21. The Charlie Method by Elle Kennedy

We’re back! It’s been three years, and while a lot has changed (Blythe had a baby!), way too much has stayed the same: Tr*mp is president again and we need the romance genre more than ever to brighten our spirits and awaken our dormant vaginas. Turns out Elle Kennedy’s throuple novel, The Charlie Method, was exactly what we needed:

College senior Charlotte Kingston is living two lives―and she's nailing both of them. By day, she's the perfect sorority girl, a STEM student in biomedical engineering, and the adopted daughter of an overachiever family. At night, she's Charlie: a risk-taking daredevil looking for fun who finds herself chatting on a dating app with two anonymous hotties.

Will Larsen may seem like the breezy boy next door, but his congressman father is a constant thorn in his side. After a scandal hits another Division 1 hockey program, Will's dad is determined to distance his son from it, hiring a journalist to prove how squeaky-clean Will and his team are. Which means the last thing Will wants is for anyone to find out he and his best friend Beckett Dunne―a laidback Aussie shielding secret heartache―sometimes share girls in the bedroom.

When Charlie finally meets them in person and realizes she's been chatting with two gorgeous Briar U hockey players, things get steamy―fast. But all their messy secrets are piling up, and real life soon threatens to shatter the fantasy. With Charlie, Will, and Beckett all coming to terms with what they want and what others want for them, difficult decisions will need to be made… especially when lust starts to look a lot like love.

You can follow me (Claire), and all podcast updates, on Instagram or Bluesky. If you’re interested in my writing about sex and culture, you can check out my ongoing series of essays on film and sex, My Favorite F***ing Movie, or visit my blog. If you have questions or comments for the podcast, you can email us at SexyBooksPodcast@gmail.com.