Three Part Harmony

Sean Crisden, Ray Chase, and Natalie Eaton narrate a complicated relationship between three people who are all searching for happiness. Raleigh McKean generally keeps his feelings under wraps, but Bruce Engle and Everley Shannon each manage to push every single one of his buttons, for entirely different reasons. Crisden perfectly captures Raleigh's snarky and just-shy-of-uptight personality; Chase balances Bruce's rambling monologues and desperate need to be accepted for who he is; Eaton contrasts Everley's utter misery at her job and her blissful happiness while she's with Bruce. Sadly, all the narrators are less successful when portraying the other two characters. The main stumbling block for both Crisden and Eaton is Bruce's accent, and Crisden has a tendency to make Everley sound shrill. K.M.P. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

August 9, 2019

Readers of Trent's first "Plot Twist" book, Writing Her In, will know Raleigh McKean as mystery writer Stacia Leonard's publicist. On a trip to L.A. to meet with Stacia, Raleigh runs into an enigmatic man at a concert and accepts the one-night hook-up the stranger offers--only to find out the next morning that his lover is Bruce Engle: a rich, reclusive musician shopping his first manuscript. Terrified Bruce is using sex to land a book deal, Raleigh walks out. Bruce reappears in New York, where he begins a relationship with Raleigh's workplace nemesis Everley Shannon, the boss's daughter. Everley and Bruce, both struggling to free themselves from family expectations, find solace in each other and the confidence to take action. When Bruce leaves the country with no promises to return, Everley accepts the comfort Raleigh provides. Could these three prickly people find love together? Unfortunately, the polyamorous relationship--suggested by Everley in the final chapter--feels rushed; readers have little time to enjoy the partners' shared pleasure at being together. VERDICT Those who enjoyed the previous book in the series will find a similar string of messy relationship decisions, culminating in an eleventh-hour resolution, for this related trio.--Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook, Massachusetts Historical Soc., Boston

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