DNFing this one at 24% sadly! It's just not for me. I was excited to read a queer/poly romance to branch out beyond the usual relationships depicted in romance books but I just feel like Mel was really naive. Maybe I have the privilege of being informed about poly/open relationships, but the way she seemed so shook by them just felt odd, especially when she's written as an adult character. I just wasn't feeling any chemistry or attachment to the characters by 1/4 of the way through and I have so many other books on my TBR that it wasn't worth it for me personally to continue. Thanks anyway for the ARC and thank you TJ Alexander for writing a book with queer and poly rep!!

Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Unfortunately I got too busy in the spring with the end of school to review it on time.
I couldn't put this spicy poly romance book down. Mel is a bartender in NYC, working at one of the top cocktail spots. She's been all about work since her divorce (well maybe even before that), until an intriguing customer flirts with her and then helps her to defuse a potentially bad situation with some patrons. After that chance encounter, Mel finds (or maybe re-finds?) herself through her relationship with the woman - and her wife.
While Triple Sec is plenty steamy, it has a great plot - I really enjoyed the characters and felt like I learned more about poly romance throughout, without any expectations or judgment of where readers are coming from. I loved the cocktail creation process, too!

Scrumptious intimacy scenes, believable relationship challenges, acccurate bartending details, and a snappy pace. Loved it!

This was my first poly romance and I thought it was super cute! Definitely different to what I normally read, but certainly different in a good way, not a bad way. It actually helped me learn new things I wasn’t aware of in terms of the poly community!

I also appreciate that it wasn’t *too* spicy. I think 3ish spicy scenes was PERFECT for this book. It gave the book an opportunity to have a good storyline as well, rather than being just a smut novel.

Thank you to TJ Alexander and NetGalley for this ARC! What an enjoyable read!

I was so excited to receive this book and to participate in BookSparks Book Club Pick this month! I was even more excited to sit in on a zoom discussion with the author @tjalexandernyc last night! If you didn't get the hint that Alexander is hilarious and personable from their writing, watching their discussion last night all the more proved this to me.

Triple Sec is a hilarious romance novel about a NY bartender named Mel, who decides to open up her heart again to love after a bad divorce. She is charmed by a flirtatious woman who visits her bar but Mel soon finds out that this woman is in an open marriage and is very interested in pursuing Mel. As Mel opens her heart and mind to Bebe and her partner Kade, she rediscovers being loved and giving love all over again.

I really enjoyed all three main characters. They really brought out the best in each other and were fun to get to know! This book is top notch spicy and I lovedddd all the cocktail references.

Check out the synopsis on the last pic and put this polyamorous rom-com on your TBR today!!

This story is told entirely from Mel’s point of view, as it’s really her story of growth and self-realization. As a 30something divorcee, she felt she had failed at love and relationships, so poured all her focus on her job bartending, even tho management was frustrating. Then Bebe walks into the bar and changes everything.

This story ultimately ends up FFX (Kade is genderqueer with they/them pronouns). I liked that at the end, when they are all obviously happy, it didn’t close their polycule. Bebe wondered about the interest of someone at a party. Many books with a poly relationship end with the relationship closed to others outside the story relationship.

I loved this book!

Cynical bartender Mel is great at slinging cocktails and making her customers feel special, but she doesn't have much of a social life and definitely no love life. She was devastated by her divorce from the only woman she'd ever loved and is determined never to get hurt by a romantic connection again. But when gorgeous, flirty Bebe asks for a drink and seems to be implying something more, Mel is reconsidering her rule about not hooking up with customers -- until Bebe introduces her spouse, Kade. Mel accepts Bebe's brunch party invitation, disappointed to have misunderstood the flirtatious overtures but hoping to at least make a new friend. A little later, while at lunch with Bebe and Kade, Mel is shocked when Bebe asks her out on a date-date, explaining that she and Kade are in a polyamorous, open marriage. Mel's insecurity makes her wary of anything like commitment, but she and Bebe agree to guidelines for keeping their fling super-casual and she thinks it could be a good opportunity to get back into the dating game. Romance readers know: they're definitely going to develop feelings for each other! And despite Kade's seemingly cold, stoic demeanor, Mel finds herself growing quite fond of them, too.

It's clear from the start that this is a consensual non-monogamy situation (no surprises, cheating, etc). It's also pretty clear that Mel's insecurity will be the primary conflict driver, leading her to make some hurtful assumptions and decisions. I think I would've liked the book to be a little longer, with more time for the developing relationships to steep so they'd feel more balanced. There was no doubt on the chemistry though!

I love Mel's obsession with flavors -- this book will make you want a cocktail! I love Bebe's big heart and smarts. I love Kade's neurospicy brain; Mel misunderstood them at first, but they feel and think deeply even if their face isn't very expressive.

I #ReadQueerAllYear but especially recommend Triple Sec for Pride Month reading!

3.5/5

I’ve officially read all of TJ Alexander’s novels and, although it wasn’t my favorite, this was a great addition!

Pros:
This is the first book I’ve read with polyamorous rep as the main relationship and I really loved how it was handled! The characters were very mature in their interactions and there was a strong focus on communication throughout the book. As always, I also loved the foodie/bartending element! The cocktail competition added a lot of fun and I loved reading about Mel’s various concoctions.

Cons:
My only main con is that I wish I knew the characters a bit more. There was a strong focus on the physical aspect of their relationships with each other, but the emotional element didn’t hit me as strongly, especially compared to TJ’s other books.

Overall, this was still a fun poly romance with a happy ending and I definitely recommended to anyone who enjoys queer romance!

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.