DNF.

Really struggled to get into this. The writing style didn't flow for me and while I loved the premise, the delivery just didn't hook me.

Thank you Doubleday and Anchor for the ARC - out 7 June!
Emma is one of my least favorite Austen leads, so the fact that this modern take on the story engaged me enough to overlook her annoying habits and presumptions is a triumph in and of itself.
Georgina has a high-flying job and a boring, cheating husband. Refusing to admit that she may have married the wrong person, she enlists their friend group, all of whom are in sturggling relationships, to give "The Lifestyle," a try. We all know what happens next; confusion, mixed intentions, secrets spilling into the open, love found and abandoned.
For a book that has sexual liberation so squarely as its center, there is surprisingly little sex actually taking place. Not a bad thing, but something to tamper the expectations of anyone going into this expecting a FULL romp. It's quick, fun, and engaging, and if someone could please fix the cover art (???) then I think we will be seeing a lot of it at book clubs and beachs this summer.

Read :
You broke up with someone before a study abroad
You talk a big game about how much you like sex, but you still don't own a vibrator
Your friends refuse to tell you their secrets because they know you can't keep your mouth shut.

The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn is another fun take on the classic Jane Austin story of Emma. From the outside world Georgina has the perfect life. A great husband and successful law career. While everything seemed perfect, Georgina walks in on her husband cheating. How does one fix their marriage? Become swingers! This is a different take but I feel this was also showing a little women empowerment from Georgina. This is a fun read and kept me wanting more. Highly recommend!

I really liked this book. It's a loose interpretation of Jane Austen's Emma, but with swingers. I know, it sounds a little crazy. But for some reason it works! I really liked the main character Georgina, despite her MANY flaws. I think the main reason why I enjoyed this so much was her growth throughout the novel - you could SEE it happening before she did, and it was fun to be along for the journey. I could see where a lot of people would be put off by the "lifestyle" storyline, but I thought it played well with the novel's overall theme of finding your true self. Sometimes you need a very strange kick in the pants to get the hint!
I would recommend this to others, but on a selective basis - the lifestyle storyline is definitely not for everyone!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the ARC!

Georgina is Ms. Perfect - perfect husband, perfect friends, perfect job (partner at a big NYC law firm) - until one late night at the office, she walks in on her husband cheating on her with her junior associate mentee. After a weekend crying to her best friends, Georgina comes up with a solution: she and her husband will become swingers and embrace "the lifestyle" to recapture the spark in their marriage. It's an odd remedy, and while at first I loved Georgina and related to her can-do attitude and desire to find a fix for anything, she soon started coming off as a busybody who thought she knew better than everyone else. This plot was supposed to be a hilarious modern retelling of "Emma", but having not read "Emma" myself, I can't say how well it mirrored the original (though I assume Jane Austen didn't write about a swinger lifestyle?). I thought the premise was interesting, if odd, and I appreciated that the author profiled swinging without being at all graphic, but... this was not really for me.

Could not get into the characters nor the plot for this one. I completely understand a stale marriage but the character was too annoying for me to sympathize much.

This is my fourth book that is a very loose retelling of Emma I’ve read in the last few months. And it really is a stretch to think Jane Austin would see herself as the inspiration for this story. The closest thing I can say is that Georgina thinks she knows what is going on with her friends and their relationships and like Emma she gets much of it wrong.

Georgina is a successful lawyer married to a partner lawyer who works in the same firm but in types of law. At the office she catches him with cheating with her mentee, a first year associate. Trying to save her marriage follows the suggestion of a friend to give the lifestyle of swinging a chance. Believing that if both participate, in controlled safe consensual parities it will bring them together. Amazingly she convinces her two best friends and their partners to give it a try as well.

The author does a good job of setting up the value to be gained by the experience and the rules. Putting aside my own judgment on the morality I went along with the story. At the first party she re-meets her old college boyfriend. The love that got away. He wanted to explore the world and she was focused on going to law school. They don’t become partners but he gives her guidance the Lifestyle. The parties do cause each of the couples to look at their relationships and make changes which is one of the focuses of the story.

I would call this women’s fiction because the romance is secondary to Georgina figuring out what she wants in her life. None of the characters is overly likable but I found the story compelling. Much will be made about the book promoting swinging but it is surprisingly not a steamy read. You experience a couple of encounters with Georgina which are mild and minimally described. I often take off a star for cheating but that isn’t applicable in this story.

For a debut novel it is compelling but has flaws. The description as heartwarming and hilarious seem really off the mark. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the summary and the idea that it was a retelling of Emma.

I was disappointed.

The only similarity to Emma that I can see is that the main character, Georgina, is clueless as to her friends' love lives and needlessly meddles, That's it. That's not really enough to brand this as an Emma retelling.

