Stay with Me

by Maya Banks

Getting her back will be the toughest deal they’ve ever negotiated.

On the night of her fifth anniversary, Catherine Cullen-Wellesley intends to break the news to the two men in her life. She’s pregnant with their child. It’ll be the perfect preamble to the vacation they’ve promised Two weeks on a Jamaican beach. No cell phones, no emails, no business.

But when Logan and Rhys blow off the trip for yet another “business emergency”, Catherine faces some difficult truths. She hasn’t come first in her busy husbands’ lives in a long time. Defiantly, she packs her bags for her long-awaited vacation—alone. It’ll give her a chance to figure out what the hell she’s going to do with the rest of her life.

When Logan and Rhys come home to an empty house, they realize two One, it was a mistake to take Catherine for granted. Two, they’re not willing to just let her walk out of their lives.

Winning her back will be the most difficult battle of their lives—more important than any business deal they’ve ever negotiated.

This title contains explicit sex, ménage a trois, a polyamorous relationship, graphic language, and sex near a beach (and in the shower).

Genres: Menage, Romance, Erotica, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, M F M, Erotic Romance

135 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 6, 2008

About the author

Maya Banks is the #1 New York Times, #1 USA Today and international bestselling author of over 50 novels. A wife and mother of three, she lives in Texas.

Reviews

[SamJ ★Needs a HEA★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

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★Book Basics★

Genre : - Cont M/F/M Romance
Series : - Stand Alone
Love triangle? - No
Cheating? - No
HEA? - Yes
Would I read more by this author/or in this series? - Possibly.
Rating - 3 stars


★Review★

The blurb for this was interesting, the story a few years down the line from the HEA.

Sadly, it never lived up to the promise.

The heroine quite frankly was a bit too much of....





when she should have been...



Ofc, she then manages to take half the blame on herself, for her husbands being dickheads because she had not stood up to them before this.

Not that she stood up to them at all in the end anyway.

The 2 heroes, Rhys and Logan, ofc one was all alpha and one was sweeter, and I could tell you straight away which way round they were going to given the names!

However, at times it did not feel like a poly relationship, more like a relationship between Logan and Catherine and Rhys was the poor relation hanger on.

It was a nice enough story and I was glad of the HEA, but in all honesty, at times, I sort of wanted her to grow a backbone and get rid of them for good, especially after they went back on all their promises and if it had not been for the incident near the end that made them terrified of losing her in a more permanent way, I do not think they would have remained changed.

[Cherie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was just ok. I was really looking forward to reading this one because it was a different take on the menage story. Instead of coming in on the part of the couple's story when their relationship was just starting we come in on the middle where it's on the verge of ending.

I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I expect too much from my taboo or erotic reads. For a romance I expect likable characters for the leads, characters that even if I don't agree with what they do that at the least I'll understand why. Both of those factors were missing in this book. Logan the alpha male in the threesome was all alpha and not at all likable. Usually I am the first one to jump up and root for an alpha male, but in this case there were very few redeemable qualities to be found in Logan. As a reader you understand Catherine loves him, but why? Rhys was better than Logan in that at least he was likable, but that was it. There was nothing wonderful about him.

To me the story would have been better if Catherine had stuck to her resolve even once, made them really work for something. It just seemed that at every turn Catherine was giving in and going along with what they wanted. In the end I found myself just skimming the last few chapters. I'd recommend skipping this one.

Stats:
Ebook pages: 118 of actually story
Genre: erotic, menage romance
Re-Readablitiy: None
Steam Factor: Hot

