Apr 12 2007
REVIEW: Just About Sex by Ann Christopher
The cute cover and good word of mouth encouraged me to pick up this book. This is my first Ann Christopher novel, and while not perfect, it won’t be my last. The main characters were appealing: the hero with his cluelessness about women and the heroine who struggles with her mother’s relationships influencing her own. Toward the latter third of the book, the plot careened perilously close to wall banging status but you managed to right the ship and close endearingly.
Sex therapist, Simone Beaupre, is at a high point in her career. She has got a successful practice, is just about to release her first self help book, and her weekly advice column is being considered for syndication. This road to success encounters a very large and angry obstacle in the form of Alex Greene. Alex is the topic of one of Simone’s latest column where a disgruntled ex girlfriend writes a letter of complaint about her lover’s small penis, thinly disguising the ex-lover as Alex G.
Alex demands a retraction and apology. Simone refuses. In retaliation, Alex sets up a blog calling Simone a quack and challenges her ability as a sex therapist. This negative publicity starts to concern the syndicators and may hamper Simone’s dreams of financial security.
Only when encouraged to sue Alex to get the blog taken down, Simone refuses because she has a big secret of her own that can’t come out. Simone is a virgin. Ordinarily I hate the virgin sex therapist theme, finding it trite and overused. It may still be trite but you managed to convince me that Simone had an exceedingly large and influential baggage in the form of her mother who has spent her life essentially being a high priced whore, moving from city to city, looking for a man to constantly take care of her. Simone’s childhood experiences makes her extra cautious and because of career and fear of relinquishing her independence, ridding herself of her virginity never came about.
The highlights of this book are the characterizations of both Simone and Alex. Simone is believable as the vulnerable daughter, competent therapist, and conflicted woman. Alex is full of one part masculine charm and one part masculine naivete. He believes he has always satisfied a woman, but when he starts revisiting his past, he realizes that sexual pleasure didn’t really always translate into emotional satisfaction. He feels quite badly about hurting the women in his past by his indifference. He goes about wooing Simone and shows himself to be an honorable man despite his questionable blogging activities.
In the latter third of the book, Simone’s hangups get to be a bit tiresome, particularly in the face of such a charmingly written male character. I was disappointed in how long this was carried on and felt that her neurosis was almost artificial toward the end. Fortunately, she came to her senses and the ending was endearing. B.
Best regards,
Jane
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Apr 13, 2007 @ 00:28:11
This is on my TBR list, I was wondering if the whole virgin thing would piss me off too much, but I liked the general premise.
Apr 13, 2007 @ 07:36:22
I was going to give it a pass due to the virgin sex therapist thing, but the reveiw has convinced me give it a try.
Apr 13, 2007 @ 08:25:15
I’m glad you liked the book, Jane! This was my introduction to Ann Christopher and Kimani books, and I enjoyed it a lot.
Apr 13, 2007 @ 09:09:14
I initially put this book back on the shelf at the bookstore because of the virgin sex therapist. But a poster (Sandy? or May?) on a DA forum said that part was handled well, so I picked up a copy. Liked it a lot until the end — the heroine’s freak out seemed really manufactured and ridiculous. I had a similar feeling about Christopher’s Risk. But I enjoyed both books enough that I’m looking for Trouble, an earlier release.
Apr 13, 2007 @ 12:19:40
But a poster (Sandy? or May?) on a DA forum said that part was handled well, so I picked up a copy
Me! Me! Me! :)
Apr 13, 2007 @ 15:01:28
ohhhhhhhh
I want. I so thought this was another book because I saw it the other day and had thought I didn’t want it. I need to take better notes. LOVE the cover… too cute.
Apr 15, 2007 @ 19:15:40
Dear Jane–
Thanks so much for taking the time to review JAS. And let me mention how glad I am that you didn’t actually bang the wall with the book!
Best,
Ann Christopher ;)