Published by Berkley Genres: Adult Fiction, Contempory, Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction
Format: ARC, eBook
“Kol hat’chalot kashot” (All beginnings are difficult)
And some beginnings are hot as F***
Naomi Grant, a former porn star and businesswoman (has her own sex positive start up) meets Ethan Cohen (best last name ever), a former physics teacher and now rabbi of his own synagogue when he approaches her to host intimacy seminars in order to attract a younger crowd (or any crowd) to his dwindling shul.
Modern Intimacy is the name of their seminar and as the course progresses, the number of attendees increases as does the attraction and yearning of Naomi and Ethan. Some members of the synagogue board are going to love this idea; heck Ethan was hired because he is willing to think outside of the box and has nontraditional ways. But will this series of lectures make the other board members cringe due to the topic and lecturer?
Both characters are hot, likeable and intriguing. Both will steal your heart! Naomi is sexy, confident, and comes off as tough as nails and is not afraid to speak her mind, but has a softer side just waiting to come out. Just ask her friends, they all love her and her fierce devotion to them and her job. Ethan is open minded, loyal, competitive, supportive, and warm. He might change the way you think about rabbis.
Hot-to-trot and a whole lot of fun!
This one put a smile on my face. Not only the plot which had me grinning from ear to ear, but also hearing about parts of Los Angeles as I used to live there. I will even forgive the author for having Ethan’s mother getting bread from a Jewish bakery on Melrose. Excuse me, she should have been going to Diamond Bakery on Fairfax! Just saying. I also smiled seeing the JCC mentioned. Brought back memories of my son going to the preschool at the JCC on Olympic. It is always fun when a book take place where you live or used to live. But I digress….
This has a little bit of everything: likeable characters that you cannot help but adore and root for, an interesting group of supporting characters, angst, lust, romance, and of course passion. There are so many things that I loved about this book. The emphasis on intimacy yes, but I also loved the themes of vulnerability, open-mindedness, acceptance, respect, sexuality, religion, family, and relationships.
This book was a lot of fun that had me cheering for the characters and at times shaking my head at them. Although this is book two in the series, it works perfectly as a stand-alone. I did not read the first book and did not feel that I was missing out on anything at all. Now, I will be on the lookout for more books in the series. My fingers are crossed for Ethan’s sister to get a book of her own. Just putting that out there!
Hot, Sexy, and fun!
Thank you to Berkley Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.