Reviewer: Rowena The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: April 6, 2021
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: Third Person
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 336
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Rowena's 2021 Goodreads Challenge
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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.
I really enjoyed The Roommate and liked Naomi’s character in there so I was really looking forward to jumping into my ARC of The Intimacy Experiment.
Naomi Grant is Josh from The Roommate’s ex-girlfriend. When we first meet her, I wasn’t a fan. I thought she was a snobby brat but the more I read The Roommate, the more she grew on me. You could tell that there was a lot more to Naomi Grant than met the eye, so I was thrilled that she got her own happy ending because I wasn’t wrong. Naomi Grant was a fantastic heroine who completely won me over…and her hero, Ethan? Yeah, I want all of his smoke. He was the perfect hero for Naomi and I never really looked at rabbi’s or even thought of a romance novel hero who was a rabbi but Ethan was all that and a bag of chips and I loved him to pieces.
Honestly, I was wary going into this book because I wasn’t that interested in a romance about a rabbi and an ex-porn star but I’m glad that I read it anyway because I really liked it. I think I enjoyed it a smidge more than I did The Roommate and I adored Josh and Clara so that was a bit of surprise. Rosie Danan has cemented herself on my radar. I will definitely be reading more of her stuff. She’s got a great writing style that is easy to follow and you can tell that she works hard in her word choices because she took an unconventional romance novel couple and made them just work.
I really loved the way that she handled the heavy topics brought up. It was honest and refreshing and I loved it so much. I loved that Ethan knew how he felt about Naomi and didn’t shy away from them. I loved how patient he was and just how he loved Naomi. Naomi was no slouch either. I freaking loved her. She was strong and she was smart and seeing her struggle with her faith had me thinking about my own faith. Rosie Danan did such a great job of making me sit up and take notice of the stuff that I haven’t given thought to and I’m glad that she did because it made me connect with Ethan and Naomi all the more.
There’s a lot to love about this book and if Rosie Danan is on your TBR list, pick up her books. Read them. I promise you’ll like it. This one was a good one for sure.
4.5 out of 5
The Roommate
Thanks for your review, Rowena. I’m looking forward to reading this after enjoying The Roommate.
You’re welcome! I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did because I was a bit wary of the whole set up but this was a good one. Naomi and Ethan were a fantastic couple!