glowstars
Written on Feb 25, 2022
Aerial was one of the books that have been sitting on my Kindle for months, just waiting for the perfect time to be read. If I’m honest, I’m not entirely sure what drew me to it in the first place; it’s certainly not my usual sort of pitch-black read. But, after reading When The Sun Goes Down I needed something that wasn’t going to break me or leave me questioning my dark romance-loving existence. A circus-themed reverse harem novel would do just that.
If I’m reading a light coloured romance it’s really important to me that the characters are solid and real, that their emotions and reactions mirror real life, even if they’re faced with less than average circumstances. For me, this was really where the book shone. At times it was gritty and painful, and I couldn’t always tell if the promised ‘happy for now’ was for all characters or solely Fauve (the FMC).
While this was clearly Fauve’s story, Manuela Rouget didn’t shy away from dealing with the varying emotions of her three men or their intertwined relationships. This is the first reverse harem novel I’ve read where each of the protagonists has a romantic relationship with all of the others in the group. It was refreshing to read; although you often see one or two characters do this, it’s rare to see a whole harem so interlaced.
Of course, this meant that the steam levels were off the charts. Cody calls it when he says “there are so many options, so many possible combinations.” When you add in the sexual acrobatics three of the group are capable of, Rouget’s steamy and sensual ideas really blow your mind.
The book isn’t afraid to shy away from real-life issues. Early on, some of the characters have that awkward STI talk and subsequent visit to the clinic to get tested. It would have been all too easy to skate along with the usual ‘I’m clean’ excuse and have done with it. Instead, Rouget sensitively illustrates the additional sexual health risks of polyamorous relationships.
Along with potentially impossible circus acts, the book does incredibly well at normalising its characters. All three men have average-sized dicks – not ridiculously huge and rarely seen lengths of most book boyfriends. People get injured, they deal with visa issues and money concerns instead of country hopping on private jets. There’s psyching up to have difficult conversations about relationships and strain between characters when not everybody feels the same. There’s no instalove or enemies to lovers, just normal people growing together, apart, and becoming stronger.
I think what really pulled me into the story and made me love it so much wasn’t the circus aspect as I expected. In fact, the circus could have been any other setting and the parts of the book that stood out to me would still have done just that. It was its beautiful approach to communication within relationships, whether in friendship or romance. The characters didn’t have it easy, they didn’t fall into their group with one big bang, but the world wasn’t against them either. It’s proof that a good relationship takes work, whether that’s with one other person or three.
I was surprised by Aerial. I didn’t expect to love it so much. And yes, I’ve already one-clicked the second book in the duet, [b:Stellar|58689116|Stellar (Flying High Duet #2)|Manuela Rouget|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639996479l/58689116._SY75_.jpg|92339587]. Now I’m off to read it.