This Is Not the End

Bell (Rough Trade) offers a delightful triad romance in which longtime best friends become lovers and family thanks to a push from a partner. Hard-to-read songwriter Cal Keller is shocked when Anya Alexander, the wife of his best friend and bandmate, Zac Trevor, approaches Cal for a birthday threesome. Cal, who’s long harbored feeling for Zac, turns down the offer but expresses interest in something more serious. Zac and Anya agree, and the three navigate the emotional complexities of their changing roles in each other’s lives. As they embark on a three-way relationship and Cal moves in with Zac, Anya, and their infant, Bell beautifully expresses both the excitement and awkwardness of manifesting long-denied desire, and makes both the nonmonogamous and male bisexual aspects of the relationship feel exciting but not exotic. She keeps a tight focus on the characters by drawing all of the drama from their insecurities and patterns of behavior rather than from external threats. Readers will have no trouble rooting for all three to find happiness together. [em](Jan.) [/em]