Cover Image: The Rule of 3

The Rule of 3

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Member Reviews

This was the first book I’ve read by Ariella Talix. I enjoyed some parts of this book and some where just blah. The writing was very fast paced and abrupt, which I didn’t like. I prefer a more fleshed out story. I was bored by Tanner and Zoe for the most part until Eli was introduced. Overall this wasn’t a bad book but the writing style is what really bugged me.

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This book gives the reader exactly what it advertises. It's a MMF romance that chronicles the 3 mains from high school through adulthood. It was entertaining, a bit cheesy, and plenty steamy. If you're looking for a pretty erotic tale, then this is a good one for you. Enjoy!

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Tanner has his life planned out and he is set out to make the girl he fell in love with years ago fall for him again. Little does he know she never stopped loving him. When the time comes for their wedding Eli, Tanner’s college roommate and friend show up to be his best man and soon sparks are flying between the three. Will someone try to destroy their love and ruin his admissions? Steamy with great characters and loads of drama. I really liked it.

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*•*ARC copy was provided by netgalley.*•*
•I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.•


I had a difficult time reading this book. It took so long. I just wasn’t into it. I thought it would be a good book for me because I like m/f/m books . This m/m/f just didn’t work for me .

Tanner and Zoë have known each other for what feel like forever. They were each other’s first of many. Then tanner went off to college and broke it off. While away at college he was confused. Non of the girls interested him. His dorm roommate Eli figured it out. Tanner was into both genders not just female. During college tanner and Eli fell hard for each other but when college was over it was back to the real world .
Tanner chased after zoë trying to get her attention and once he did. A new dynamic of relationship happened.

On another note this book was written a little different than books I normally read it seemed to be a little fast paced . I definitely will try another book from this author to see how her writing style is.

If you like m/m/f I think you will enjoy this book. If you don’t I would go ahead a skip it.

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The Rule of three is MMF romance book.

Tanner Lassiter has easy, straightforward goals.
1. Marry the love of your life.
2. Become Kentucky’s youngest governor ever.
3. Become president.

Eli Whittaker is a kingmaker with two goals.
1. Use your billions and connections to help Tanner realize all of his dreams.
2. Don’t die of a broken heart in the process of achieving #1.

Zoë Deliban is a small-town teacher with one goal.
1. Don’t mess up Tanner’s life by letting him know you still love him.

The book spans over about 15 years of the three main characters lives. I enjoyed the MMF characters and I wish that we could see further into the future for these three characters.

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Sooo cheesy, so unrealistic... and I absolutely loved every single second of it. This was a fun lighthearted romance with the perfect amount of smut. I actually loved that there was no jealousy issues portrayed in this when that often is what centers around MMF or MFM so I enjoyed the fact that that wasn’t one of the conflicts since it made it a more original story. I also loved all of the characters for different reasons and felt that the character development was well written. I wish that the ending hadn’t been so rushed but still enjoyed this! If you’re looking for a quick, lighthearted, smutty read, I highly recommend this one!

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This book is about a small town couple turned throuple! A man named Tanner, who has political aspirations, finds himself in love with a woman and a man. I'm new to this genre but found that it was more of a romance with a couple of racy scenes.

I also found this book was written in a way that it felt like you were reading the way someone talks - if that makes any sense.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Thank you to bookbuzz.net and NetGalley for the eGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

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An interesting story with a lot of potential, but I couldn't get past the third person omniscient POV

There are many things about The Rule of 3 that I liked. The sex positivity, the conversations about politics and the American South, the LGBTQ angle. I also found the two male MCs, Tanner and Eli, very likeable. As for the erotica scenes of the book, I thought they were refreshing and honest without taking themselves too seriously, which is always great when writing a story like this.

The reason I'm not giving this book any more stars however, is that I personally couldn't get behind the third person omniscient POV. I feel like it was an odd choice for a romance, where you kinda need to spend some time inside each MC's head to understand them and feel for them, instead of getting flashes of everyone's reactions and behavior (but only flashes) all the time, from what seems to be a clinical distance.
I honestly don't know who Zoe, the female MC, is as a person, I am told of her many virtues through the two male MCs' eyes, but I would have liked it so much better if we could see inside her own head more... No spoilers, but both her relationship with her parents and her relationship with the guy she dated before Tanner would have been ideal vehicles for that.

Another element that I personally found alienating, was the passage of time. This book spans 15 years, if not more, in the MCs' lives. And so much of it is like "the next three years", "a few months later", "a year after that"... I understand it's not possible to narrate everything that happens in a person's life within 15 years, you'll have to skip out on a few things. But for me, this creates even more distance between the reader and the characters.