[Booklover, Indianapolis · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, I find myself rereading this book every so often, even though it's not great! It's good, and it's quite steamy. It's also nice to see what happens after a poly threesome decides to make it work. Or not, as seen in this book. On the one hand, I understood why Catherine was upset - two husbands, yet she seems to spend a good amount of time alone. Why doesn't she work? In this day and age, how many young women want to stay home and do nothing while her man (men) go out and earn a living? No kids, no volunteering, no pet - nothing! On the other hand, she came across as a bit immature - she keeps longing for the "good old days" when they were poor but happy (cue violins) - maturity would have given her the ability to realize times change, people grow, and you can't go back to the way things were. I think Kat overly romanticized how things were "supposed" to be (like her dream of how to tell them she was pregnant - reminds me of Gray's Anatomy when Meredith is telling Christina she wants the perfect time and place to tell Derek she's pregnant and Christina responds "you found out by peeing on a stick - how come he gets a big romantic set up to hear the news?!"). Also, while their commitment to their work was definitely a realistic kink in their marriage, in reality, especially if one is the sole breadwinner, you suck it up and deal! I was also a bit put off by their threesome - I wanted to get a better feel for Rhys and Logan's relationship w/each other - bffs? Tolerate each other because of Kat? How was it decided that Logan got to be the hubby? They don't seem that close in the book, w/Logan seeming the one Kat is closer to, the more manly Alpha of the two, while Rhys is the more emotional, yet perhaps not as close to Kat (how often was she referred to int he book as just Mrs. Wellesley instead of Mrs. Cullen-Wellesley?)? Also - seriously, they own a business where they can afford a company jet, driver, etc. - but they have one employee?!! And I wish I knew how old they were - they met in college, have been together since, and have been married 5 years - are they really only in their mid 20s? All that said, there is something compelling about this book and like I said, I find myself doing a reread every so often and overall enjoying it every time!

[Lidia's Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

I really enjoyed this marriage-in-trouble, polyamorous romance. It was short and sweet, as well as steamy and angsty. At first I wasn't sure this would have enough depth or if I was in the mood for a smutty read, but I stuck around for the tropes. I'm so happy I did! I love, love stories about marital strife and second chances. This one was about two workaholic husbands who unwittingly neglect their wife until she's had enough and thinks about leaving. It was fun watching them grovel and then pamper her when they find out she's pregnant. All my catnips rolled into one. The conclusion was more than just satisfying, it was sigh-worthy. 🥰

Details:
Logan, Catherine (Cat) and Rhys ❤️
MFM (no MM)
Logan is the alpha
Married 5 years

Read on Hoopla

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱ · Rating 3 out of 5]

An emotional support side book

I was readying a rather heavy, heavy book and I used this one and two others to help keep me sane while going though that ride.
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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[Jac K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook last week on Everand (formerly Scribd) and it wasn’t bad at all, I was just expecting a little more angst/emotion generated from the marriage in trouble, and it was VERY smut-based. And there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not what I was expecting.

The blurb set it up, Cat has been “married” to Logan and Rhys (only Logan officially) for years when they forget their anniversary and cancel on a vacation she’s been looking forward to. Irked and hurt, she decides to continue on alone giving them a SHOCK when they return home to an empty home. The rest is them trying to prove to her that she is their priority.

Bottom Line- Smut heavy—light on feels. I liked it, the only problem was that Cat couldn’t keep her hands off her husbands, so there wasn’t any angst and not really any groveling. I wish she would’ve made them work for it a little bit. I thought the relationship felt balanced. Logan being more alpha with Rhys being gentler. It also seemed like they all get it on at the same time/nights, and no one is sneaking off on the side. I liked that. (MFM-No MM)

[Lili · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

Oof, this didn't age well. Let's start with the two heroes who were such alphaholes that even after fucking up their marriage they still wore their entitlement like a well fitted cloak. No groveling in sight. God forbid, if you're the manliest men alive you can't possibly grovel or beg. Even saying please is just borderline, I guess.

But don't you worry, the narration will tell you that grovel is not neccessary because -- "well, actually"... she is just at fault for being neglected and treated shitty for *letting* them treat her that way. If she didn't, if she challenged them, their marriage would be fine after all:
"Her meek acceptance of the status quo of their marriage put her as much as fault as it did them."

lol The audacity. I almost had an aneurysm reading that.
Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. I expected some groveling and redemption. But it never came. All they did was the bare minimum and she caved. But I won't give up on my search for good groveling romances!

[seton · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know how Pablo Picasso kept on making these painting of weeping women? I feel like MB keeps a picture of one of those right by her puter as she writes her novellas.
Make. Her. Stop.
Enough with the weepy heroines.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most shittiest novel I've ever read. Sorry Miss Banks. I was expecting a better plot.

