Three of Hearts

by Katie Cotugno, Dominique Salvacion (Narrator)

Three college friends wrestle with a complicated dynamic in a witty and romantic coming-of-age short story about first love and self-discovery by New York Times bestselling author Katie Cotugno.

Ellery, a freshman at a New England college far from her California home, feels every bit the outsider—until she meets Camp and Danny. Soon, they’re an inseparable trio. But as Ellery begins to question Camp and Danny’s relationship, she also must consider her feelings for them as they navigate friendship, first love, and what’s at risk.

Katie Cotugno’s Three of Hearts is part of The Edge of Everything, a collection of short coming-of-age stories of first love, messy choices, and self-discovery. Each story can be read or listened to in one sitting.

Genres: Short Stories, Romance, Audiobook, Novella, Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult

2 pages, Audible Audio

Published June 23, 2026

About the author

Katie Cotugno is the New York Times bestselling author of seven messy, complicated feminist YA love stories, as well as the adult novel Birds of California (Harper Perennial, 2022). She is also the co-author, with Candace Bushnell, of Rules for Being a Girl. Her books have been honored by the Junior Library Guild, the Bank Street Children’s Book Committee, and the Kentucky Association of School Librarians, among others, and translated into more than fifteen languages. Katie is a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Mississippi Review, and Argestes, as well as many other literary magazines. She studied Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson College and received her MFA in Fiction at Lesley University. She lives in Boston with her family.

Reviews

[vaishnavi ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*]

For a novella that was supposed to focus on the relationship between three young adults, Ellery, Camp, and Danny, a lot of time was spent describing Preston College and its special programs and the apple cider and whatnot. We don't have time for it all, folks! This is a short story!!

The second half of this was weirdly rushed, and left me with a lot of questions. But never mind, let me start from the beginning. First, why does Ellery immediately think Camp and Danny are together? She has never met them before, and we don't get any indication as to why she thinks they are together. Second, I know it is incredibly hard to develop romance that feels real between characters in less than 50 pages, but this was... a little boring. Why did she go with Camp and not Danny? Why does she feel the need for Danny and Camp to kiss each other? What happened that made her feel that was something she had to do?

My last complaint: what sort of ending was that lmao? I'm not someone who wants a happy ending in every book I read, but these guys' decisions were mind-boggling. They have a threesome (implied), and then nobody talks to each other (idk if Danny and Camp were in touch though; we were in Ellery's pov) until after a couple of months? And when they do meet finally, they act like nothing has happened? What? My time was wasted on this.

[Christy]

2.25 stars

Meh. This one was not for me.

Audio book source: Audible
Story Rating: 2.25 stars
Narrators: Dominique Salvacion
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary
Length:1h 13m

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small]

I received an advance listener copy of this book to listen to in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

***AUDIO BOOK VERSION***
Three of Hearts is a quick novella story about three university friends from different walks of life who connect and find themselves in a form of love triangle that ends up dividing their friendship.
This is a coming of age story and had much potential but sadly fell flat for me. The characters didn't feel fully developed and the story felt like it was missing something to give it that oomph. Don't let this put you off listening or reading it - it may just be that it is better read in physical format than audio.

[Alya]

In a nutshell: Follows three friends with a complicated dynamic.

All I'm gonna say is not all plots work as short stories, this ruined it if I'm being honest..

My Bookstagram

[angelinabvby ۶ৎ]

Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, & Katie Cotugno for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

challengers but ✨dark academia✨

there was just the right amount of tension between this throuple. i was expecting someone to get killed at any moment. the elite uni vibes brought the story to life and the symbols are worth reexamining. also fun fact camp, danny, ellery ༄˖°.🍂.ೃ࿔*:･

[har.]

┆ ⤿ ♦️ ⌗ started: july 2, finished: july 2

2 stars 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹

summary: ⋆˚࿔
ellery starts college feeling completely out of place, until she becomes close friends with camp and danny. the three quickly become inseparable, but as their friendship deepens, ellery begins to question the nature of camp and danny's relationship, and what her own feelings for both of them might mean. as emotions become more complicated, all three must figure out what they're willing to risk for love, friendship, and themselves.

thoughts: ⋆˚࿔
i honestly finished this feeling more confused than anything else. i kept waiting for the relationships and emotions between the characters to click, but they never really did for me. i understood what the story was trying to explore, but with such a short page count, there wasn't enough time to fully develop the dynamics between ellery, camp, and danny.


ⓘ thank you to amazon original stories, katie cotugno, netgalley, for the arc in exchange for a honest review.
⊱ ۫ ׅ ✧ OUT ON JUNE 23

[Leticia🌻]

3.5/5

Three of Hearts takes place over the span of an academic school year. It follows Ellery, a California native, who is attending college in the East Coast. As with any freshman away to college, she feels lonely and a bit homesick. Everything changes when Camp and Danny approach her and they form a unique, inseparable friendship. As the story progresses, we read about their friendship dynamic changes and evolves into something more.

