Agency of Extraordinary Mates: 4 Play

Relationships and life in general can really bring a person down especially when you find out your significant other is having an affair. Hurt by the soured relationship, the person is sometimes turned off enough not to want to even attempt to develop another. This is the position that Trina Davis finds herself in.

Trina Davis is having a bad day. Her live-in boyfriend turned off her alarm clock resulting in her not waking up until the time she was supposed to be at work. Then her jeep won't start so she has to take a bus which results in her being two hours late to work. When she arrives at work, her boss informs her that he's going to have to write her up even though she's never been late before. Then her first customer of the day becomes irate and spits on her when she informs her that she doesn't qualify for a loan. Fortunately for her the regional bank manager is visiting that day and decides to send her home. At this point, Trina feels her day just can't get any worse. However, upon arriving home she finds her boyfriend in bed with her best gay friend. And that's all it takes; she chases the two of them out of her place and decides she wants nothing to do with a man again. Hurt and needing a break, she decides to take a vacation but finds that her former boyfriend has maxed out her credit cards, but all is not lost because Trina discovers she has won an all-expenses-paid vacation to the beautiful Chimera Island.

Roar, Bayoh, and Talh make up the Alpha Triad of the Manani people. It's their responsibility to produce an heir. There are a couple problems with this scenario. They come from a tribe of shifters where the male to female ratio is six to one resulting in relationships formed of three males to every female. If that isn't bad enough, the three of them can't seem to agree on a female mate so they can start a family. Bayoh, Roar, and Talh decide to visit the island of Chimera in hopes of finding a human female whom they can all agree on.

Things seem to be looking up for Trina. Chimera is a lush, tropical paradise even if some of the individuals seem odd in appearance. The men are absolutely gorgeous but who's interested. Trina's done with men or is she? Not! When Talh, Bayoh, and Roar see Trina, they instantly know that she is their true mate, but convincing her is going to be difficult considering the first time she sees them she makes a run for it. Trina doesn't like this turn of events at all. This was supposed to be a man-free-week! How will the three shape-shifters convince Trina that she belongs to them? Will Trina give in to desire and take a chance on Roar, Bayoh, and Talh?

Eve Vaughn's Agency of Extraordinary Mates: 4 Play is a delightful story filled with humor. The leading and secondary characters display realistic feelings in some true to life situations. Trina's "once burned, twice shy" attitude is definitely a feeling I could identify with. She is feisty, has an attitude, and isn't shy about making her feelings known. Roar, Bayoh, and Talh's inability to agree on a true mate would seem like a situation most men couldn't come to an agreement on. Their dogged determination to get want they want was something else.

The sex is hot, hot, hot, but how could it be anything else considering this is a ménage or should I say 4 Play romance!

Eve Vaughn's Agency of Extraordinary Mates: 4 Play is one book you don't want to miss. Mentions of secondary characters named Amanda, and Tal, who each have their own story in the AOEM series enhance 4 Play. I could find no mention of Morel and Swinla's story among the AOEM series or listed in Ms. Vaughn's backlist on her website. Thus, I find myself hoping that a story is in the works, and that it is just as good if not better than Eve Vaughn's Agency of Extraordinary Mates: 4 Play.

Reviewed by: Lady Amethyst