Cat's character was described far better than the Rhys and Logan.
The relationship between Rhys and Logan was written poorly. The novel's plot was extremely hidicious. All in all, I'm disappointed.

[Chalice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The couple: Logan/Rhys/Catherine

Romance trope: menage
Length: 128 pages

Plot: Catherine is married to Logan and Rhys and things are great...except lately. The two guys have been stressed by work and have devoted all of their time to their business. They have canceled and put off and just plain ignored Catherine in favor of clients and mergers and the like. Catherine is ready to tell them she's pregnant and they're supposed to go on a two-week vacation together. Of course, they cancel at the last minute. Once their assistant clues them in, they go home to find Catherine gone - she's taken the vacation without them. Now they have to figure out a way to make it up to her. They may need to keep thinking about that - there's a second crisis: after the guys swear they'll pay attention to her, they take a business call on vacation and they both rush off to save the deal that is more important than anything. She's left on her own, pregnant, and she becomes very ill and has to go to the hospital. She can't get ahold of them while she's there so she bars them from the room. They'll have to figure out how to make this up to her as well.

Commentary: I really need to make an "ignored wife" shelf - it would be nothing but Maya Banks books.
This is a typical progression for a Banks book - the wife is suffering because her husband(s) aren't paying attention to her - they're wrapped up in the business. They miss something important - usually an anniversary. They swear they'll make it up to her. Everything is good for a short time, then they screw up again, in exactly the same way. She's really sad but for some inexplicable reason takes half of the blame on her own shoulders and forgives them. They have a baby. We presume they live happily ever after (at least until the guys forget the baby is in the bathtub because they had an important meeting with a client or they miss a birth or funeral or graduation or something because they had to take a call).
I think I could live with this plot, up until the second screw-up, especially since it's for the exact same reason as the first. So the plot's a rehash and the heroine's a pushover and the heroes are pretty awful.

[Valentine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed. There's no grovel. She left them on chapter 1, had sex with them on chapter 2. Boring. No backbone. Last book from this author.

[Kace | The Booknerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was something primal, forbidden, about belonging to two men, having one watch while the other pleasured her.

I was browsing my ebook files, and the book cover caught my attention, so I immediately checked the blurb, and I was like, "Seriously? Two husbands?" My curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to give it a shot. I won't go into many details because the blurb pretty much tells you about it, and some of the reviews here in Goodreads already summed it up nicely. However, I will go into the characters and my overall feelings on the book.

One of my favorite tropes in romance is when the couple was already married and having some marital problems or on the verge of divorcing each other. I always find comfort in knowing that they will realize that they still love each other and will have their HEA in the end. Plus, the hero will surely do everything to keep the heroine and will do some serious groveling. I love heroes who grovel nicely. Stay With Me gave me that and more!!

This is actually my first menage story, and I honestly expect it to be more on the smutty side, but boy, I was wrong! Yes, there was plenty of sex, but it actually has a story, making the book more interesting and enjoyable. I loved how Maya Banks' explores the in's and out's of a multiple-partner relationship.

I say Cat is one lucky girl! She is married not to only one but two gorgeous, sexy, endearing, and lovable men who were completely, passionately, and irrevocably in love with her. I liked Cat's character. Although at first, she's been too compliant and never voiced her feelings when she had enough. She stood up for herself and let her husbands know how much they've hurt her. I also loved the scenes where she sexually took charge of them. Damn hot! I also loved that Cat accepts responsibility that she's partly at fault for their marital problems because she never told them how she felt.

And I loved, loved, loved Logan and Rhy. I was too torn between them because I loved them both. So I'd rather be in the middle of a Logan-Rhy sandwich. Lol! But seriously, I loved them. Logan's the domineering, strong one while Rhy's the sweet, more sensitive one. I loved how much they love Cat. And when they realized how much they hurt her by neglecting her and abandoning her, they did everything to convince her to give them a chance, and boy, they did some serious groveling!! I'm a happy girl. Their love for her was so profound and awe-inspiring. Yes, they made some mistakes and aren't perfect, but they fought very hard to become the men they think Cat deserves.

And the sex! Oh my... It was so smokin' hot! But you know what I really loved about the sex scenes? Both men have alone time with Cat. Did I mention how lucky Cat was?

