Review: Here for Us by A.M. Arthur (Us #1)

Note: This ARC was provided by the publisher via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review.

I've missed reading A.M. Arthur's books! Not that she's taken a break from writing. She's actually released quite a few novels through different publishers since I last read one of her titles. The blame lies solely on me and my packed schedule online and offline, but all it took was one book to remind me what exactly I've been missing the since mid-April 2016 (Gah! I can't believe it's been that long!). Here for Us is the first in the author's new M/M/M romance series entitled Us, which features the triumvirate of Cristian Sable, Jake Bowden, and Charles Greenwood.

Twenty-eight-year-old gay porn actor and IT expert Cris Sable goes to Big Dick's looking for nothing more than a hook-up and he finds it in twenty-three-year-old go-go dancer Jake Bowden. But the connection they make is one that demands to be explored further. Unfortunately, Jake doesn't do entanglements, romantic or otherwise, and the intensity of what's going on between him and Cris forces him to do the one thing he's always been good at: ending whatever was brewing with Cris. Better that he be the one to leave first than to be left behind once again.

Cris is confused and angry, but he finds solace in none other than his longtime friend and the owner of Mean Green Boys, Charles Greenwood, aka Chet Green. Both Cris and Charles have been attracted to one another from the moment they first met, but with Charles not wanting to cross the line, their relationship has remained platonic for years. Charles doubts he can be what what Cris needs and wants, especially with the two-decade age difference, but their feelings for each other are too strong for either of them to keep pretending they doesn't exist.

Jake wants Cris, but what can someone like him--someone without much ambition--give someone like Cris, who deserves to have a man like Charles by his side instead. But when Jake is faced with what he feels is an insurmountable hurdle in his life and breaks down, it's the two men he's pushed together that are his greatest supporters. When the connection among the three men becomes palpable, Jake is going to have to decide if he's prepared to risk his heart to pursue his feelings, not only for Cris, but also for Charles. Can he love more than one?

If you're familiar with A.M. Arthur's past series, Big Dick's and Mean Green Boys should be familiar since they were featured prominently in her Perspectives trilogy, which was published by Samhain. So, I'm considering Us a spin-off, especially with Cris--who went by the screen name Dane while working as one of the Mean Green Boys--and Charles, aka Chet, were recurring supporting characters in all three Perspectives books. You don't, however, need to read the series to appreciate this new release (though they were quite good, so you may as well read them too).

Can I just say that my favorite among the three men was Charles? Maybe it's because he's in his late forties and he's had a bit more experience under his belt, so he's more levelheaded and mature when it comes to making decisions. I liked Cris, too, but the swiftness of his affections shifting from one man to the other had me a tad wary. It was Jake that I had a bit of difficulty really connecting with for the first half of the book, what with his sabotaging whatever was going on between him and Cris. He did, however, manage to win me over, which is a bonus of sorts.

The story is well-paced and didn't feel like it was dragging--which is always a possibility when books tend to go past 250 pages. I felt that the author delved into Cris's relationships with Charles and Jake enough for me to really feel the connections he had with them separately. The whole threesome, though, didn't really come about until much later in the story, so if that's what you're waiting for while reading the book, practice a wee bit of patience. It'll be worth the wait. Here for Us was an enjoyable series starter and it gets four stars. I'm looking forward to book two! ♥

Release Date: March 17, 2017

Learn more about A.M. Arthur.

Purchase Here for Us on Amazon.