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ceruleancerise's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
madrwins's review
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sunny15's review
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lezreadalot's review
3.0
Maybe some part of her had known she needed to shake things up.
3.5 stars. A very cute poly romance that was super refreshing to read, but somehow left something to be desired? It involves Noelle, a woman who gets laid off the day she finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her; Allie, a poly woman who realises that the guy she was about to hook up with lied to his girlfriend about it; and Matt, Allie's boyfriend who is going through his own bisexual awakening. The story revolves around the three of them becoming friends and growing closer on a road trip to a music festival. There's attraction along all three lines of the triangle, though most of the romance in the book is Allie/Noelle and Allie/Matt; with the former getting just a bit more page time. It's a really sweet romance and I liked it a lot, but something about the writing left me a little cold. I always felt really distant and removed from the characters, and idk if it's because I was a tad tired when I finished the book, but I kept having to reread lines for clarity. I felt like we kept slipping into different style of writing, and none of them worked perfectly? Very possibly just a me thing.
Nevertheless, I really liked all the characters, and this was just so fun and sweet. Kudos.
hsinjulit's review
5.0
I believe this is my first contemporary polyam romance, and I loved it!
Previous books in the Love at Knockdown series were about Allie’s sisters—Vivi (pan) with Finn (lesbian) in [b:Get It Right|53918331|Get It Right (Love at Knockdown, #1)|Skye Kilaen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601386881l/53918331._SY75_.jpg|84274594] and Nora with Will (pan) in [b:Knock Me Down|54662976|Knock Me Down (Love at Knockdown #0.5)|Skye Kilaen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600696815l/54662976._SY75_.jpg|85285770]. In Shake Things Up, we get to spend more time with Allie (33, pan), her long-term partner Matt (31), and a new person Noelle (26, bi). Allie and Matt are in an open relationship, and when Allie almost slept with Noelle’s then-boyfriend, thinking she had Noelle’s approval, Allie ends up taking Noelle under her wings after the latter loses her living space and job in the same day. With Allie and Matt going on a road trip to a music festival soon, they plan on leaving Noelle to housesit. Or... they can take her with them.
This was so cute and funny and adorable! I love the companionship between Allie and Matt, who felt a little like best friends–with-benefits. They have open communications, and through their interactions, it is clear that they trusted each other deeply. With the addition of Noelle, neither Allie nor Matt felt threatened in any way, which depicts their open relationship wonderfully. I love that the kind-of cold Allie, who is an actuary but that doesn’t play a huge role in the story, is soft for Noelle. And Matt is so much fun! He is a doctor and his character arc is mainly about him figuring out his sexuality while forming a friendship with Allie. And Noelle has an Instagram page where she posts staged photos of her LEGO figurines!
Are they a throuple? Not quite, but each pair in this group has their own dynamics, and I really appreciated how their partnership works together. I adored the characters, especially Matt (oops, I’m playing favorites here). There are also cameos of other familiar characters, including Nora, Will, Vivi, Finn, and Oliver.
The next book in the series is going to be a queer m/f fake-dating romance featuring Oliver and his long-time crush. I cannot wait to spend more time with Kilaen’s characters as they are always so sweet and wonderful to get to know!
content warnings on author’s website
I received a digital review copy from the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Previous books in the Love at Knockdown series were about Allie’s sisters—Vivi (pan) with Finn (lesbian) in [b:Get It Right|53918331|Get It Right (Love at Knockdown, #1)|Skye Kilaen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601386881l/53918331._SY75_.jpg|84274594] and Nora with Will (pan) in [b:Knock Me Down|54662976|Knock Me Down (Love at Knockdown #0.5)|Skye Kilaen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600696815l/54662976._SY75_.jpg|85285770]. In Shake Things Up, we get to spend more time with Allie (33, pan), her long-term partner Matt (31), and a new person Noelle (26, bi). Allie and Matt are in an open relationship, and when Allie almost slept with Noelle’s then-boyfriend, thinking she had Noelle’s approval, Allie ends up taking Noelle under her wings after the latter loses her living space and job in the same day. With Allie and Matt going on a road trip to a music festival soon, they plan on leaving Noelle to housesit. Or... they can take her with them.
This was so cute and funny and adorable! I love the companionship between Allie and Matt, who felt a little like best friends–with-benefits. They have open communications, and through their interactions, it is clear that they trusted each other deeply. With the addition of Noelle, neither Allie nor Matt felt threatened in any way, which depicts their open relationship wonderfully. I love that the kind-of cold Allie, who is an actuary but that doesn’t play a huge role in the story, is soft for Noelle. And Matt is so much fun! He is a doctor and his character arc is mainly about him figuring out his sexuality while forming a friendship with Allie. And Noelle has an Instagram page where she posts staged photos of her LEGO figurines!
Are they a throuple? Not quite, but each pair in this group has their own dynamics, and I really appreciated how their partnership works together. I adored the characters, especially Matt (oops, I’m playing favorites here). There are also cameos of other familiar characters, including Nora, Will, Vivi, Finn, and Oliver.
The next book in the series is going to be a queer m/f fake-dating romance featuring Oliver and his long-time crush. I cannot wait to spend more time with Kilaen’s characters as they are always so sweet and wonderful to get to know!
content warnings on author’s website
I received a digital review copy from the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.
caseyjarryn's review
3.0
This was very sweet, and I like that it tackled an unconventional relationship dynamic, but it fell a bit flat for me - there wasn't enough tension to keep me engaged so it took me a while to get through it despite being a pretty short book and I ended up skimming a fair bit of the second half.
booksandlemonsquash's review
4.0
This is too cute! I picked this up from Twitter and I’m so glad I did. It’s full of feeeeeeeelings (and I love that Allie agrees with me - ew feelings!), and cuties being cute and supportive, and road trip fun, and just so much and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Noelle is a total cutie pie and I love her crush on Allie and Matt. But I also love how realistic this felt, especially on her relationship with Matt, and how not everyone moves at the same pace or experiences things in the same way. That was so lovely to see. You see too many books where everyone just head first and this isn’t totally that which is wonderful.
We also see some ups and downs of polyam / consensual non monogamous relationships. I really liked how Allie and Matt navigated theirs and how it quite clearly worked for them, but also how Noelle coming along messed with things a bit. And Matt having his own feelings drama. I just enjoyed it.
I will say that I feel Allie may be grey-romantic (or demi?) but it’s not said on page. I just got that vibe and would have happily seen that explored a little.
All in all a totally lovely read. 4 stars.
Noelle is a total cutie pie and I love her crush on Allie and Matt. But I also love how realistic this felt, especially on her relationship with Matt, and how not everyone moves at the same pace or experiences things in the same way. That was so lovely to see. You see too many books where everyone just head first and this isn’t totally that which is wonderful.
We also see some ups and downs of polyam / consensual non monogamous relationships. I really liked how Allie and Matt navigated theirs and how it quite clearly worked for them, but also how Noelle coming along messed with things a bit. And Matt having his own feelings drama. I just enjoyed it.
I will say that I feel Allie may be grey-romantic (or demi?) but it’s not said on page. I just got that vibe and would have happily seen that explored a little.
All in all a totally lovely read. 4 stars.
kappareads's review
4.0
I received an eARC from the author. All opinions are my own
Real rating 3.5 stars
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.
Read my full review on my blog HERE!
Real rating 3.5 stars
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.
Read my full review on my blog HERE!