4.5 ⭐️ rounded up!

Thank you NetGalley, TJ Alexander, and Atria books for the ARC! I will definitely be recommending this one to my bookish circle.

Whoa! Triple Sec was a great read - finished it in less than 48 hours! I tried to manage my expectations here - romance-y books with happy endings are definitely are not my go-to genre, but I was so pleasantly surprised with this one.

This book definitely added another dozen colours to my mind-rainbow - I had no idea how much I DIDN’T know about poly-culture. I love how there is queerness embedded in every layer of this book - the main characters, side characters, judges, etc. The fluidity of sexuality, relationships, friendships, career development, gender, and on and on is carried in a brilliant way throughout the entire book. The diversity of queer representation is fantastic. Love to see it!

Docking half a star because though I overall liked Mel, sometimes she was … annoying?!? I can’t put my finger on why exactly…. There were just several parts of the book where I felt irritated. Some of the awkward things she said that were probably supposed to come off as cutesy-awko-endearing were just a bit cringey.

If you’re looking for something a little bit frothy, a little bit risqué, Triple Sec is the perfect book for you.

Mel Sorrento is a bartender at one of New York’s best cocktail bars, Terror and Virtue. She’s had her fair share of romance woes between watching relationships blow up at the bar and the woes of her own divorce. When Bebe enters the bar though, it’s like time stops. Mel’s enchanted by Bebe, with her knowledge of whiskey and her confidence, but she’s soon introduced to Bebe’s wife Kade. Bebe explains that Kade and she are in an open marriage, and she’s interested in taking Mel on a date.

As Mel and Bebe’s relationship progresses, Mel learns of a cocktail competition with a $200,000 grand prize. Unhappy in her own work situation, Mel sees this as a potential way out of her situation. As things progress though, Mel finds herself maybe having a thing for Kade too, a world she’s not as familiar with. Navigating her relationships and the competition, Mel looks to find herself and discover new things about herself along the way.

This was my first polyamorous relationship book and I mostly enjoyed it. There were times it felt a little too frothy for me and I felt like the competition story fell by the wayside a bit. I did like the development in the relationships a lot. I loved the relationship between Mel and Bebe and Kade, but also the friendship with Daniel and Mel. The author did a good job distinguishing all these relationships with their own voice, which I appreciated.

This book is fun if you’re looking for something light for summer.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This fun little queer poly romance could be summed up by the phrase "we saw you across the bar and really dig your vibe."

The story is told in 3 parts which makes sense but I do wish each of those parts were told from 3 different POVs instead of the whole book being from Mel's perspective. (As an aside, one of the MCs is named Melanie and it's the first time I think I've read a romance novel where the MC had my same first name and let me tell you, it did screw with my head a bit).

Mel is a lesbian bar tender who has sworn off love after the demise of her first marriage. When she meets lawyer Bebe while bar tending, the vibes are plentiful until Mel discovers Bebe is very much married. But then comes the reveal that Bebe and her wife, nonbinary artist Kade, are in an open marriage. Mel is insistent on keeping things casual until feelings start getting in the way, first for Bebe, and then for Kade.

I really enjoyed the story though, admittedly, I was a bit bored by the Mel/Bebe pairing and the Mel/Kade and Mel/Kade/Bebe dynamics were way more interesting to me. All in all, it was a fun book (though pretty heavy handed on the craft cocktail stuff, I could have had less of that and more of the relationship development).

I had a really fun time reading this! I wasn’t as head over heels in love with the story as I might have hoped to be but there was a lot to enjoy and that’s always a good experience.

I very much like the way Mel has to work through her joint relationship with Kade and Bebe. While I think both relationships individually were rushed to fit into one book, I like the way Mel processed her emotions and tried to keep each relationship separate because she was afraid to ask for too much. In a very unrealistic story, this response felt very genuine and was interesting to see the characters work through.

There’s a few aspects about the characters that lack believability. I’m not a fan of Bebe’s constant “controlling the situation” and deescalating random issues that aren’t her problem. It’s such a strange character choice and makes her feel more annoying than charming. I don’t believe for a moment that strangers in New York would react positively to some random woman inserting herself in their issues.

It feels like this book is written with an uneducated straight reader in mind. While I understand there are elements to polyamory that anyone might be unfamiliar with, I would assume this book is supposed to be for queer audiences. They would be familiar and comfortable with a queer story, and yet the writing felt like it was pandering to someone who probably wouldn’t pick up this book in the first place. Every opportunity is taken to be as politically correct as possible to educate the reader, and it lacks authenticity.

I wanted so much to love this one since there are so few poly romances out there, but this one fell flat for me. I didn’t feel a connection to the characters and felt the romantic connections were lacking. I also wasn’t a fan of the third person POV writing. I love the concept and the idea of this book, just not the execution.

