The roommate was one of my top reads of 2020 and the intimacy experience was easily one of my top reads for 2021.

We first meet Naomi in the roommate and I couldn't wait to see what rosie did with her story. A girl who's not afraid of what she wants, Ethan is a hot Rabbi who needs some help keeping his congregation afloat and together they find out that they're not as immune to what they've been teaching than they originally thought.

This one was swoon, sexy, fully of heart that I was so invested in and 2 characters who you won't be able to get enough of. I can't say enough good things about this sex positive series from Rosie Danan!

Actual rating: 4/5 stars

I loved the Roommate so much which is a bit of an unpopular opinion and I still liked this one but not near as much. I liked how religion was worked into this book because it wasn't overwhelming or too much. I personally don't like organized religion and how prudish it can be but it didn't feel like that in here. I thought it was interesting seeing this take on religion and intimacy.

The characters were great. The main male character was a huge cinnamon roll with I adored even though cinnamon roles aren't my favorite love interests. The female lead was such a strong, tough character and I loved her for it. I was rooting for this couple so hard.

This book did feel a little slow and lectury at times and the conclusion felt a bit rushed but overall this was a solid read.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, Rosie Danan, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What do you get when you combine a sex-positive start up guru with a rabbi who needs to get more congregants in the seats of his synagog?
A couple who's got everything to lose, but even more to gain when they work together to educate the masses in a positive way about sex and intimacy.
Charming and introspective, it covers how our society is fascinated and screwed up about how we talk about sex. And how we should shift the dialogue from shame, embarrassment, and negative to a strong, empowering, and affirmative ways.
I can already picture this being a fantastic rom-com and would love to see it.

This is the second book in this series.
Book #1-The Roommate is also out and a fun read.

*I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

can you say steamy! Rosie Danan has done it again. I love romance books with steam to them, it just makes the book so much better! I loved following this couple!

I really liked The Roommate so I was really excited about The Intimacy Experiment. I love that it is sex positive and has a really strong female MC. At first, I wasn’t so sure about the porn actress and rabbi mix but it actually went really well. This book also deals with mental health which I wasn’t prepared for but I was actually very happy for it. The steamy parts are amazing and might be the top reason I decided to read it lol!!!

Loved this book! Tons of chemistry between the leads and the religious aspect was fascinating to read about.

I just could not connect to the story or the characters. I gave up at 30% :( I LOVED her first book though. I will definitely read her next!

I am a bit conflicted on this one. I really loved The Roommate so my expectations were sky high but Naomi's story fell a little flat for me as I never felt like I really connected with her. I did love that it was very sex positive (similar to TR) and showed the combination of sexuality and faith. It definitely had a lot less steam than TR so if you're looking for something a little less spicy, don't pass this one up. Excited to check out whatever comes next from Danan.

A book about a young, hot rabbi, and an ex porn star turned teacher…… and I was bored.

I didn’t connect with the first book of this series, and I thought I’d give the second book a try thinking maybe it was just my mood at the time, but it wasn’t, and I felt the same unfortunately!

The two main characters chemistry was lacking and didn’t seem genuine to me and the story was stretched out… but I did like that the heroine was very open and confident in her sexuality and I found that to be refreshing. This author’s writing style may be for someone, but not for me… because I’m oh for 2.

This was a good read, quick paced and witty. The lead characters were completely different but bought out the best in the other. A fun read but I did prefer the roommate

This book is fantastic. The way Danan weaves exploration of self and religion and I high heat romance is masterful. It felt like Naomi was at a crossroads in life and really needed to find her true self. It was sexy and sweet and thoughtful. It hit all the right notes for me.

rosie danan is up there as one of my fave romance writers these days and this one did not disappoint one bit!! it was such a delight to read and as always the humor and spice was spot on.

This book was tender and vulnerable and sweet and yes- SPICY. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, but it won me over. Ethan is just...a complete angel. And reading as Naomi learned to let her guard down and let herself be loved...well it was special for sure.

