ARC review - all views are my own and I have not been compensated for this review

"Introverted Anne can’t make the first move. Theo is too intimidating with his blond hair and his bespoke leather shoes, and Nathaniel is too broad with his messy man bun and his frayed T-shirts. What happens when they can no longer deny the sexual tension?"

All of this intrigued me about this story enough to read and review it - I love a friends to lovers story, MFM dynamics and opposite personality types in a relationship is my bread and butter, I can’t get enough of it. So when I started reading the story I was excited!

Unfortunately, I feel my excitement wasn’t warranted in this case. Before I explain why, I will say what I enjoyed about the story.

What I enjoyed:

The initial sex scenes where Theo and Nathaniel are pleasing - and it’s probably not accurate to say worshipping - Anne are enjoyable to read.
Dividing the story into three sections.


As you may be able to tell, I didn’t care much for this story as these were the only things I could say I enjoyed. My reasons why are as follows:


Across the book, I found 11 obvious typos, with a couple that may or may not be - five each in parts one and two, and one in part 3. The editing of this story needs to be looked into as some of these typos included a lack of speech marks around dialogue, and being made to re-read it in the characters’ voice takes you out of the story.

I feel this story could take a lesson from the theatre saying “It’s called show business, not tell business”. This story, especially in the beginning, is exposition heavy but doesn’t really tell the reader anything. For example, when discussing being intimate with Theo and Nathaniel for the first time, Anne narrates “Didn’t they know how important this was to her?”, but how could they when even the reader has no idea - we know they’re her friends who she thinks are attractive, but that’s about it in terms of character development.

Some of the language used in part one sounds like it’s trying to be smarter than it is - loquacious, accoutrements - when the characters (we assume because we’re not told!) are between 18-23. I can honestly say I never used either of those words in everyday conversations at that age, and even now at 28 I’d struggle to. On the other hand, the Gen-Z slang used - “vintage cottage core” and “situationship” - will mean nothing in 10 years’ time. I understand this is how some young adults speak nowadays, but using this kind of slang will age the book faster - need I remind how “cheugy” was once the popular phrase and is now dead?

The author made it clear no trigger warnings applied to the spicy scenes, which is somewhat true. You know what else doesn’t apply? Talk of birth control, aftercare, safewords, likes and limits - unless you count the conversation briefly mentioned in part one THAT THE READER WASN’T INVITED TO READ ABOUT! The two men seem more versed in kink than Anne given their talk about restraints, so you would think they would make her have a safeword or consider limits and aftercare, but they don’t. The reasoning (*cough* excuse *cough*) given is that they knew Anne wouldn’t want to talk and debrief after sex, which would have been fine if the reader had been made aware of this beforehand! The reader was also uninformed as to the spit scene which isn’t my style of kink so perhaps a trigger warning or heads-up from the author would have been appreciated.
In part two, it’s difficult to know who’s narrative we are meant to be following as the pronouns change. Again, this shows a need for editing and confuses the reader.

The characters are two-dimensional despite the narrative’s insistence that they’re not. I got the impression that the desired character traits were: Theo is a snob with a heart of guild; Nathaniel is a big friendly giant, and Anne…is the woman they want to have sex with. I didn’t care for the characters because there wasn’t anything there for me to care about, and in a friends-to-lovers story this is important in my opinion. There was an attempt to bring humour in their “5 letter game” but this didn’t make sense to me - when Anne asked “What is this?” I assumed she meant their relationship going forward, but the game involved naming things around them?? I was very confused.

Anne, Theo and Nathaniel are in a throuple (sort of) by the end of the story and she refers to their dynamic as a circle. A CIRCLE. Not a shape with three sides…because a circle makes more sense. (Petty I know but this really frustrated me).


Overall, this was a book I wish I didn’t finish. The editing needs looking into, the characters were flat and boring, and I was left confused at more points than I should have been for a friends-to-lovers steamy novella.

