Rising, Freestyle

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Synopsis

Melanie Dixon used to be a champion rock climber, but ever since a rope failure that caused a serious fall during a climbing adventure, she's been terrified to get back in the game. Her body has long since healed, albeit leaving her with extensive scarring, but her psyche is still in tatters. More than ready to finally put the accident behind her, Mel moves to the small town where her brother lives and signs up for private lessons at the local rock climbing gym. As she works to overcome her fears, she finds herself deeply attracted to her hot coach but fearful of getting involved with him because her scars had disgusted a former lover.

Derrick James is equally interested in Melanie and works very hard to earn her trust both on and off the ropes. When she finally agrees to a date and is vulnerable enough to share her scars with him, he must show her that, not only do they not bother him, but he finds a certain beauty in her determination to overcome the accident that caused them. When photographer Nathan King, a friend from Melanie's past, arrives wanting to do a "where are they now" feature on her, as well as a sexy photo shoot for an erotic art book he's working on, Derrick sees how much Nathan turns Melanie on. Throwing caution to the wind, Derrick proposes that if Nathan wants to pursue a little sensuality with Mel, the attentions of two men might just help her to further get past her hangups about her body. When the trio embark on a camping trip to shoot the photos, they do just that, but a revelation upon their return puts Nathan's true motives about coming to see Mel into questions.

Review

Rising, Freestyle is the second book in Vivian Arend's Xtreme Adventures series. In this one, we have Melanie, who is the sister of Kane, one of the two heroes of of the first book, Falling, Freestyle. Mel is a former champion rock climber who has been through quite an ordeal. When her ropes failed during a climb, she plunged down a cliff face and was seriously injured. She bears significant scars from her accident, as well as fears that she's trying to face, as she attempts to get back in the game. Mel moved to a small town to be closer to her brother and is training at the local rock climbing gym with Derrick, a hot friend of her brother, who has really been getting her motor humming. Because a former lover admitted to being disgusted by her scars, she hasn't been intimate with anyone in three years, so when Derrick starts flirting with her, she's flattered but wary. Screwing up her courage, she goes on a date with him that ends in the bedroom. Derrick is kind and understanding when she expresses self-consciousness about her body and reassures her she's beautiful to him, leading to a solid beginning of a relationship between them. Three months later, Nathan, an old friend of Mel's whom she's had a crush on since she was a teenager shows up wanting to photograph her for a "where are they now" feature in the magazine he's working for, as well as an erotic art book he's doing on his personal time. After careful consideration and with his assurances that she'll get full control over which photos they use, she agrees. Derrick can't help but notice that Mel and Nathan are attracted to each other, so when Mel confesses about her teenage crush, Derrick decides that having two men's attention might help bolster Mel's confidence even further. When they take a camping trip to shoot the photos, Derrick invites Nathan to feel free to touch and kiss Mel if she's open to it. The plan ends up working wonders for Mel's psyche, but when they return to civilization, some shocking news places Nathan's word into question and could shake Mel's trust in him.

Much like with the first book of the series, the main downside of this story is that there's not a great deal of characters development but for a shorter format it isn't too bad. Melanie is probably the best developed of the three main characters. We learn about the accident that caused her scars and perhaps a touch of PTSD when it comes to climbing, but she's bravely trying to get past her fears. The scars are a little harder because of her previous lover's rude comments, but once she gets past her initial concern about how Derrick will react, she starts to blossom under his attentions. When Nathan enters the picture, Mel is unsure of whether to accept his offer for the article and pictures. She's still only allowed Derrick to see her scars and doesn't know if she's comfortable being vulnerable with someone else. But her teenage affection for Nathan helps her to trust him. We don't get as much development for Derrick and Nathan. Little is explored when it comes to their backgrounds beyond the fact that Derrick is a friends of Mel's brother and Nathan is the big brother of her high school best friend. Derrick owns the rock climbing gym where Mel is working to overcome her fears and he's giving her private sessions to help with that. He has a sweet side, always letting Mel know how beautiful she is, but even after three months together, he knows that she's still harboring self-consciousness. He's surprised to find that he doesn't feel jealous of Nathan turning Mel on, and in fact, it rather turns him on, too, which is what leads to his suggestion that Nathan get in on the action. Nathan is a pretty nice guy himself, a talented photographer who knows how to shoot Melanie to best show off her beauty. He's a little unsure about Derrick's suggestion, but given that he has a little crush of his own on Mel, he readily agrees, thinking that Derrick might be right about it helping her get over the last hurdles.

Overall, Rising, Freestyle was a very enjoyable read. It takes a little different track than the first book in which we had three friends who ended up in a permanent menage situation. This time Melanie and Derrick establish their relationship first, before adding Nathan into the mix. Even then it's only the one time that Nathan does some kissing and touching but no actual sex. However, he does discover a voyeurism kink that gets some attention as he enjoys watching and photographing Derrick and Melanie in the heat of passion. I was glad that Nathan realized he wasn't interested in anything permanent with Melanie at the same time she realized that, while it was fun exploring her crush and having the attention of two men at once, ultimately Derrick is her one and only, so that no feelings were hurt. I really liked all the characters, too. Even though the character development could have gone deeper, I thought it was decent for a novella, especially one that has three main characters. Melanie's fears, both about falling again while climbing and about what the men might think of her scars, were very relatable. I like that she had two hot guys to help her get over them. Derrick is sweet and understanding, while also being protective. He's a very generous lover, both in their private interactions and when he invites Nathan to join them, but he's always there to make sure she's on board with everything. Nathan is equally invested in making sure Melanie is comfortable with everything they do, whether it's the photos or their little threesome. I also loved what he did for her at the end. These three characters' interactions could be sweet and emotional, but it was mostly about the steam factor. The love scenes are well-written and extremely hot. So, everything taken together, I had a lot of fun reading this story. It's the final one in the series, but it's left me open to definitely reading more from this author. Unfortunately it appears that this novella is no longer available for purchase at this time.

Note: This book contains explicit language and sexual content, including a mild MFM menage scene, voyeurism/exhibitionism, a little Shibari-style bondage, and anal sex, all of which could be objectionable to sensitive readers.

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Vivian Arend

Themes

Artists
Physically Imperfect Heroines
Tortured Heroines