Why Choose When You can have All Three – MAKING HER THEIRS by Lily Manning

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Making Her Theirs by Lily Manning
Series: Unbreakable Bonds #1
Published by Innes Field LLC on August 23, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Erotica, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
Pages: 150
Format: ARC, Digital
Goodreads

Stepping into a bustling bar in enchanting Edinburgh, my eyes meet those of three breathtakingly gorgeous brothers. I thought exploding ovaries were a myth!

Knox, intense, possessive, and loyal. The brother who holds the family together. Ridiculously handsome, he exudes an aura of authority. He knows I want to be dominated, worshipped, loved.

Charming Finn buries the past under a fast, devastating smile and a laugh like sunshine on a cloudy day. Every encounter is an adventure—wild, sweet, exciting, and utterly irresistible.

Strong, silent Lachlan’s the loaner. Why use words when one long stare brings me to my knees. Yet he understands me in ways no one else does. He sees everything, reaching the depths of my desires with an unspoken connection.

Together, these three scorching Scottish brothers embark on a passionate journey to claim me as their own. Bound by desire and an unbreakable bond, they’ll stop at nothing to make me theirs.

‘Making Her Theirs’ promises a happy ever after, scorching the meaning of love, lust, and ultimate fulfillment. Get ready for an electrifying adventure filled with passion, romance, and a love that knows no bounds.

When I saw the synopsis of Making Her Theirs I knew I needed to request an e-ARC to read. I love why choose romance and always jump at the chance to read others. There’s something about not having to choose between all of the love interests that creates an interesting dynamic that I love reading about.

First item I want to state is that we need to stop calling why choose books “reverse harem”. Individuals have long been calling out the use of this language and the stereotype that it presents when used. Therefore, I will be using the term “why choose” throughout my review.

Tropes

Instalove, why choose, surprise/accidental pregnancy.

Content Warnings

Multi-partner sex, they are all brothers (so do with that what you will), pregnancy.

What worked for me

This book was short and hot. Lily Manning can write a good sex scene filled with the emotion that you want in a multi-partner type of story. Georgia had sweet moments with each of her men that really played into the entire dynamic. I loved the personalities of the three guys as well: Knox – the dominating protective; Finn – the flirty goof ball; Lachlan – the emotional sweetheart. What works for me in a why choose is having different enough personalities and dynamics between the guys allowing for our female lead to develop a relationship with each one for different reasons.

This book is also multi-POV, which I honestly love in any and all romances that I read. I love getting inside the head of whomever is narrating a particular chapter to understand more about what makes them click. Being in the head of each character here worked well for me. It does lead me into what I’ll get into next on what didn’t work for me as well though.

What didn’t work for me

The length of this book is way too short for the story looking to be told. While I love multi-POV (as stated above), in order for us to fully get in the head of each character, the book needed to be several hundred pages longer. It almost felt like we were being shown only part of the story and not allowing the depth that was needed based on the backstory for each character. I would’ve loved to see each character start to untangle their past traumas in a meaningful way, and I don’t think we really got to see much of that with the story that was told.

I was recently at a book convention where I had a great conversation with an author there about the use of the words “clean” to indicate that someone has been tested and does not have any STI’s. I don’t think I would’ve called this out if I hadn’t had that conversation a few days ago, but it did stand out to me the connotation it provides of those testing positive for STIs being “unclean”. Additionally, it felt like the author through caution to the wind when it came to sexual wellness in this book. In no world is she not going to get a UTI or other infection for swapping holes, and also men. I understand perhaps no protection for vaginal sex, but every guy should’ve been wearing a condom when they were having anal especially if they were looking to switch to vaginal within the same scene. That scene, unfortunately, gave me the ick because I could not stop thinking about the hygiene of it.

While the romance journey is a key piece of the puzzle, I think the length of the story also made it feel more insta-lovey than perhaps intended. The entire premise is that she falls for three brothers while working in Scotland for ten (10) days. I don’t mind an insta-love book, but the plot here didn’t support the insta-love in my opinion. Because it was so short, this book felt more like erotic romance, heavy on the erotica, than it did a full romance. The lack of development for the characters and the way in which the plot moved had me wanting more than what I was getting here.

I’ve talked about this in reviews previously where I like a healthy dose of internal and external conflict thus allowing the payoff of the happily ever after (or for now) be satisfying based on the journey of the characters. Because there wasn’t a ton of development, it also felt that we were missing the conflict. The main conflict is that she’s returning to the US after her ten days in Scotland are up.

THE REMAINDER OF THIS SECTION WILL BE A SPOILER:

However, before she can return, all three sit her down (together of course), tell her they all love her and ask her to stay. The entire conflict no longer works since she doesn’t actually leave nor is there really any lead up to her going back and missing them, etc. etc.. Then we time jump for three months for the HEA. I don’t mind a time jump, but it felt incredibly rushed and lacking substance to make me believe the HEA.

Spice rating

This book was SPICY! I gave it four flames, as a rating, here. It is a very open door book featuring multiple partner sex. It does not include elements of BDSM, which is why it’s not a five flame/chili pepper rating.

Final thoughts

I wanted to love this book. A why choose contemporary romance featuring three brothers who love to share. While I had a good time, this felt more like erotic romance where the focus was on the sexy times rather than on the development of the plot and characters. Because I had a good time, I gave this 3.25 star rating. I will try the next installment in the series, however, to see what comes from the next why choose.

Thank to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

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