The Intimacy Experiment

March 1, 2021
A rabbi hoping to increase attendance at his synagogue asks a former sex worker to host a lecture series called "Modern Intimacy." Ethan Cohen's Los Angeles shul might be struggling to stay afloat, but he loves his work and the people in his congregation. Although the board hired him to make changes, they are uncomfortable with the nontraditional programming he uses to attract new members. Naomi Grant is a former porn star and now co-CEO of Shameless, a web platform of instructional materials to help people have healthier sex lives. Naomi's unorthodox background has made it difficult to find an educational institution willing to let her teach in-person adult sex education classes. When Ethan meets Naomi at a professional conference, he asks if she would be willing to teach an eight-week seminar at his synagogue. Naomi seizes the opportunity; she hasn't been to synagogue since her bat mitzvah and has been longing to reconnect with Judaism. Ethan and Naomi's love story explicitly follows the arc of the Modern Intimacy lecture series, but the pacing suffers as a result. Their romance is full of stops and starts, driven by Danan's choice to have an external structure rather than organic character growth move the plot. Threads are introduced, dropped, and then reappear suddenly. Several times, Naomi and Ethan reveal their emotional states by lecturing to an audience, even if the other isn't present. It's ironic that characters committed to intimacy disclose their feelings in long speeches instead of showing them through action or direct communication with their partner; consequently, their relationship feels flat and underdeveloped. The exploration of faith and identity will likely appeal to contemporary romance readers looking for a full-bodied, nuanced treatment of religion that is also nonjudgmental and sex-positive. An interesting pairing is poorly served by uneven pacing and excessive monologuing.

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Starred review from April 9, 2021

Danan's follow-up to The Roommate finds former sex worker Naomi Grant professionally slaying as CEO of a multi-billionaire-dollar company that aims to help people have better sex, but Naomi is personally unfulfilled. Ethan Cohen is a former physics teacher who's now the hot young rabbi of a struggling L.A. synagogue. Naomi is looking to pivot into academia, but she needs real-world classroom experience. Ethan's hoping to build a bridge between faith and intimacy, but lacks the knowledge to make it happen. Enter Modern Intimacy: a seven-part lecture series that guides the plot and transforms an unlikely collaboration between Naomi and Ethan into a burgeoning relationship. Danan excels at imbuing her text with both heart and steam, and the sex-positive, modern spin on faith and intimacy means that Naomi and Ethan's HEA is fully realized. VERDICT Recommended for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne, as well as fans of the author's debut.--Rachel Alexander, Peabody Inst. Lib., MA

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