Basically Georgina seems to have it all--a great job as a lawyer, a perfect husband, a great friend group. But all that unravels when she walks in on her husband cheating on her.

What should she do to salvage her marriage? In this book the solution is to become a swinger, part of The Lifestyle, and take all her friends and their significant others along.

Spoiler! It doesn't really work, at least not the way she expects it to. I also didn't like that the secondary sub plot was her attempt to break up her best friend's marriage.

Overall I was not engaged by this book. I didn't really like any of the characters, other than perhaps Norah and Felix. I didn't like Georgina, the main character, so that made it hard to really get invested in her story.

This has a HEA or HFN ending but I'd classify more as women's fiction than a true romance.

It was a struggle to finish it. I mainly finished it to see what would happen with Norah.

This was not the book for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was interested in this novel because it was a retelling of Emma. However, I could not find any similarities with Emma and this novel. All of the characters were unlikable and selfish. It was a chore to read. I recommend this for those that love romantic comedies, but as an Emma retelling this one is forgettable.

Thank you, Netgalley for the chance to read and share about this book.

I haven’t read Emma, so I can’t say if this is a great retelling. The premise of the book was interesting but I couldn’t find myself really getting into it.

I almost DNF but I have a weird thing about trying not to do that so I powered through.

I would say I liked it, but did not love this one. The ending pulled it together nicely and the writing was good but this one wasn’t for me.

A sexy and entertaining summer read!

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with the eARC on NetGalley.

Here's the spoiler-free premise: Georgina Wagman is happy. And why shouldn't she be? She's got the perfect husband, perfect job, perfect home, perfect life! That is, until she walks in on her maybe-not-so-perfect husband cheating on her. But Suzanne, a client/friend of Georgina's, has the solution: swinging. It saved Suzanne's marriage, and Georgina is convinced it can save hers too, plus that of her best friend Norah. As they all enter The Lifestyle -- with the help of Georgina's other best friend's girlfriend -- Georgina isn't too sure anymore. And it doesn't help that she encounters an ex who's now stuck in her head...and possibly her heart.

I thought this was pretty good for a debut. To me, the greatest selling point of this book is that it's a wild ride! We started with a very successful woman and her equally successful husband now struggling after an infidelity. Then there's Georgina's meddling, her somewhat strange desire to mentor the junior associate her husband cheated with, and of course, the swinging. At one point I thought, "am I really reading a book about a bunch of friends who all sleep together?" But I'm glad I kept going because nothing in this book turned out like I thought it would.

There was a lot happening and a lot of characters, and I think Hahn did a good job of putting them together in a way that didn't feel forced or unrealistic. (I did think Georgina's relationship with Meredith, the junior associate, was a little unrealistic, even when they finally had a breakthrough, but I guess it's possible.) There were a few "convenient" parts, though, which was neither good nor bad, but definitely noticeable.

The writing was good, but I wish it had been written with first-person narration, and though I don't think this book needed an epilogue, there were a couple of plot points that I don't think were fully resolved. Still, I enjoyed reading this overall: it was definitely entertaining and I was quite interested to know what would happen next. I would recommend this book if you're looking for a generally light-hearted (and flirty) summer read.

This book is far more than a story about swinging. It's about a woman who strives for perfection and is willing to do anything to save her crumbling marriage. It's about finding yourself when you feel like your world is falling apart. When Georgina finds her husband cheating with a girl from their law firm, she takes the advice of her friend who says that swinging is a total game changer and is worth a shot to rekindle romance. When they arrive at their first gathering, she notices a man from her past and starts second guessing the decisions she has made that brought her to this point. Should she try to save her loveless marriage because it looks perfect from the outside or should she find herself again and put true happiness first?

I really did enjoy this book more than I thought I would, I knocked a couple stars off because the middle got a little boring for me. I kept putting it down instead of being really drawn in. I loved the ending and the premise of the story though.

Thank you to NetGalley, Taylor Hahn, and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Well this certainly was a learning experience! If you have EVER wondered about the "lifestyle", or swinging as us amateurs call it, this is the book for you. One night, Georgina, a successful lawyer, catches her husband, also a lawyer, in a not-very-professional position with a junior associate in his office. Now, you would think she would just make the choice to get a divorce and move on. But no, she decides to enter the "Lifestyle" with her husband to try and save her marriage. Of course, she sees an ex at one of the parties and a whole lot of uh-ohs ensue.