All in all, Stay With Me is a passionate, sexy, hot and delightful read. The reader is taken on a very emotional journey with them. Maya Banks writes delightful stories that are fantastic and grab me right from the start.

[Krissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed some parts of this story, but honestly, several parts just really irritated me. I liked the premise of taking a three-person relationship and looking at it from the possible end instead of the beginning. Some of the emotional scenes really did affect me and make me feel what Cat was feeling, but mostly I was just pissed that she was letting them walk all over her.

Supposedly Cat kept getting furious with Rhys and Logan, but then within minutes she would be taking as much or more of the responsibility on her own shoulders for their problems. If nothing else, you would think that her impending motherhood would make her less likely to settle for the same crap that she had been dealing with for years.

The two men's characters never really fully developed for me either. I was constantly wondering how their relationship worked? Obviously they shared Catherine, but was that all that it was? Not that they had to also be romantically involved with each other, but it seems like if they weren't romantically interested in each other it would be more difficult to keep from getting jealous.

I understand that in a relationship sometimes you have to give someone (or in this case someones) a second chance, but how about when they do the exact thing that's causing the problems when they're not finished making up for the first major screw-up? I know that it took time for her to trust them again and we got the scene of the three of them in the apartment together before her doctor's appointment, but what about the weeks leading up to that? I feel a little cheated that we didn't get to see any of that time that they spent together.

I think that I might have appreciated the ending a little more if I had been able to read about that time where she was slowly settling back into their life and forgiving them, but it didn't happen so the ending felt too easy to me. I mean, honestly, they treated her pretty shitty for years and all of a sudden everything's great again? I just didn't really buy the happily ever after.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

11/8/23-
Good angst while it lasted. This would've gotten a higher rating if we'd been shown how the heroine's husbands changed instead of just told about it after a time-jump. Y'all brought me through all that glorious drama, but it's not as satisfying if I'm not also brought through at least one or two scenes of showing how all that hurt is rectified over time. But at least there was an epilogue to give a tiny bit of closure.

I'm on a Maya Banks kick right now because so far she delivers on angst and I need to feel something other than Level 10 depression.

Side note: The description in the beginning of the heroine's skimpy bathing suit felt a little gross, but I guess I'll just never understand the appeal of butt floss as apparel. 😷 To each their own.

3/17/24-
Still disappointing after all that angst. Too many sex scenes in a row. The description of the heroine's bathing suit is still disgusting.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My one of my most favorite books from Maya. It pulls at your heart and make you want to cry and scream for the heroine. Don't worry though everything ends up just right.

I can read this one over and over again and never get tired of it.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. So bad. Just. So. Bad.

[Tianna✸loves books✸ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The storyline was good but honestly the chemistry was not there. The main leads were boring. Everything was dull. I couldn’t feel any love. Everything seemed forced.

[Amyb1975 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book I have read multiple times. I really like it mainly because of 2 groveling H's.
So, I've seen many mixed reviews on this one. Some absolutely loving it to some hating it and I understand both in a way.
Catherine, Logan & Rhys have been together for years (since college) & married for 5 years. I won't go into much detail or repeat what the blurb says. You get the gist of the story from it.

-no cheating
-already married at start of book
-multi POV
-Logan seemed to be the alpha of the 2 H's
-no abuse
-no others during separation

All in all, I did enjoy this book. The H's inner dialogue does make you feel they love her more than anything but their actions took a bit longer to show. If you like menage stories, you should pick this one up & give it a try. :-)

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an older story by Maya Banks and it’s incredibly similar to a more recently published one by her, Taking it All. Both TIA and SWM deal with relationships where the male half has spent the last few years being so completely obsessed with their work that they’ve totally ignored their wife. And the wife has just sat quietly, accepting all of the late nights and cancelled dates…right up until the inciting incident at the start of the story. In both stories that inciting incident is the woman sitting alone in a restaurant on their anniversary, having been stood up, yet again, after she’d been promised that THIS time he’d be there for sure. And in both stories, even though I know going in that it’s a foregone conclusion that the couple will get back together, I was left feeling like the relationship was completely unsalvageable and therefore I didn’t believe the HEA. The only real difference here is that Stay With Me involves a relationship between two men and one woman, whereas Taking it All was just one man and one woman.


