SLEEPING STONE – Alexa Snow

Torquere Press – www.torquerepress.com

ISBN (10): 1-934166-64-2

ISBN (13): 978-1-934166-64-2
January 2007
Erotic Contemporary Gay Romance - Ménage

Rated: Jalapeno

A suburb of Boston, Massachusetts – Present Day

For four years, Chris Turner has been stuck in an emotional vacuum.  After investing everything into his previous relationship, Chris was devastated to come home early one night and discover his partner, Drake, in bed with someone else.   It made Chris afraid to love again and numbed him to his surroundings.  Living in a sterile environment, his only focus these days is his job as a web designer and living a fit and healthy lifestyle.   Thinking love will never come his way again, Chris's well-ordered life gets a jolt when he meets Jazz.

Jason Zephyr Stone is a true free spirit.  Beautiful in body and soul, Jazz encounters Chris one day just as the latter realizes his car battery is dead.   Offering Chris a lift home, the attraction between them is swift, immediate, and so strong, that the next time they see each other, Chris can't help but ask Jazz over for dinner.   It turns out that Jazz, too, had a previous relationship that left a lasting mark.  Both are wary but hopeful for a future together and as time passes, their feelings blossom into love.   However, just as they finally take their relationship to the next level, Jazz's former lover, Richard, shows up. 

Richard is still in love with Jazz but realized it's his own actions that drove Jazz away.  Knowing Jazz and Chris are now together, Richard asks to be their friend.   Aware his lover needs closure, Chris agrees and the three find their way to a relationship that works.  But over time, Chris comes to realize that while he loves Jazz completely, he is becoming attracted to Richard as well.   What does this mean for the three of them, and will someone end up getting hurt?

Told partly in flashback from Chris' point of view, SLEEPING STONE is a tender, passionate love story about second chances.   Each character is multi-faceted and complements the strengths and weaknesses of the others.  Jazz is absolutely adorable and almost ethereal, while Chris is grounded in reality.   For me, the weak link is Richard.  Richard does not appear until later in the book and by then I was immersed in the intricacies of Chris and Jazz's relationship and I did not care for the way he intruded into their world.   As the story progressed, I did find myself warming to him more but I never felt as attached to him as I did to the other two.  The flashbacks were an interesting way of unfolding the story and worked for the most part, although it seemed to get a bit much near the climax of the tale.

Riveting characters and a poignant plot make SLEEPING STONE a must read.

Isabelle Spencer