Thank you netgalley for the ARC

This book was an easy read and some parts did make me laugh but over all it wasn’t 100% for me

Jake Carlisle is happy. He is running a successful business with his best friend since he was a kid and Sy rescued him from a bully on the playground. After school. they started a internet business making review videos for experiences. Do It or Don’t has a website, social media, and a YouTube channel, and their videos are so popular that they are starting to make some real money at the videos. They bought a house together, and they spend lots of time creating and editing the videos as well as hanging out and playing video games.

Life is good, even when Jake is almost killed by a slightly drunk Batman who tried to teach him how to drive his modified Batmobile at high speeds around a racetrack. Sy’s time driving the James Bond Aston Martin was without any problems, but Jake driving the Batmobile ended with the car on its side and Jake diving out to save himself. But at the end of the day, they were both okay, and they got some great video to use. So everything worked out for Do It or Don’t.

But when Sy is looking over the numbers for their uploads and reading through the comments, he realizes once again that their audience skews very heavily male. There is a huge part of the population that they are missing out on, so he proposes that they add another person to their videos—a woman. Jake doesn’t like the idea of change, but he agrees to try it. Just like he agreed to drive a Batmobile on a race track. Just like he agrees to most anything that Sy says. But he does have a point about their audience.

Sy and Jake put out an ad and are surprised by the hundreds of women who line up outside their house for an audition. They have set up a green screen and a fake review for laser quest, complete with Nerf guns for props. They get through dozens of interviews, only one of them ending up with a Nerf dart up Jake’s nose, and there are still many women waiting for their chance. They ask the remaining women to come back the next day, and as audition after audition goes poorly, they’re about to give up. Then Helena walks in the room.

Immediately, Helena is able to joke with both Sy and Jake. Her audition goes well, and even though they have to finish talking to the twenty or so women still waiting, they both know that Helena is the one. She can give Do It or Don’t the female perspective without taking anything away from Jake and Sy. But then, the inevitable thing happens.

Sy falls for Helena.

As the happy couple spend more time together, Jake feels left out, both in the business and in their home. But Jake has spent his life saying yes to whatever Sy wanted. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s how they started the business. Their most popular videos are all ideas that Sy had come up with and Jake had gone along with. But now, Helena has changed the balance of power, and Jake finds himself resenting her and the way she has come between him and Sy. And as they are working on a review for a cuddling event—Helena’s idea—Jake accidentally tells her how he feels.

Jake ahs to figure out how to make it right with Helena and Sy, and to do the right thing for himself. But will being completely honest about the new direction the company is taking break apart his relationship with his best friend? Will he risk his job, his company, his future, and his best friendship to be true to himself, or will he protect it all and go along with what Sy wants, once again?

Third Wheel is Nick Spalding’s latest comic novel about friendship and love and what we are willing to give up to keep the status quo. This book finds a good balance between emotional scenes and wildly comic adventures, offering lots of chances for belly laughs and perhaps too many balloon unicorns.

I liked how the bulk of Third Wheel is about the relationships between Jake and Sy and the relationship between Jake and himself. The comedic episodes add a lot of fun and enjoyment to the book, but it’s the emotional work that makes the book interesting. This is a quick read, but it’s a fun one. If you need some laughs, then definitely check out the novels of Nick Spalding.

Egalleys for Third Wheel were provided by Amazon Publishing UK through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Thrilling read! I was able to connect with all of the characters and throughly enjoyed the story the author painted.

Where does Nick Spalding find the inspiration for these characters? Poor Jake just muddling along as the sidekick to his best friend and business partner Sy until he gets thrown over for a girl! And then all the shenanigans to try and break them up. And this is on top of the crazy antics Jake and Sy already get in to for their video experience review company, which feels like a whole book on its own! I know when I read a Nick Spalding book that I am going to get some unique characters and a whole lot of lighted hearted laughable moments. This one did not disappoint!

Thank you to the author, Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third Nick Spalding I've read, and like the others it was a quick and easy read, with the trademark snarky humour the author delivers so well. I liked the fact that it focused more on bromance/friendship than romance, but found all of the protagonists fairly unlikeable and completely unrelatable - but then I am an ancient greybeard compared to them. Overall, an enjoyable read, but much more of a YA slant than I expected.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the book quite as much as I had hoped. I couldn't always understand the actions of the main protagonist and it lacked any tension. The book was not a disappointment, but unfortunately not a highlight for me either. Too bad, since the author is apparently very popular!

I gave this book a shot a couple times but it just was not for me at this point in time. I know I am in the minority on this!

Third wheel is the perfect book if you need a fun, lighthearted easy read.

I loved that it focussed more on friendship than romance. Some of the chapters had me laughing others had me wishing for more depth and irritated by the main characters.

Overall I found the book enjoyable though definitely not my favourite. If the description peaks your interest I would still definitely recommend giving it a go.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for the honest review

This was a fast easy read, but maybe I'm not the targeted reader for this book, I think it's aimed to a younger end user. Nonetheless it's funny and definitely a laugh out loud kind of read, dive into it for a good laugh.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC

I really enjoyed the humour in this story and the plot was fun, easy to follow and uplifting. Nick Spalding is an author I always pick up if I am feeling miserable and this latest offering did not disappoint. 5 stars
.

