A tale close to reality for many during the pandemic.

Thank you NetGalley and Colleen McManus Hein for giving me the opportunity to read this.

Great book. Highly recommend and will most defiantly read more by this author and suggest to others!

I could not finish this book. It ostensibly follows several characters, a term I use loosely as these people are as flat as paper dolls, through widowhood, divorce, and, I suspect, courtship, with the COVID-19 pandemic as a loose background. The book is extremely boring, as are the characters. I made it halfway through and just gave up.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley..

Knock Three Times is the story of three people - Rose, Stephen, and Claire - living together during the lockdown. The book opens by examining each of their relationships with their respective significant others, by shifting POV between each person. Initially the reader is struggling to understand how they are connected to each other, but we realize that Rose is older, and with her children grown and out of the house, her husband suggests converting their single-family home into apartments and taking on boarders. Stephen is the first to move into one of the apartments when he and his wife, who we learn can barely tolerate each other, finally divorce after their only child leaves for college. Not long after Stephen moves in, Rose comes to find that her husband is gravely ill and soon loses him. Struggling with the lose of the love of her life, she slips into loneliness and depression. She manages to fill the third apartment at the cusp of the lockdown by renting to young Claire, who is also struggling with loneliness after suddenly being left by her musician husband who has met someone else. Without giving too much away, the three comes to appreciate each other's company and rely on each other, forming their own family unit in the face of the unknown.

The story started off a little slow for me while I struggled to keep track of who was who and in what time it was taking place, but once I got the lay of the land and it settling into a single timeframe for the three main characters, it became a quick read. I liked that once the story was established it only rotated POV between the 3 main characters, with the exception of a few little jabs from their now insignificant others. I did find it a little frustrating that the coronavirus was downplayed way too much, treated like a inconvenience rather than the tragedy it really was. And it the storyline was wrapped up much too easily. But overall, an easy read with what I'm sure will be a big romance trope in years to come. Thanks to NetGalley and Colleen for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

It was a matter of time before someone wrote a book set during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Knock Three Times comes a drama following the lives of six individuals whose lives become intertwined before the pandemic begins. The novel gives insight to each POV while also analyzing how human relationships deteriorate over time. As the novel progresses, it turns into a story about human connection, and how we transform over collective traumatic events.

The novel takes it's time setting up each intricate storyline: there's the failing marriage between Stephen and Reagan, a seemingly perfect romance between Claire and Peter, and the cozy life that Rosa and Luke have together. As the pages turn, each other these character will be tested, with author Colleen McManus Hein showcasing the turmoils of life before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This fast-paced read makes for a quick journey into the lives of six strangers, and also showcases McManus Hein's attention to the simplest and most impactful aspects of life.

It took me a while to get into this book but once I did I enjoyed it, very well written and all the characters were believable, some I liked, some I didn't but the storyline was interesting.

I liked how Rose, Luke, Claire, Peter, Stephen, and Reagan alternated as the narrator. The style of using multiple narrators to describe their experiences and perspectives reminded me of Modern Family, which is a show that I love. I think the portrayal of the main characters are likeable and relatable. I definitely relate to Rose, Claire, and Stephen for taking up Scrabble as a quarantine hobby.

One of my favourite passages in this book is when one of the characters says, "My personal disaster seems minor in retrospect, but there's nothing you can do when you have a severely bruised heart." I love how this particular character's arc is about finding closure with trauma and not letting trauma prevent rediscovering hope and joy.

Overall, Knock Three Times is a good mix of heartwrenching and heartwarming moments.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fast and easy read. You will like some of the characters, and some you will not. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

I received a copy of, Knock Three Times, by Colleen Mc Manus Hein. I only got a couple pages in when I could not read anymore. Such selfish egotistical characters in this book.