Regardless, there are not many honest, thoughtful and sex-positive books about queer thrupples out there, so for that I must commend the writer for the story she chose to tell.

P.S. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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A beautifully written book that's choke-full of feelings and overflowing with emotion. Tanner had ambitions of running for President one day so he needed to keep his relationship with his roommate Eli a secret. Eli was wealthy, politically connected, and essentially a Kingmaker. Eli knew that if Tanner was to achieve his Presidential dreams he needed to maintain a more 'traditional' lifestyle. He helped him win the love back from his high school girlfriend Zoe. If you like menage stories you'll enjoy this book. The first part is a little slow and the last a little rushed, IMO. Otherwise a good read. The characters have a lot of depth and the storyline is engaging. I received a free copy of this book via Net Galley and am voluntarily leaving a review

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Politics. Laughs. Small towns. What more could you want when it involves a past love and a love-friendship that will last a lifetime.

Not expecting a 5 star read from the cover, but WOW, these characters and this storyline was a heart-melting small town romance that I think all romance lovers could fall in love with. Zoe, Tanner and Eli were the perfect throple that Ariella wrote. She paired the perfect amount of chemistry, lust, and sass that makes this an awesome, unputdownable ménage romance for 2020.

I would love to see a .5, a novella come out to see what their lives are like at retirement with their children and their love for one another.

I am looking forward too seeing other books by this author as this was my first time reading a book by her.

*ARC provided by Netgalley and the author for an honest and trustworthy review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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I think this may be my first throuple book outside of Anita Blake. I went in knowing this was going to be steamy and it was! Well written sex scenes, imo, some of the best I've read. There was a little strange time-jump pacing stuff that I wasn't a fan of and I think could have been better paced and explored to give the story and characters more depth. Overall though, pretty pleased with it and would definitely read more books by Talix.

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This is a hard one to rate because, overall, I liked the story but the writing was difficult to get into. The first half of the book was especially rough because it was a mix of background and miscommunication. Yet, I never felt close to any of the characters. Around the halfway mark the story really picks up and starts to unfold, but then there is just so much going on; so many characters, so many obstacles, so many secrets but little resolution. However, with all that said, I like the three main characters and their relationship. I didn't want to out down the book.

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The Rule of 3 by Ariella Talix is a super-steamy MMF Romance. MMF you had me sold! I love that dynamic in an erotic romance! The political nature of this book added to the higher stakes to keep the relationship a secret, which made it more dangerous and exciting.

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I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Tanner is a young, handsome, aspiring politician who fell in love with his college roommate Eli. However, if he wanted to achieve his goal of becoming president one day, he would need to leave his love behind and aim for a more “traditional” family. Eli knew Tanner still loved his childhood sweetheart, Zoë, despite breaking her heart when he left for college. Could he win back Zoë’s heart? How would he reconcile his love for both her and Eli?

While I did enjoy reading this book, there were some things that took away from it. While there are political undertones, it does not interfere with the storyline. If anything, I think that made the story less believable because there is no way an MMF relationship could be kept hidden from the public eye as Tanner is so popular with the media. Yes, there was the threat of blackmail at one point but that was dealt with almost too easily. Also, it was strange how quickly Zoë was willing to go from “oh my God, I’m a beard!” to having Eli share their newlywed bed.

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This book was a little slow in some places, especially the beginning.. I read the first 15 chapters (31%) and nothing really changed imo... I didnt like the third person pov tbh and I got bored of it, maybe I'll eventually finish it but I dont know.

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The book really delivers on what it promises in the blurb. There are some really hot and steamy scenes. There is also a background story that makes the characters more vivid and gives the reader a better idea of their feelings and their motivation. Some secondary characters seemed a bit over the top ( Zoe's ex, her parents, the Colonel), but they provided the necessary drama and moved the story along.
Thank you to NetGalley and Ringmaster Publishing for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

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Well that was fantastic! I truly enjoyed every page, the smokin’ hot scenes were some of the best I have read, the characters were well put together. I will admit her almost immediate acceptance of Eli was iffy, but this is not a very long book so I understand the need to get things moving. I enjoyed this beautiful mmf, with the light political aspects. This could have easily been a couple hundred more pages that I would have read easily.

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Thank you to netgalley for the ARC. unfortunately the author’s style of writing really wasn’t for me.

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This is a fun, sexy book. I loved it cover to cover. The characters jumped off the page and their story warmed my heart. I highly recommend it to readers who like MMF.

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I liked the story and the characters. The writer's style wasn't for me, personally. I felt the pacing was at breakneck speed and that I was being told what was going on rather than shown.

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