Liked:
-the drink competition aspect of the story...I love a paloma and would love to try Mel's Rock Dove
-reading about a polyamorous relationship. My first!

Disliked:
-the instant love of the relationships. I didn't really feel the connection between any of the characters.
-There wasn't much depth to the characters. They all seemed to have their "thing" and that was all there was to them. Just a little too one dimensional.

Overall, I did enjoy the story, but did wish there was a little more to it.

I really enjoyed this book. Mel, Bebe, and Kade were complex characters and made a unique and loving relationship. Mel was the only POV we got and I would have loved more from the other characters but enjoyed it anyway. The story was a tad slow in the beginning but once it picked up it was amazing.

Honorable mention; snowed in together.

*Thank you netgalley and Atria books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a lot of fun, albeit a bit spicy! I didn't mind, the characters were so much fun! I liked the bar/drink/creating drinks aspect, and I loved watching Mel make her dreams come true!

Have you read a book with a polyamorous romance before?
I hadn't, but I heard so much about this book that I just had to have it and I’m so glad I did. The characters, the story, the individuality, the relationship development, the everything TJ Alexander did with Triple Sec.

Mel is sort of your classic hard on her luck bartender, making drinks she isn't passionate about, watching romance unfold that she doesn't quite believe in, and lost on what's next. That all changes when the glamorous, effervescent Bebe walks in. There's a spark there, a moment where Mel feels seen and finally sees someone else, and then she meets Bebe's partner, Kade. While Mel takes it as a sign to give up, Bebe takes it as a sign that she has found a woman she wants to date, to bring into her open marriage.

What transpires is a thought provoking, beautiful, figuring yourself out tale that I could not put down. The deep talks, the introspective thinking Mel goes through, the moments of ah-ha clarity, and the absolute charm that Bebe, Kade, and Mel each exudes just had me falling in love too.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and TJ Alexander for providing me with a digital copy of Triple Sec. This is my honest review.
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I think I can say with certainty that TJ Alexander has become one of my favorite authors. I love reading about queer characters who are just living their lives and I also really appreciated seeing a polyamorous relationship presented so focally and unabashedly in a romcom. If Mel, Bebe, and Kade are looking for a fourth, I’m first in line! 🔥

I’ve never read a poly romance before, and I was looking forward after enjoying TJ Alexander’s last book. The characters in this book were really good and I was invested in all parts of the relationship. I also liked the focus on friendship as an important relationship as well. The only thing that doesn’t make it a 5-star read is that the competition plot felt a bit rushed to me, especially with multiple romances needing story time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the gifted copy of this book!

This book is a fun read! It was such a joy to read a positive portrayal of polyamorous relationships. I appreciated that the reader has the opportunity to learn about polyamory alongside Mel (FMC) in terms of dynamics, terms, and boundaries. The characters felt so developed, tangible, and yet unique. This book will be a hit with romance readers - just the right amount of spice, and uses some of my favorite tropes.

There were some story elements that felt a little elongated to me and dragged on. I am also not much of a drinker, so the flowery descriptions of cocktails and bar culture didn't do much for me. Overall, this book was refreshing, funny, and heartwarming - I highly recommend!

This book was so full of love. I absolutely loved Mel and her journey to loving herself was such a great one to read. I really appreciated the representation of romantic relationships that people see as less common, like polyamory. It was refreshing to see how this was represented and honestly gave me a lot of insight. I really loved the cocktail competition as a plot point, and this definitely made me want to learn more about how to make drinks myself. Overall, this left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling as all characters grew together.

Thank you to Netgalley for this early copy. I enjoyed reading this but was not a huge fan of the writings style. All of the characters irritated me, especially the main character, and I felt like there could have been so much more to this story. Overall, I didn't hate it but it's not one I would reach for again or recommend.

It took me so long to get through this book. The first chapter had me hooked but everything after that felt like a let down. I was more interested in Mel’s drink recipes for the competition than I was in the romance. It felt really forced to me. And yes, I’m usually a “one true love” kind of reader but the relationship dynamics weren’t the problem here.

My main gripe with the story was the savior complex. Basically every scene had at least one of our characters seeing someone in need and inserting themselves to fix it. A girl looks uncomfortable on a date, a bartender looks overwhelmed, two guys are arguing in a bar, etc. Then our main character swoops in, magically fixes it, and the other main characters says “wow you’re such a great person” 🥴 the rich lawyer is looking out for women and the bartender is supporting fellow working class citizens, gold stars all around!🏅It just reads like someone who daydreams of oppression and how they’d swoop in to save the day. It didn’t feel authentic at all.

