Review: The Space Between Us by Megan Hart

I get excited when there is a new Megan Hart book to read. To be honest though, I’m glad there is not a new release every other week. I must have a good long recovery period between books. Her books draw me in and wring me out. As with Megan Hart’s other erotic romances, The Space Between Us offers very sensual, erotic scenes while taking the reader through an emotional, personal journey.

This story is Tesla’s journey. We follow her through a ménage relationship with married couple, Meredith and Charlie, her long-time friendships and her past sexual relationships to discover a heroine who is a free spirit and self-assured but is also flawed and vulnerable.

Meredith is a regular customer at the coffee shop Tesla works at. She flirts with everyone, especially Tesla. Although Tesla knows Meredith is married, she is attracted to her and when Meredith asks her out, Tesla agrees to go. Although it’s not an official date, there is sexual tension. Meredith intends to seduce Tesla, but she wants Tesla for her husband. After meeting Meredith’s husband Tesla agrees to the ménage, mostly because she wants Meredith. What starts out as a casual thing, becomes more as they all become friends as well as lovers and eventually Tesla becomes the third in the marriage.

Meredith is a character I’m sure we’re supposed to ultimately dislike. She’s manipulative, selfish and a little shallow. She’s also a burst of walking charisma and people are just naturally drawn to her. Of course I disliked her actions and the consequences they bring but I found her character to be realistic and interesting. To me as a reader she seemed mostly insincere but the people she surrounds herself with never seem to notice. They are blinded by the force that is Meredith, everyone wants to please her and earn a smile from her.

Charlie, Meredith’s husband was a bit of a doormat around Meredith. He seemed to subscribe to the “Happy Wife, Happy Life” newsletter. I felt a great deal of discomfort in the earlier stages of the ménage because it seemed his participation was mostly to please Meredith. Eventually we see Charlie and Tesla’s relationship grow aside from the ménage relationship and Charlie’s personality is a bit stronger. But he’s just so laid back and  in the shadow of his wife.

I found nearly all of Tesla’s relationships uncomfortable and on the verge of disaster. Before moving in with Meredith and Charlie, Tesla lived in the basement of her childhood friend Vic and his wife. Tesla thinks of them as family and she has a complicated history with Vic. While Tesla clearly loves and respects Vic’s wife and kids, I always felt a sense that it could all go very bad any minute. I really enjoyed the flashbacks to their past together and learning how much Vic means to Tesla, but the tension I felt in this relationship was unsettling at times.

My main problem with this book was with the ending. Both in how it ends and how quickly it ends. I’m always a little uneasy at the end of a Megan Hart story because her books never seem to end on a solid HEA. I’m never convinced everything will be okay for the characters. In this story, the ending is abrupt and I was totally shocked by the “who and what” at the end. I don’t want to spoil, but I’ll just say I wasn’t surprised by the resolution of one relationship, but I wasn’t convinced by the sincerity of the other. In other words, no good can come of this.

This wasn’t my favorite Megan Hart book but it still kept me riveted and unable to stop reading.

Rating: C
The Space Between Us by Megan Hart
September 4th 2012 by Harlequin MIRA
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