An ex-SEAL in a wetsuit, a bisexual President, and a First Lady with a tattoo on her ass… Secret Service agent Kent Sinclair, head of POTUS security, thought he was prepared for anything. Then, the First Lady–a woman who barely tolerates his presence–approaches him with a request that startles the hell out of him.Carlene Broderick is scared. Her husband James is buckling under the strain of … of the highest office in the land. With the weight of the country and an impending war on his shoulders, he’s a heart attack waiting to happen. Carlene is out of options, so she resorts to the man whose name James calls out in his sleep–a buddy from his SEAL days. His ex-lover. Kent.There’s nothing Kent won’t do for his best friend, but he quickly realizes it’s not him that James needs–the Commander in Chief is desperate to give up complete control in the bedroom. And if she’s willing, Kent can teach Carlene to be what her husband needs.Now James is caught deep in forbidden territory–torn between his beloved wife and the man he’s never stopped loving.This 95,000 word novel was previously published.
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I was very underwhelmed with this book. I had heard good things and I normally love a mmf story. But I could not get into it. Though Aiden Snow did a phenomenal job with his narration, the overall story moved too slow and just didn’t impress me.
This book was both more and less than I expected. I expected fun and playful, which is what the title, cover and blurb implies. That’s not what I got though. At all. I was prepared for a light-hearted, naughty read and not much else. And yes, I guess Kneel Mr. President could be called naughty. But it wasn’t even a smidge easy-going.
I was impressed by the beginning. It was a surprisingly in-depth portrayal of the characters involved. They were three-dimensional and real in a way that was as refreshing as it was unexpected. James, Kent and Carlene all felt very authentic with distinct and complex personalities. Their ambivalence and their fears were perfectly described through the alternating POVs. They all truly had their own voice and mind. Carlene’s struggles to accept the changes in dynamics were especially captivating.
Basically, this read delivered more depth than I’d expected. And Gallagher did a great job in laying the ground-work and making the story-line as plausible as could possibly be expected from this particular trope.
But unfortunately, once the shenanigans finally started, it wasn’t particularly tickling. It was actually quite disappointing. I mean, the mechanics of it all might have been hot if there had been more affection and genuine emotion between the three. But instead there was always this tension from at least one of them. Jealousy that was simmering beneath the surface. And call me old fashioned, but I don’t think it’s hot when there’s such an obvious imbalance within a threesome.
In Kneel Mr President, James always had the emotional leverage in having two other people loving him. While both Carlene and Kent were at a disadvantage, Kent more so than Carlene because of him – obviously – being the outsider. And even though the story tried to portray some kind of growing affection between Kent and Carlene, I wasn’t convinced. So the second half of this book I was mostly uncomfortable and put off. I just can’t stomach a threesome with that kind of inequality.
Yes, there’s a happy ending. Not a HEA though, more of a happy for now. That wasn’t quite enough for me though. The ending felt forced which maybe isn’t all that surprising. Inventing a happy ending for a threesome involving the US President surely sounds tricky.
So, for me, this book started with surprisingly impressive depth and ended with a disappointing and uneasy feeling in my gut. Not what I was hoping for when I selected this read.
https://reflectionsofaswedishgirl.blog.se/kneel-mr-president-by-lauren-gallagher/
I loved this audiobook. Lauren Gallagher gave me the MMF book I’ve been dreaming about. Long enough to give each individual their own back story, each pairing their own significant relationship, create a cohesive triad, and still leave room for plenty of steamy scenes. There are MF, MM, & MMF scenes.
This is best enjoyed when the exploration of the relationship means as much (if not more) to the listener than the sex or how kinky it can get. I’ll admit that there are parts about the set-up in regards to how the White House or Secret Service operates that seem highly unlikely, but I enjoyed the totality so much that it wouldn’t keep me from listening to it over and over again.
One of the unique aspects of this is that Carlene and Kent don’t actually get along at the beginning and Gallagher spends a lot of time bringing them to a begrudging understanding and then to an affinity of their own. James struggles to balance his own needs with theirs while ultimately understanding and embracing his desire to submit.
Aiden Snow is terrific here. He does a great job of differentiating all the voices – especially Kent & James, which is really nice when they each have so much dialogue. Listening to him for 11 hours is no chore at all.
Note: At the time of this review (August 2020), the ebook is available for $4.99 or to borrow via Kindle Unlimited and it’s only $2.99 to add the audio.
I saw this book recommended in the “Help Name That Book” group on Facebook (if you need to find a book that you can’t remember the title of or you are looking for recc’s ~ this is the group to join) and decided to give it a whirl. I can happily say that the ladies in “Help” did not disappoint. This is a great MMF story that while a little far-fetched (you’ll see why later) but so well written that I was easily able to overlook the slight flaw.
James, a former Navy SEAL is married to Carlene and is the President of the United States. A good man with the lives of all Americans and especially the military in his hands and with war looming in the near future he is not handling the stress well. He is calling out the name of his best friend, fellow SEAL, and former lover, Kent in his sleep. Kent is the head of his Secret Service security and he and Carlene do not get along at all. But Carlene is at the end of her options on how to help her husband to get through his presidency without having a heart attack in the oval office, so she talks Kent into helping her.
With a combination of thoughtful personal interaction between all three leads, inner monologues that are realistic, and well-balanced sex scenes, Kneel shows how love can take many shapes, people are multi-faceted in their needs, and making a sacrifice can reap rewards that you had no idea could flourish. I do agree with other reviewers that the level of secrecy needed to pull off the nighttime meetings between James, Carlene, and Kent would not be possible in real life BUT the level of stress and pressure of a president was what makes Carlene’s actions reasonable and the stress relief they find plausible.
There is MM interaction, BDSM elements, and MMF action but it is layered within a highly interesting and engaging story. This is a complete standalone.
Steamy read, includes MMF menage. Would recommend.