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The Intimacy Experiment
RECOMMENDED: The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan is $1.99! Ellen gave this one a B+:
I found The Intimacy Experiment to be a very strong entry in the annals of “sexy ice queen melts for beta hero and beta hero only” romance. The dialogue is excellent when it’s funny, when it’s serious, and when it’s tender.
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.
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How Not to Fall
RECOMMENDED: How Not to Fall by Emily Foster is $1.99 and a KDD! We had two reviews of this book, one from me and one from a guest reviewers. We both really enjoyed it. Foster had plans for more romance novels in a the podcast episode we did with her, but I have a feeling those plots are on hiatus.
I would recommend this book, honestly. The smart characters and Annie’s earnestness as a heroine are so refreshing, despite the emotional shift in the narrative. I’m glad I read it and I’m going to scramble for the continuation because I want to know what Emily Foster will do with these characters.
And guest reviewer, Sabra Nicole, gave it an A:
I highly recommend this book to people (all genders, everyone) who are maaaybe, possibly interested in exploring BDSM themes in contemporary romantic-comedy, but are a little intimidated by the genre, or unsure where to even find that unique genre mish-mash.
In her witty and breathtakingly sexy novel, Emily Foster introduces a story of lust, friendship, and other unpredictable experiments. . .
Data, research, scientific formulae–Annabelle Coffey is completely at ease with all of them. Men, not so much. But that’s all going to change after she asks Dr. Charles Douglas, the postdoctoral fellow in her lab, to have sex with her. Charles is not only beautiful, he is also adorably awkward, British, brilliant, and nice. What are the odds he’d turn her down?
Very high, as it happens. Something to do with that whole student/teacher/ethics thing. But in a few weeks, Annie will graduate. As soon as she does, the unlikely friendship that’s developing between them can turn physical–just until Annie leaves for graduate school. Yet nothing could have prepared either Annie or Charles for chemistry like this, or for what happens when a simple exercise in mutual pleasure turns into something as exhilarating and infernally complicated as love.
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Dragon Bound
Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison is $1.99! I believe Ellen mentioned they’re doing a read (or re-read) of the series in the latest Whatcha Reading. It’s the first book in her Elder Races series. I listened to this one on audio and enjoyed it. It’s a bit more on the steamy/erotic side and it definitely reminded me of early 2000s paranormal romance.
Half-human and half-Wyr, Pia Giovanni spent her life keeping a low profile among the Wyrkind and avoiding the continuing conflict between them and their Dark Fae enemies. But after being blackmailed into stealing a coin from the hoard of a dragon, Pia finds herself targeted by one of the most powerful—and passionate—of the Elder Races.
As the most feared and respected of the Wyrkind, Dragos Cuelebre cannot believe someone had the audacity to steal from him, much less succeed. And when he catches the thief, Dragos spares her life, claiming her as his own to further explore the desire they’ve ignited in each other.
Pia knows she must repay Dragos for her trespass, but refuses to become his slave—although she cannot deny wanting him, body and soul.
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The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living
The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller is $1.99! Admittedly, this sounds all sorts of comforting and adorable and Miller’s books have been previous staff picks at the bookstore where I work. However, I’m always iffy on books that are positioned as women’s fiction. Do you have any experience with reading Miller’s titles?
A full-hearted novel about a big-city baker who discovers the true meaning of home–and that sometimes the best things are found when you didn’t even know you were looking
When Olivia Rawlings–pastry chef extraordinaire for an exclusive Boston dinner club–sets not just her flambeed dessert but the entire building alight, she escapes to the most comforting place she can think of–the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont, home of Bag Balm, the country’s longest-running contra dance, and her best friend Hannah. But the getaway turns into something more lasting when Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous, sweater-set-wearing owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job. Broke and knowing that her days at the club are numbered, Livvy accepts.
Livvy moves with her larger-than-life, uberenthusiastic dog, Salty, into a sugarhouse on the inn’s property and begins creating her mouthwatering desserts for the residents of Guthrie. She soon uncovers the real reason she has been hired–to help Margaret reclaim the inn’s blue ribbon status at the annual county fair apple pie contest.