The writing is sensual 🤤🥵 and hot 🔥🌶 with a touch of heart and emotion to it 🖤☺. The relationship between Ava, Nathaniel and Theo is balanced out perfectly without any messiness 🙌✨. Understanding and consent between them during physical contact and also outside of it is top notch. I appreciate the fact that, In just three chapters the whole book is summed up perfectly without many loose ends left behind. The HEA is just perfect for these three guys.
I read the whole book in single sitting.
3.5 tantalizing stars 🌟.
Negatives : the first chapter starts out of nowhere, so I wish there was some background introduction on how these guys meet and how they came to be friends.
📖
Blurb :
One night, two best friends and the threesome she’s been craving.
Introverted Anne can’t make the first move. Theo is too intimidating with his blond hair and his bespoke leather shoes, and Nathaniel is too broad with his messy man bun and his frayed T-shirts. What happens when they can no longer deny the sexual tension?

It had more details about the characters and more action than short erotica stories. If you want to stay with the same characters while reading erotica, this is a good book.

Take Two by Ava Colt is a short, spicy, and romantic polyamorous short story where Anne likes both Nathaniel and Theo but can’t choose between either of them. She knows both of them like her, and so she decides… Hot 🥵

I loved the easy writing style as well as the descriptions of all 3 characters and how the two men were so different.

You will like this if you like:

🌶️ Why Choose
🌶️ MFM
🌶️ Polyamorous
🌶️ Adventure

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this Advance Reader Copy of Take Two by Ava Colt.

This book was filled with spice, which is basically what you get from it - being a novella, the characters weren't really developed enough, and i felt that this could certainly be a full length story to really develop the story.

If you're looking for that hit of naughtiness, then this is a good choice for you.

Take Two: A Contemporary New Adult Sexy Short Story by Ava Colt is a short erotic romance about a throuple of college friends. It's female centered with about 3 chili peppers of spice. It is worth the read for sure.

2.5 ⭐

This was a super short novella that follows three college friends and how they developed their relationship. I feel that the story needed to be a longer novella or a full-length novel. The length of the story doesn’t allow you time to get to know the characters. I felt that the pacing was a little off. At times, it was very descriptive, and other times it was just pure spice (which I personally don't mind, when done correctly). I feel that it has the making of a good story but needs to be developed more.

Honestly, I loved the idea of this, I like to live vicariously through fictional characters, and when I saw the synopsis for this, it had my attention straight away.

While this is quite steamy, and I enjoyed some of the dirty talk, this just didn't quite hit the mark.

I knew this was a novella so I wasn't expecting in depth back stories for the characters, but they just felt flat, the author went into more detail with the most random things and they didn't add to the story at all.

Also, with the name of this novella, I was expecting Anne to actually take the two of them together, not one after the other (but that might just be an unpopular opinion).

I think that this has the potential to be a good one-handed read, but it's missing the spark.

This book is exactly what the description says, a short spicy story of a three-some couple. There is not a lot of "fluff" or story line. I knew this going in but still thought it was a little choppy and didn't flow well for me.

Very quick read, relatively high spice, not super believable. If you just want a quick bit of spice, this one's perfect. If you need a story/backstory definitely pass. I'd be interested to know how this one is marketed/priced because it took less than 30 minutes to read. I think it definitely would have been worth building it out to a true short story.

DNF’d at 74%. I love a good smutty novella, but the dialogue just didn’t do it for me and I lost my interest quickly. I feel like the characters needed more personality? I also think it could have benefited from a good proofread, there were quite a few mistakes.

Thank you @NetGalley, Ava Colt, and BooksGoSocial Publishers for the ARC.

This book was a short erotic novella which doesn't look like it was proofread before it was published back in October. I just read it today, December 10th, and the mistakes were plenty. Good story, but I had to give it 3 stars based on the lack of editing.