I thought this was a fun read. Two best friends with a channel find their friendship changed after a new person is added to the mix. This book was easy going and made me laugh quite a bit. I really liked the friendship between the two guys. It felt authentic and their show was one that I would probably like! Both friends are funny characters with a relatable situation. Definitely a book I would recommend if you want a light story that’s an enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

Firstly I'm only 5% into the book and I've had to stop for a breather because for the past 10 minutes I've been laughing hysterically, I'm actually crying tears of pure joy. My hubby my chihuahua and my budgie are all looking at me like I've lost the plot whilst I roll around on the love seat absolutely screaming, wheezing and wiping my eyes. I adore Nick Spalding, I've never read a book by any other author that has the ability to make me cry laughing, I've read all his books and Fat Chance is my favourite so far. I can see this one taking its place. I can't wait to read the rest of it! I will of course come back and finish the review, 5% in and I'm on a break because my head hurts from laughing. What more can I say?! Edited after finishing! Omg I've never laughed out loud and so hysterically that I cried since I read fat chance by nick spalding. This book made me laugh harder than anything I've ever read, so much so that I got wrong off my partner, the story is amazing and very relatable. I absolutely loved everything about the story. The way its told and the humour. This book is outstanding needs to goto number one in all the charts Nick Spalding is a genius!

Usually love Nick Spalding books,this was underwhelming but that’s ok as will look forward to his next one just as much,for me it was as slow start that just didn’t really get going but there were of course the very funny lol moments

A highly entertaining and humorous book that made me laugh and kept me hooked. Well plotted, fleshed out characters, a lot of humour.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A light hearted & easy read that you can read in one sitting due to the flow of the story. Well written and enjoyable

Fun and easy read. Jake and his best friend of 25 years, Sy, are social media influencers who video experiences for reviews. They get into madcap adventures and it all goes on YouTube for clicks. They decide to add a woman to the channel for some female perspective and things get complicated. Truly enjoyed my time with this one.

Jake Carlisle has been best friends with Sy since childhood, and now they run a successful influencer channel called "Do It Or Don't", where they get to spend all their time together reviewing experiences like escape rooms
and hot air balloon rides. Things are pretty much perfect until Sy decides that the company needs to add a female to the team in order to get more female viewers. Not only does Helena join their team, but she and Sy become a couple, and suddenly Jake is a third wheel. He is out-voted 2 to 1 on his ideas but Helena's ideas are wholeheartedly embraced by Sy, no matter how dumb Jake thinks the idea is. Not to mention Helena & Sy are always together. Jake misses the days when it was just the two of them & is prepared to commit some acts of relationship sabotage if that is what it takes to break the two of them up.
This was a light, fun read. There was a lot of over-the-top humor that kept me laughing. I did wonder how two guys that immature were able to be responsible enough to handle a mortgage, but maybe that is just me. Overall this was an enjoyable read, and if you are in the mood for something fun to read, then you should check this out.

I really enjoyed this book and feel that after a couple of flat offerings, Nick Spalding is back on form with his humour being fantastically silly. I loved Jakes petulance and really felt for him at times. The story was quite predictable but this didn't take away from the enjoyment.

Third Wheel is not my first Nick Spalding book. I discovered his humorous books in 2020 and have enjoyed the funny stories he writes. Third Wheel was no exception. However, this was the first time I did not enjoy the MC. Jake and his bff, Sy, run a website called Do It or Don't. They try different experiences, film themselves while doing the activity, then post it online along with a review. Jake loves the job. It's his whole life, as is Sy. When Sy suggests broadening their appeal to females they decide to take on a third host. They hire Helena. Of course Helena and Sy fall for each other and Jake becomes overly jealous.

Jake being stuck in his jealousy really got boring. But luckily the escapades they get up to on their excursions helped detract from that misery. Spalding is always very descriptive in the silly situations his characters find themselves in. When Jake is learning to walk the cat walk for one of their videos I could easily imagine every detail.

I was sure I knew how this would end, but Spalding doesn't go for the trite closing of this situation. That also made me like this book more. Overall this was another winning story from Nick Spalding!

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***


I genuinely was so excited to read this book with the funny description and the cover of it, but once I started reading it, my thoughts changed completely. I found the plot to be extremely predictable.

This book seemed like a young adult book with not much depth to it, which is okay sometimes, but didn't work quite as well with this particular story. in my personal opinion. I found the characters to be annoying in different ways and found myself telling them in my head to just tell each other how you really feel. If you're best friends with someone pretty much your entire life, you don't withhold so much of how you're feeling in reality. That is supposed to be the person you can tell anything to, ya know? Also, you don't walk over each other (and this happens far before the romance relationship comes in!)

I did find this book to be a good "filler" book if you will - one where you don't need to think to read it and just a good book to have on hand when you don't want a deep read.. I will say some things in the book I found to be funny and I enjoyed various chapters, but overall it wasn't super enjoyable.

Have a read for yourself if it sounds up your alley, but wasn't the greatest read for me personally this year.