
Published by Berkley Books on April 6, 2021
Pages: 336
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Naomi and Ethan will test the boundaries of love in this provocative romance from the author of the ground-breaking debut, The Roommate.
Naomi Grant has built her life around going against the grain. After the sex-positive start-up she cofounded becomes an international sensation, she wants to extend her educational platform to live lecturing. Unfortunately, despite her long list of qualifications, higher ed won't hire her.
Ethan Cohen has recently received two honors: LA Mag named him one of the city's hottest bachelors and he became rabbi of his own synagogue. Taking a gamble in an effort to attract more millennials to the faith, the executive board hired Ethan because of his nontraditional background. Unfortunately, his shul is low on both funds and congregants. The board gives him three months to turn things around or else they'll close the doors of his synagogue for good.
Naomi and Ethan join forces to host a buzzy seminar series on Modern Intimacy, the perfect solution to their problems--until they discover a new one--their growing attraction to each other. They've built the syllabus for love's latest experiment, but neither of them expected they'd be the ones putting it to the test.
Damn Danan, back at it again with the sophomore hit. (This is what’s going through my crazy head.) The Intimacy Experiment is so steamy, so sweet, and SO feminist it makes me borderline giddy – zero signs of slump in this follow up to The Roommate. The writing is as easy breezy, yet emotional and thoughtful for the content it covers. We are treated to the same impossibly relatable characters (a former porn star and a rabbi) with chemistry so hot that I was convinced was going to short out my Kindle. And what I’ve come to consider Danan’s signature, it unapologetically embraces women’s sexuality without the slightest tolerance for slut-shaming. I am such a fan.
I’ll leave you with my favorite passage – the turning point from when I went from like to love.
*****
She nodded decisively. “So, why do you get out of bed in the morning?”
Something about the intensity of her voice when she asked pulled the truth out of him.
“There’s a moment, when you’re speaking to someone, and you’re listening to something they said, or actually” –it didn’t even require conversation–“maybe not, maybe you’re just giving them your attention, holding the door open at the deli, and something shifts behind their eyes and you know that they feel seen.” He lowered his chin, feeling goofy. “Not just seen but acknowledged in some way. They know they matter. That they’re not alone. And when that happens, I think about all the times someone has done that for me. The way that interaction saved me, shored me up against a thousand invisible aches I didn’t realize I was carrying.” […] “I guess I get out of bed because I think about the connection that we all have, this fragile humanity, each of us insignificant and at the same time precious. A continuation of a species that is recklessly unique. I remember that life is a finite gift, and I’d be an asshole to waste it.”
*****
XOXO