Ok this one took me awhile to finish but in all reality I’ve been in one heck of a slump and I’ve either been sleeping or watching TV…and by watching I mean staring at it while it makes noise.

But enough about me - because even though I didn’t have the brain space to actually pick this up and read it, it sure crept its way into my thinking space! I kept wondering what was going on with Mel and her friends - how was she going to deal with this contest, her love life, her roommate and his love life…all the things.

It was a nice story with plenty of open door sexy time included. This is how I prefer my romance to be written so it’s a positive. The type of relationship is new to me and I found the romantic entanglements to be quite interesting and (in my uneducated opinion) was well done! I’m not qualified to speak on the representation in this book so idk how accurate anything is, but I do like seeing the diversity and that also made me happy.

I enjoyed getting to see Mel learn so much about herself throughout this book. It’s definitely something I recommend!

I am very excited to be reading this book! My full review to follow.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun read, overall. I thought the coupling is great, the pacing is great and the communication top notch!! This book had so many little moments that I loved, and there isn't anything I hated about this book.

I think I need bit of time to add more to this review.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

TJ. A lovely take on the queerness of polyamory and I'm here for it. While the NHL part didn't quite hit the mark for me I may have been in a mood when reading this. The romantic plot of this story is so sweet and a glimpse of how one relationship can look. We just need to remember that not all look like this or work out haha.

Thank you for this and I cannot wait for more!

I want to start off by saying that I LOVE TJ Alexander's books. So I was beyond excited for this one, but from the start, I wasn't really feeling the book. I thought that Bebe and Mel's chemistry just kind of fizzled out, I wish we had got more one on one time with them. And I never really saw the attraction between Kade and Mel. The went from disliking each other to partners in 2 secs and I didn't believe the pay off.

Because of that, I just didn't get the rest of the book. The romantic connections are essential in a book for me and this one just felt lacking.

While I did love the competition and build up to it, as someone who personally doesn't drink, there was a lot of cocktail talk that I simply didn't understand.

Overall, I don't regret reading this book, it just doesn't hold a candle to the author's previous books.

Thank you to Netgalley, Atria Books, and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

4.5 rounded up 🌟

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

My first arc and it did not disappoint. I’ve been in a reading slump but got the notification that I received this and read it in one sitting. I love the dynamics between Bebe, Mel, and Kade, in all their pairings and together. There were so many moments that made me giggle and kick my feet. Such a fun read that I was momentarily distraught when it was over. Seriously loved this :’)


(me and who and who?)

I enjoyed this! A quick read that I finished in a day. It had a lot going on, to say the least, and so I didn’t feel the most invested in the romance but I appreciate the way that it talked about relationships.

In the glittering world of high-end cocktail bars, jaded bartender Mel’s belief in love is as shaken as her own romantic life. But when the charmingly quirky couple, Bebe and Kade, stroll into Terror & Virtue, everything changes. Bebe, happily in an open marriage, invites Mel on a date, igniting a whirlwind romance. As Mel dives into a world of grand gestures and steamy adventures, she finds herself drawn not only to Bebe, but also to Kade. With newfound self-confidence, Mel pursues her dreams of owning a bar and discovers that love might be more expansive than she ever imagined.

Polyamorous romance in traditional publishing? You know I had to get my hands on that!

Alexander has a talent for showing how connections grow over time between characters. I really felt like I was watching Kade, Bebe, and Mel grow closer together and understand each other in a way you just don’t do in the beginning when attraction or intrigue is all you can go off. Whenever I read a story where an established couple adds a third, I’m worried about the power and emotional dynamics, but not to worry, everything is well balanced and altogether wholesome here. What I will say is that I wanted a bit more cheekiness from the romance overall. The dates the three had were fun and cute and I could have done with more of them. Their relationship progression and communication was just so healthy and still kept me wanting more. Not necessarily drama, but more time spent with all three of them. I was so invested in Mel believing in love and the good of a romantic relationship again and could have spent even longer with her.

A small caveat for me was how Mel, Bebe, and Kade were acting with other people. A lot of the interactions of the characters, for example between Mel and people at work making her life troublesome—just felt very black and white to me. There was always a right way to go about it and a wrong way, and at times I felt like this book more so explained how to be a “good” queer person or a “good” ally or how to respect someone’s pronouns rather than show me just that. The same goes for everyone being very polite when something was wrong and then them apologising and everything going back to normal. There was potential for conflict and growth here but it always got capped at that small interaction, which then left me wondering what it meant to do to advance the story. I think it was meant to be subtler than for example telling two dudes that having feelings doesn’t mean they’re not manly etc. but it just always took me out of the story for a moment there.

