End Game

There is something magical about finishing a serial trilogy and having the last book be the  BEST book in the series. The feeling you get when all those loose ends are tied, all your concerns are addressed, and everything works out exactly how you wanted it to, promotes a spiritual oneness that I hope every reader gets to experience at least once in their life time.

This literary miracle doesn't happen often but when it does, you will hear the roar of a crowd louder than any packed full stadium when the home team scores the winning goal. You will experience a rush of exuberance better than when your favorite band comes on stage and you are swept up in the euphoria of thousands of fans going wild, while you go wild right along with them.

Oh yes,

birds will sing

horses will frolic

rainbows will shoot from your soul 

Okay, right now Katrina & The Waves are singing Walking On Sunshine, and Queen is rocking out in my brain with We Are The Champions. I am feeling the glory of resting at the finish line of  a hard won trilogy that had me on emotional tender hooks. 

http://amzn.com/B00G6624U6 <-----free for a limited time

Fair Play Hat Trick Book One by Samantha Wayland

Savannah, a physical therapist for a profession hockey team, falls in love with Garrick, a player on said team. I enjoyed the book. It's a great kick off. Lovable H/h as well as great secondary characters. Everything was good. I bought this book blind, but I knew it was going to be a series since..well, Book One is in it's title. 

I was making guesses on which secondary character was going to get their own story in book two. That's when I read the blurb at the back of the book. 

sigh

Book two is about Garrick and his best friend Rhian. Discovering this was a serial trilogy, in this way, put me through a string of emotions beginning with hurt, betrayal, anger.....

Why, Samantha Wayland? WHY?!

Remember, it all works out, but at this point I was pretty tragic. I try to avoid these types of trilogies until the last book is out, to avoid reader's anxiety. 

*Reader's Anxiety: when you, the reader, experience real stress worrying about fictional characters. 

http://amzn.com/B00HEVPZ6C

Two-Man Advantage Hat Trick Book Two by Samantha Wayland

Like all Samantha Wayland books, I was immediately drawn in. The idea of Rhian and Garrick started swirling around my head and playing out on the page. The chemistry between these two is off the charts. It defines hot and heavy. My windows steamed up while reading this. I had to take a break from reading because I didn't have any blood left in my head. I went into a sex frenzy that is making January a month to remember, because of this book. If you don't orgasm at least twice while reading this book, schedule a doctors appointment. There is something wrong below your Mason-Dixon line. 

Anyways, aside from it being a wall-banger, I fell in love with Rhian right away. No one is immune to Rhian. How anyone could not want to bundle up Rhian, take him home, and keep him forever boggles my mind. He's put through the emotional ringer in this book and by the end you know there is still more emotional tumult for him to endure. He's got insecurities, guilt, and a whole heap of baggage where Garrick and Savannah are concerned. I was on the emotional roller coaster right there with him. 

I also felt sad for Savannah because the guys were having really, really, REALLY good sex without her. Not only that but her lover, her soon-to-be life mate, was falling in love and she was missing it. She totally cock blocked herself. I was really annoyed with Savannah and Garrick for naively believing Garrick could have a no-strings sexual fling with Rhian, of all people. I was doubly pissed off at Garrick because he knows right away he has a level of intimacy with Rhian not conducive to a fling. 

Of course it would have been anti-climatic had he dealt with this right away. Illogical as it may be, I still was mentally lecturing them, "What did you two think was going to happen?!"

There's subtle hints of Rhian and Savannah's attraction to each other. Rhian mentally thinks Savannah is beautiful and wonderful and Savannah flat out tells Garrick she's jealous he's getting to bang uber sexy Rhian Savage. Then there is a heart melting moment Garrick looks down at Rhian and mentally wishes he could share that moment, and Rhian, with Savannah.

The set up felt like it was building a background for the three of them to be a triad, but was I just seeing what I wanted to see? 