As said above, the story opens with our heroine, Catherine, sitting alone in a restaurant waiting for her two husbands, Logan and Rhys. They’ve been together ever since college, but have been married for five years. Logan and Rhys are in business together and have become increasingly obsessed with making their business a success. And they’ve been succeeding. When they first started out, the three of them had lived in a seedy apartment and Catherine had had to work double-shifts at a diner in order to support them. Now she doesn’t have to work at all and they live in a luxury apartment. But to Catherine, those years in the cheap apartment were the dream, because the three of them spent so much time together and the men made it clear they adored her. Now they barely even talk to her. She hasn’t made love with either of them in five months.

Then we flash over to the men. They’re still at work, having completely forgotten that it’s their anniversary. There’s some issue with a big business deal they’re trying to land and it’ll require them both to travel to different meetings. They’re going to leave that very night, without even seeing Catherine. They ask their personal assistant to phone Catherine and let her know about the change of plans. The three of them were also supposed to leave on a 2 week vacation that the men had promised they would attend, but that’ll have to be cancelled now. They’re sorry but it just can’t be helped. They tell their assistant to promise Catherine that they’ll make it up to her. Just like they’ve sworn to do for the last five years. Even their assistant is pissed at them on Catherine’s behalf, though she maintains professionalism and doesn’t share her feelings.

Catherine is devastated at this latest proof that they don’t care about her anymore. Particularly because she’d recently learned that she was pregnant and had planned to share that news with them at the anniversary dinner. Now she’s questioning whether she even wants to stay married to them. Gone are the days when she felt loved and cared for. Now she’s an afterthought. Ranking far below business in their priorities. So she decides to go on the trip by herself. She doesn’t bother to leave a note because past experience has told her that this “2-3 days max, promise!” trip will be dragged out into 2 weeks or more, so they probably won’t even notice that she’s gone. She plans to use the time to think on what she really wants to do.

Three days later one of the men (they were really interchangeable so I can’t remember which one did what throughout the story) comes out of a meeting. He calls his assistant and asks her if she checked on Catherine, like he’d requested. That he’d tried to call Catherine, but she hadn’t answered her phone. Apparently she has a habit of not charging her phone, so up to this point neither of her husbands thought it was odd that they hadn’t spoken to her in days. The assistant informs him that Catherine hasn’t been back to their apartment. That after they’d blown off their anniversary dinner (this is the first clue the men have that they missed this important event. Even days later it hasn’t registered with them what the date is) Catherine had come back to the apartment, taken her suitcase, and left again that same night. The doorman had arranged for a car to take her to a hotel near the airport.

So FINALLY the men catch a clue that Catherine is pissed at them and that they’ve screwed up big time. They both rush back home to their apartment and find that there’s no note or message from Catherine to tell them whether she just went on the vacation without them, or if she just straight up left them. They guess that she’s just pissed and went on the trip so they immediately book flights to Jamaica…but then to their chagrin realize that they don’t even know what hotel they were supposed to stay at when they got there. That, as usual, they’d been too busy to be bothered with the details and had told Catherine to arrange everything. And even when she’d excitedly tried to share with them the fun things she’d booked for them, they’d been too busy to listen. Again, they slowly start to recognize that they’ve been taking her for granted and she might be done with them. But honestly, they’re not THAT worried about it. They’re more arrogantly determined to force her to stay with them, rather than legitimately concerned that they’ve irrevocably blown it with her and it’s too late to fix it.

A scene change later, one of the men sees Catherine in a hot little bikini walking down the beach, She pauses to dance with some people who are rocking out on the sand, but then continues on. He finally approaches her and she’s surprised to see him. He disgruntledly says that he and the other husband have been searching for her for two days because she didn’t even leave them a note. She says that she didn’t think they’d even notice she was gone, and he gives a rather kiss-off apology. He says that he knows they’ve screwed up and they’re sorry. They’re here to make it up to her. Then he kisses her and asks her to take him to the hotel room. She says that they need to talk and he hushes her up and says that they’ll get to the talking part later, but first they need to have sex. And she actually agrees!!

