Holy sheeet. This book. It's everything. I had high expectations after reading The Roommate and this book flew past anything I could have imagined. Ethan is the type of rom-com guy I've been searching for in a book! Not only was the emotional thread excellent, but Rosie Danan also managed to add sentences that knocked the wind out of me. Beautiful writing.

It's not as raunchy as her debut, so fans of The Roommate might find that lacking, but I thought it was just the right about of steam and sizzle. Can't wait for more!

OK so read THE INTIMACY EXPERIMENT last night and I have things to say.

First

THERE IS A HOT RABBI!!

I repeat

THERE IS A HOT RABBI!!!

But seriously this book due out in April by @rosiedanan is simultaneously joyous and revolutionary. A former sex worker heroine. A rabbi hero. They both team up to teach a series on modern intimacy.

I love how joyously Jewish this read is while also being universal. The depth to the very different characters and them learning how to be in a relationship with each other...just perfection.

So all in all...

Not as much of a raunch-com as THE ROOMMATE but you will still be swooning over the sweltering sexual tension. Mostly though I’d love more books which really and truly illustrate that when it comes to sex and relationships, there is no such thing as normal!!

Thank you to @NetGalley and @BerkleyRomance for the advanced read. I can’t wait for the rest of #Romancelandia to read this book.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC of the Intimacy Experiment in exchange for an honest review!

Wow, this truly is one of the most fascinating romance novels I’ve ever read! With some of the BEST Jewish rep EVERRR. I am Jewish myself and I don’t think I have *ever* read about a Jewish woman finding herself in her religion WHILE falling in love... with a rabbi, no less.

This is legitimately nothing like The Roommate, Rosie Danan’s first book. And for that reason, I actually like it better! I think it’s so dynamic and touching. It was much more character driven than a romance (in my opinion). So for that reason, typical romance readers might not love this one as much. It’s not a steamy, but because of the content, it made sense.

I highly recommend this one, even if you haven’t read The Roommate!!!

What a great follow-up to The Roommate! I enjoyed the first book but loved this one even better. Sweet, hilarious, and swoony all in one.

4.5 STARS

This is easily one of my most anticipated books going into 2021! So thank you, thank you, thank you Berkley Publishing Group for an eARC of The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan.

The Intimacy Experiment is a follow up novel to Danan's 2020 release, The Roommate. The Roommate was a fun, steamy romance where we got to witness good-girl Clara fall in love with adult entertainer Josh.

Well, this story follows their friend, Naomi.

Naomi is Josh and Clara's partner in their sex positive start up that has become a sensation. With the business in full swing, Naomi is looking to expand beyond being an entrepreneur and really wants to teach. Despite having her masters and a long list of qualifications, higher ed wants nothing to do with her.

Ethan, one of LA's most eligible bachelors and a rabbi at his own synagogue is looking to attract a younger audience and up his recruitment efforts. He makes the risky decision to partner with Naomi and put on a lecture series that explore modern relationships and intimacy. As the class gets more buss and Naomi and Ethan spend more time together, a lot of lines are blurred and some are crossed in ways that will change things forever.

If you have not read The Roommate yet, I highly recommend reading that one first! This can be read as a stand alone, but you will lose some of the background story the first book provides.

I LOVED this as a follow up novel to The Roommate. Not only did I grow an appreciation for Naomi, it was fun to see the arc of her character across both stories. You also got glimpses into Josh and Clara's life now, which was fun!

And, if you read the first you are probably curious about this... oh yes, there is steam!!! Maybe not as much steam as the first book, but this is still not something I will be lending my mom.

April 6th cannot come soon enough! Cannot wait to add this to my bookshelf!

I think it's safe to say I'm a @rosiedanan fan 🥰

I already knew I was a fan from The Roommate, but now even moreso. The extensive knowledge displayed here in regards to Judaism actually blew me away. It's not often you find a (reform) rabbi as the protagonist in a mainstream romcom, so maybe I went in with a little skepticism, but I have to say this novel completely exceeded my expectations and I so appreciated all that she did here!

The Intimacy Experiment is about Naomi Grant, former porn star, current co-business owner of a thriving platform to teach people how to embrace and be comfortable in their sexual bodies. When Naomi decides she'd like to venture into teaching, she is dismayed to find she is not being taken seriously, no one wants to give her a chance. When she meets Rabbi Ethan Cohen at a teaching seminar, it is she that doesn't take him seriously when he offers her a chance to teach at his synagogue.

