HMMMM....So I picked this up because I have liked this author before, and I decided to give this one a try to keep myself from a reading slump in a time where I don’t have the mental energy for super serious books. I don't feel the need to overorganize my thoughts, so here goes a scramble:
WHY IS THIS A UNICORN HUNTING AGE GAP SITUATION!!!!! Going to keep trying but ughhhhhh. The "spicing up our marriage" dynamic is A LOT already, but then when you add in the AGE GAP AGE GAP AGE GAP on every other page, it becomes very annoying. To be fair, at the same time, I do think Katrina Jackson was creative in how she thought about chronological age vs. life experiences. In some ways, Nadia and Darren are less mature and learning from Jourdan. I have heard people who are in decade-plus age gap relationships (could NOT be me) explain that one thing that can help level the playing field is if you all are compatible in terms of the places you're both at in life. That is not the case for these three professionally, but one could argue it is the case for them romantically.
I didn't always love how this book handled topics of consent. Especially in the beginning, Jourdan is very pushy and not very good at making sure people are on board before she’s moving forward with the different steps of flirtation. Despite this, I did enjoy how Jackson described in those sections why Jourdan's attention felt so positively overwhelming and intoxicating for Darren and Nadia. (Example on page 18: “Her casual affection is mildly terrifying, not because it’s unwanted, but because it’s been years since I even noticed someone being interested in me besides Nadia. Jourdan’s attention is overwhelming, especially physically.”) This is something I wouldn't pick up on my own, because I am aroace and feel annoyed by people flirting with me. But, it's nice to read about how other people experience that sensation!
To be honest, outside of the age gap unicorn hunting stuff, I really enjoyed each person's interactions with the others (the "throuple" dynamic, not so much but each of their couple dynamics were cute.) I especially loved how sweet and considerate Nadia and Darren were together—they definitely struck me as a fellow Virgo-Virgo couple!!!! It was just so relatable that they researched everything for a year and a half before moving forward with it and that they have a shared notes app for things that come up during the day they want to debrief about later!
The troubling parts of this book were more confusing than anything—Katrina Jackson doesn't do a great job mapping out how this triad handles the ENM aspects of their relationship. I wasn't clear why Nadia wasn't going on the early dates, or what level of openness Nadia and Darren magically decided to be comfortable with. There is a HUGE jump from "don't let my students see us" to "have our third child", and it was both very nauseating and very disorienting. Even before the epilogue, I was so confused about how things got so serious all of a sudden. Also, that dynamic was 90 TIMES less enjoyable than the more exploratory moments.
If you can get past the icks I described, though, I would recommend this! The sex scenes are well done, and the story is mostly enjoyable.