covetRating: 4 stars
Buy Links: 
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Length: Novel

Jack Mason does not do relationships or anything serious. So when he meets Colin Sloan, Jack assumes it will be one night only. But Colin surprises Jack in that he isn’t interested in anything serious either. Colin just got out of a long-term relationship and he isn’t ready to get involved with anyone. So the two begin an open, friends-with-benefits relationship that works for both of them. Surprisingly for Jack, the two men become friends as well, socializing regularly, including with Jack’s twin, Peter.

Peter is in a relationship of his own, but over time he finds himself thinking of Colin in all kinds of wicked ways. When things fall apart with Peter’s girlfriend, he acts on his attraction to Colin and the two of them hook up as well. Peter knows Jack won’t be thrilled, but he also knows Jack doesn’t do serious and the guys are seeing other people. But to Peter’s dismay, he learns that somehow Jack has ended up falling for Colin and his feelings for him are much stronger than Jack has been willing to admit.

Now the twins are are odds, with both men falling for Colin and Colin caught in the middle. Jealously is flaring and Colin is torn between the twins, while the brothers’ relationship with each other grows more strained. Their only hope is to talk to one another and find a way that they can make a relationship work for all of them.

Covet is a really unique story with an interesting spin on menage and twincest for this genre. Generally it seems menage stories fall in two camps when there are male and female MCs. Either all three of the characters are together in a threesome relationship as an MMF story, or the woman is in the middle and the guys each interact with her and not each other (MFM). But when dealing with all men, virtually every menage I have read has all three men falling in love and in a three-way partnership. However, this story takes a different angle as this isn’t your traditional twincest type book. Peter and Jack are intimate with Colin together, but they are not intimate with one another at all. They are both very clear that they don’t have feelings for each other, but they enjoy sharing Colin. So I found this one very engaging as we watch these men navigate a very non-traditional relationship in a way that is unique for the genre.

The book has a very episodic feel to it with each of the men as POV characters at various times. The story starts out focused on Colin and Jack, then moves to more time with Colin and Peter, and eventually all three. There isn’t really a strong plot here and the story is much more focused on the relationships. So we go in and out of scenes between and among the men, dropping in on them as their relationships grow and develop. The effect works nicely in many ways as there are a lot of different dynamics and so we can follow along, jumping in and out of the various threads. I think Kleinn does a nice job showing how this very unusual situation develops among the three of them, and how the misunderstandings and lack of communication leave these guys in kind of a mess that they must then work through.

The style of the story did leave me with some issues however, mostly in that we are told a lot of key elements but don’t see them on page because of the more episodic style. For example, we are told things are different between Jack and Colin, that Jack never does relationships or anything serious, but somehow with Colin he wants those things. But we never see that different connection developing, never hear from Jack about how or why he feels differently. We are just told from the outside. Similarly, we know that Peter is attracted to Colin and that has a major impact on his relationship ending, but we only see the men briefly together at that point, so it is hard to understand where these strong feelings are coming from. We are told that he and Maureen had other issues that led to the break up, but never what they are. So I often felt we got too little information about what was motivating these guys and driving their feelings. For Colin’s part, it seemed even more frustrating at times because we never really know how he feels about all this. Is he falling for Jack, or is the dynamic one sided? Why does he go through with dating both of these men when it has to be apparent, despite Jack’s denials, that it is causing tension between the brothers? We never know what Colin is thinking until the very end of the book, and I felt like this insight is really missing. Weirdly, at one point Colin even notes he has no idea when Peter fell for him, or aspects of Jack’s thoughts on their relationship, and that these are things he will never know. And I couldn’t help wonder, why not? Why wouldn’t he just ask? For three people dealing with a really unusual relationship that requires careful navigating, they barely talked to one another about it. It left me as a reader really feeling out of the loop as to what was motivating them a lot of the time.

Despite those concerns, I really found this a very engaging story. I enjoyed all three men, and really liked that Colin has a lot of strength as a character, and is not just a guy caught in the middle of these two brothers. The story is sexy and it kept me interested throughout to see how these relationships would develop and how it would all work out in the end. So I really enjoyed this one and would definitely look for more by this author.

P.S. I find this cover kind of weird, mostly in that it doesn’t really represent the story. It looks like the two men kissing are supposed to be the twins, because they look alike, but Peter and Jack aren’t intimate with each other. And Colin doesn’t have a beard that is ever described (nor does this guy seem to look like him). But neither of the twins are described as bearded either and they have long hair. So the cover, while pretty, feels a little off to me.

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