Name: Lover of Romance 's review of The Architect by Nikki Sloane
Item: The Architect
Rating: 4
Author: Lover of Romance

Nikki Sloane

On the surface, my new boyfriend is a stiff, buttoned-up architect. He plans every detail of his life while carefully maintaining the walls he's built around his heart. But when the biggest project of his career pulls him away, Clay's solution is both temporary and unconventional. It even comes with a name-Travis. This handsome stranger is sweet and thoughtful. He's only meant to be a stand-in, to fulfill my needs under Clay's watchful direction, yet these two men couldn't be more different. The one thing they share? Well, I guess that would be me. One gets off on my pain, the other on my pleasure, and it awakens a desire none of us knew existed. But it can't last. Eventually I'll have to choose. And it's going to destroy us all.

The Architect

Lover of Romance 

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Hero (Clay): 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻

Hero (Travis): 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻

Heroine (Lilith):🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️

Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂

The Architect is the third installment in the Nashville Neighbors series. And I will be honest in how apprehensive I was before reading this book and probably why I took so long to get back to the series since I read "Doctor" quite a while ago. I had seen quite a few of mixed reviews of "The Architect" and I felt nervous before reading this because I wasn't sure that this book would actually work for me, but surprisingly, it did work out for me for the most part. Its not a perfect read and probably my least favorite of the series far, just due to some elements in the midway point of the story, however, the ending was so swoon worthy and captured my attention and heart so well that it upped my enjoyment by quite a bit here. Nikki Sloane wrote a story that is brilliant in its own way and just a bit different for its readers.

A loud insistent banging came from my front door, caused by an angry fist, and I froze.

Architect, Driven, A trained Dominant and a planner in all things. He is also emotionally constipated. He is more about pain than necessarily pleasure.

A dominant in training, a Vet and Doctor, he is more of a alpha mellow in nature. Has a soft spot for women and is all about pleasure over pain.

Explorative sexuality, not looking for love or a serious relationship, but embraces casual relationships as long as emotion doesn't get involved and loves animals and works in a Vet clinic.

When Lilith meets her next-door neighbor, she doesn't expect it to be a sexy nerd type that has alpha vibes surrounding him. He is a mix of oxymorons, but she is intrigued by him. When they come up with a mutual agreement for a cat ownership, Lilith and Clay build a trust of casual friendship and when Lilith learns that Clay is into building furniture for couples interested in Kink and the BDSM lifestyle, she is intrigued. And she and Clay enter into a relationship of domination and pleasure. When Clay brings in a third party to act as proxy for him when he is traveling, something more connects the three individuals in a way that none of them expect. But this relationship was built on casual sex and nothing serious as the heart getting involved, will Clay, Travis and Lilith find common ground that benefits them all or will it break what they have gradually built with each other?

This is a true menage but it's a menage that just happens and not with the characters going into the relationship with the intentions of being in a menage. The way that the story is set up in the beginning was so evoking and powerful and SEXY. First off we get to see some solid friendship bonds form between Clay and Ivy. And then the sex happens pretty quickly, Lilith is much braver than I could ever be. Despite how submissive she is in the bedroom, she is a bit of a cougar when it comes to attracting the male she wants, and that male is Clay. I love how accepting she is of the lifestyle and just wants to learn and experience the journey of exploring it all with Clay. The sex scenes in this one is SPICY. Just fair warning, maybe not listen to this one at work or in public or even read it. Nikki Sloane can definitely write her spice and its always so well done in her stories.

We also get the fun aspects of seeing so many emotional constipated characters learn to love and fight for that love. Its quite a treat to see how different each of them when it comes to falling in love. We have Clay who just rejects it and even pushes people away when it happens. Now with Clay in some ways I understood because he had a previous bad experience and it put him in a mindset that threw him off completely. But he doesn't handle ANY emotions haha and he doesn't know how to deal with any of it even on a most basic human level so that was very interesting. Than we have our heroine, Lilith, who can't do the love thing which is different from Clay. She can handle relationships but her issues are with she gets bored in relationships when serious emotion is involved. Than we have Travis, who was a bit difficult to get to the bottom of his emotional level. He is much more mature than the others and is like the balance wheel between Lilith and Clay. He understands emotion, has an emotional maturity the others don't have, and is able to handle love just fine.