Overall, it was a quick and entertaining read; it can be easily read in one sitting.

Thank you Amazon Original Stories for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[eve]

First and foremost….may I just say, Ellery is a beautiful name. It just fit her character so well🤌🏻🫰🏻

I don’t know how to explain it, but my heart hurt throughout this book. There was just a deepness to the story that hit into the center of my heart. I’m not even sure why, cause it wasn’t even sad😭

Overall, this was a good story. With it being a novella, it surprisingly had depth to it.

I was disappointed with the ending if I’m being honest though. It threw some unnecessary stuff in the book that could have 100% been left out. The ending definitely had me bumping some stars off.


𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 —> 🌶️
𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠—> yes (minimal)
(𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩…𝐭𝐡𝐞re 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞…𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫)


☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ ♡ ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧s 𝘾𝙤𝙥𝙮:) 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣!

[Sara]

Surprisingly enjoyable short read about Ellery and her complicated relationships with two guys at college. And yes, it went exactly the way I wanted it too. I was glad at just how much development Camp got in particular - his complex family dynamics are shown very clearly within so few pages, and I could see just how utterly charming yet broken he was. I would have loved a full length novel of this.

[Mariah (Wondered Pages)]

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I kept waiting for Three of Hearts to become more interesting and it never did. I was honestly grateful it was over by the time the story wrapped up with another card game.

Ellery starts college far from home and quickly becomes close with roommates Camp and Danny. The three of them become inseparable. Then, everything starts getting messy once Ellery and Camp begin dating. Ellery also starts questioning her feelings for Danny and wondering if there might be attraction between all three of them.

A love triangle could have been really fun, but the story never went past insinuating a threesome. I never understood why Danny and Camp were so interested in Ellery. She was pretty boring and one dimensional. Watching two guys basically wait in the wings while she figured out which one she wanted was frustrating. Then, she sort of chooses both of them? Maybe? The relationship never felt clear enough for me to understand what anyone had actually decided.

I also expected more from the romance. The story points pretty heavily toward the possibility of a threesome or a relationship between all three characters, but there are no spicy scenes. I would have been fine with that if the character relationships had been stronger. I never felt much chemistry between any of them.

Another issue I had was that I kept wondering what the point of the story was. Ellery spends so much time thinking about Camp, Danny, Camp and Danny, and what everyone might be feeling. Nobody seems willing to actually make a decision. I wanted someone to just say what they wanted!

This was a very short read, but it still felt longer than it needed to because I never connected with the characters or cared who Ellery ended up with. Pick this up if you enjoy college coming of age stories with complicated friendship dynamics and spice being hinted at.

[mandie ੈ♡˳]

i just didn't click with this one

[Moon_child31]

Tf?

[madi]

⋆˙⟡ — 2 stars
⌗ ┆started: july 21st ● finished: july 21st
⤿ mini spoiler-free review

thank you sm amazon original stories, katie cotugno and netgalley for the e-arc!!

thoughts ⋆˚࿔

ummm... i really struggled reading this book 🫠 in all honesty, i was pretty bored for the majority of it bc i just felt like nothing was really happening, but at the same time... stuff was happening?? 😭 i also didn't even realize that she liked both guys 😭 i was so out of the story that i genuinely thought she liked cam and that danny was just her best friend 🧍‍♀️

maybe if we had more time with these characters i would've enjoyed this book a little more, but unfortunately i just didn't really care abt them 😕 i never felt connected to anyone, so it made it hard for me to get invested in what was happening.

[ronja]

This was my first story by Katie Cotugno and I liked it! All the elements that were brought up in the beginning of this novella really intrigued me, although most of them remained a little surface level till the end so that I couldn’t *fully* get into the story and wasn’t entirely satisfied when it ended. And I do have to admit that the ending confused me a little – don’t know if that’s just me but I’m not entirely sure how the relationship between our three characters was resolved in the end. Nevertheless, I did enjoy my time reading Three of Hearts!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!

[selly rose]

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a novella that follows Ellery and her new college friends, Camp and Danny. I was actually enjoying this towards the beginning. Things were flowing quite nicely and the little found family they had was cute, until romance entered the picture. The love triangle felt very sudden to me and I just didn’t feel any chemistry between them in that aspect. Camp was the only character that I felt had any depth since we got information about his background. The writing was pretty good, but I just wasn’t a big fan of the novella itself.

[Anniek]

Many thanks to Amazon Original Stories and Netgalley for the digital review copy. This novella is out now!

This was not good. The writing and characters felt dated, like early 2010s YA, and I don't mean that as a compliment. The novella feels like something that was shelved back then and picked up again for this project, making the author's mention of Tiktok, for instance, feel jarring. Nothing about this appealed to me.

