Rosie Danan’s The Intimacy Experiment has certainly made its case for being my favorite romance/rom-com read of 2021.
The beginning of the book starts out akin to the opening lines of a joke, “When a rabbi and a former sex worker walk into a bar…” but it turns out much better than some corny punch line. Naomi and Ethan both have a lot to learn from each other, and they end up being almost a case study for the “Modern Intimacy” seminar that they run together throughout the course of the book. I think the running theme of the book is learning how “real love invites us to live up to our potential”. Don’t get excited though, I borrowed that line from the author (I listened to the audiobook, so I don’t have a page number for the attribution).
I don’t think I’ve found myself this invested in a book couple before. I was rooting for Naomi and Ethan’s relationship from the first page to the last. In some ways, they are polar opposites (Naomi is battle-tested and has a tendency to guard herself where Ethan is empathetic, kind, and at times naïve to the stuff Naomi deals with regularly) but they found a spot in the middle where they both had to give and sacrifice and received something meaningful in return.
This was a unique take on a rom-com, filled with innuendos, some steamy scenes, emotional depth, and lots of laughs. It does include a lot of references to the Jewish faith, but I never felt like I was getting the holy book thrown at me. I read this book before the first one (The Roommate) and didn’t feel like I was missing anything, but I think I would have had a more meaningful experience with some of the backstories from the first book.
Can’t wait to see what else Rosie Danan releases in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I would love to hear your thoughts! Post your comments here.
Be sure to check back again later, as I do make an effort to reply to comments.