The Evolution of a Modern Marriage

I abandoned this book at 54%. The husband, Steven, annoyed me, and I couldn't bear to spend more time in his head. A fellow reader urged me to read on as better things were coming. I did, and they were, and this book has ended up being a five-star read for me.

Steven and Alicia live in London. They're married with two children under five. Steven works, and Alicia is a full-time Mum.

Their story opens with Steven returning home from a stag party for a football teammate. The guys have spent a weekend in Prague patronising various strip clubs. Steven allowed a lap dance at one club to progress to something more involving himself, the dancer, and a teammate.

Steven and Alicia regularly share stories of their sexual adventures from the years before they met, and he believes this will be yet another story for him to share to excite them both. Her reaction isn't what he expects. Alicia isn't angry, but she feels his attitude toward the encounter and the sex worker involved is problematic. They talk it out, and Alicia tells him she feels it is only fair that she should also enjoy an interlude with a sex worker, and so, a short time later, she travels alone to Edinburgh, where she has engaged the services of a male escort for dinner and sex. Steven stays home with the kids.

Steven feels that Alicia got more from her night in a hotel than he did from a few minutes in a private room in a strip club, so he says he wants "another go", and they come to an arrangement whereby they each engage sex workers on their own then return home and describe their adventure.

I didn't like Steven's attitude toward the women he was with. Neither does Alicia, and tension mounts between them until it explodes and is resolved shortly after the aforementioned 54% mark. From that point, Stevens's attitude improves, and the story focuses more on Alicia's adventures, which evolve from engaging an escort to picking up partners in bars and ultimately back to sex work - from the other side of the transaction.

At 466 pages, this is a lengthy read, and it allows not only for lots of deliciously steamy sex but also for a decent amount of time with Steven and Alicia at home with their kids. It is clear that they are both devoted parents, and I particularly liked how hands-on Steven is with the kids. Once his lousy attitude toward sex workers had been dealt with, I came to quite like the guy.

Alicia is sexually confident and adventurous; the five stars I've given this book are for her journey. If you enjoy stories in which loving married couples cast aside societal conventions and explore their sexuality, and you can live with a male lead who has some growing up to do, then this is a great read. ( )