Danan mixes religion and romance to highlight love in a new way

     From the best-selling author of The Roommate, Rosie Danan comes from her ground-breakign debut with another romance that challenges all stereotypes and stigmas. Centering around a former adult performer and rabbi, The Intimacy Experiment explores the boundaries of love in a stunning and binge-worthy way.
     Naomi Grant has built her life around going against the grain. After the sex-positive start-up she cofounded becomes an international sensation, she wants to extend her educational platform to live lecturing. Unfortunately, despite her long list of qualifications, higher ed won't hire her. Ethan Cohen has recently received two honors: LA Mag named him one of the city's hottest bachelors and he became rabbi of his own synagogue. Taking a gamble in an effort to attract more millennials to the faith, the executive board hired Ethan because of his non-traditional background. Unfortunately, his shul is low on both funds and congregants. The board gives him three months to turn things around or else they'll close the doors of his synagogue for good. Naomi and Ethan join forces to host a buzzy seminar series on Modern Intimacy, the perfect solution to their problems--until they discover a new one--their growing attraction to each other. They've built the syllabus for love's latest experiment, but neither of them expected they'd be the ones putting it to the test.
      I will admit, this book was vastly different from The Roommate. It was not as steamy and not as fast-spaced; however, this novel was still phenomenal! I actually didn’t mind the slow-burn romance between Naomi and Ethan and how their relationship blossomed. Instead, I found it really perfectly developed with the pacing of the book.
     The focus of the story being on a former adult movie star who learns to care more about developing the emotions in a relationship rather than rushing the physicality of it was so interesting to see and I think Danan did a great job of showcasing both Naomi and Ethan’s character developments.
     In addition to the fabulous romance and engaging plot, I learned so much about Judaism! While I am not Jewish myself, I gained such an appreciation for different religions while also giving me a greater appreciation for my own faith.
     Overall, I adored this book and highly recommend it to all romance fans. If you have not checked out one of Rosie Danan’s books then what are you waiting for?!?!

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