I went into this book with a lot of trepidation. I wanted to be open minded, but I went into the book knowing I had a bias. I started the book right after I received it, but didn’t get very far and put it down. It took a while for me to return to it, but I am so glad that I did. I am glad that I pushed past my bias and really fell in love with this family.

My personal bias surrounds open relationships and infidelity, so I was concerned about the polyamory aspect. I believed that one person would ultimately get hurt; that the relationship would be unbalanced. That’s probably why I really identified with Cal throughout the story, a lot of his insecurities mirrored what I expected in a relationship like this.

Initially, Anya and Zac seem to reinforce my biases. They are very committed to each other, but enjoy bringing strangers into their bed. When they talk about approaching Cal, it felt like a violation of Zac and Cal’s close friendship and the dynamic with their band. But I was wrong.

All of my concerns were addressed through Cal’s perspective. And they are handled beautifully. There are definitely miscommunications along the way, and yes, people do get hurt. But they fight for each other and force the others to communicate. They are forced to confront their own biases and hang ups, their feelings about each other, and the legitimacy of their relationship.

The story is written beautifully and I was ultimately so invested in the family Zac, Cal & Anya created.

There are explicit sex scenes throughout the book and trigger warnings should be added for alcoholism, but I definitely recommend this one.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book through Net Galley on behalf of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.