Nevertheless, what Alexander excels at and what’s also super present in this book is normalised, casual queerness. There isn’t this need to come out because all characters are established and firm in their queer identity and to me, that is such a wonderful thing to read. I love and will always advocate coming out stories but it’s also wonderful to see—especially in adult romance—how queer people can find love even after having faced a hard divorce or people who are happy in their marriage exploring what could add even more joy and contentment to their lives.

Following a queer divorced bartender who learns to find love again—with a married couple—Triple Sec is a sweet romcom filled with queer joy and down-to-earth characters that is sure to make you crave a tasty cocktail…or three.

One of the standout elements of Alexander's work for me is their adept use of pronouns. I’m so glad books like this can exist where I can continue to. learn about proper use of pronouns, aligning with my values of inclusivity and representation.
And the dedication "to all sluts everywhere—cheers" I knew this was going to be a fun read.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

This was just as delectable, swoon-worthy, and sexy as I imagined it would be. I will forever read anything TJ Alexander writes, and this is on me, but this is the only poly romance I’ve read this year. I need to read more. Thank you TJA for opening my eyes to what I was missing with this fun and beautiful dynamic. I don’t have poly experience so I obviously can’t speak to the lived experience of that rep, but I felt it was written with sincere care.

Thanks so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an e-arc of this book.

I adore TJ Alexander, and this is another iconic romance from them!

Our main character Mel was such a fun head to be in, and I feel like I learned so much about cocktails (as a very basic bitch when it comes to drinks), and I am desperate to try that Paloma-margarita combo! It was nice to see a character in the service industry who genuinely loves what she does! Mel's emotional turmoil over entering polyamory, especially with a married couple, was so well-written, and I appreciated how much communication played a role in this book.

Kade and Bebe were such fun characters/love interests, and I was so excited to read more polyamory where all members of the relationship were together. I do wish we had gotten to know Kade and Bebe more, as they felt like they were mostly there for Mel's journey as the MC. I loved them both, how they communicated with Mel, didn't make her feel left out, and how earnest and passionate they both were in special ways!

I felt like the second half of this book was a bit rushed and that the front half was a bit slow. Mel and Bebe got a lot of buildup, but Kade, Mel, and all three of them did not get as much buildup as they should have, as this part of the book was also tied up in the drink-making competition.

I loved the little lists of their polyamory negotiations between sections and chapters as it helped make the characters feel much more real!

So I’ve been looking forwards to this book for months, and was thrilled to get an ARC. And it did not disappoint. I do think that someone more invested in drinks would see some of those technicalities differently than I do, but I, even as a sober adult, genuinely enjoyed Mel’s passion for it nonetheless.

I liked all of the characters, side characters included. It was great that they were all both flawed and engaging, very well rounded and individual. I also thought there was lovely dynamics between all of them, and they all felt like they had lives outside of the scope of the novel. Plus, they actually talk to each other about things like inside jokes, and Mel remembers thing to talk about later, etc. that made them all feel very enjoyable to read about.

I really really enjoyed the theme of clear communication. And, as the book says, it’s hard. But there was no miscommunication in this book, and I thought it had a lovely plot. I also loved the casual queerness in the novel. The splitting into parts thing was an odd structural choice to me, but it didn’t take anything away and the names and little images for them were fun.

The interesting thing about the competition subplot was that it felt very low stakes to me in terms of the story. Like no matter what the outcome, nothing significant would change. So I’m actually pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed how it went down. And I really loved the epilogue. I think the growth in multiple different fronts and for multiple different characters was absolutely lovely and exactly what they needed it to be.

My two problems are in relation to the love interests and they’re actually rather opposite. I quite liked Bebe and her character. But when Kade and Mel started dating, I feel like we lost her a little bit. Kade, on the other hand, I feel like had very little chemistry with Mel and very little explained personality until they started dating. So, save for the plot summary, the commencement of that relationship could have been a complete surprise. But then it finally felt like they were multi-dimensional.

I immediately clocked Kade as ND, but they way Mel saw them was not through that lens, so seeing the differences in how the two of them interacted with the world was really interesting from Mel’s POV. I also appreciated what we got of Kade’s background, and I kind of wish we got some of Bebe’s like that too.

Overall, I was excited to pick this book up when I put it down, which makes it a win in my book (no pun intended).

This is the first book from TJ Alexander I’ve read and I think I need to read some more.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I thought it lacked depth when it came to the emotional side of polyamory. Did I enjoy it overall? Yes. Is it one that I’m going to think about 6 months from now? No probably not.

thank you to netgalley and Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books for allowing me access to this book. I enjoyed every moment of this book. I loved the rep and the characters.

i was sat when i saw that it was a polyamorous romance just because there are not many of those written. i loved the representation! and thought the book itself was fairly enjoyable :)