The dynamic of the relationships that forms between the three was quite interesting. Because there isn't necessarily a strong sexual vibe between Clay and Travis. There is a strong friendship between them and nothing super sexual, at least not in the beginning, but towards the end of the story we are seeing some slow evolvement of that. So its not a straight MFM relationship. So if you struggle with that particular dynamic, and prefer MMF, than this one could work for you. Then we have the bonds that Lilith has with Travis and Clay. At first this is separated but eventually this tends to get mixed in. I really enjoyed how Lilith was the first one to fall first when she is the one rushing out of relationships when "love" happens haha but the true struggle is Clay and seeing Travis and Lilith work through their feelings and assisting Clay on it and allowing him to see that sometimes change happens that are unexpected. The later half of the book was my favorite aspect of the story though, I really felt that is where much of the emotional intimacy gets formed and enjoyed seeing their beautiful dynamic develop in those precious chapters.

So it has some elements to the relationship that might be a struggle for some to enjoy. I will be honest the way that this relationship is built, was not easy at times to read. Especially when one or really two? are so emotionally constipated. And I will be honest that this is the section of the story I truly had a hard time with. Particularly in how Clay brings Travis into the relationship when he is 'traveling'. Its a really odd set up to be honest, and there was something about it that threw me off and I just really struggled with how Clay treats Travis in the relationship. Travis is such a cinnamon roll at times and just didn't deserve how he gets treats at times in the relationship.

The narration on this is fabulous, and really the narration Nikki Slone has for all of these books are so well done. I just love the way that they capture the steam just right and the emotions of the character is so well portrayed. You can't help but be drawn in completely with the story.

I found The Architect to be a superb read that will stoke up the flames, stir up emotion and heart and deliver completely for any romance reader!

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔
Hero (Clay): 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Hero (Travis): 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine (Lilith):🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨


First Impressions
The Architect is the third installment in the Nashville Neighbors series. And I will be honest in how apprehensive I was before reading this book and probably why I took so long to get back to the series since I read "Doctor" quite a while ago. I had seen quite a few of mixed reviews of "The Architect" and I felt nervous before reading this because I wasn't sure that this book would actually work for me, but surprisingly, it did work out for me for the most part. Its not a perfect read and probably my least favorite of the series far, just due to some elements in the midway point of the story, however, the ending was so swoon worthy and captured my attention and heart so well that it upped my enjoyment by quite a bit here. Nikki Sloane wrote a story that is brilliant in its own way and just a bit different for its readers.

First Line
A loud insistent banging came from my front door, caused by an angry fist, and I froze.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Clay
Architect, Driven, A trained Dominant and a planner in all things. He is also emotionally constipated. He is more about pain than necessarily pleasure.

The Hero: Travis
A dominant in training, a Vet and Doctor, he is more of a alpha mellow in nature. Has a soft spot for women and is all about pleasure over pain.

The Heroine: Lilith
Explorative sexuality, not looking for love or a serious relationship, but embraces casual relationships as long as emotion doesn't get involved and loves animals and works in a Vet clinic.

Summary
When Lilith meets her next-door neighbor, she doesn't expect it to be a sexy nerd type that has alpha vibes surrounding him. He is a mix of oxymorons, but she is intrigued by him. When they come up with a mutual agreement for a cat ownership, Lilith and Clay build a trust of casual friendship and when Lilith learns that Clay is into building furniture for couples interested in Kink and the BDSM lifestyle, she is intrigued. And she and Clay enter into a relationship of domination and pleasure. When Clay brings in a third party to act as proxy for him when he is traveling, something more connects the three individuals in a way that none of them expect. But this relationship was built on casual sex and nothing serious as the heart getting involved, will Clay, Travis and Lilith find common ground that benefits them all or will it break what they have gradually built with each other?

