Review of No Filter (No Shame #1) by Nora Phoenix

 by Nora Phoenix

3.5 Stars

Indy will do anything to prevent his mobster ex from finding him. Their last encounter left Indy recovering for months in the hospital, and ever since he’s become an expert at hiding in plain sight. Determined to stay under the radar, he takes on a new identity and moves from place to place. His life has no room for friendships, let alone love, so he keeps his heart firmly closed. After all, he has nothing to offer but a damaged body and a broken soul. Plus, he’s so done with men. Until he meets the man who breaks through all his defenses.

Former Army Medic Noah came back damaged from his last tour—in more than one way. Between supporting his best friend-with-benefits Josh who’s struggling with PTSD, dealing with his own issues, and the stress of his job as a physician assistant, rebuilding his life seems impossible. There's little time for what Noah needs, let alone for what he wants. When he meets Indy, Noah discovers what he wants more than anything: for Indy to stay. But how will a relationship with Indy work when Noah needs Josh as well?

Indy never expected the strong, confident Noah to be as damaged and broken as himself. But what will happen if he starts letting Noah in? Indy knows he should run to protect Noah and Josh.

Noah needs Indy to stay more than anything. But will what little he has to offer be enough to make Indy trust him and stay?

No Filter is book #1 in the No Shame series by Nora Phoenix.  It is an interesting story of 3 very broken men finding comfort in each other – a ménage book?  Yes, and well, no.

What did we love?

-          The Characters: We fell in love with all 3 men, Indy, Josh and Noah.  They are all broken and trying to heal in their own way, and their struggles really spoke to us. 

-          Interesting Story:  Nora Phoenix weaves a really fascinating story, and with 3 very different men we get a glimpse into each of their lives.  It is well written, and easy to follow, even with 3 very strong characters. The first chapter grabbed us into the story, and riveted us.  Did the whole book keep our attention…..meh.

-          The sex:  This is a good and bad.  There is lots of sex, lots and lots and lots.  But the ‘sex-for-love’ sex is hot, steamy and sizzling, it creates a good connection between the characters and you can see the bond between them growing.

What left us scratching our heads:

-          The sex: So so so much sex, it became a little much, like every other page and we ended up flipping a bit.  I am unsure if Nora Phoenix really meant this story to end up as the sex-fest it did, but it slipped to far into erotica for our taste.

-          Sex for pain relief: A bit like above, we are unsure if this was necessary.  Specifically sex for pain relief, I think if it was packaged  as sex for comfort to help soothe pain it might have not felt so in our face.

-          The ménage: We are still confused – this is and isn’t a ménage story.  Indy/Josh, Josh/Noah, Indy/Noah, wha???  No Filter starts to clear up the issue of who is with who towards the end of the book, but left a huge chunk in the middle when we were wondering where the ménage wanted to go.  And honestly, this feeling on confusion just took away from our reading experience.

No Filter, an almost-ménage book, an interesting read that left us confused but still wanted to read the next book.  Even with the muddle of bed-partners, No filter sets us up for romance in the second book, and we are hoping that these 3 men get their happy endings (mind out of the gutter, we meant their happy-ever-afters!)