[because_she_reads (Mira Jade)]

3.5 ⭐️

I wish we were able to get more from this! Kinda reminded me of Heart The Lover but I got no resolution, I wanted more feelings and emotions and clarity. It was good, I was hooked but I was left feeling bamboozled! How could they all just stop talking to each other after all that 🥹

[Daniel Myatt]

A clever short story that shows what can happen when you open yourself to new experiences....

[Abi]

Where the hell was the plot in this. Nothing happened

[Savannah Curci]

Ngl I thought that this book was gonna go in a very different direction then it really caught me off guard when it didn't, and the ending was kinda meh

[Ann]

I love Katie Cotugno and this story is really cute. I read it and then the next day I read it again. I love the nuance of the characters and how so much is said with so little.

This story follows college freshmen Ellery, who is homesick her freshman year when she meets roommates Camp and Danny, who quickly become her best friends, or maybe more? And… what exactly IS Camp and Danny’s relationship?

This is a college story that speaks to complicated friendships and discovering identity. I really enjoyed it! Thanks Amazon for the ARC.

[Dozelina 666]

Of the stories I've read so far from The Edge of Everything collection, this was probably the one I connected with the least.

Not because the themes didn't work, but because the story felt a bit unbalanced to me.

The first half was actually pretty promising. I enjoyed getting to know Ellery, seeing her struggle with being far from home for the first time, and learning about her interest in drawing. The whole "new college student trying to find her place in a completely new environment" aspect felt realistic and relatable.

Then Camp and Danny enter the picture.

I thought Camp was by far the most developed character of the three. By the end, I felt like I had a decent understanding of who he was, while Danny remained much more of a mystery. Because of that, some of the emotional dynamics didn't land quite as strongly for me as they probably could have.

The story explores friendship, self-discovery and that awkward period of trying to figure out who you are once you leave home. Those themes worked well overall, but the second half felt rushed compared to the setup, and I found myself wishing there had been a little more time to develop the relationships.

Overall, still an enjoyable coming-of-age story, but probably not my favorite from the collection.

⭐ 3–3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC.

https://turnthepagewithana.blogspot.c...

[Uzia]

Wow. This could not have gotten any worse. So she saw them, thought they were together, never even questioned it. AND THEN ONE OF THEM HAS PARENTAL ISSUES AND NOTHING GETS FIXED.
AND THEN SHE SMOOCHES BOTH OF 'EM AND RUNS AWAY???!???

girl wtf was I reading. Someone take my phone away from me. Nothing was properly wrapped up. Idk how the author thought this was complete (IK IT'S A NOVELLA BUT HOW CAN IT BE SO BAD???)

Plot makes no sense.
Romance makes no sense.
Characters are absolutely STUPID.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. ☺️🫶

[ren ౨ৎ (in a tiny slump)]

this could’ve been a more enjoyable read if they all ended up in a healthy polycule.

[Jennifer]

And the point of this was? 😵‍💫

I love novellas that can introduce us to characters, give us a good little plot, some depth of the characters and have it mean something. To me, this novellas had none of it.

It’s supposed to be this coming of age story but it lacked so much depth that I didn’t care about any of the characters. One minute they’re friends, she dates one of them, there a ménage à trois (???) and that’s it? She stops speaking to them?! I…I’m just so confused what the purpose of this novella even was. Thank goodness it was short or I would be throwing my kindle for wasting my time. The writing left a lot to be desired as it felt choppy and there was no fluidity between the seasons.

I’m sure someone will enjoy this novella. Unfortunately it wasn’t for me. Thank you NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories and Katie Cotugno for eARC!

[zil]

another short story that i binged and i enjoyed how the narration was portrayed! this one was focused on various elements such as friendship and self reflection and i enjoyed it but i think that the second part needed more time because the first part was more cohesive!

a lot of thanks to netgalley and brilliance publishing for the alc of this story in exchange for my honest opinion!

[Ashleigh Forbes]

This wasn’t terrible but I felt it was so fast paced, I honestly got confused because it was jumping around so much. I do get it a novella so it is faster, but I feel like this needed to be a full length novel to get the story. And honestly I’d read it if it was a full length novel because I was invested in the plot from the beginning! It had such potential! I just needed & wanted more details & storyline. Oh well moving on…

[Mirinha]

I liked the premise of this one, but the short length made it hard for the story to reach its full potential. The friendships and changing relationships had some interesting ideas behind them, but everything moved a little too quickly for me.

A longer version would have given the characters more room to grow and made the emotional moments land better.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Katie’s Bookshelf]

3⭐️
Went in a direction I was expecting but still sort of surprised about. But a interesting short read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing team for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Nicole Mellott]

Novella 5 in the Edge of Everything series. I liked the first probably 75% of it and thought they were doing a nice job developing the characters as they navigated their freshman year of college. The last 25% felt rushed and took the story in a different direction than I thought, so it took me out of it.