Taylor Hahn

The best Emma retelling since Clueless: a sexy, warm-hearted romantic comedy about a woman who will do anything to save her marriage ... and meddle in everyone else's Georgina Wagman has it all--a great marriage, a great job at a prestigious law firm, and great friends. She's living the life she always wanted, and everything is perfect. Until, that is, she walks in on her husband Nathan in a compromising position with a junior associate. Georgina has a moment of crisis. But divorce is not a part of the five-year plan, so she comes up with an idea to save her marriage and recapture the spark. She and Nathan are going to become swingers. Georgina isn't going to embark on this adventure alone, though. Her friends Felix and Norah and their respective partners decide to tag along for the ride. They've got relationship woes of their own that swinging just might fix. Georgina, convinced Felix and Norah belong together, is thrilled. What better place to reignite romance between two people destined to be together than a swingers' party? Her plan is foolproof, until she runs into a college ex at the first party. When they reconnect, Georgina will find herself torn between her head and her heart, with her very happiness hanging in the balance. Full of heart and humor, The Lifestyle is a bold, hilarious new addition to the rom-com canon.

The Lifestyle

Melissa Timko

Kristen Claiborn

I have a friend that I’ve known since middle school. We weren’t really close back then, and then we went to different high schools. At some point we started hanging out again, on a platonic level only, and managed to stay friends for quite some time after that…until he got married. His wife didn’t appreciate my presence in his life, which was fine. What blew my mind was that he got married in the first place. This man didn’t believe in monogamy. I can’t imagine she was unaware of his beliefs before they got married, so I was baffled as to how that union came to be. Years later, he and I had a brief conversation about how his marriage almost ended (I feel like the reason might be obvious), but they salvaged it by becoming swingers. I don’t know how a married almost wrecked by infidelity could be saved by having relations outside the marriage on a regular basis, but it really did work for them, so, um, yay? 
	Based on this book, it would seem like they’re not alone. I understand that this particular lifestyle isn’t new, but the public-ness of it is new(ish). Blame it on the internet I suppose. So now we’re not only hearing that people “swing,” but there’s things like open relationships, polyamory, thruples (I have no idea how that might even be spelled), etc. These are all adults, so to each their own. This book made me realize it’s far more mainstream than I thought it was. 
	This book also points out that these lifestyle choices can’t fix the fundamentally broken things in any relationship. I appreciated how Hahn provided a variety of relationships that could possibly seek out a “lifestyle” like this, and how it affected them all. I really enjoyed this book. Hahn created a group of friends in different places in their lives and relationships. I found myself rooting for Georgina, no matter how things worked out for her. Hahn wrote a witty and emotional tale that was thoroughly enjoyable.

The Lifestyle

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