Anne, Nathaniel, and Theo are all doing a year abroad in Amsterdam from different University's and come from different backgrounds. Theo is from a rich family in New York, he doesn't get along with. Anne is from Ohio, on a scholarship, she works two jobs to pay for what she needs. Nathaniel is from a school in the Pacific Northwest and is graduating early. The three of them met at the start of the year and became best friends.

When Anne broke up with her last boyfriend, the three of them got drunk and she confessed to the guys her sexual needs. What she didn't know was that both guys has had a crush on her since the beginning of the year. When Nathaniel and Theo finally get the courage to act on it before the year is up, Anne couldn't be happier. But what happens when the school year is over and they all go back to their own schools?

*I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I just could not get into the book at first. It was an okay story line. The spice was good. I just could not stay interested in the story. I wish I knew why I was not entertained with the book it had everything I normally like in books. And it was slow to the spicy parts. It was good just not for me I guess.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.

A short erotic novel based on the journey taken by three college friends into something more - a throuple of sorts. Told from the female characters POV, the reader follows along as she comes out of her shell and explores her wants, needs and desires with two men.

An enjoyable quick read.

First of all, how fun that it starts off in the country I live in!
Second, this was such fun short story. It was filled with lots and lots of spice, so if you like that this could be a book to try.

I just personally wish there would be either less plot or a little bit more. There was too much to ignore it, but too less of it to leave me without questions about their lives and all that was going on around the sexy time. Besides that, it was fun. I liked it! Had a good time reading it!

Contents:
Anne thinks her best friends Theo and Nathaniel are super hot. A threesome, the best solution? And maybe love for three will arise.


My opinion:
Take Two by Ava Colt is my first novel by the author.
I have to say I was a little disappointed and had higher expectations for the book.
I liked the cover.
However, the writing style took some getting used to. In my opinion, all the scenes were mixed up and I couldn't quite keep up. I could never tell which view it was and the scenes were very mixed up, which annoyed me.
Unfortunately, the characters had very little personality. I didn't really get to know them and didn't feel any connection between the characters. She just had no depth or personality, which I found very disappointing.

Overall it's not a good book and I won't recommend it either. However, if you expand on the book and write an all-round story, the book could be really good. I would give the book 1.5 stars.

I'm sorry if there are any spelling errors in my review. It's my first review in English and English is not my native language.


Thank you to Ava Colt and BooksGoSocial Publishers for providing this review copy via NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.

2.5 ⭐

This didn't get to me, sorry.
It is a really, REALLY, brief novella and in its briefness it totally delivers in terms of steam but it felt too rushed.

There was no introduction to the characters or their previous friendship or anything at all. We were hopping onto the treesome right away, page 1 and it got me off the mood to be honest.
I'm by no means judgy because I read a lot of questionable erotica as a guilty pleasure/ stress relief but I do need backstory and/or feelings to balance the steam in order to actually enjoy it.

The story in itself has potential but it lacks in delivery.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read this arc. All opinions are/will be my own.

A cute erotic short story - it establishes sexual tension quickly between the three characters which sets up for the sex scenes. These are very steamy and explore some other kinks as well as the obvious multiple partners one. Obviously there is not much plot due to it being a short story and focused on the sex, but I did find the ending pretty cute.

A quick read, but enjoyable. Definitely has the potential for becoming a full novel with more depth into each of the characters if the author would ever choose to go that route.

3.5 Stars
Although the plot is secondary to the intense scenes that begin on the first page, the author demonstrates potential in their depiction of polyamorous relationships.

The characters' chemistry is palpable, yet at times the dialogue seems forced. The book excels in its bold portrayal of sexuality, but some readers may desire more depth in character development and plot intricacy.

Recommended for readers who:

* Seek a romance novel with intense passion from the start

* Value narratives centered on female perspectives

* Are curious about polyamorous relationships

* Prefer steamy scenes over complex plots

This initial novella shows promise and could evolve into a more captivating read with some refinement.