A rabbi hoping to increase attendance at his synagogue asks a former sex worker to host a lecture series called "Modern Intimacy." Ethan Cohen's Los Angeles shul might be struggling to stay afloat, but he loves his work and the people in his congregation. Although the board hired him to make changes, they are uncomfortable with the nontraditional programming he uses to attract new members. Naomi Grant is a former porn star and now co--CEO of Shameless, a web platform of instructional materials to help people have healthier sex lives. Naomi's unorthodox background has made it difficult to find an educational institution willing to let her teach in-person adult sex education classes. When Ethan meets Naomi at a professional conference, he asks if she would be willing to teach an eight-week seminar at his synagogue. Naomi seizes the opportunity; she hasn't been to synagogue since her bat mitzvah and has been longing to reconnect with Judaism. Ethan and Naomi's love story explicitly follows the arc of the Modern Intimacy lecture series, but the pacing suffers as a result. Their romance is full of stops and starts, driven by Danan's choice to have an external structure rather than organic character growth move the plot. Threads are introduced, dropped, and then reappear suddenly. Several times, Naomi and Ethan reveal their emotional states by lecturing to an audience, even if the other isn't present. It's ironic that characters committed to intimacy disclose their feelings in long speeches instead of showing them through action or direct communication with their partner; consequently, their relationship feels flat and underdeveloped. The exploration of faith and identity will likely appeal to contemporary romance readers looking for a full-bodied, nuanced treatment of religion that is also nonjudgmental and sex-positive. An interesting pairing is poorly served by uneven pacing and excessive monologuing. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A rabbi and a porn star turned sex educator walk into a classroom: it sounds like the start of a joke, but it's the intriguing basis for the mostly charming latest from Danan (The Roommate). When Naomi Grant and Ethan Cohen cross paths at a teaching conference, Ethan proposes they work together on a seminar in modern intimacy at his synagogue. To a young rabbi with a shrinking (and aging) congregation, Naomi's charisma and expertise look like a godsend to entice new members. To Naomi, who associates organized religion with shame, Rabbi Ethan's model looks, sweet demeanor, and commitment to his faith spell danger. So though she's been searching for an opportunity to put her master's in social psychology to use, her initial answer is no. Though Naomi and Ethan eventually make an excellent team, external resistance and internal conflicts continually get in the way, and some of the conflict doesn't entirely gel. Naomi's bravado masks lingering hurts over being shamed for her sexuality as a teen, and the logic of how that formative experience led to Naomi's career in adult entertainment veers on cliched rather than convincing. Still the original setup and endearing characters largely make up for the flaws of this slow-burning romance. Agent: Jessica Watterson, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Apr.)