Review: Flesh by Kylie Scott

Where did you get the book: Bought
Publisher: Momentum Books
Release Date: Out now

Ali has been hiding in an attic since civilisation collapsed eight weeks ago.

When the plague hit, her neighbours turned into mindless, hungry, homicidal maniacs.

Daniel has been a loner his entire life. Then the world empties and he realises that being alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Finn is a former cop who is desperate for companionship, and willing to do anything it takes to protect the survivors around him.

When the three cross paths they band together; sparks fly, romance blooms in the wasteland and Ali, Daniel and Finn bend to their very human needs in the ruins of civilisation.

Lust, love and trust all come under fire in Flesh as the three band together to survive, hunted through the suburban wastelands.

*Blurb taken from Goodreads*

Now most of you know I am a huge fan of post-apocalyptic romances, and add Zombies to the mix then I am going to dedicate an evening or an afternoon, with a nice cuppa, so I can get immersed into a dark world and a sexy romance. So when I came across Flesh, a menage romance set in Australia where a zombie outbreak is wreaking havoc, I was all set–and I’m not always keen on menage romances.

Ali has been holed up in her neighbour’s attic for the last 6 weeks while zombies have been munching on her hapless neighbours, and people who have been caught on the outside. But her stash of food is fast disappearing, so on a hunt to find more, she encounters Dan and Finn. They all team up to find a way to search for a safe haven from the threat of zombies, who have destroyed the world they have known.

I really loved the opening of the book when Ali first meets up with Dan; she is fearful of his intention and of the outside world which is filled with zombies and marauding human gangs. The confrontation where Dan helps to coax and calm her own from the perceived threat and fear he represents, as well as facing the outside world, was realistic and tense. I also loved the dynamic and subsequent chemistry that builds up between them. It was sexy, sweet and very organic, and I really enjoyed how their relationship evolved. Dan is a fantastic character and was definitely great hero material by being protective, understanding and patient of Ali who becomes his touchstone.

However, the story kind of falters when Finn is introduced and this is the reason why I am not a huge fan of menages. The way he was inserted into the story was like a third wheel or a gooseberry. Although I have to say he was also another well thought out character and both Finn and Dan are wonderful choices for heroes. But how it became a threesome (and it was not a full menage which would have been much more preferable,) was awkward and just didn’t work for me.  While Ali does have an attraction for Finn and starts to feel possessive, the fact that Dan pushes Finn onto Ali to be a part of a threesome felt off and unbelievable. I get the reasons that the world has changed and so has the rules on mores, but in this case, there was no real build-up or even tension, and I felt that this detracted a lot of focus from the fantastic beginning with the very promising romance between Dan and Ali. I wished that more time was spent on expanding the romance between them all or just focus on Dan and Ali because this had a potential to being a wonderful romance. And I think it was  a bit of a disservice to the characters because they were so well written.

I also wished the background to the zombie apocalypse was explained because there was no real reason on the causes and how the virus spread, and that was disappointing because it weakened the world-building for me. I also felt the pace was rushed at the second half to tie up the plot and I think this affected on how the menage relationship was formed which ends on a permanent note at the end of the story.

Nonetheless, I think Kylie Scott has a fantastic voice, and this was a promising debut. Despite being disappointed on how the menage romance evolved, I really enjoyed her characters and some of the plot elements–as well as the love scenes which were very very sexy. The overall plot was solid, with likeable and memorable characters, I will definitely be checking out the sequels to this series as well as her other books.

I give FLESH a C.

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