What I Loved
This is a true menage but it's a menage that just happens and not with the characters going into the relationship with the intentions of being in a menage. The way that the story is set up in the beginning was so evoking and powerful and SEXY. First off we get to see some solid friendship bonds form between Clay and Ivy. And then the sex happens pretty quickly, Lilith is much braver than I could ever be. Despite how submissive she is in the bedroom, she is a bit of a cougar when it comes to attracting the male she wants, and that male is Clay. I love how accepting she is of the lifestyle and just wants to learn and experience the journey of exploring it all with Clay. The sex scenes in this one is SPICY. Just fair warning, maybe not listen to this one at work or in public or even read it. Nikki Sloane can definitely write her spice and its always so well done in her stories.

We also get the fun aspects of seeing so many emotional constipated characters learn to love and fight for that love. Its quite a treat to see how different each of them when it comes to falling in love. We have Clay who just rejects it and even pushes people away when it happens. Now with Clay in some ways I understood because he had a previous bad experience and it put him in a mindset that threw him off completely. But he doesn't handle ANY emotions haha and he doesn't know how to deal with any of it even on a most basic human level so that was very interesting. Than we have our heroine, Lilith, who can't do the love thing which is different from Clay. She can handle relationships but her issues are with she gets bored in relationships when serious emotion is involved. Than we have Travis, who was a bit difficult to get to the bottom of his emotional level. He is much more mature than the others and is like the balance wheel between Lilith and Clay. He understands emotion, has an emotional maturity the others don't have, and is able to handle love just fine.

The dynamic of the relationships that forms between the three was quite interesting. Because there isn't necessarily a strong sexual vibe between Clay and Travis. There is a strong friendship between them and nothing super sexual, at least not in the beginning, but towards the end of the story we are seeing some slow evolvement of that. So its not a straight MFM relationship. So if you struggle with that particular dynamic, and prefer MMF, than this one could work for you. Then we have the bonds that Lilith has with Travis and Clay. At first this is separated but eventually this tends to get mixed in. I really enjoyed how Lilith was the first one to fall first when she is the one rushing out of relationships when "love" happens haha but the true struggle is Clay and seeing Travis and Lilith work through their feelings and assisting Clay on it and allowing him to see that sometimes change happens that are unexpected. The later half of the book was my favorite aspect of the story though, I really felt that is where much of the emotional intimacy gets formed and enjoyed seeing their beautiful dynamic develop in those precious chapters.

What I Struggled With
So it has some elements to the relationship that might be a struggle for some to enjoy. I will be honest the way that this relationship is built, was not easy at times to read. Especially when one or really two? are so emotionally constipated. And I will be honest that this is the section of the story I truly had a hard time with. Particularly in how Clay brings Travis into the relationship when he is 'traveling'. Its a really odd set up to be honest, and there was something about it that threw me off and I just really struggled with how Clay treats Travis in the relationship. Travis is such a cinnamon roll at times and just didn't deserve how he gets treats at times in the relationship.

Narration
The narration on this is fabulous, and really the narration Nikki Slone has for all of these books are so well done. I just love the way that they capture the steam just right and the emotions of the character is so well portrayed. You can't help but be drawn in completely with the story.

Overall View
I found The Architect to be a superb read that will stoke up the flames, stir up emotion and heart and deliver completely for any romance reader!

Favorite Quote(s)
You want to be punished, don't you?"
When I nodded, he grinned.
"I hope you're not fragile."