With the joys of a fragrant kitchen, the sound of banjos and fiddles being tuned in a barn, and the crisp scent of the orchard just outside the front door, Livvy soon finds herself immersed in small town life. And when she meets Martin McCracken, the Guthrie native who has returned from Seattle to tend his ailing father, Livvy comes to understand that she may not be as alone in this world as she once thought.
But then another new arrival takes the community by surprise, and Livvy must decide whether to do what she does best and flee–or stay and finally discover what it means to belong. Olivia Rawlings may finally find out that the life you want may not be the one you expected–it could be even better.
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I have only read Dragon Bound on this list but I remember loving it when I read it. The outrage over the penny was perfect. This title as well as Oracle’s Moon are my two favorites by this prolific author. Be aware that these Paranormal males are uber alpha and bossy so if that isn’t your jam or might be a trigger you should skip.
WOLF RAIN by Nalini Singh is $1.99!
I’m a huge fan of Louise Miller’s books! They’re comforting reads with great descriptions of food that make me both laugh out loud and cry. The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living is women’s fiction but there’s also a satisfying love story.
The Louise Miller is $13.99 in the .ca (Canada) stores for kindle/Kobo, not sure if it expired or is just not in my region.
I got a bit annoyed towards the end of the book as (as I remember) the heroine turns out to be the most speshul, most badass, always right, everyone loves her and/or respects her etc etc. A fairly wonky human myself, I like to read about characters with similarly wonky attributes. Despite that, I enjoyed it for being fun, fast-paced and entertaining.
@Empress of Blandings
Is this the Louise Miller book that you’re talking about?
I feel like Harrison’s Elder Races is one of the most underrated paranormal series out there, and I can’t figure out why. I have loved every book in the series, except one, that is until I had to reread it for a RITA review and realized I was an idiot who wasn’t oaring enough attention.
Pia remains one of my all time favorite pnr MCs. And not just because of the pooping rainbows thing. Every kind of thumbs up for this book.
PAYING enough attention. PAYING.
Stupid autocorrect.
And no, I didn’t miss the irony of what I just did.
Oh, and HOW NOT TO FALL? Amazingly good book.
I’m done now. I swear.
Alexis Hall reviewed Dragon Bound a while ago (def on his blog, probably in GR too), which I highly recommend reading both for the entainment value and the alphahole critique.
I really liked How Not to Fall and could not finish the sequel because it was so bad. I didn’t feel the characters in the first book needed a HEA. I know that’s romance blasphemy, but that’s my opinion.
@EJ, thanks for the heads up. I was going to check if the GBPL had finally obtained a paper copy, and now I don’t have to.
Okay, so NOW I’m done
@DonnaMarie
I am honored that you respect my opinion that much! But yeah, I really hated it. The first book at least feels like it takes place in the real world. So many nutty things happen within the first few chapters of the sequel.
Ah, I realised that somehow I forgot to put the name of the book in my comment. It’s Dragon Bound that I enjoyed, but found the heroine a little tiny bit insufferable by the end.
I DNF’d the Intimacy Experiment, which is unusual for me. I found the characters abrasive and not very interesting! YMMV
Like @JudyW, Dragon Bound and Oracle’s Moon are my favorites in the series. I’ve read each quite a few times.
@tenfour
The heroine of The Intimacy Experiment has a small role in The Roommate. Her character gets the thankless task of being the person who tells the hero that his budding relationship is doomed for . . . made up reasons. That’s a trope I could live without. Anyway I didn’t want to read a whole book about her.
I bought How Not To Fall based on the podcast with the author (and I think that, coincidentally, the book was on sale at the time.) It started fine, but I got more and more annoyed as it went on. Annabelle came across as whiny and Charles was insufferable. So I ended up pretty much hate-reading it. My overall sense is that the author focused so much on making this duology a ‘better’ version of 50SoG and just forgot to put it anything that would make me root for the MCs.
Started othe second book because it popped up at my local library. I made it to the 12% mark when I chose to DNF it.
FWIW, I’m v. neutral about most retellings (unless it’s obvious that the author has done something amazing) and don’t really care for 50SoG. However, the author was incredibly persuasive during the podcast, so I figured I could put aside my meh feelings. Live and Learn, I guess.
The Intimacy Experiment was one of my top books of last year; great contemp, if you don’t own it grab it.