Comes in Threes, Book #1
Heat Factor: Holy Motherforking Shirtballs
Character Chemistry: I like to have sex with him, and you like to have sex with him, and I like to have sex with you, so how about we all have sex together? That sounds fun, right?
Plot: How can I be attracted to two people? Now how can this possibly be a fling between three people? Now I can’t possibly make myself vulnerable enough to be in a relationship, right?
Overall: OMG so many happy feels!
This book was so great! Now you can read it because that’s all you needed to know, right?
In a sort of unusual switch (though, TBH, not all that unusual for erotic romance), the sex is mostly on the front end and the emotional relationship development stems from that. Mitchell and Ben are best friends who have been business partners and living together for six years and sleeping together casually for two. But also Mitchell and Hannah have been making eyes at each other in Mitchell and Ben’s pub for a year. And then Ben meets Hannah at a Chamber of Commerce Meeting, thinks she’s hot, and asks her out. So within just the first couple chapters there’s suddenly a triangle where there wasn’t anything before.
One thing I liked about how Winters structured this story: each of the three couples had a sexual encounter – and they were all open about it with each other – before they all sat down to have a conversation about doing something together since the attraction was on all sides. And I liked that it wasn’t, like, a previously monogamous couple that just wasn’t working until a third arrived, but also none of the three had previously been polyamorous, so they were all exploring the idea of “Is this for me for the long term?” at the same time but in slightly different ways because they all had slightly different backgrounds and hangups.
Winters is polyamorous, so this is an own voices romance, and the way she introduces the conversation about what polyamory may look like – what it is and isn’t – for these protagonists is totally chill but also succeeds in opening the protagonists’ eyes to possibilities. And, by extension, the reader who may not be particularly well informed about polyamory. These three are a closed triad, but the conversation at the poly workshop clearly made it easier for the three to evaluate what they personally want but also makes it easier for them to discuss things amongst themselves. I know we often talk about realism in romance, and there are pitfalls to that, but this is one of those books that feels really like the three protagonists realistically figure out how to talk to each other and make a healthy relationship that works for them.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a snuggly love story that’s also HOT AF and features a healthy poly closed triad, this is a GREAT choice.
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