Rabbi Ethan Cohen is the newly appointed single rabbi of a floundering synagogue, brought on to help revive attendance and appeal to a younger audience. Not only does he see potential in Naomi and her ideas to introduce a Modern Intimacy lecture series, but he can't seem to take his eyes off of her. Maybe it's her no- nonsense attitude and her tough as nails exterior that creep their way into his heart and mind. Or maybe it's that slight crack in the door she left open for him to see the vulnerable side underneath it all.

Both characters were fleshed out so well. Rosie did an amazing job giving the reader a chance to learn both Ethan and Naomi's personalities. She enables u a full scope of the complexities of who they are, let's u see all the reasons behind their insecurities, and allows u to know exactly why & how they came to be that way. And u know she never fails to deliver the steam!

The only thing that posed a challenge for me personally, was having to put all my modern orthodox knowledge aside. Orthodox and reform judaism are very different from each other so it was hard at first for me to shed some of the hard and fast rules of judaism that are so engrained within me. Once i did i fell in love, esp with the intellect woven throughout.

The Roommate may have been my most recommended read this year because it was such a wonderfully unique and sexy story. So I went into The Intimacy Experiment with high expectations and I wasn't disappointed. I was so interested in Naomi's story in The Roommate that knowing this would share more about her had me giddy. I adored learning her background and her story and ETHAN - I loved him. I honestly can't wait to see what Danan writes next! Thank you for the early copy for review.

Sadly, this is a DNF for me. I got through about 30% of the book and I coudn't keep going. I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters and the writing fell flat for me. Keep in mind, this is just my opinion, I can see reasons why others would love this story!

I loved how the author incorporated faith into a sexy romance. Really enjoyed this companion novel to The Roommate. Naomi was a standout character in The Roommate, so I'm glad she got her own book.

I enjoyed "The Roommate" more than this one, I'm sorry to say! I loved the educational aspect of the book - both Jewish and otherwise - but was disappointed about the chemistry between the characters.

Y’all know my love for The Roommate!! I was so totally stoked when I received my copy of The Intimacy Experiment!! Now I will say my expectations for this book weren’t as high, because my love for Josh and Clara’s story was soooo high!! But of course @rosiedanan came through with this one!! The slow buildup of romance and tension in this one was exactly what worked for telling Naomi’s story! I enjoyed seeing a different side of her character and fell in love with her even more! I think the only criticism I have for this one is that I wanted more steam! This one gets 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 and was a great follow-up to The Roommate!!

Take the Roommate add in some faith and a little less sex and you have this gem. I loved The Roommate and I loved this one too.

I do wish there would be more acknowledgment of people of color and others who experience intersectionality in the sex worker world.

This book combines two things that I really really enjoy in a romance novel. First, it has two protagonists that are both likable and that you are rooting for. Second, it holds place for some really fascinating thoughts about intimacy and romance and identity. Yes, it's a romance novel, you know the two main characters are probably going to gettogether in the end, so it's not super serious! And yet, within the conversations with those characters and the plot of the story, there's a lot of conversation about knowing what you want in relationships, and navigating different expectations, and sex, and it' was just really, really good.

I struggled with what to rate this book, because it wasn't perfect, but it was just so darn enjoyable, and I really did appreciate how naturally these more serious conversations were woven in, that in lieu of being able to give half stars, we're going to bump it up to a five.

The Intimacy Experiment
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
🔥🔥
Rosie Danan is officially one of my favorite authors of all time. I LOVED The Roommate, but I LOOOOOVED The Intimacy Experiment. I’m so thankful I was able to get an advanced copy of the ebook. This is exactly what I needed after reading The Roommate back in October. What I love about this book is that it has the sexy, hot tension that The Roommate had, but you really get to know the relationship between Naomi and Ethan in this one, more so than Clara and Josh (don’t get me wrong, I still loved Clara and Josh’s story). The Intimacy Experiment also brings to light the idea of religion and intimacy in modern times, and how they can co-exist in a relationship, as well as a lifestyle. Danan is an incredible writer, and I couldn’t put my phone down the two days I read The Intimacy Experiment in. I will highly recommend this one for a long time. Please keep your books coming, Rosie Danan!!