As much as I tried to love - or even just like- this book, unfortunately it’s a no for me.

Thanks NetGalley and Atria for the ARC

- TRIPLE SEC is the poly romance we’ve been waiting for! And it’s done with TJ Alexander’s signature sweetness, humor, and heat.
- I loved watching these three wildly different people fall in love with each other, and to see Mel discover how expansive romantic love can be.
- My only quibble (if you could even call it that?) is that Kade and Bebe’s relationship is SO perfect. At times it felt a little “we have to show readers that poly people can have happy marriages” like the early days of legal gay marriage.
- Aside from that, though, I breezed through this in a day or two and would have read hundreds more pages of Mel coming into her own with the love and support of her partners.

This book was hilarious, witty, and so cute. I loved the romance and the banter, and how we're getting more poly romances in the mainstream literary space. I look forward to reading more by this author. Absolutely loved it.

Absolutely adored this queer/poly romance! My first TJ Alexander book but certainly not my last. I’ve convinced my book club to read this in August!

This book was a delight from start to finish. I was entirely sure what to expect from it, but I think that honestly was to my benefit. I love how Alexander delved into the relationships between all the characters very intentionally… plus who doesn’t love a snowed in situation? The book is full of wit and fun, but with substantial heart and introspection. I also deeply appreciated the emphasis placed on communication between the characters.

This is a fun Queer romance with a poly relationship. The plot was engaging and had you rooting for the characters. Minimal conflict made it a delightful read.

DNF: I typically can’t read 3rd person very well and didn’t know that this book was. That with the combo of it was just feeling a bit repetitive for me lead to me not finishing.

I loved this book. It's cute. It's funny. It hits a lot of representation that I feel like many rom-coms miss.

I'll probably read anything TJ Alexander puts out. So read this if you wanna have a good time.

Yall! I'm. In. LOVE! 😍 I have finally found the perfect queer poly romance book and I'm so here for it!

Bartender Mel is absolutely floored to find smart and sexy Bebe at her bar shamelessly flirting with her. While normally shying away from dating customers, Bebe is absolutely perfect! After a night of the best back and forth she's had in as long as she can remember, Bebe's partner Kade walks in. Mel is stunned to say the least. Thus begins such a beautiful, well written, and insightful book that explores the often complicated but also straightforward world of polyamorous relationships.

I absolutely loved every single page of this beyond well written love story! Watching Kade, Bebe, and Mel learn to navigate the ins and outs of a throuple was enlightening and at times brought tears to my eyes. At the end of the day they're just three people in love. Living and loving and facing all the same hardships monogamous couples do. Watching them communicate so openly and honestly was such a relief! I'm beyond tired of the miscommunication trope, and this just proves you can write an absolutely outstanding love story while still having adult communication and problem solving.

And yes, the spice was spicing! But it was also loving, and beautiful, and all the good things! TJ Alexander has cemented themselves as one of my absolute favorite authors of all time! Can't wait for their next!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I received an advanced copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, TJ Alexander and Atria Publishing. ❤️

Such a fun romance!!! I love all the representation, the spiciness is perfect, and it's so refreshing to read a well written, fun queer polyamorous romance. Cannot wait to recommend this to everyone I know!!

Bartender and aspiring cocktail creator Mel is near speechless when stunning customer Bebe seems to flirt with her. She doesn’t normal accept advances from patrons, but there’s something about lawyer Bebe that is too special to resist. That is until Bebe’s artist wife, Kade, arrives. But when it turns out the couple is polyamorous and Bebe was, indeed, flirting with Mel. The three establish relationship rules, enabling Mel to feel again and pursue her dreams of winning an NYC cocktail competition.

Most of the other polyamorous romance novels I’ve read have been more of the spicy sort, for a certain audience, but this is the first one I’ve read that felt REAL. The characters are interesting, and Mel and Bebe’s first meet was cute, though the book dragged a bit in the middle. I found Mel and Bebe’s first date to be rather—and I hate to say it—boring. The eventual involvement of Kade also seemed to come out of nowhere, though I do love a snowed in trope. The book picked up speed again toward the end, particularly with the cocktail competition, and ended on a high note. I think if you’re looking for a more realistic, steady representation of a poly relationship or nonbinary and LGBTQ characters, this would be a great pick!

Thanks to Booksparks, Atria, and the author for my copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4 stars - 8/10