Really Cute People

Harwood-Jones (The Haunting of Adrian Yates) amps up the warm fuzzies in this wonderfully queer triad romance. Toronto mental health professional Charlie Dee (who is nonbinary) is still recovering from the dissolution of their co-op living situation when work sends them to check out a potential client referral partnership in Ontario. New Airbnb hosts Buffy (a cis woman), who works as a queer rights activist and has been Charlie’s celebrity crush for some time, and her husband, Hayden (a trans man), have gotten their schedules confused and are still home when Charlie arrives. Then a surprise snowstorm keeps the three of them, together with Hayden and Buffy’s high-energy five-year old daughter, in close quarters for a week. Hayden and Buffy both crush on Charlie, and, after some initial confusion, Charlie is delighted to discover that their flirting is sincere and aboveboard within the couple’s polyamorous arrangement. Though the setup feels a bit contrived, once Charlie’s temporary integration into Buffy and Hayden’s life is well established, it’s easy for readers to fall into the high-fun, low-drama vibe. The sex pulls together too late, but once it arrives, the bedroom dynamic feels spontaneous, playful, and hot. Poly romance lovers will find Harwood-Jones’s tone hits just right. (Mar.)