I received an eARC from the author. All opinions are my own.
Three people, one road trip, and so many queer feelings. A polyamorous romance about changing your life.
Allie and Matt’s happy open relationship means they’re both free to find hookups. When Allie gets duped by a date, though, she’s found with someone else’s cheating boyfriend. Ugh!
Meeting Noelle by helping her leave the guy isn’t the night Allie expected, but after the women bond over drinks and a seriously dysfunctional tape gun, Allie’s hesitant to say goodbye. It’s weird; she doesn’t normally like-like people who aren’t Matt.
Matt’s questioning whether he’s entirely straight, and he hopes to find answers on his and Allie’s impending road trip. But he’s cool with bringing her new maybe-crush along, especially since he and Noelle keep finding things in common. And staring into each other’s eyes.
Noelle lost her demanding job right before her boyfriend cheated, and she’s looking for the next one—preferably back home. Allie’s fumbling charm and Matt’s flirtatious humor, however, make her wonder if her life compass needs fixing.
Late-night talks on Texas highways, first kisses, and hotel confessions might change a lot… if there’s a next step for Noelle that isn’t leaving.
Shake Things Up is a standalone romance and the story of Noelle, Allie, and Matt. Matt and Allison are married and in an open relationship for hookups. They meet Noelle via a meet-cute (or maybe meet-ugly) and the three go on a week-long road trip to a concert.
Each character has their own storyline. Noelle is laid off right at the start of the book and she’s dealing with that fall out and trying to think of where she wants her life to go from here. Allie is contending with her growing crush on Noelle as she isn’t used to falling for people other than Matt. Matt is questioning his sexuality and is using the trip to experiment.
I love that Matt and Allison fall in love with Noelle in different ways and at different paces. Allie is much quicker and willing to fall for Noelle than Matt was and Allie and Noelle’s flirting looked different than Matt and Noelle’s flirting. I haven’t read any poly romance, so I assume this is par for the course, but it was a nice part of the reading experience!
For the curious, Noelle is bisexual, Allie is pansexual, and Matt is questioning.
There were some awkward moments/wording in the first third, but it smoothed over. Also, this is a little contentious, but the is the miscommunication trope in the final third, but in my opinion, it works. It’s not, “I saw you with another person and made wild assumptions.” I won’t say more because spoilers, but the miscommunication is very realistic in my mind, but if the trope is a hard pass for you, just be aware.
I rated this book 3.5 stars! I didn’t love it as much as Vivi and Finn’s story, but it was still cute, funny, and sexy! If you’re looking for an indie poly romance, look no further!
Kappa Reads 
One thought on “Shake Things Up | Book Review”