Advanced Book Review by Kristie: Misconduct, by Samantha Kane

Misconduct, by Samantha Kane
Series: Birmingham Rebels, Book 4
Publisher: Loveswept
Release Date: July 25, 2017

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

The Birmingham Rebels play both sides of the field, proving that the hottest action isn’t always in the arena.

Rookie running back Tom Kelly loves the perks of football stardom. Men, women—there’s no shortage of companionship for a pro athlete who’s hot, young, and willing, and Tom is definitely willing. But deep down he wants a committed three-way relationship, especially if the female in the middle is Carmina de la Cruz. The undeniably sexy Army veteran may not say much, but her body speaks loud and clear.

After a traumatic tour in Afghanistan, Carmina is struggling to regain her speech and rebuild her life. More than anything, she wants to feel like a woman again. Tom may be a wholesome All-American, but he knows just how she needs to be touched—and he’s not the only Rebel who arouses her interest. With his scorching intensity, Tom’s best friend leaves her wondering if two players might be better than one.

Danny Smith is no stranger to his team’s kinky reputation. He gave in to temptation once, but he’s not going down that road again. Sure, Carmina’s curves promise pleasure, but her eyes guarantee it comes with baggage—and Danny has enough of his own. Still, giving up control can feel so good. And when it comes to everything Danny craves, Carmina and Tom make the perfect team.

M/F Pairing
M/M Pairing
M/F/M Pairing
M/M/F Pairing
Bisexual Characters
Heterosexual Character
Contemporary
Romance
Sports/Football
Polyamory
Female War Veteran

Content Warning for:
Bi-phobia
Dubious Consent

Review contains some spoilers. 

I have so many issues with this book. Too many to actually talk about, mostly because the more I try to unpack all that is wrong with this story, the angrier I become. I’m not sure how I read the whole book, but I did. I think I pushed on to finish because I was hoping that the author would somehow, miraculously, find a way to write herself out of the mess that she started.  While some things did work themselves out, sort of, other things still rang true through the whole book and it made me so very angry.

Misconduct is part of a series that I have not read. While this book can be read as a standalone, it would probably be a good idea to read the previous books. There are clearly things that have happened in prior stories that impact these current characters. Still, because I did read the whole book, it seems like I was able to piece together what I may have missed. The big thing is that this is a pro football team full of players who are, apparently, very into poly relationships. But that’s where the rub starts. It’s totally unbelievable to me to have that many team members into the same things, the same types of relationships, having the same sexual desires. Why? Bad story telling for one.

Then there are the characters and their personalities… Ugh. Take Carmina. She’s a war vet, suffers from PTSD, has had some serious head injury, and is trying to deal with things back as a civilian. She’s likable enough, a tough cookie, and really spunky. I liked her for about a minute before I learned that she’s having difficulties reaching an orgasm. There are reasons… all related to her PTSD and issues she’s not ready to deal with, but oh no, all she needed was a guy with just the right amount of forcefulness… or something. Please… please tell me why the way to “fix” her involves two men who take control of her pleasure and that’s what does it. Please tell me why it’s not because, oh maybe, she has some other issues steaming from the war and her being injured and duh, the dude she had a thing for while in the war. Dick(s) do(es) not fix things!

Then there is Tom. OMG Tom. Tom wants a long term bi-relationship, whatever the fuck that means. A bi-relationship. Really? Perhaps the author want’s Tom to come off completely and totally clueless? Perhaps the author wants readers to believe that Tom doesn’t know the difference between being bisexual, and what participating in a polyamorous relationship means. Perhaps this is where I should have stopped reading… why didn’t I stop reading? So Tom comes off to me as a guy who is bisexual, doesn’t really know what that is, and really just wants to have sex with men and women because having both is like some sort of fun game to him. Because “fucking a guy in the ass was a forbidden thrill he didn’t think he’d ever get over.” Seriously, again, why didn’t I stop reading?

But then there was Danny. Danny is in denial, does not want to act on his feelings towards Tom, nor Carmina. So what changes? Tom feels like he just knows that if he pushes, he’ll get what he wants from Danny. And because Carmina is also attracted to Danny, she’ll get her happy too. There is a moment of ‘he said no but his dick said yes’.  Hell no! What even is that? I’ll tell you what it is. It’s gross. Dubious consent isn’t the way to win a dude over. But it doesn’t stop there. We also get dubious consent threeway sex just so one guy could have his cake and eat it too.

Oh, and there’s more…This book is filled with men who think they have to protect a woman who was the victim of assault and was almost raped, only because it’s like their duty or something. Meanwhile, the woman in question wants to get past shit and she’s bad ass enough to handle her own problems.  These are not the problems of the men she’s involved with, or her friends. Most of them didn’t even know her when it happened! Ugh. Like, the entitlement these men have is disgusting. Plus, there are a lot of problems on how the actual football play is handled on the field. As a huge football fan, this book offends me. As a woman, this book offends me.

I can’t with this. It’s totally offensive to me on so many levels and I wish I’d never picked it up, but you decide.

Samantha Kane lives in North Carolina with her husband and three children, two boys and one girl. With a master’s degree in American history, she spent seven years as a high school history teacher before becoming a full-time writer and mom.

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I received an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.