I loved The Roommate, and didn't think Rosie Danan could top it, but I was wrong. Naomi and Ethan's story is one of the best I've read this year. I had ALL the feels with this one. It's a powerful story of love, faith, and believing in who you are and who you are meant to be. When they started talking about why they wake up every day, I was a goner, and it only got better from there. A must read.

Having loved The Roommate, I was so excited to read The Intimacy Experiment and learn more about everyone's favorite badass, Naomi Grant.

Naomi is the perfect blend of Badass Boss Bitch and marshmallow. She had a hard past that taught her not to trust and give her heart easily. But, after spending time with cinnamon roll rabbi Ethan Cohen, Naomi starts to open up and welcome love back in her life.

The chemistry between Naomi and Ethan is obvious. From the very beginning the attraction between them is clear, but the two lack the communication to tell the other what they want. While The Roommate was all about the steam and the physical relationship building into more, The Intimacy Experiment gives us less steam but more relationship building.

I would have liked to see a bit more of the relationships that Naomi and Ethan had outside of each other, as the secondary characters in this book are absolutely amazing (I'm rooting for Leah to get her own book).

This book was just shy of getting a five star rating for me. There are a few things that I wish could have been fleshed out a bit more (i.e. delving more into Ethan's relationship with his dad and more of a friendship building before Naomi and Ethan get together), but all in all the story delivered.

I binged this SO FAST! I couldn't get this into my kindle fast enough. I adored Danan's debut and just knew I would adore this one as well.

I loved the story between this unlikely pair! A rabbit and a former porn star, this seems like bar joke gone wild and I was here for it.

I must mention that this was a slow burn for sure. I felt the pacing could have been sped up just a bit. I do appreciate the details we were given as we learned slowly about both Naomi and Ethan.

Their chemistry was so good. I loved their ability, once they determined what they wanted, to really be open and communicate what they wanted the future to look like for each other.

The ending almost broke me, almost. I love the way everything wrapped and would totally recommend this to most of my friends. Those of you who don't like steamy sex scenes and a fair use of language...I would pass on this one.

Thank you @berkley and @netgalley for an advanced copy of this read. All thoughts are strictly my own.

Naomi Grant is a successful businesswoman. She started up her own sex-positive start-up Shameless and has never conformed to the idea of what society thinks she should be like. She feels the need to do more though and wants to start teaching and lecturing about intimacy. Only problem - no one wants to hire her.

Ethan Cohen is the rabbi of his own synagogue and loves his job very much. He wants only the best for his congregation, but is trying to increase the number of his members. Especially young members. When Ethan and Naomi cross paths with one another they decide to work together. Naomi gets an opportunity to lecture on modern intimacy and Ethan gets an opportunity to get young members into his shul. Should be a win-win situation, what could go wrong?

I absolutely loved Naomi and Ethan together. As soon they met I could feel the chemistry between them. Ethan was the sweetest most cinnamon roll hero and I loved how he saw through to Naomi's vulnerabilities. The way these two became acquainted with one another was so so sweet.

I can honestly say that I haven't read much Jewish representation in romance books. I've read one other romance that had Jewish representation - The Ex Talk - and enjoyed that book very much. I loved the way that Rosie Danan was able to incorporate the love of Judaism within this wonderful romance. I have so many excerpts highlighted because of Ethan's obvious love, but also his patience. The way Naomi and Ethan come together with their combined backgrounds was just done so perfectly. I'm sure I'm not putting into words how this book made me feel - but trust me when I say it gave me all the feels.

I loved The Roommate when I read it earlier this year and I was a little bit afraid that The Intimacy Experiment wouldn't live up. But I was proven wrong and Rosie Danan is such an amazing author. I can't wait to read more of her work!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.

Absolutely incredible contemporary romance. I have been so lucky to read an advanced copy and I was not disappointed. Naomi is the woman we all want as our BFF and our hot, sweet, caring rabbi? Oh boy! He is such a great hero. Chemistry is off the charts. I laughed, I became very overheated, and I cried!

I am convinced...Rosie Danan is the best new author of 2020!

Disclaimer: I got this as an ARC from @NetGalley

This is perfect for fans of The Ex Talk and enemies to lovers trope. It's a fun and hilarious book that will give you hallmark vibes.