Monday 8 August 2022

Book ~ "Third Wheel" (2022) Nick Spalding

From Goodreads ~ Jake Carlisle is living his best life, thanks to the crazily successful influencer channel he created with his best friend, Sy. Reviewing wacky hobbies and adrenaline-fuelled adventures, Sy has pushed Jake into doing more exciting stuff than either ever thought possible. Then disaster strikes.

When newbie Helena joins the team, Sy quickly falls head over heels for her. All of a sudden, with romance blossoming and the business dynamic shifting, Jake is horrified to find himself becoming the dreaded third wheel.

Being the odd one out was not what he signed up for. And he’ll do anything to get his best friend back - even if that involves a little light sabotage, an unhealthy amount of jealousy ... and one very unfortunate pair of tartan Speedos.

Will Jake be relegated to the background from now on? Or will he finally learn to stand on his own two feet and succeed at getting his life - along with his friendship - back on track?


Jake and Sy have been friends for 25 years and have a business together as influencers ... they do activities and then social media and YouTube posts about it. It sounds like a fun gig.  Sy feels they need a female host to draw in more viewers so hire Helena. Sy falls in love with Helena and suddenly it's Sy and Helena hanging out all the time and Jake has become the third wheel. Because of his friendship with Sy, Jake tries to go along with the new relationships but ends up feeling left out and resentful.

I've read many books by this author and thought this one was okay, though I found it wasn't as light and fun as previous ones. It is written in first person perspective in Jake's voice and it's as if he is speaking to me, the reader. I wasn't crazy about the main characters. Jake is a bit of a wimp and lets Sy and Helena walk over him (though he gets better towards the end). Sy lets his new relationship with Helena take precedence over his lifelong friendship with Jake. The author is English as are the characters so there were some references to I didn't know like an airing cupboard, a muggins, etc.  As a head's up, there is a swearing (lots of F-bombs).

No comments: