What happens when happily-ever-after fades into nice-but-routine? That’s when Melissa, nearing forty and trying to finally have that baby, finds out that her husband of fifteen years has been cheating on her. Now separated and adrift, she realizes how much her identity was tied up in Alex. What’s left when he’s gone?
On her road to re-discovery, she meets a wickedly charming actor named Nate. Nate likes older women, but he doesn’t like monogamy, and he won’t tolerate her habit of faking orgasms. Once she learns to be honest, her libido really takes off. She could be happily committed to Nate, if only he’d be happily committed to her.
Forced into non-monogamy, she decides to take advantage of it. Derek, the hot, young climbing stud at her gym, may be bold enough on the rock, but he’s adorably shy when it comes to women. Melissa thinks she might be just what he needs.
With two young lovers and two new hobbies, Melissa's building an exciting life without Alex, but what’s she supposed to do about the fact that she still loves him?
“Has anyone ever told you that sawdust is your color?” Nate descended beside me like an accordion collapsing, his long legs scissoring into a cross-legged position.
“Am I covered in it?”
“A dusting in your hair. Like glitter. It suits you.”
His eyes were the darkest blue and his lashes were the blackest black. He looked like Lord Byron, if I imagined what Lord Byron would look like—delicate features on creamy skin and above all—those eyes.
“I’m Nate.” He held out a hand to me.
“I’m sorry.” I’d totally been staring. “I’m Melissa.” I put my hand in his and he gave it a squeeze-shake.
“Melissa, huh?” He tilted his head, considering. “No, I don’t see it.”
“Yes, Melissa.”
“Missy? OK, don’t panic.” He held up a hand. “I see by the expression on your face that you are definitely not Missy.”
“As a baby,” I admitted. “It took a long time to grow out of.”
READ MORE“OK, no going back now. Not Missy.” He pondered me. I used the opening to ponder him back. Apparently staring at a stranger was OK in the world of theater.
“Mel?”
I made a face.
“Oh, a girly girl, are you?”
“Not exactly. But not a Mel either.”
“Probably not. If you were, you’d have these nails out by now.” He reached across me to grab the hammer Patty had left. He smelled like spruce with a hint of cheap beer. “It’ll come to me, your name.”
“Not Melissa?”
He shook his head and started pulling nails from the other end of the board I was working on, humming to himself beneath his breath. Gold Dust Woman, I realized, smiling.
COLLAPSEon Amazon:Lissie's story may be less of a romance and more a coming-of-age story (if one can rightly label a thirty-seven-year-old as "coming to age"), but it has a lot to offer readers who have been raised in families or cultures (or by conventional romance novels) to believe that sex is something that happens magically, without any discussion, without any learning, without any sharing of likes and dislikes with one's partner. And if it doesn't feel right, then there must be something wrong inside of you, rather than something wrong with what you and your partner are trying to doing together.
What a wonderful read! I love the author's presence online, she is really funny. This book reflects her wry wit. It's a refreshing empowered experience of an older woman (38?) who ends up dating two guys in their late 20s. Dealing with a divorce, she decides to pursue her own interests that she had lost sight of during marriage. This book is a good manual for finding and setting your own boundaries, oral sex and weighing the pros and cons of a magnanimous relationship. It's both an intelligent and steamy read. Perfect!