Three Shots (A Poly in Pendleton Story) by Brigham Vaughn

 

Pages: 310

Release Date: March 10, 2021

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

A musician, a computer designer, and a tavern owner walk into a bar: it’ll take three shots to get this right …

When Reeve Jenkins picks up his guitar to sing at a local dive bar, the last thing he expects is to bring a guy home that night. Grant McGuire is a man drowning his sorrows in beer after a painful breakup. Having some fun in bed is easy for the two of them but while hookups are simple, pursing a relationship never feels quite right.

Rachael Bradford has seen plenty of attractive men walk into the Hawk Point Tavern but she’s too busy running the place to worry about taking any of them home.

The chemistry between them is off the characters but when Reeve and Grant offer her more than a quick fantasy, they’ll have to figure out how to navigate an openly poly relationship in the small town of Pendleton Bay.

Originally released in 2017, Three Shots has been re-written with an additional 40k words of content, set in the Pendleton Bay Universe, and re-edited.

Review

This was a re-read for me. I first read Three Shots in 2017. Then again, I’m not sure re-read is the right word here. While there certainly are strong similarities between the original Three Shots and this new version, so much has been added and changed that it was almost like reading a brand-new story for the first time. And while there was nothing wrong with this book when it first came out (after all, I give it five stars then too) there is no denying that the extended version is even better.

My original review mentions that the story managed to be deliciously enticing and incredible adorable at the same time, and that is something that hasn’t changed. The sexual encounters, initially between Reeve and Grant and later with Rachael too are hot, exciting, and imaginative. But, while I sure appreciated those scenes, they weren’t what I loved most in this story. What really stood out for me was the communication between these three protagonists. From the moment they meet they are open and frank with each other. There are no ‘misunderstandings’ based on withheld information in this story. Reeve, Grant, and Rachael know at all times what they can expect from the others and what is expected from them. Given that ‘conflict that could have been avoided if only the characters talked to each other’ is one of my pet hates in romance, you can imagine how delighted this set-up made me.

Not that Brigham Vaughn avoids complications, far from it. But the obstacles Rachael, Reeve, and Grant encounter are talked about and dealt with. The only real issues they face are caused by outside forces, more specifically by those who don’t understand and therefore don’t approve of a poly-relationship.

This story could have been written for me. Low on angst but high on feels, with characters who communicate well, hot sex scenes, and memorable secondary characters, I couldn’t have asked for more. What I am asking for, however, is more stories set in Pendleton. This little town is fast turning into a favourite (reading) destination for me.