c is for comfort coverRating: 3.75 stars
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Length: Novel

 

Corey is stressed out and overwhelmed. He is a single dad, raising his 5-year-old daughter, Lexi, with the help of his brothers. Corey is also a new teacher, struggling to deal with parents, grading, and the intense workload. The worst part is there is no real end in sight. When Corey reluctantly agrees to go to a play party with his brothers, Archie and Blake, he is not looking for a hookup, just a chance to get out. But when he meets Spence, Corey changes his mind and decides to go for it. Their encounter is incredibly hot, as well as relaxing for Corey in a way he desperately needs.

Spence figures his night with Corey is a one off. Spence is a busy doctor and his changing shifts make having a relationship difficult. But when the men unexpectedly meet again, Spence decides to take a chance and suggest the two meet up for another night. Soon, the men are spending stolen moments together, in between their work and family responsibilities. For Spence, as a Daddy Dom, he gets to enjoy taking care of Corey and helping to ease some of his stress and burden. And for Corey, Spence helps him relax like no one else. He also supports Corey and helps give him the confidence to believe he is doing a good job at work without putting so much pressure on himself.

Things are going great for the men and what started as casual hookups begins turning into something more serious. But Corey has Lexi to think about and Spence is the first person he has dated seriously since Lexi’s mother left them. Now, Spence and Corey have to figure out if they can transition their relationship into something more, and if there is a chance that the three of them can become a family.

C is for Comfort is the third book in the Alphabet of Desire trilogy, featuring triplets Archie, Blake, and Corey. Each book features one of the brothers falling for their Dom(s), and the stories take place along parallel timelines (and were, in fact, written simultaneously). My favorite part about this trilogy is the way the three books work together. The triplets are very close, living together and helping to take care of Lexi. They then all fall for a group of friends who are Doms. What Davison has done really well is integrate the stories, while still keeping each of these characters, and these relationships, feeling distinct. There are great touches as you read each book and see the connections to other stories. Sometimes, we get more detail about something that was mentioned in an earlier book. For example, we know Lexi broke her arm from both Archie and Blake’s books, but here we learn more about what actually happened. And sometimes it works in reverse. For example, here we see Corey wondering about why Blake and his dad stop stargazing together, and as series readers, we already know the answer from reading Blake’s book. So the integration of the stories is so well done and Davison manages to blend them without leaving things feeling repetitious. So I have really enjoyed reading this trilogy and Davison ties things up nicely here in the final book, both for Corey and Spence, as well as for all of the guys in their relationships.

Spence and Corey are a likable couple and there is a sweet dynamic between them. We see Corey slowly shed some of his stress with Spence’s support, as well as begin to feel more confident in himself and have less need for perfection. Spence is basically too good to be true in all the ways, so if you like sweet, caretaking Doms, this story should appeal to you. The first part of the book really focuses on Spence and Corey coming together, first at the party and later in a series of hookups and then dates. Their first encounter is particularly well done and I liked the dynamic between them. I did start to find their subsequent hookups a little repetitious, as they seemed to have a similar “massage then sex” set up. I would put this story into the very mild Daddy kink category, FWIW, as things felt pretty low key on that end. I’ll also note that while I really enjoy a Daddy/boy dynamic and definitely recognize it is not the same as a parent/child relationship, sometimes it was jarring to have Lexi calling Corey “Daddy” and then moments later Corey calling Spence “Daddy.” It just took a minute to get myself into different headspace I guess.

The second portion of the book is more focused on Corey and Spence trying to build their relationship, which includes working through things with Lexi. Both men are very good about putting her first as they sort things out. But I’ll admit, I struggled somewhat here as Lexi is often bratty and difficult and reading about her behavior wasn’t always enjoyable for me. I totally understand why she would behave as she did; it is both reasonable and totally expected. But as a reader, I just didn’t really enjoy so much focus on watching her being rude and unpleasant. This is to totally a “your mileage may vary” situation, as this is just my personal preference and Davison has written all the characters, including Lexi, in a realistic way.

This brings me to one last note, regarding Corey and Blake. Blake is generally considered the guy who doesn’t have his life together, and while Archie and Corey are far more supportive of him than their parents, they still have a bit of an edge to their dealings with him. Corey acknowledges he doesn’t think Blake works particularly hard for his money, and is annoyed that he gets to sleep so late. But reading this book, I found myself frustrated given that Blake provides the vast majority of Lexi’s child care. He picks her up from school every day, plays with her, feeds her, etc. Blake even cancels a date so that Corey can go out with Spence instead (why Corey can’t hire a babysitter, I’m not sure). Blake is virtually Lexi’s unpaid nanny, yet Corey still acts like Blake does nothing but lay about all day, as if somehow caring for a 5-year-old isn’t actually work. Anyway, it is a small thing, but having read all the books, it just stuck out to me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this trilogy, and while I had some issues with the final book, I really enjoyed how the story all comes together. Corey and Spence are a likable pair and their relationship develops well here. The books work nicely in synchrony and Davison has build a fun and sexy trilogy.

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