sounds of usRating: 4 stars
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Length: Novel


Jake, Cris, and Chet have formed a three-way relationship that is working for them all, despite the age gap. Cris’ relationship with each of the other men is still stronger than the one Jake and Chet have with each other, but the two are slowly building a bond and forging a loving relationship that complements their feelings for Cris.

Cris is thrilled to have found love with two men for whom he cares deeply. However, Cris is also hiding a secret about his past, one that every instinct says to keep away from his boyfriends. Yet he also knows he needs their support and that they can not make things work if they have big secrets from one another.

For his part, Jake is much more stable after his bipolar diagnosis. He is taking his medicine and having regular counseling and feeling much better emotionally. Although he loves living with Cris and Chet, he also wants to prove to himself that he can stand on his own. Jake is also exploring his future after dancing and trying to figure out the direction he wants for his life.

Things are going well for Cris, Chet, and Jake and they are finding love and support together. They just need to trust in one another and what they have built to really solidify their future.

Sound of Us is the second book in the Us series and a direct follow up to Here for Us. Although we get some background here on what has been going on with the guys, this book is best read after the first story.

At the end of the first book, the guys were coming together officially as a threesome, and now we see them a short time later. The two conflicts they are facing now are the secret from Cris’ past and his instinct to hide it from the other guys, and Jake’s feeling that he needs to spend some time living on his own without the other men. In Cris’ case, we see his fear about sharing what is going on at war with his partners’ desire to help care for him and support him. I think this part is developed well and the secret doesn’t drag on too long. I liked seeing the way the other two men help bolster Cris and give him their unconditional support as he decides how to go forward.

With Jake, his fears manifest in a couple of ways. First, he wants to move out so that he can prove to himself his is able to be self sufficient. Jake also still suffers from major worries that he is not worthy of being with these other two guys, and that ultimately they will decide they are better off without him. This part did drag on a bit for me, as I feel like this same issue was at play in the first book and we are frequently bouncing back and forth from things being fine to Jake being anxious about his place in the relationship. I did like the way we see the connection growing between Jake and Chet, however. It seemed very natural to me that their part of the triad would take longer to solidify, so it worked for me that it grows more slowly. I actually felt like their proclamations of love after only a few short weeks had felt way too fast, so I like that here we see things develop a bit more naturally between them.

My only other issue here is that despite these small conflicts, not a whole lot happens. These are two fairly long books, and this story is mostly a continuation of the first. So while the conflicts were legitimate, this book was a lot of just watching these guys interact. And there is a just a touch of “too perfect” going on here for me, especially with Chet. The man is practically a saint, patient to the millionth degree, and understanding about just about everything, even when he is angry. The other guys are similar, to a lesser extent. They are people I would love to know in real life, as they are all wonderful and lovely, but it made for a little bit of flatness in the book.

Overall though, I really enjoyed reconnecting with these men and following the continuation of their story. I am also eager to see another pairing we get from some side characters that hopefully will be coming as part of this series or one of Arthur’s related series. If you read Here for Us, you are definitely going to want to continue the journey with Chet, Jake, and Cris. And if you are new to this series, I can definitely recommend both books, especially for fans of menage and age gap stories.

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