REVIEW: 'Outside the Lines' by Anna Zabo
Title: Outside the Lines
Series: Bluewater Bay #22
Author: Anna Zabo
Published: December 18, 2017
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase
Genre: Contemporary Romance; Erotic Romance
Length: 260 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Bisexual; Polyamory; D/s, Established Couple; HEA; Standalone
About Outside the Lines
Miniature artist Ian Meyers has one week to rebuild his damaged set. Needing help, he goes to End o’ Earth, the local comic and gaming shop. Owner Simon Derry pushes all of Ian’s buttons, and he also has steady hands and the skills Ian needs.
Before they can even grab a beer, Ian meets Lydia Derry, Simon’s wife. If Ian had any interest in women, he’d suggest a threesome, but then Simon explains that he and Lydia are polyamorous, and if Ian wants Simon, neither of them will complain. If anything, Lydia encourages the relationship.
Ian’s all in, and it’s fantastic working with Simon to piece together his set and then take each other apart at night. His friendship with Lydia grows too. The only problem is, the more time he spends with Simon, the more he wants everything Simon already has with Lydia: A house. A cat. A commitment. So Ian runs, and shatters the trust he has with them both—right when they need him the most. Piecing their relationships back together might prove harder than a smashed set.
4 HEART READ
REVIEW:
Outside the Lines, Anna Zabo's standalone addition to the Bluewater Bay series, is touching and gentle, rough and erotic, and ever-so smooth. She seamlessly updates the lives of characters created by prior authors in this collection which focuses on a fictional television series, shot in Washington state.
When the show's scale-model of surrounding forest is accidentally destroyed – just before its on-screen shoot - miniature artist, Ian Meyer, has a week to rebuild. He runs to the local miniature/comics store for supplies, where he meets Simon Derry, owner and a crafter of miniatures, himself.
They flirt mercilessly, until Ian meets Simon's wife, Lydia, a graphic artist. Oops. Except Simon and Lydia are in a polyamorous marriage. And how does that work? Or does it?
Audiences tend to find issues of sexual diversity more exciting (ha, ha) than issues of romantic diversity. This delicious novel demonstrates the principle "compersion," a relatively new term meaning, "the tendency to gain non-possessive joy from other's joy," without using the word.
Lydia is thrilled her husband has found more love, is glad to have a good friend in Ian, and finds his interactions with Simon titillating. But can conventionally gay Ian ever accept his status with the couple?
While ongoing intimacy between Simon and Lydia is implied, but not described, the reader feels their zing in how they support one another. And the growing warmth between Lydia and Ian is sweetly credible.
The heat between the men, however, is equatorial. This is not due to lust, but because of trust, communication, and honesty inside and outside the bedroom.
For example, in the midst of an explicit scene, Simon thinks of Ian, “He was going to break me. Split me open and spill my heart and soul out on the bed.” That’s not what most authors would spill on the sheets!
Zabo creates recognizable individuals, with common insecurities and every-day problems, allowing readers to examine their own prejudices toward non-possessive relationships.
In fact, just as three-way mirrors are far more exposing than the standard, a thruple magnifies these folks’ strengths and weaknesses.
“’You really don’t know yourself, Ian,’” Lydia states. “’Do any of us?’” he replies.
A welcome addition to the dialogue of intimacy, Outside the Lines gives readers a tantalizing glimpse into a world where love multiplies, rather than diminishes, with the number of partners.
A copy of Outside the Lines was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Riptide Publishing, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
For more of the Bluewater Bay series be sure not to miss Annie's recommendations of All Wheel Drive and Wedding Favors.
Meet the Author
Anna Zabo writes contemporary and paranormal romance for all colors of the rainbow. They live and work in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which isn’t nearly as boring as most people think.
Anna grew up in the wilds of suburban Philadelphia before returning to their ancestral homelands in Western Pennsylvania. As a child they were heartily disappointed to discover that they couldn’t grow up to be what they wanted (a boy, a cat, a dragon), so they settled on being themself whenever possible, which may be a combination of a boy, a cat, and a dragon. Or perhaps a girl, a knight, and a writer. Depends on whom you ask. They do have a penchant for colorful ties and may be hoarding a small collection of cufflinks.They can be easily plied with coffee.
Anna has an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, where they fell in with a roving band of romance writers and never looked back. They also have a BA in Creative Writing from Carnegie Mellon University.
For more from Anna be sure and visit their website!
