Synopsis
When sex in their marriage grows stale, Steve and Shelly try Internet porn and take sex education classes, and then venture into the choppy waters of swinging. The rollercoaster highs and lows of Shelly and Steve’s experiment in sex, love, and money leads to a woman’s sexual awakening, a couple’s search for greater intimacy, and a re-evalutation of the boundaries that couples must set to find happiness.
Review
Well, how do I even begin this one…I am not shy by any means, but this one definitely had opened my mind.Shelly and Steve decide to get into the act of swinging in effort to bring more excitement into their marriage. The story is told from Shelly’s POV and at times my heart really broke for her. I like to believe that Steve didn’t mean to be so awful at times, but his actions were very hurtful and I had a hard time forgiving him.
I think both of them are at fault and their actions lead to both of them getting hurt, I am don’t think the act of swinging is bad, it just isn’t for everyone.
Despite the subject matter. I just don’t think this book would have worked for me regardless, because the writing was so hard to follow. It was very choppy and add all the characters in it was too much.
ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.
Excerpt
I strolled down the street away from my car, into
the quickening dusk, my spirits ascending as the rich tones of his deep voice
swelled like the notes of a violin through the phone, my heartbeat quickening
with desire. I was wearing a sand-colored linen suit, looking very elegant on
the outside, but inside I was all quivering need. I longed to be loved by
someone new, I’m not sure why, maybe because we had obsessed so many times over
these videos and pictures on the Internet. And also, there was so much I couldn’t
talk about with Steve, I was always too afraid I’d say something wrong, some
little thing that I didn’t mean to sound hurtful but he would take it that way.
I was living with the legacy of a Holocaust survivor, not an easy thing for
someone whose parents were not only hostile to each other, but they were both
poor listeners. They talked over each
other. The scene was getting really heavy, and I was reeling from everyone’s
trauma, past and present.
A hint of a breeze
rustled my hair, but I didn’t notice it—that’s how far gone I was, shivering
even in that warm, humid air, my teeth chattering. To the west, the sky loomed
expansive, cloudless, a deep purple with pinks and lavenders lingering along
the horizon. I was blind to the beauty around me. I focused completely on his
voice, breathing deeply when he started speaking again,
a shudder running though my body. A sweet lemony scent from the abundance of
evening primrose filled my nostrils.
“Come here now and have sex with me,” he said.
“My husband’s expecting me. I told him five minutes
ago I’d be heading home around now. I’m not a good prospect. You’d be better
off looking elsewhere.” To my ears, my own voice sounded a plaintive longing as
I demurred, my days of impetuosity long gone. But I couldn’t stop these raw
feelings of physical want that kept rising inside me, along with the need to be
adored without all the baggage and recriminations that colored my relationship
with Steve.
“Oh, baby, I need you more than he does.”
“I feel the same way.” My desire for him was
bubbling within me, in mortal danger of spilling over and causing some mishap.
“But I’m married. I can’t sneak around, not even when we’re not getting along,
like now.”
“He’s more important than your happiness?” He
sounded animated.
“At the moment…yes.” Couldn’t he see that I couldn’t
just take off—that my husband would kill me?
I told him good-bye as firmly as possible and
clicked off. I was driving my car with a mile to go yet when my cell phone rang
again like a five-alarm fire. I fumbled for it, picking it up at the last ring,
idly wondered if it was Steve calling to yell at me for being late. He was
probably hungry, waiting for me to eat. I floored the accelerator.
“I’m nearly there,” I said without listening for
Steve’s scold.
“Without my help?” His breathless, deeply masculine
voice carried through the airwaves, invading the inner recesses of my car.
“Without me…?”
“Who’s this?” I stalled, although I instantly
recognized that singular voice. I felt a prickle of heat warming my groin.
“You sound luscious when you’re uncertain…makes me
want to kiss you.”
Meet the Author
Joanna Kadish lives in Seattle with her husband, and has written for a number of regional newspapers and magazines about finance and business, things totally unrelated to sex. Whatever the subject matter, she likes to research her stories thoroughly before giving her imagination wings to fly. Swing Set is her first novel and she is now working on her second, which she's very excited about.
Website: www.joannakadish.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoannaKadish
You Tube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHCoiXXX8qI
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