The Intimacy Experiment

A porn star and a rabbi start a class for modern dating?? Say less!!!

I liked this book!! It was a fun funny adventure!

considering the way the first book was, the lack of spice is wild but it made sense considering the content of the seminar was the point of the plot! it’s about intimacy in a relationship and that isn’t just sex. loved it and the characters.

dnf

I liked this book but I didn’t love it. It was way too slow burn and for a series centred around smut (as well as love and fluff of course!) there was barely any - I believe that could be the point, as the series involves sex workers and maybe it was to get away from that which I can appreciate. Nonetheless, I think it’s just personal preference for me - the main male character was pining but he wasn’t doing much, I wasn’t fighting for them to be together, their personalities were there for sure but they weren’t intriguing as I’d hoped they’d be - it’s a good book, well written of course, but not my favourite of Danan’s

I liked it but it wasn’t as good as the first book. Kind of boring

3.75/5. it was pretty good but i still like the first one in the series more. it just felt a little dragged out to me at some points

I preferred the first book more, but this one wasn’t bad for a follow up. I did sadly get bored towards the end and started skimming

unnecessarily long winded, premise was good though. sad bc i did rly enjoy the roommate but this didn't live up to expectations

It definetly talked about important topics, but it was just a little flat for me. I didn't really connect with the characters, and they didn't have much chemistry

But I really loved how they handled their relationship, and the obsticoles in it

i love rosie's writing style sm!!! this book is just incredible :')

i love how uncovential this books seems. rosie creates an unlikely relationship between naomi and ethan as a former porn star and a rabbi. while they compliment each other well, their differences are drastic as well. this book not only address modern intimacy in a variety of ways but shows us how before excepting others we have to except ourselves and listen to what we want. she also brings more light into judaism, and how faith to some people can just as many answers as science can.

I didn't think I'd like this book as much as the first one but wow wow wow did I love this one. The love interest gives major Chidi Anagonye vibes (for all my The Good Place fans out there) and I was pretty much melting the whole time. What a wonderful depiction of falling in love and how scary it is to let go of and share parts of yourself that you had been holding back. This line will stick with me for a while: "Tender like the ocean returning to shore, no matter how many times it's sent away."

The characters had no chemistry and all the messages, important as they were, didn't blend into the story naturally and just felt like sermons. Also had one of the worst third act break ups ever.

** spoiler alert ** SPOILER WARNING This book was.... average for me and I'm a little disappointed. I blame a lot of it on the fact that I had high expectations due to how much I loved "The Roommate". If I'm being honest, I probably would have enjoyed this one a lot better if I hadn't read "The Roommate" and had no background knowledge of Naomi. To me, this book started out very strong and promising but strayed from the character groundwork that had been laid out for Naomi in "The Roommate" which is why I'm disappointed. It does get 3 stars though because the first 30% of the book was so good. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty! What I loved: -Ethan is such an interesting character, and I fell in love with him the moment we're introduced to him. I adore how adorable he is and the contrast he is against Naomi. -The slow burn of this book is slowwwww and I honestly really enjoyed it during the first half of the book. -Getting inside of Naomi's head was so interesting and I loved getting to see her calculate her decisions. -The contrast between Naomi and Ethan was the most compelling aspect of this book and I loved how quick it was able to suck me in. -All of the seminar scenes were great for me (except for the high school one)! -Naomi overall is a character who speaks to me and I love how we get to see just how guarded she is of herself and her feelings. What I didn't love: -We are told Naomi is a very sexual, high libido individual but they don't kiss until 50% in and they don't have sex until about the 70% mark. This wouldn't be a problem as she is respecting Ethan's boundaries, but outside of the kissing scene and the one sex scene, we get none of the sexuality of Naomi that we were promised. She doesn't even masturbate thinking about Ethan which to me feels like a missed opportunity. if we hadn't had the background of her character (and that threesome between her, Josh, and Clara which honestly is more steamy than the entirety of this book) I wouldn't be so upset about it but because of it, I feel like I'm missing out on things I was promised. Not only that but she describes how dirty all of her thoughts are about him and I honestly felt like their final coming together was very tame and vanilla. The hottest scene in the book doesn't even involve her but Ethan after they watched one of her videos which doesn't feel right considering what we know about Naomi. -their communication and intimacy was lacking for me for being a book centered around those two things. I mean, Naomi is doing a seminar over intimacy, and yet within their relationship, it's lacking! -I honestly would have loved to see Ethan get unraveled even more. -There were a lot of scenes that didn't feel necessary and were overall distracting from the main point. The entire high school scene felt uncomfortable and out of place and is the one that sticks out to me. -There were some motives that made me feel icky, such as the reason why she originally got into sex work. -I wanted a little more of the pushback we were expecting with a porn star and a rabbi dating and I didn't feel like we got those conflicts. -There are a few other things that bother me but I don't want this review to just be me complaining so I'll end it on how I wasn't a fan of the last-minute breakup/get back together. It didn't feel suitable for their relationship and it felt like it was thrown in there just to have a conflict (even though Ethan quitting was conflict enough for me and could have been an interesting topic of stress within their relationship instead of the breakup occurring). Overall, for me, this was a very meh book. There were missed opportunities that I felt knocked this one down a few pegs for me. I suggest for people who are reading it to consider reading this one before "The Roommate" and to see if that changes your first impression of the book. I've seen around that Berkley has issues with neglecting their sophomore books so I will be reading the next in the series, just with different expectations after getting disappointed with this one. Don't let me dissuade you from reading! Even if it wasn't the best for me, it might be for you! I always like to say that every book has its fans and there's no reason why you shouldn't at least give it a go! *I received this ARC through NetGalley and voluntarily read this book. my thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for giving me the chance to read an advanced copy!*

