So 2024 has proven a very interesting year in terms of romance novels. I think, for me, this one takes the first spot as it manages to combine quite nice sexy scenes without the overuse of c*ck wordage. If you’ve ever read some smut, this is elevated one, following the steamy romance between a ghost writer and their charge, handsome ginger bloke from a teen werewolf show that ended ten years ago.

The Plot

Jewish mid-twenties Chandler Cohen has never felt more like the ghost in “ghostwriter” until she attends a signing for a book she wrote—and the author doesn’t even recognize her. The evening turns more promising when she meets a charming man with red hair at the bar opposite Emmerald City ComicCon and immediately connects with him.

I’m aware I’m hard-core flirting, punctuating nearly all my sentences with a laugh. This version of myself—I don’t hate her. She’s carefree and laid-back, two adjectives I’ve never associated with myself. She’s fun.

But when all their sexual tension culminates in a spectacularly awkward hookup (meaning terrible sex), she decides this is one night better off forgotten and disappears without a trace on him until they unexpectedly meet again in a business setting. They do have chemistry between them, and they both feel super attracted to each other, it’s just that the disappointment follows in bed.

It’s an electric, intoxicating feeling, kissing this guy against the brick wall outside a bookstore, his hands traveling down to my hips, steadying me so he can kiss me harder. Back to the wall. Shoulder blades digging into brick. I feel drugged, drunk, utterly addicted. Disconnected from reality. […] All I want is his skin on mine as we erase the world outside. A sweaty, indulgent night and a polite goodbye the next morning.

Her next project is ghostwriting a memoir for Finn Walsh, a C-list actor best known for playing a lovable nerd on a cult classic werewolf show who now makes a living appearing at fan conventions across the country. But Chandler knows him better from their one-night stand of hilarious mishaps.

Chandler’s determined to keep their partnership as professional as possible, but when she admits to Finn their night together wasn’t as mind-blowing as he thought it was, he’s distraught. He intrigues her enough that they strike a deal: when they’re not working on his book, Chandler will school Finn in the art of satisfaction.

Oddly enough, this job is kind of the perfect scenario for the plan we devised in Portland. Well—as “perfect” as agreeing to hook up with an actor to help him hone his skills in the bedroom could possibly be.

As they grow closer both in and out of the bedroom, they must figure out which is more important, business or pleasure—or if there’s a way for them to have both.

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Sooooo, I liked this book because it handles a very delicate subject. How to bring up your partners performance in bed without making it awkward. How to improve your sex life in 5 steps. All of these could have been very high-rating articles on BuzzFeed and Cosmopolitan and yet they seem to do very well in a romance book.

It’s all the rage!

So what are the tips she gives him?

Physical Touch Is Important

“I like when someone’s clearly paying attention to my body,” I say, dragging my fingertips out along the railing, and then back. His eyes follow them. “My breaths. My slightest movements. The places where I might be tighter, and the places where I open up.”
A nod. Another step closer, a few inches separating his chest from mine.
“And I love when it’s obvious that he’s enjoying what he’s doing to me. When getting me closer also gets him closer—there’s something so incredibly sexy about that.” My pulse is roaring in my ears, louder than the rush of the river. “I don’t mind if it takes a while, and I want to know that the other person doesn’t mind, either. Because the longer it takes, the more desperate I get for it, the more my body begs for it . . . the better it feels when I finally go over the edge.”

Take it slow

“You want to take your time. Maybe you don’t go for the clit right away. Start with one finger and vary your technique: you can stroke slow circles around it, lightly tap it, rub it from side to side. You can gradually go faster depending on what reaction you’re getting. Check in with her, see how she’s feeling. Then you could add another finger. Or your mouth.

Excite the brain first

The brain is an interesting tool. If you tell it what’s coming, it can better prepare. So Dirty Talk (not to be confused with swearing) has its purpose.

“I want to make you come so hard, you beg me to do it again,” he says, kissing my neck. My throat. “I think about it all the time.”
Fucking hell.
“Are you going to fuck me with your fingers? Your mouth?”
“Both,” he says against my skin. “Repeatedly. And often.”
He slides a knee between my legs, his hands dropping to my hips. An “oh” falls from my mouth as he guides me against his jeans, the seam in mine creating an exquisite kind of friction. Torturous and decadent all at once.

Build up

Waiting. Wanting. The last couple times we were together, I was the only one who finished. I want to hear him fall apart and know that I’m the one who unstitched him. Suddenly I’m craving it.

Romance, feelings. Sex is better with someone you love.

We could have spent this entire trip in bed, and it wouldn’t have been enough. We could have spent it just talking, twenty-four hours a day, and I’d still want to hear your voice,” he says. “I’ve felt this way for a while. At least since Memphis.” A laugh slips out as he mashes a fist on the countertop. “Hell, I told you I had a crush on you!”

I thought it would pass. I hoped it would, at first. But spending so much time with you only dug me deeper. Every night we were together, I only wanted you more. But even if we hadn’t been physical, I think I still would have developed feelings for you. Honestly, I could never touch you again—and let’s face it, I’d be devastated, and I’m obviously hoping it doesn’t come to that—and I’d still be utterly wrecked over you

Every time we’re not together, I miss you, and every time we are, I feel like I have to hold on tight to make it last as long as possible. I’ve been so uncertain about everything in my life, but the way I want you is crystal clear.

What I also liked about the book, besides the very steamy sex tips is how Chandler, the heroine, is dealing with burnout and purpose. She’s a ghost writer and while comparing herself to other is the killer of joy, she does it anyway. This is not a Yellowface scenario

She doesn’t steal someone else’s work in order to make it in the harsh publishing business, nor does she become an agent just to be closer to where the action like in Book Lovers. She wants to do it on her own.

It’s all the things I can’t say yet, the questions I packed in my suitcase next to my favorite jeans and electric toothbrush. I’ve been running for so long that I’m no longer sure where the finish line is, or if there’s a finish line at all. And sometimes that terrifies the shit out of me.
My whole life, I’ve been working myself to the bone, chasing something that’s always just out of reach.

That kinda resonated with me. This, and the disapointing notion that whatever you do will never be good enough.

“Before this trip, I felt completely trapped,” I continue. “They told us we could have it all but that’s just not true. We could do something creative, but also something stable. Something fulfilling, but that doesn’t turn you into a workaholic. Something good for the planet, but that also makes money. I grew up with everyone telling me how special I was, which was amplified by being born on Leap Day. It was always, ‘You’re going to do something great’ and ‘You can do whatever you want’ and never ‘It’s okay if you don’t figure it out right away.’ But I’m starting to wonder if none of that is true.”

I am a writer. I have always been a writer, but somewhere along the way, maybe to shield myself from the possibility of failure, I stopped writing for myself. I stopped writing for the pure love of it and let my voice disappear into someone else’s.

Personal note to the reader

Last point I want to make is that this book, while a lovely depiction of sexy times turned to relationship – it is not a guide on how to seduce a man and stay with him. People are odd creatures and while sex creates a rush of Oxytocyn that makes you feel closer to the other person, lust doesn’t always translate into love. You can be friends with Benefits for years and it won’t morph into a stable relationship without there being a need from both sides to take it further.

It’s ok to do this if you want but be mindful that not all men are looking for the same thing in life and keep your eyes open.

As the other dude says: “You’re a relationship girl and I don’t do relationships” – what he meant was “You’re a relationship girl and I don’t do relationships with you” . You need to find your own person and walk away before the train goes too far away from the station you want to arrive at. Otherwise the return journey would be quite expensive.