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
Character Types: Alpha Male, Alpha Mellow, Vet/Doctor, Architect
Themes: BDSM, Menage, Hot Smexy Times, Love of Animals, Next Door Neighbor, Sex Club
Tropes: Age Gap, Fling

Book Perspective
Mulitple POV's

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Relationship conflict

Song This Book Inspires
Earned It by The Weekend

Recommendation For Reading Order
You can read as standalones if needed.

Steam/Spice Explanations

Simmering cup of tea---soft warm touches and light intimacy
Warmin' by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.
Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.
Blazing fire to the building-The prime focus is the sex scenes, scorching hot, and could burn one. Less focus on the emotional intimacy to the relationship.

Narrators:
Angelina Rocca, Brennan Landry

detelinka

SLAYUH. THE DYNAMICC OMFG. i live how the whole point of the book was their relationship and like 90% of it was their sex life. slayed the bdsm too💅🏼

Nursyuhada Zainul

As Jeremy fragrance says “sexy sweet yummy”

Gabriela Kondratyuk

On the surface, my new boyfriend is a stiff, buttoned-up architect. He plans every detail of his life while carefully maintaining the walls he’s built around his heart. But when the biggest project of his career pulls him away, Clay’s solution is both temporary and unconventional. It even comes with a name—Travis. This handsome stranger is sweet and thoughtful. He’s only meant to be a stand-in, to fulfill my needs under Clay’s watchful direction, yet these two men couldn’t be more different. The one thing they share? Well, I guess that would be me. One gets off on my pain, the other on my pleasure, and it awakens a desire none of us knew existed. But it can’t last. Eventually I’ll have to choose. And it’s going to destroy us all.

Sven Test

I’ve read smutty books before with lots of steam, but this one really brought it. I felt like I needed an ice bath for a lot of the scenes! The dynamic between Clay, Lilith and Travis worked so great. They definitely had sizzling chemistry right from the start. AND IT WAS HOT!!!

lilac archives

** spoiler alert **
           i can't believe i sat through this book till the end. i liked the dynamic in some places between the three characters but i think i loved lilith and travis more. but it was 70% sex and bdsm so..

fer ❀

i don’t like trouples and the lack of plot that’s all i have to say

Katie Dobay

Honestly? Yes. The books was an interesting take on BDSM, some specific kinks, and the sweetest throuple I've ever read about. At first I was not in love with the rejection of certain characters but was turned into a sweet ending. And HOLY SHIT it was spicy. Some of the wording was a little repetitive but DELICIOUS. This was one if the spiciest books I've read in a while. Very much smut over plot. But if you're looking for some hot mmf scenes HERE YOU GO.

Maggie Hepditch

I DNFd this about halfway through after skimming through two separate ten page long sex scenes. I have no issues with a book being full of sex but this was too much. He's also an irresponsible Dom. He starts a scene without establishing hard limits or even boundaries or aftercare. He brings her to the club where once again he doesn't have an actual conversation with her about her limits and boundaries. He didn't have a conversation with her before deciding to bring Mr E or whatever is name is into their relationship. He just showed up and she was supposed to be fine with that.

Abigail

The. Steamiest. Spiciest. Read. If you’re a fan of MFM this is one of the best of the trope. BDSM heavy but written in an exploratory way where the focus is really on the relationships and never too heavy in the lifestyle (distinct scenes vs real life). 

Tshering Yangzom

Tessa 

3.75 stars

*spoilers* 
I found there was a lack of intimacy in the first 200 pages that I usually crave in romance books and to be honest it almost ruined the book for me. Don't get me wrong, it was HOT AS HELL but I really need that intimacy to enjoy the book I'm reading. That being said, when Clay came back from his trip after finding out about Travis and Lilith, there was a complete switch I'm the characters in my opinion and it really redeemed the book in my eyes.

Tanya 

Am I crazy to have loved this over the other 2 even though it was the most intriguing one? I can’t even put into words what this book did to me. First of all tackling BDSM is hard enough as it is but it was displayed so tasteful & informative in this book. The relationship between Lilith, Clay & Travis was soooooo addicting. Honestly you have to read it to understand otherwise I’d be sitting here talking about it all day. At this point I wanna be in a throuple.

