Book Review — Sex Love Repeat by Alessandra Torre

I love two men. I screw two men. I am in a relationship with them both, and they are both aware there is another. That is all they need to know, that is all I let them know. They don’t need to know a name; they don’t need to know anything but that they are not alone in my heart.

They have accepted the situation. Stewart, because his life is too busy for the sort of obligations that are required in a relationship. Paul, because he loves me too much to tell me no. And because my sexual appetite is such that one man has trouble keeping up.

So we exist, two parallel relationships, each running their own course, with no need for intersection or conflict. It works for us, for them, and for me. I don’t expect it to be a long-term situation. I know there is an expiration date on the easy perfection of our lives.

I should have paid more attention, should have looked around and noticed the woman who watched it all. She sat in the background and waited, tried to figure me out. Saw my two relationships, the love between us, and the moment that it all fell apart.

She hates me.
I don’t even know she exists.
She loves them. I love them.
And they love me.

EVERYTHING else hangs in the balance.

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Sex Love Repeat is an original and fresh take on the typical love triangle storyline.  What hooked me was the premise of this book — a woman is in a relationship with not one but two guys and each guy knows about the other.   And they’re okay with it.  What?? I had to see how this one played out.

Madison, Stewart, and Paul are in a very unique love triangle.  Both Stewart and Paul know that Madison loves them both at the same time.  She met Stewart first. He is a man married to his job.  A high powered businessman, Stewart isn’t willing to give up a piece of his empire for Madison.  Prior to completely falling in love with her, he gives her permission to find someone who can give her what he can’t when he’s not busy.

Madison meets Paul at an amusement park.   Paul is easygoing, laid back, and complete opposite of Stewart.  What was supposed to be a one night stand turned into something more. Madison felt deeply connected to Paul, like a piece of her had been missing. Now two years later, Madison finds herself torn between Paul and Stewart.  She lives with Paul in a beach house right in Vienna Beach.  And to make matters even more complicated, both men are hopelessly in love with her.

While Stewart wants me to have a second man to keep me off the streets, to keep me from being lonely, to keep me in his life—Paul accepts that I have a second man because it was what he signed up for. And now, as in the beginning, he’d rather have half of me than none of me.

The story is told in multiple points-of-view.  Of course the reader gets snippets of Madison’s point-of-view but there are also bits and pieces of this a person outside this twisted triangle that adds quite the twist on the whole ordeal.

There is no point in staying to see them leave. I saw everything I needed in that brief moment. The look in his eyes…she is not a fling. Not an escort who he hires for events. That was the look of love.

In most love triangle storylines, the author will create a love interest that is a clear winner and a clear loser.  Usually, the female character falls head over heels for one guy (the winner), only to have her heart broken and then meets the bad boy (the loser) who helps mend her broken heart.  But guy number one is the one who holds her heart and some circumstances brings them back together in the end.

With Sex Love Repeat, I didn’t know who she would choose.  At least, not in the beginning.  On one hand, there was Paul.  He would have been I would call the “good guy” and the nice guy.  There was absolutely no question that he would have given up anything to be with Madison.  Had she asked him to quit surfing tomorrow and start working at McDonald’s, he would have done it at the drop of a hat.  Stewart, on the other hand, was much less willing to budge when it came to his career.  He showered Madison with cars, expensive jewelry, designer clothes, and passionate sex.  You might be saying, “Megan, it sounds like Paul is the clear winner.” To which I say, “You would have to read it to understand.” Stewart was very much in love with Madison.  He grew on me. What I found so attractive about Stewart’s character is that he had this internal struggle and sort of awakening to his feelings towards her.

Through Madison’s point-of-view, it was evident that she loved both men, differently yet deeply.  That tension and mystery was something that I really enjoyed and it propelled the story forward.  I did take issue with how the ending played out.  Madison’s choice between Paul and Stewart was made for her, which really didn’t work for me, not because of some feminist standpoint but rather from looking at the storyline of the book.  The whole basis and conflict of the book, up until the choice was taken from her, was the fact she had to make a choice.  Throughout much of the book, Madison struggled with what guy she would chose.  She started thinking about the future, even contemplating the possibility with children.  When one of the characters made the choice for her, the story kind of fell apart in my opinion.

Aside from the interesting premise, what hooked me from the beginning was Madison’s voice and her apathetic attitude.  Madison had an appetite for sex, and going between both men satisfied that hunger.  While this arrangement wasn’t the norm, it worked for her and she didn’t care what anyone thought of it.  The way Torre shaped her character with her attitude and relationships was very well done.  Torre made Madison extremely likeable.

I hate society’s notion that there is something wrong withs ex. Something wrong with a woman who loves sex. I’ve loved sex for as long as I can remember.

Overall, I really liked the story until about the 60% mark and then the rest was just okay.  This was the moment that the choice had been sort of made for her.  I felt like it was a cop out and not in sync with the essence of the rest of the story.  I would still recommend this book if you’re a fan of love triangles with a twist.

3 stars

What others are saying about Sex Love Repeat:

AJ from Goodreads: “This book had my emotions all over the place. With great background provided to really set the scene, there are some sensational twists, and gut wrenching heartache, and a number of times I sat there reading with my hand over my mouth just trying to take it all in. The feels! OMG, the feels!!!” — 4 stars

Jessica from Angie and Jessica’s Dreamy Reads: “You can feel disaster coming. You know the bottom has to drop out eventually. Or maybe it doesn’t. That thought crossed my mind more than once, that this calm before the proverbial storm could literally go on forever.” — 5 stars