this is probably a me problem. it just didn't work for me. i guess it's because a huge part of this book tackles religion which i'm not really interested in. nonetheless, i love you naomi grant.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it wasn't what I was expecting and despite not reading the Roommate, I didn't feel as if I was lost at all. It was a quick read and I definitely recommend.

This book kept popping up on various blogs and posts and I really took it as a sign that maybe I should read it. I even owned a digital and physical copy, it was obviously time. I’m so glad I did. The Roommate surprised me last year with it’s depth and how very sex positive it was. It showed sex workers in a real light and it wasn’t all skeevy guys making bad porn and it showed that enjoying sex shouldn’t be shameful. Also, the book was really fun with an amazing romance and I loved it. I knew I wanted to read The Intimacy Experiment as soon as I finished that book but for some reason didn’t. I’m so glad that I finally read. Naomi is such a brilliant character, a brilliant confident woman who doesn’t let other people’s opinions and judgements dictate how she lives her life. She has scars and prefers a physical connection to an emotional one as that scares her. The last person she expects to fall for is a rabbi inviting her to lecture on modern intimacy at his synagogue. Ethan was pretty hot, though, if slightly dorky and awkward as well. I think that’s why he worked so well with Naomi. He may not have her experience when it comes to sex but he was also comfortable in who he was and the work he did. THey were both very similar even if it might not seem that way and they worked so well together. The romance was slower as they built that strong emotional connection first, even though the physical attraction between them was obvious. I liked that, it really built up to them getting together. I couldn’t get enough of it. I can definitely see myself rereading again in the future.

DNF @ 30%, Naomi in her head is significantly more likable then how she presents in this book. I LOVED Roommate. But this book doesn’t even follow the same precedent as that. There is no sexual chemistry between MC, also in male POV he is mentioned as being short a lot which was weird and honestly just kept pulling me out of the story. I’m sad by this because I was expecting to love it but it’s just not it for me. But 3 stars because the aspects of sexual representation and the male MC not being typically masculine was cool.

The first in this series was so much better! This one was just a little too predictable and was very anticlimactic. There were some cute parts here and there but overall just was kind of boring

I’m going to DNF this for the time being. I put it down and physically cannot make myself pick it up again.

The Intimacy Experiment isn't what I expected AT ALL. Well, I expected more ... spice? But instead I found something in this book which made me tear up - wisdom on love and intimacy, not only on the level of sex. Who would have thought I'd learn so much in just one book? I am really happy I read it even though I didn't get into Naomi's character at first but as the book went on and especially her classes were held, I felt a deeper connection with her.

i recommended this book to my therapist via email at 9:30 last night and within 10 minutes she replied that she immediately downloaded it. Like come on it's a book about a former sex worker and a rabbi working together for a mini series on modern dating and religion that shit is *chefs kiss*

the way this book was able to capture religion and romance was incredible. Putting the two together, and showing people how to modernise this was amazing. Honestly love this book, and I definitely recommend it. It can be read as I stand alone, but I would recommend reading 'The Roommate' first, to get a feel of the characters and understand Naomi. I feel in love with both Naomi and Ethan, along with Josh and Clara.

This is really the first romance where I am a fan of the couple. I’m rooting for them. Like in the stands, cheering and hollering for them! Also I loved Naomi and Ethan. Individually and together ❤️❤️