My jaw was on the floor. Are you kidding me right now, woman? You’re just going to take them back like that? If you have sex with them right away, you’re as good as telling them that you’re not really serious about questioning the relationship. That all they have to do is give you a few token crumbs of affection and you’ll go back to waiting in the wings like a good little wife. I pretty much lost all respect for Catherine right here. It was bad enough that she had let them ignore her for 5 years without ever speaking up, but then when she finally decides to do something about it, she immediately caves? This woman has no spine.

But things get even worse from there. When they get back to the hotel room and call the other husband to let him know where to come, the men then TIE CATHERINE TO THE BED AND THEN LEAVE HER TO GO TAKE A SHOWER. Seriously. They tie her to the bed! And straight up say that the reason they’re doing it is because they want to make sure she’s still there when they get out of the shower. OMG. This is wrong on so many levels!!!!

First of all, the whole crux of this argument is that the men never make Catherine a priority. That they always expect her to just sit quietly until they have time to pay attention to her. And yet now, when they’ve supposedly realized the error of their ways and are here to convince her to give them another shot, the very first thing they do is tell her to sit quietly and wait until it’s convenient for them to pay attention to her. And they physically tie her up in order to make sure she does what they want!!! Are you kidding me?!?! And this is after they’ve bullied her into agreeing to have sex with them! But that can wait too, until they’re ready. This is just so sick. But the worst part is CATHERINE IS TOTALLY OKAY WITH THIS TREATMENT!!!!! I want to brain this woman with a frying pan. Where is your self-respect?!?! But no, she’s perfectly happy to just sit there, tied up, until they’re done showering and shaving and finally have time to screw her…all without doing any talking or making any promises to change the way they’ve been treating her overall. My head -> Desk.

So they do the sex thing and Catherine is just super into it despite everything. But afterward the men promptly fall asleep and so she sneaks back out to “think” some more. What’s there to think about, Catherine? You’ve already relinquished any power you had in this scenario. They know darn good and well that you’ll never leave them, no matter how badly they treat you. So what’s your plan, exactly?

Eventually one of the husbands tracks her down and then the other one joins them and she FINALLY starts to air her grievances. One thing I did like about this scene is when Catherine complained that they used the fact that there are two of them to try to pacify her. That they would tag-team their responsibilities with her. That as long as one of them was with her for various events, they considered their husbandly duties fulfilled, even though she had wanted both of them to be there. That instead of each of them acting like he was her husband and made his relationship with her a priority, they’d behaved as if it was just one relationship between her and half of each of them. I liked this because it showed a very real potential pitfall that could occur in a polyamorous relationship. Usually you’d expect that the husbands would each feel like there wasn’t enough of the wife to go around, but in this situation it was the reverse. Not something I’d previously thought about before so I appreciated the perspective.

Eventually the men admit that they’ve been taking her for granted and promise to correct things, starting right now. They promise to stay with her for the rest of the original 2 week vacation. No work, they promise. Catherine is practically giddy to accept. All thoughts of leaving her marriage gone. But almost from the start, we see situations where they’re doing exactly what she complained about – tag-teaming her. While one of them stays with her, the other goes off to make business phone calls. But Catherine doesn’t seem to mind.

So, they have lots of sex and she’s feeling pretty good about things…but not quite good enough to tell them about the baby. They notice that she seems tired a lot but it never crosses their mind that anything might be wrong. Naturally there needs to be a black moment. Predictably it’s business again. This ultra-important deal they have in the works is in jeopardy again. Catherine overhears one of the men on the phone and he shouts that there’s nothing more important to him than this deal. Nothing! Catherine slinks away without letting on that she overheard. Then she pretends to be surprised when they tell her they need to cut their vacation short and go deal with business again.

Catherine seems mostly okay with them leaving her. Apparently after only a week of their attention, she’s been reassured that she’s important to them. She stays behind to finish out the vacation alone. Except, she starts feeling a pain in her side. It gets progressively worse but she just ignores it, which again made me want to hit her with a frying pan. Um, HELLO? YOU’RE PREGNANT!! Strange pains in your abdominal area should be getting checked out immediately, not ignored!!!!!! But because she’s an idiot, she just keeps ignoring it until she gets all the way back home to her apartment where she promptly passes out in front of the doorman.

