I was really intrigued by this book and it didn’t let me down, a perfect 5 star read. I enjoyed the story and the relationship of the characters. Highly recommend to anyone who wants an easy read.

This book is different because the main conflict is between two male best friends who are also business partners.

I enjoyed the funny moments and the easy flow of the the writing style. It was easy to enjoy and to follow. The first person perspective really made me feel what the character was going through. I loved that there was growth in the characters even if it was through hardship and some very cringe worthy moments.

I recommend this book if you are looking for a fun time but also enjoy human moments that feel real.

4 stars because I felt the book dragged a bit in the middle. It hit a slump before picking back up

Another fun book from Nick Spalding. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This was a humorous book, but really slow to get into. It was a quick, light-hearted, easy read, but unfortunately, I couldn't connect to the characters.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

This is definitely cringe worthy in places but underneath all that there is a good underlying story. Written in Nick Spalding's usual humorous style but with a serious undertone.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for a review.

A fun, light-hearted and humorous read! I really enjoyed it! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the early arc!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book for my review.

I liked how author initially started off with their friendship tale and then the events turnover. Overall, it was a fun and quick read.

Great humorous read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and NetGalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Ahhh, yes!

There was a lot of mixed feelings in relation to this book so my rating is 3.5. I wanted to check it out because it looked like it might be a fun story and I was basing it off the cover too.

Jake and Sy (Symon) have a successful YouTube channel called "Do it or Don't" which entails trying out new activities and rating the experience. Sy decides that in order to take their business to the next level, they should hire a female presenter to appeal to female audiences. Jake has always followed Sy's decisions and never really rebutted on anything. He is unsure of an added third person in the mix, though doesn't fully express his concerns. They audition females presenters for days before meeting Helena. It's not long before Sy falls in love with her, therefore disrupting Jake's life.

The story is told in Jake's point of view and I loved how he would break down the wall to talk to us the reader. I can see how people might not like Jake. He is petty, doesn't speak up and is overly jealous. If you can take on the understanding that Jake is someone that doesn't accept change well, doesn't like confrontation, lacks confidence and isn't well at communicating, you can then empathise with his manic inner dialogue and unwarranted thoughts. In the end, he just didn't want to lose his best friend and felt like Helena would disrupt something big, that they had built perfectly well on their own.

I had mixed feelings up until about 75% of the book. I did find that Jake could be ridiculous for an adult man and sometimes his thoughts on Helena seemed extreme. I feel like she went into it not wanting to disrupt the dynamic at all and it just turned out that way. He could have kept an open mind throughout it all, though stooped to being jealous and petty of her. In the end, he did grow and gain confidence to speak up, even if that meant he'd lose his best friend. I was almost sure he would end up doing his own channel, embracing his new found confidence and opening a new chapter for himself on his own, but it wouldn't be a happy ending if Sy didn't come back right?

I'm usually a big fan of Nick Spalding but this one missed the mark for me. I found the characters a little irritating and the story a little slow to get in to. There were some funny parts I have to say, which rescued it a little for me.

Jake and Sy are best friends. They have a really successful online presence where they review experiences which range from hobbies to adrenaline packed.

Sy decides it’s time to get another presenter on board and despite not wanting to change they dynamic Jake goes along with it. Helena seems like the perfect fit until Sy falls head over heels for her. As romance blossoms and Helena becomes more involved in the business Jake is mortified as he becomes the third wheel.

This is absolutely not what he wanted so we watch him go through the motions and some unfortunate actions which involves some sabotage and some retaliation.

Will Jake finally manage to explain himself and do what’s right for him or is this now the new dynamic?

I really really enjoyed reading this, it was laugh out loud funny, I found the characters and the actions totally relatable. If you’re looking for a fun, lighthearted read which isn’t too deep then I would definitely recommend 🤍

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

This was one of my first Nick Spalding books and man did it deliver!

I couldn't put this book down once I started reading. It is easy to read, flows well and is downright hilarious.

After reading this book I will have to go on a Nick Spalding hunt and read every one of his books that I can!

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Thank you NetGalley and Nick Spalding for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bloody brilliant, isn't it? I laughed so much that my cheeks were sore from the journey. This story follows a young man named Jake who runs a business with his best friend, Sy. They have been nearly inseparable since they were children. Jake's loyalty to his best friend knows no limits. As Sy chooses what activities they should do for each of their business excursions, Jake complacently follows along.

When the dynamic of their friendship changes, inviting in Helena, who becomes not only a co-host to their business, but Sy's girlfriend, it feels like the absolute end of the world to Jake. Enough so, that I wanted to shake him out of his turmoil once or twice. He finds himself feeling constant dread at the shift in dynamic, the awkwardness of being the third wheel, and the unusual activities they now find themselves reviewing for their business.

This story made me reflect on how relationships can sometimes be very one sided in regards to give and take. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself. Sometimes you have to say no.

Reading the misadventures Jake experiences as he tries to continue through life like everything is totally normal made me laugh, cringe, and nearly cry. This was, for the most part, a highly amusing story about the importance of friendship with an ending fit for a rom com.

Spaulding’s Third Wheel had me hooked with its fun, cute cover and blurb. I was intrigued by its social media/tech angle and the central relationship being that of two male friends (as opposed to female friends and their relationships), however I really struggled to get through this quick read.

Jake, Sy and their social media entrepreneur/influencer angle were a great setting and backdrop to the story, and some of the funniest moments in the book were provided specifically by their backgrounds here. But the
relationship between Jake and Sy didn’t live up to my expectations, the latter being more of a “bully” type and the former being the “woe is me” type. (Although, understandably, I think this is a more realistic relationship between men in marketing/influencing/entrepreneurship, just not what I was expecting.)

Perhaps because the narrative was told from Jake’s POV, but once their new female hire started, it went from 0-60 in less than a chapter. There was no build-up to Sy and Helene’s flirtationship/relationship, and no hints dropped prior to their escape room outing (where Jake is forced to watch them heavily flirt the entire time). Maybe it’s my own ignorance but I can’t imagine a new female hire immediately shacking up with her boss.

All that being said, the story quickly becomes forced and repetitive, like it was trying too hard to be funny and instead just made me roll my eyes. Lots of cliches were involved in the plot once Jake decides to try and sabotage his best friend and new business partner, and all in all ended up being a disappointment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m usually a big fan of Nick Spalding, finding his books in general light hearted and easy to read, but this one wasn’t up there with his best in my opinion. Slow to get into and the main characters were a bit unlikeable, I also struggled a bit to connect with the decisions they made and why. Not a bad book, but just not for me I don’t think, although I enjoyed the make friendship perspective as a nice change to the standard female friendship genres.

3.5 ⭐ rounded up to a 4 ⭐

Overall, I liked this book but I was hoping to love it! The main characters were well developed and the concept was great. It's written from a first person POV with the main character talking to the reader like we're in his head and in on his jokes which was a cool dynamic once I wrapped my mind around it 😅

I loved "Do It Or Don't"- the whole concept, the way it was described, the roles it forced on the main characters, the tension it created, the situations they got themselves into.

I kept forgetting that these were grown men and not high schoolers when I was reading. Their banter was funny but childish and the whole "third wheel" aspect was handled very high school LOL
I found myself rooting for Jake and wanting him to be happy and successful but just when I thought the story was going to go one way it went another. Overall, I wasn't disappointed in this book at all. This was an easy breezy, funny, adventure-filled read but it left me wanting more!

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.