I really enjoyed this story. It is funny, romantic, educational (to say the least), and heartwarming. I feel like this story could have taken a more lighthearted approach, kept the humor all the way to the end, and finished with a nice little shoulder shrug and a "maybe I will try this one day". But it didn't. Thankfully it took it a little deeper, leaving me with a huge smile and my romance meter full. I loved all of the characters and found myself interested in each of their stories. I did have a hard time connecting with Georgina through most of the first half, only because I could not imagine myself taking this route. But once the second half begins, I saw a whole new person evolving and I began rooting for her. The relationships and emotions become very real as decisions are made and I couldn't help but love how it turns out. A great summer romance for sure!

The husband has an affair. The wife tells her friend who recommends that they try swinging to save their marriage.

I had really mixed feelings about whether or not to read this one, but I decided to give it a try anyway. While I haven’t read Emma, I have seen the movie Clueless about fifty times and figured an NYC-based adaptation could be right up my alley.

Like some of the other reviewers, I also would not describe this one as a romance novel as much as women’s fiction. The romance part of the story seems to be secondary to the growth of the main character. I would disagree with the label “heart-warming” for this story, and think it’s actually kind of a downer for most of the book.

Although I ended up liking it, almost entirely due to the quality of the story-telling (the characters are not likable at all), I’m not sure I’d recommend it to many others.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Anchor for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When you catch your husband cheating, what's the only sensible thing to do? Why become swingers, of course! No kidding. Such is the premise of Taylor Hahn's debut novel, The Lifestyle. "The lifestyle," if you are not up on modern day lingo, is an euphemism for swinging, which is exactly what Hahn's plucky protagonist Georgina resorts to when she catches her husband Nathan in the throes of passion with a first year associate at their law firm. The lifestyle is purported to save failing marriages by reigniting the spark between couples and adding a little spice back into their love lives (in addition to multiple partners!) Does it work? Read Hahn's The Lifestyle to find out!

I never thought I would hear myself say this, but I wish that this novel had more swinging! For a book that is supposed to be about the lifestyle, it is seriously lacking in taboo sexual encounters. Georgina and Nathan only attend a handful of swinger events, and we as readers only get the tiniest glimpse into the lifestyle. I wanted more. What we do get an abundance of is Georgina meddling in her friends' love lives and frankly making a mess of things. So be advised that if you are going into this book expecting its primary focus to be on swinging, know that it is rather more about a woman trying to sort out her life as she musses up everyone else's, while also dabbling in the lifestyle.

Nonetheless, I still found this novel to be entertaining. It certainly sparked my curiosity. It is hard to believe that anyone could approach swapping partners as cavalierly as the characters in this novel, but apparently many people do. The Lifestyle gave me a glimpse into a world in which I was wholly unfamiliar, which kept me turning the pages. Was this the book I expected to read? No. But it was still an amusing way to while away the hours.

Georgina thought she had the perfect life going for her until she walked in on her perfect husband going down on the junior associate she’s been trying (and failing) to mentor.

Shocked at the sudden cracks in her perfect life she’s left reeling.

Then a client recommends swinging as a way to rejuvenate her marriage.

She’s up for anything to repair her life and her husband agrees it may be just what they need.

Georgina is surprised to find how much fun she has with the freedoms the lifestyle brings - and by the familiar face among her new friends.

Will her marriage really be saved? Does she even really want it to?

It’s always difficult writing a review for a book you mostly enjoyed, but absolutely couldn’t stand the main character. That’s where I’m at. I loved the story and the author’s writing style which were both great and I did finish the book, although I kept feeling irritated with the main character and not in a “this character is making me grow and learn” way, but more of an, “I’m so bugged with this character, I might stop reading” kind of way, but wanted to finish the book. Georgina, the main character finds her husband cheating and this begins her and her group of friends (who join for other reasons) to begin swinging. I am all for the Lifestyle, but this book focused more on the main character wanting to “fix” everyone and everything around her. Overall, a cute book, but not entirely recommendable.

The Lifestyle, Taylor Hahn
This is the sweetest book about a girl named Georgina and her husband Nathan. Georgina catches Nathan cheating on her. In an effort to save their marriage, they decide to join “The Lifestyle. The “Lifestyle” meaning…they become swingers!!
Could they save their marriage? Will this help reunite them in the long run?
What self discoveries will they learn throughout their experiences?
This was such a cute book and I was rooting for Georgina the entire time. It was nearly impossible not to love this character, though it was hard not to judge her on some of the choices she was making.
A great, easy beach read I think you would really enjoy this summer. This comes out on June 7.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Personally, I did not enjoy the writing in this one. It felt like the author was over-sharing about the characters’ lives and the long, winding paragraphs with way too much backstory was a lot to digest. Also, the swingers storyline was a bit weird and I obviously could not connect with it or that lifestyle at all. It just did not work for me 🤷🏻‍♀️