Crosstown Crush

by Cara McKenna

September 1, 2015 · Signet

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I really struggled with how to review and grade Crosstown Crush by Cara McKenna because I personally found that the kink described in the novel was not for me. Despite that, the book is well-written with likeable characters and I thought that McKenna did a good job of explaining that kink to people who are unfamiliar with it.

The book centers around married couple Samira and Mike. Mike has a very particular kink–cuckolding. For those not familiar, Mike’s fantasy is being shamed by Samira having an affair with another man. At the beginning of their marriage–before Mike was honest with her–he and Samira struggled. Unable to express his desires, Mike turned jealous and overly sexually aggressive. When they finally did communicate, they found a situation that worked for them.

Samira would claim to stay late at work, but would really go out for drinks with friends. She would stop at the drug store and rub men’s cologne samples on herself before coming home. Mike would accuse her of cheating and she would tell him about her fictional affair, belittling him while they had sex.

So if you’re like me, you might not totally get why this is a thing. McKenna doesn’t ever explicitly say “This is 100% why Mike is into this.” Mike isn’t 100% sure why he’s into cuckolding–which is fair because our desires don’t always have logical, perfect explanations.

Samira does try to explain it to herself, though. Mike is a narcotics detective and has a very stressful, powerful job. She theorizes:

If she had to guess, she suspected it was something to do with letting go. Something to do with Mike surrendering to the pressure he felt to be in control, to be fearless, commanding, the leader with all the answers. His greatest fear, professionally, was that he wouldn’t be good enough, that he’d let his partner down, that he’d fail his team, lose their respect, maybe even cost someone his life. But his job was dangerous and left no room for self-doubt. So it was here, in their bed and in their games, that he got to relieve himself of all that stress–not only to admit that he wasn’t perfect and strong and capable, but to wallow in the idea. Wallow in whatever sensation it gave him to feel like a lesser man–some great gulp of air when the pressure of the job felt thick enough to drown in.

Mike’s fantasy has three parts–suspicion, humiliation and reclaiming. During the reclaiming they have epic sex, and Samira has come to enjoy their games. She wants to take the fantasy a step father though, and invite another man into their bedroom.

After some really careful planning, Samira and Mike meet Bern online. Bern is a handsome dude with a southern drawl and an exhibitionist fantasy. He’s not into cuckolding specifically, but likes the idea of Mike watching him have sex with Samira. They start off slow, with Mike watching as Samira and Bern have drinks and flirt in a bar. It eventually moves on to actual sex between Samira and Bern with Mike watching, and after awhile participating.

The sex scenes themselves didn’t work for me. One thing that Bern initiates in the scene is something called “forced bi” in which he makes Mike lick Samira’s residue off his penis in a particularly humiliating way. There is also something called sloppy seconds. I’m putting it in spoilers here, not because it’s a spoiler, but because I personally find it super gross and suspect others might, too:

So if, like me, you’re boarding the train to Nopetown on that one, you might not want to read this book while eating your lunch.

The conflict comes when Samira and Bern start to have feelings for each other–not endless undying love feelings, but feelings nonetheless. And that feels like real cheating to Samira and Mike, which is not part of the deal.

So while the kink didn’t work for me personally, I could admire a lot of things about this book. First of all, no one is broken or fucked up. There is no correlation between being kinky and being damaged.

Secondly, Samira and Mike are 100% in this together. In fact, she really has the power in her relationship with both men–ultimately a lot of the fantasy involves her pleasure:

The same kink that had once belittled her now turned her into a powerful, wicked devil-goddess. A sexual supervillian.

And goddamn,  it was fun having these powers.

…It was hard to remember a time when Mike’s kink had repelled her; now she couldn’t imagine their marriage without it. It would’ve been like having a favorite spice taken away, their meals still nourishing but missing that exotic kick.

Also the kink is approached in a really safe, sane way. If any one of the three parties isn’t down, they all stop. Even the descriptions of Samira and Mike looking for their third person is almost businesslike. I laughed when Samira immediately ruled out anyone who emailed her with poor grammar and sloppy capitalization.

This book isn’t really a romance in the traditional sense. Mike and Samira have some things to overcome, but it’s more about how three adults navigate their feelings in a complex sexual relationship. The word “logistics” is used.

I could appreciate what McKenna was doing here, especially considering how she subverted typical gender/power dynamics. The writing was flawless and the characters were likeable. I decided to give Crosstown Crush a B because while I could appreciate good writing and a daring narrative, the kink just wasn’t my thing.