This is a fantastic follow up to The Roommate, giving the cold stunner Naomi her own chance at love and vulnerability.

Naomi wants to segue her sexuality lecturing into the world of academia, but the only institute that is giving her any interest is a synagogue with a young Rabbi keen to do a lecture series on Modern Intimacy in order to attract congregants. Naomi is a odds with her long forgotten faith and doesn't trust this forum to give her the chance she deserves.

The Rabbi is also way too hot for her to focus.

I loved that the lecture series provided a road map for these characters to get to know each other and figure out the values that they each held. Discussions of Naomi's previous trauma and successful business experience stepped this book up a notch

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my gifted review copy. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I tend to be quite tough on the contemporary romance genre as a whole, especially when there is just too much fluff. I need some sense of reality, relatable struggles, or something! So when I picked up Danan's debut 2020 novel, The Roommate, I was very pleasantly surprised and it ended up becoming one of my favorite contemporary romance novels .

I loved the Danan presented a fiercely feminist narrative and a totally unique plot line and The Intimacy Experiment was no different. I enjoyed that we got to know the multifaceted character Naomi, who at first glance seemed to have a tougher exterior. This storyline had plenty of tension and playfulness and tied in spirituality with the inclusion of a unconventional premise of bringing in new younger members at their Jewish synagogue.

While it's hard to top the Roommate for me, The Intimacy Experiment was another great addition to this series and these unique characters and I am so looking forward to what Danan writes next!

Thank you for an early copy berkley! This was such a great follow up & I can’t wait to see what else Rosie Danan has up her sleeves!

I loved every single second of this book! EVERY SINGLE SECOND. I cannot recommend it enough. The complex and finely drawn characters, the emotions! The growth! It was a beauty to behold and I wish I could experience it for the first time again.

This was a really great read and I loved the chaos that happened. I could not put it down. Such a great read!

This was a solid 3 star book for me. It was a fun new story line with an amazing strong female lead. It had a slight taboo feel to it, which is often not found it romcom type books,

After finishing The Roommate I knew I needed there to be a book about Naomi…. And when I heard she was getting one I was so excited! And finding out it was going to be about her and a Rabbi just sealed the deal. It just seemed like a really interesting match up and I knew it was going to be good. Unfortunately, now I just think Naomi deserved better.

Naomi has left behind her old life as an adult performer and now wants to help educate the masses on sexual education. She meets Rabbi Ethan who isn’t your typical Rabbi. He has a background one wouldn’t expect, so he was hired to think outside the box for them. (Especially since he’s also low on funds and the board is not thinking of helping.) And one of those things is hosting a Modern Intimacy course hoping to draw more people in to the synagogue. But in putting together the syllabus they seen that it works better than they thought.

In The Roommate Naomi was this bad ass character who had no feelings and told it like it was. I remember thinking she was a bitch for a period of time. But there was none of that in this book. I get it, the Rabbi sort of wore her down or something, but that doesn’t work when it was from the very beginning of the story. I think the first book put an image of her in my head that I couldn’t get rid of. And because of that, the Naomi in this one just didn’t work for me. She was too “Yes ma’am” and not enough spunk.

I also didn’t care for Rabbi Ethan. Like I get that it was supposed to be like a squeaky clean image of someone, but….. Ok I’m just going to go ahead and say it…. It was TOO clean. For this to be a book about a former adult star, the slow burn shouldn’t have lasted until about 68%. They should have done SOMETHING before then. I guess since The Roommate had dirty thoughts and the romance was actually hot, it was fine. But this one was actually kind of boring.

The ending was sooooo fast. I can’t even tell you if it was good or not. Like they were together and fine, then they weren’t, and then they were and then 9 months later. It was kinda weird. I just think that Naomi deserved more. Maybe I’m reading too much in to it, but that’s just my opinion.

This book was just ok. I liked the easy readability of the writing style. I liked the premises and the idea of this book. But the execution wasn’t great. I guess I just wanted more. This was the embodiment of “keep that same energy” from the first book. I just wanted the same humor and hotness from the first one.