Maya Federman

4.5 stars.

This has been on my TBR for ages and man am I an idiot for waiting so long to read it. Jesus christ the spice in this book was insanity.

Lilith strikes up a relationship with her broody, quiet architect neighbor Clay—who also happens to build custom BDSM furniture and frequents a sex club to fulfill his Dom nature. When he has to travel for a work project, he sends a fellow Dom and friend of his in his place to keep our FMC entertained, if you know what I mean. While he watches and gives directions via FaceTime/Skype. 🥵

While Clay has rules in place to keep Travis and Lilith from getting too close in his absence, their mounting sexual chemistry eventually comes to a head. This changes the dynamic, presenting an almost-love triangle situation, but luckily things shake out in the form of an MFM throuple between Clay, Lilith, and Travis.

The spice in this book is literally unmatched. Every BDSM act and trope you can imagine happens. I love that Clay was more of a pain Dom and Travis was more of a pleasure Dom—this created an interesting dynamic and definitely kept Lilith on her toes. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time, methinks.

Cat Nunez 

I waited a lot to read this series but I wanted to read them all in one sitting so when I got an arc for this book I was really excited to read all these stories. The previous books were really hot but this one is definitely hotter. We knew Lilith from the first book and I was glad to know this one was about her and it was so good.

Lilith always saw Clay as shy and quiet because he never go out or share with his neighbors, but after a meeting thanks to a stray cat everything changes. Lilith was attracted to Clay from the beginning but she never acted on her feelings until that moment and she wanted to do everything to catch Clay’s attention. She never realized the world she was getting into but she was all into it.

Clay seemed quiet and private at first but then we know more of him and his story and the things he wanted so we enter a world of hot and steamy scenes. As it says in the blurb, Clay works away a lot so he brings Travis to act as his surrogate while he’s away and to please Lilith. Their arrangement is unique and temporary so most of the book were sex scenes and I loved everything. 

Travis was amazing too, at first we don’t know more about him but I really wanted to see what he was like and the things he wanted. He was very attentive with Lilith and I wanted more time between the 2 of them.

I really loved how it ended and how everything worked out at the end. It’s kind of a MFM so if you’re into that you’ll probably love it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Very erotic and hot. Multiple ice baths are needed.

Michelle Vasquez

“His beautiful eyes were bottomless as he stared down into mine, and although there was no tension in his hand, it wrapped around my throat as a collar. Power flared through his expression like fire, and although I didn’t know his name, I knew this man.”

Lilith is taking her life in stride. She’s a bit eccentric in a way that when she sees something she wants - she will move mountains to have it.

Clay is precise, private and in control. The architect. Like Lilith- he knows what he wants, but he plans. Always the planner. 

“The Architect,” by Nikki Sloane is book three in her Nashville Neighborhood Series, and is a standalone. It is an MFM romance and touches with elements of BDSM. It showcases the arrangement that Lilith and Clay have, however, a wrench is thrown into their plans when Mr E is added into the mix. The chemistry was hot, and the men were broody - and it showed how much Clay and E needed the control, but how they managed that with Lilith’s crave for submission and pain. I loved that it had several people crossover from the rest of the other standalones in this series, and am anxious for more!

Sophia Vasquez

Very confusing, but having a throuple? damn.

Anna // read.all.night 

Nikki Sloane always rights scorching hot books and this is no exception. This starts out as a neighborhood romance but gets really interesting really fast. I loved the characters and the nod to Nikki’s other books (now I definitely need to read The Doctor and The Pool Boy). 

This is really really hot and steamy with all sorts of bdsm fun. The relationship development was really well done and things kept taking me by surprise in the best of ways. Can’t wait to read more Nikki!

Lover of Romance &
The Architect by Nikki Sloane

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