in too. The whole 'daddy' and 'mommy' thing gives me the grills (makes me squeamish) and it all just got too much.

So why did I read it for so long? Kayla is part Cherokee and all the way through this she is texting someone she's known since she was 5 years old called Awenasa. I wanted to know who she was and what she was to the story. But I don't care now. I've had enough.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I don't think I've ever come across a book as unique as this one. The first polyamorous group that somehow, just works. Although Kayla is the center spoke of the wheel, the one that binds them together, somehow (I keep saying that) it just doesn't seem weird. Also of note is that it's pretty NSFW, nudge, nudge. There's a lot of *that* happening.

Also a head scratcher, I have no idea where I stumbled on this. Doesn't look like anyone on GR has picked it up. Huh. (Researched it, it was in the I <3 lesfic newsletter. Ok that's sorted.)

Can't wait to read book 2...

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I basically devoured the whole series. It was an amazing experience, the loving relationship, fighting for your rights, building changes. I learned so much and cried tons from happiness and sorrow. It connected deeply to my soul.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing and I hated to put it down. I went to bed thinking about this book, and woke up craving it in the morning. It was like all of my greatest fantasies in one book. This story offers so much to feed the imagination and I was never bored. I’ve never read something like this before – the family dynamic was sexy, but full of real nurturing love at the same time – I loved it! I quickly fell in love with the characters and their story. I can’t wait for the next book!

[Tony Hisgett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this author’s Brooke and Hannah books and this popped up as a Kindle Unlimited recommendation, I was intrigued by the concept so gave it a try.
Unfortunately it turned out to be a teen romance with sex, lots of sex. I had to skip read through a lot of the book to get to the end of this teenager’s sexual fantasy. Having said that Kayla did have a strange fascination, but I won’t be reading any of the other books in the series.

[Abiesha Abiola Budiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unconventional

This novel is the first I’ve read involving polyamory and it was utterly beautiful. I’ll return to this review when I’ve read the remaining novels in this series.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explosive!

This is a very well written tale with well developed characters and an engrossing storyline. The concept of loving and being in love with more than one person at the same time is the basis of this book. Many people may be repelled by the idea of having multiple relationships simultaneously, but this book explores the situation between these 4 women in a very unique relationship. I'm very much looking forward to reading the follow-up books about these women on their unique journey seeking their own family together.

[Ranger · Rating 3 out of 5]

eh

I like poly aspects of this book and the MCs for the most part. By the end it got a bit redundant (how many times can’t the word baby or babies be used?) so I ended up skimming to finish it. I know this is book 1 of a series so perhaps it’s world building and as the MCs mature it gets better. I read DeMeritt’s Taming the Tramp previously and enjoyed it, maybe this series just isn’t for me.

[stat shiv]

➬➱➫➩➪【DNF: ~10%】
This was my first (attempted) book by Amy DeMeritt. Received from Kindle Unlimited.

I could not get myself to finish this book at all. The writing felt elementary at best and often times felt either plainly or awkwardly phrased. The sex scenes felt unnatural and mechanical. It just felt weird. I don’t even know how to articulate my feelings about the writing.

This book did not work out for me. I will try another DeMeritt book sometime in the future.
➢Happy reading!

[Steve Going · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the family dynamic

When I was growing up in the 1960's life for a lesbian was very dangerous. One of the reasons, I think lesbians of my generation were so dykish is because we had to be tough and hard. What I liked about this book is the family dynamic that showed solidarity between the young women.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poly-love with just women

Its a sensually decadent, entertainingly 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 series! It serves up captivating characters, complex narratives & explicitly enticing sex scenes of love & pleasure.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story

I love this story and will love to see how Kayla and her 4 girlfriends continue to be a family.

[Dee Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read.

Thank you so much to the author for creating this series. I’ve re-read these books at least five times. I love Kayla and her family.