This is when my insecurities began to play havoc on my common sense. A few years ago I read a series structured like this, and it didn't end in a beautiful triad or a menage. It ended in a separate poly relationship, where everyone had a schedule and were 'happy'. 

Was that what was happening?

My reader's anxiety was beginning to give me heartburn. 

http://amzn.com/B00HUHLE06

End Game Hat Trick Book Three by Samantha Wayland 

*Cue fireworks and rainbows. Time to do the happy dance!!!! 

Savannah is Garrick's girlfriend. Rhian is Garrick's boyfriend. Savannah and Rhian both live separately in Boston while Garrick lives in Moncton Canada. These three are living in a separate type of poly relationship. Savannah and Rhian used to be friends, but things have gotten weird. Rhian feels like the third wheel and Savannah isn't sure what she feels. She just loves Garrick enough to want him to be happy, and Rhian makes him happy. 

Savannah is the one that encouraged Garrick to fool around with another man, so she kind of blames herself for him falling in love. She knows she's not jealous, but she's not loving having to share Garrick either.

Rhian grew up without any guiding love or support in foster care, and he is the epitome of insecure. Plus, he has no idea how he couldn't possibly fit into Garrick and Savannah's happily ever after. He's never been in love or had someone love him the way Garrick does. He's not comfortable with it and when he finds a lump, all deals are off. 

Everything changes. 

The beginning of book three starts with them trying to get comfortable with their poly relationship. I was more than a little queasy starting off things. When hints of an attraction between Rhian and Savannah start flying, my heart soared. I knew everything was going to be alright.

Savannah can't help but fall in love with Rhian and Rhian can't help but fall in love with Savannah... and her family. Rhian still plans on leaving town and breaking off with Garrick, but Savannah isn't letting him go. With the help of Savannah's friend Grace http://amzn.com/B003SX0Y3O from With Grace, Savannah realizes she may be able to make things work between her, Garrick, and Rhian better than any of them could imagine. 

Savannah and Rhian were my favorite pairing and not only because I had been cheering for them to find their way to each other since book two. The awkward moments between Savannah and Rhian are hilarious and heartwarming. Savannah refuses to let Rhian push Garrick away, and Rhian's reaction to being steam rolled by his boyfriend's girlfriend is great.

The moment Rhian realizes he wishes he had a place in Savannah's life like Garrick, was like seeing a basket full of puppies. I melted. I was on tender hooks waiting for them to finally rip each others clothes off. The tension and the heat between these two escalates quickly into explosive. Savannah is so take charge, and Rhian is so vulnerable, yet he loves to take the reins at the least expected moments. It made for some extra steamy scenes.  

When the three of them finally come together.....

It is everything you can expect from a Samantha Wayland triad and more. Panties will be soaked, birds will sing, horses will frolic, and souls with be shooting rainbows. I wanted it to go on and on. I'm sorry for ever doubting the happy menage ever after ending.

There is a slew of great big lovable secondary characters in book three I hope we get to see again. I'm not even going to touch on the subplot other to say I enjoyed it and felt it played out well. We even get to see Patrick http://amzn.com/B005E8ALLQ from Destiny Calls, if only momentarily. I personally love it when an author works in connecting characters from their other series. It's always a treat to see those characters carrying on happily ever after. 

*On a side note, may I say Rhian, R-H-I-A-N, is the sexiest, most romantic way to spell Ryan. The pronunciation threw me a little in the first book, but by the second book I was wondering why anyone would spell it differently. That spelling adds at least three points of hotness to any guy and turns him into a bucket list bang. Seriously.

Warning: This book contains explicit sexual naughtiness including m/m/f menage, and a post coital glow that will lead to a spiritual oneness that yoga cannot achieve. May cause embarrassingly wet panties. Please take caution when reading in public. 

Go forth and read the series, and know the ending is worth the journey.

For more on Samantha Wayland please visit @ http://www.samanthawayland.com/ 

Thank You, Samantha Wayland

Namaste