Two days later, one of the husbands resurfaces again and calls his assistant to find out where Catherine is. She then informs him that she’s in the hospital. That she collapsed from appendicitis and had to be rushed into surgery. Unfortunately, because Catherine is such an idiot, it had gotten to the crisis point and her appendix ruptured before it could be removed, so now she’s at risk of dying of septicemia.

This husband grabs the other one and they rush to the hospital but are told that they’re not allowed to see Catherine. That the first day she’d been there she’d been frantic to get ahold of them, and even though the hospital had called “the number she gave them” dozens of times, neither man had answered. After that first day Catherine had gone quiet and said that she didn’t want to see anyone for the duration of her stay. This is a point that’s never explained. What number did Catherine give to them? Since she’s got 2 husbands, wouldn’t she have to give at least 2 numbers? And why didn’t the assistant get in touch with them, since she obviously knew about this and also knew where they were? We’re never told.

The husbands also learn, for the first time, that she’s pregnant, and there’s a scene where one of them is jealously thinking that, before Jamaica, it had been months since he’d slept with Catherine so that meant it was a guarantee that the baby belonged to the other guy. He doesn’t like that. He had of course always known that when they had kids there would be a chance that he wasn’t the father, but he preferred to not know for sure. When the other husband confirms that he hadn’t slept with Catherine in months either, not since that last time it was all three of them together, the first husband is very relieved. You know, because THAT’s what’s important right now. His poor male ego. Not like, you know, WHETHER OR NOT HIS WIFE AND CHILD WILL EVEN SURVIVE!! I seriously hate these people.

Meanwhile, things aren’t much better on Catherine’s side. Despite her barring the men from her room, she’s still pathetic. She’s got absolutely no plan for when she gets released from the hospital. Apparently she has no friends or family that can come get her and take her somewhere else to recover. Nope, she’s totally dependent on her husbands in all things. So when she gets released, she just meekly allows them to take her back to their apartment. They assure her that her almost dying was the wake-up call they needed and they’ve now taken on additional help at the office so that they can spend more time with her and their baby. And she’s just totally fine with that and accepts them back with open arms. HEA.

What a horrific story. Catherine was a completely pathetic weakling. The men self-centered and abusive. And nothing has really changed by the end, but we’re supposed to believe that they live HEA. Yuck. I feel sorry for that baby.

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of already-established-married-couples-who-are-now-traveling-a-rocky-road trope will devour this one. The groveling was on point, the lovin' was steamy, & the surprise that was revealed was super sweet! (The best thing was that it was all x2, thanks to two hottie husbands.)

I've got the Maya Banks bug again now, so off to find some more new-to-me reads!

[Kathleen Lemke (Kathy Page) · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating: 3 stars

What I liked: I normally don’t like MFM relationships but this one worked for me. I liked how their relationship worked. I usually hate when it’s three in a relationship because I always feel like one is being left out/or favored but surprisingly I didn’t feel either one being left out/favor in this book. With Logan(1H) being more of the aggressor and Rhys(2H) being more gentle it was a nice fit.

What I didn’t like: I wanted Catherine(h) to make the guys grovel more especially leaving her again for business when they said they wouldn’t. Especially them also not coming back when they said they would, I needed a hell of a lot more of a grand gesture and prolong grovel. Also, I wished she wasn’t pregnant because it’s feels like more of a “I need to forgive for the baby’s sake”.

***Major Spoilers/ Details/Triggers: MFM relationship. h has been neglected by the two H’s. They have been putting their job before the h for a while. h found out she is pregnant and plans on telling them at dinner on their anniversary. When they forget their anniversary she has had enough, especially when they tell her that they are not able to go on the vacation she planned because of a work emergency. h decides to go on vacation without them. When they get back they realized they messed up and go after her. They find her and apologize to her telling her that they will make her their number one priority. She gives them another chance especially when they tell her that they will stay with her on vacation and they will give her all of their attention and no phones. Towards the end of their vacation the guys get called away for work. The h overhears one of the H’s say that the job is more important and it’s his number one priority. So h stays while they go but make plans to pick her up at the airport. When she is leaving she starts to get a pain. At the airport she calls the Hs and yet again they are not there because they are still at the job site. She heads back to the apartment and faints. She is rushed to the hospital. The H’s have no clue about the h being in the hospital. They try calling her while they are still away and she doesn’t answer. They finally tell the guy for the job screw it and head back to the h. When they get to the apartment the doorman asks them how the h is and tells them she is in the hospital. They realize they screwed up yet again but this time she could have died. They rush to the hospital. h refuses to see them and the doctor tells them that the baby is fine. Shocked and really feeling bad they decide to put all their energy and love towards the h. They bring the h home. HEA

Descriptive Sex: Yes

Final thoughts: This was an ok read for me. I just wished she would have made them suffer more.

[amanda s. · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a quick yet adorable reading!

Married to two men aren't supposed to be this lonely, but that's what Catherine felt. Logan and Rhy are always busy with their works and somehow starts relationship with Cat through phone calls. Until their anniversary. Abandoning Cat in restaurant all alone and canceling their holiday together? Cat's had enough. This time she'll no longer waiting for them. She'll gone. And Logan and Rhy will fight their way to get her back.

One of the sweetest story I read so far. So very Maya Banks and I always love her style of writing. Easy to read and very angsty.

But for a menage thingy, I think Barbara Elsborg still the winner. I don't know maybe it's just me, because I'm getting used of reading Barbara's menage stories, that's why I find this book's a bit off.

Logan's the domineering one and Rhy's the sweet one. But when I read it, I find that their relationship is a bit unbalanced between the two guys. In Barbara Elsborg books, there's no such thing. That's why Barbara's still number one.

But so far, this book's very enjoyable. Nailed it, Maya Banks!

[Cheesecake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Logan and Rhys have sorely neglected their wife Catherine. It was beyond taking her for granted... I mean, they sucked as husbands!! Catherine blames herself somewhat during the story and at the end for not being a nag. As though her acceptance of their neglect makes her somehow to blame for it. Didn't appreciate this bit of masochistic reasoning, but that was my only complaint with the story. There's no weirdness for any of the characters about her having two husbands. It just is and it is actually integral to the plot. Only it kinda of makes it even worse to be neglected by not one husband but two. sheesh! This is really classic Maya Banks with danger leading to the Hero(s) waking up to their true feelings and some wonderful grovelling afterwards and of course a pregnancy and a sweet epilogue. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it is a rather shallow read.

[Claire H · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much potential and didn't deliver.

There were good ideas here, one being the idea that in a polyam relationship, in this case a reverse harem with no MM, there can be no healthy group dynamic without each person "pulling their weight" or giving their 100%. Aka one man's relationship with the mfc cannot carry the relationship of the other man's relationship with the mfc.

Ugh.

For this book, I'm asking a lot from the erotica I read - but I think erotica can have a narrative arc and structure and when it's too weak during the course of a novel, how is it even that exciting? Food for thought.

[figuranta❤️addicted❤️to❤️books❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars.


Stay With Me it's another great book by Maya Banks as per usual, but in this case Maya takes us to a different journey and a different type of marriage. A menage marriage. And OMG wot amazing journey this was. I loved it.

In this book Maya present us with a story of a menage marriage, and how much complicated can be than your average marriage. I loved the story, the plot and the love scene, Omg they were so so hot.

If you are a big fan of Maya Banks or a lover of a menage books you won't be disappointed if you pick this one.

[Heidi (MinxyD14) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Expected something completely different from Maya Banks. Bummer

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t think I’ve ever read a poly romance. I liked the angst of the storyline, but I wasn’t crazy about her husband’s practically teaming up on her to defend their actions. Plus she was justified in her concerns, yet took half of the blame.

Even though I had a few qualms, I did like the story overall.

[arnela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️ — I live for groveling so relationship in crisis books might be a new favorite trope of mine. I do wish there was more groveling from the men. And I wanted more flash backs of them as roommates & getting together too. I just wanted more 🤌🏼

[Danni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such. Good. Grovel.

Seriously, could not have possibly have asked for more. I loved this book.

[Sherron · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5